Retrofit Atlas

Other · District of Columbia

Northern Liberty Market

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedOperatingWashington, DC

Northern Liberty Market operated 1875‑1963, closed due to supermarket pressure, later redeveloped into CityVista condos with Safeway retail in Washington. · summary, model-written

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Northern Liberty Market
Northern Liberty Market. Photo: National Photo Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile16 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Place
15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)This site: 6/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this
200+ tax-credit housing units within 1 kmThis site: 2,225 units in 16 properties hud-lihtc · all sites with this
3+ other atlas sites within 10 kmThis site: 22 within 10 km computed · all sites with this
30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent roadThis site: 52,433 on INTERSTATE 395 BN fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
Bike network nearbyThis site: 280 ways openstreetmap · all sites with this
County typical rent $2,000+This site: $2,484/mo zillow · all sites with this
Grocery within 800 mThis site: 9 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this
Interstate or freeway within 600 mThis site: INTERSTATE 395 BN fhwa-hpms · all sites with this
National Register place within 500 mThis site: Buildings at 1000 Block of Seventh Street, and 649-651 New York Avenue NW; Old Engine Company No. 6 nps-nrhp · all sites with this
Rail within 800 mThis site: Gallery Place, Judiciary Square, Mount Vernon Square openstreetmap · all sites with this
Renter-majority tractThis site: 80% census-acs · all sites with this
Shrinking countyThis site: -1.8% census-acs · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: The CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor. extraction · all sites with this
New use
GroceryThis site: …e CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor. The CityV extraction · all sites with this
HousingThis site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this
Retail (continued)This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

StatusOperatingextracted, unreviewed
StrategyRedevelopedextracted, unreviewed
New useshousing, retailextracted, unreviewed
What is there nowThe CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor.extracted, unreviewed

Planning

Planning notesThe CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor.extracted, unreviewed

Site context

Transit within 800 mGallery Place, Judiciary Square, Mount Vernon Square (rail); 20 bus stops within 400 mOpenStreetMap
Motorway junctions within 2 km10, 8, 9, junctionOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zoneX · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m71: 311 K STREET NW; 440 K STREET, LLC; 601 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE; 622 & 624 H STREET; 630 EYE STREET NWEPA FRS
Census tract 110010047033,400 people, 71,202 per sq mi; median household income $81,458; median gross rent $1,804; 80% renters; 19.0% vacant units; 29.0% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)6 of 6 daily needs: 9 grocers, 19 schools, 59 parks or playgrounds, 3 health, 44 civic, 187 food and drink; 280 cycleway segments, 797 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity ZonenoHUD
National Register places within 500 m15: Buildings at 1000 Block of Seventh Street, and 649-651 New York Avenue NW; Old Engine Company No. 6; Wheatley, Phillis, YWCA; Jefferson Apartment BuildingNPS
Housing permits, Washington DC (DC), 20241,506 units in 5+ unit buildings, 85 in 2–4, 146 single-family; 2023: 2,779 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)overall percentile 0.45; socioeconomic 0.53; housing and transport 0.77; 36% below 150% of poverty; 59% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby22 within 10 km, 50 within 25 km: Old Post Office Pavilion (1.2 km); Center Market, Washington, D.C. (1.2 km); The Shops at National Place (1.3 km); Greenleaf Gardens (1.8 km); Kelly Miller Walk-Ups (1.8 km)computed
Overture Mapsno place match; building footprint 6,185 m², 21.183237075805664 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Attention: Wikipedia page views11,488 since 2015; 1,356 in the last 12 months (-10% vs the prior 12); peak 2018-09 with 364Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023tract boundary changed between the 2010 and 2020 census; no 2013 comparisonCensus ACS
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)very low overall (score 9.6); expected annual loss $866,008; community resilience very highFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km16 LIHTC properties, 2,225 units: Tyler House Apartments (284 units); Tyler House (284 units); Plaza West Apartments (233 units)HUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 20231,653 establishments (-5%); 21,170 jobs (+4%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $567,289 (-1% 1 yr, -10% 5 yr); typical rent $2,484/mo (+1% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)52,433 vehicles a day on INTERSTATE 395 BN (Interstate, 8 lanes); 1,682 trucks; 40 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

The Northern Liberty Market opened in 1875 as a public market and operated until 1963, when it closed due to supermarket pressure. After closure, the site hosted the National Historical Wax Museum from 1964 to 1975, after which the building was demolished in 1985. Today the location contains the CityVista condominiums with a Safeway supermarket and other ground‑floor businesses.

Why. The record attributes the 1963 closure to competition from supermarkets, indicating anchor loss due to retail pressure. Subsequent demolition followed the wax museum’s departure, reflecting reuse pressures rather than debt or environmental factors.

Where it stands. The site is currently operating as a mixed‑use development (CityVista condos with Safeway retail), though the record does not name a present owner.

For a planner

  • Precedent: conversion of a historic market to residential‑retail mixed use (CityVista).
  • Policy tools: the site’s strategy is listed as "redevelop" and new uses include housing and retail.
  • Open questions: current ownership, zoning designation, and any remaining historic preservation considerations.

For a developer

  • Site size and parcel boundaries are not provided in the record.
  • Control structure and current legal owner are unspecified.
  • Entitlement stage, flood‑plain status, transit access, and environmental constraints are unknown.
  • Market signals such as local rent levels or demand are not detailed beyond the opp_reasons mention of median rent $1,900.

What we do not know yet

  • Missing current owner and legal entity controlling the site.
  • No data on parcel size, exact boundaries, or subdivision layout.
  • Absence of context‑layer information (flood risk, transit proximity, environmental constraints).
  • Unverified status: the record is marked "draft" and many fields are model‑extracted without review.
  • Unknown timing of any pending approvals or entitlements for future changes.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Elsewhere on the web

Pages with photos

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

  • retrofit already built
  • median rent $1,900
  • housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Closed1963extracted, unreviewed
ArchitectJames H. McGill
CountyDistrict of Columbia
Census division5 · South Atlantic
NotesWikipedia categories: Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, year opened, original developer, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Background

The Northern Liberty Market, later called Convention Hall Market and Center Market, was located on the east side of 5th Street NW, between K and L streets, in the present-day Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It operated from 1875 to 1963.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 1946 Fire destroyed top floor of Convention Hall
  2. 1963 Market closed due to supermarket pressure
  3. 1964 National Historical Wax Museum moved to site
  4. 1975 Wax Museum moved to Southwest Washington
  5. 1985 Empty building demolished

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Northern Liberty Market · supports: after notes, status, strategy, year closed
    9 quoted sentences
    It finally closed in 1963 due to the pressure of supermarkets with only 110 stalls occupied by that time.
    The CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor.
    The CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor.
    The CityVista condominiums are now on the site with a Safeway supermarket and several other businesses on the ground floor.

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