Reply to First Johnson's, now Sullivan's! Who is the landlord behind this?

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[quote=Anonymous]AU apparently regards the building as just another portfolio asset on which they seek the highest return, when they also need to consider their position as a major stakeholder in the community and the importance of retaining small, neighborhood-serving businesses. Sadly, however, the Sullivan’s saga is representative of the creeping vibrantdensemixeduseification of Upper NW and how it squeezes out these business.  For many years, Sullivan’s operated successfully in the commercial block at Wisconsin and Idaho next to The Kellogg Collection and a number of other locally-owned businesses.  When the block was leveled to build the Catherdral Commons-plex, the developer/owners promised the BZA and the community that they would offer concessionary rents to displaced small businesses that wanted to return to the site.  Of course, this never happened.  Sullivan’s moved to its present site about a mile to the north.  In the past two years, Johnson’s closed because AU raised the rent, and now their former customers have to drive to Maryland for even basic gardening needs.  Soon Sullivan’s will be gone.  And it’s just a matter of time before AU sells to or partners with a big developer to redevelop the whole site as an extension of the tall, dense mega-blocks under construction at Fannie Mae and 4000 Wisconsin.  The new business tenants then won’t be the likes of Sullivan’s and Johnson’s, but more of the same upscale generic retail:  bank branches, national chains, well-capitalized “concept” restaurant groups with focus group-tested menus.  These are the types of tenants, with deep balance sheets and corporate lease guarantees, that Smart Growth investors demand.  There will be no place for the smaller, locally-owned, neighborhood serving businesses that meet the ordinary needs of the community.  And you will still have to drive to Maryland to buy a shrub or a flat of flowers.  Just how “walkable” is that?[/quote]

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