This is ridiculous. This location is within a 10-12 minute walk of three metro stations. The District simply does not have the funds to give a $800,000 subsidy to build and additional level of parking that will only encourage more driving and undermine transit ridership. I'd say no thanks to the Whole Foods. There is a beautiful new Safeway one stop away on the Green line.
Developer: Whole Foods deal near Nationals Park would require $8 million in tax breaks
"Whole Foods Market and a D.C. real estate firm are interested in building a new store in Southeast Washington near Nationals Park, but the developer says that luring the grocer would require $8 million in tax breaks.
William C. Smith and Co. is proposing a 39,000-square-foot Whole Foods for 800 New Jersey Ave. SE as part of a building that would include 375 apartments.
The arrival of the popular grocer on the site, which is currently a parking lot, would possibly inject new life into a neighborhood where dozens of development plans have stalled after the recent economic collapse. The developer, however, is asking that the city provide an $8 million property-tax abatement over 10 years in order to make the project financially viable, a difficult request because the city filled a $188 million budget gap for this fiscal year and might face a shortfall of more than $440 million next year..."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...021405717.html