A Nice, New Safeway for Petworth (Updated)

UPDATE: One of you kindly informed me that the numbers in this post aren’t accurate. Thanks for that!

Flickr: M.V. Jantzen

Georgetown's renovated, modernized "Social Safeway".

Prince of Petworth has exciting news for the residents of his neighborhood. D.C.’s newest, sleekest Safeway will be built in Petworth, replacing an aging facility which attracts as many complaints as it does shoppers:

Back in May ’10 I wrote a post titled Battle of the Safeways: Haves Vs. Have Nots comparing the new Georgetown/Glover Park Safeway to Petworth’s Safeway on Georgia Ave (3830 Georgia Ave, NW). I am happy to say that, soon, this argument will no longer apply. Petworth is slated to be home to the city’s newest and largest Safeway at 60,000 square feet. While I’m trying not to exaggerate I believe this is the biggest news to hit Petworth/Georgia Ave since the metro station opened. This news is so huge that I have passed out twice since starting to write this and I’m only on the first paragraph. This is, in the parlance of our times, a true gamechanger…

There will be two underground floors of parking removing the current parking lot and curb cuts on Georgia Ave. will be no more. There will be 85 spaces on one floor for shoppers and 135 parking spots on a separate floor for residents. The ground floor will be 60,000 square feet including a full deli, Starbucks and a state of the art pharmacy and will look a lot like the City Vista/Sexy Safeway and the new ultra modern Safeway in SW-Waterfront…

Additionally, the Safeway will increase from 40-50 employees to 150-160.

The entire process should take about 2 and 1/2 – 3 years.

When the extensively renovated “Social Safeway” held its grand opening in Georgetown, people were frustrated at how beautiful and well-stocked (yes, especially with Organic food) it was compared to its siblings in less affluent parts of D.C. Not only does this news address that, it means better options (and more jobs!) for a neighborhood which would welcome them.