DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse is targeting an “early fall” opening at Ellsworth Place, a representative for the mall confirmed to the Source via email.
We reported last December that DSW was set to leave its street-level location at 910 Ellsworth Drive for Ellsworth Place. Brentwood, Tenn.-based GBT Realty, owners of Ellsworth Place, confirmed in January of this year that the discount shoe retailer signed a lease in late 2021 with construction to renovate the former Guitar Center storefront on Level 4 of the mall.
Guitar Center, which opened in April 2017, closed its location at Ellsworth Place in January of last year following the company’s bankruptcy filing.
DSW’s Ellsworth Drive location closed on January 22, and signage directed shoppers to DSW’s locations in Hyattsville and Wheaton. A replacement retailer for the now-vacant space in the Downtown Silver Spring development has not been announced.
“DSW is one of the leading fashion retail companies operating today and is an ideal tenant to further our vision of making this center a hub for value-oriented shopping and innovative dining in this vibrant community,” Trey Culpepper, vice president of the capital holdings division of GBT Realty, said in the company’s January announcement. “It’s just one more way Ellsworth Place is becoming a more integrated part of the Silver Spring community.”
Ellsworth Place, originally known as City Place, was acquired by GBT from previous owner Petri Richardson Ventures in 2018. Petri Richardson Ventures acquired ownership and management of the 350,000 square-foot shopping center in 2012 in a joint venture with Rockwood Capital and put the shopping center up for sale in 2017.
“Quite a bit has changed at Ellsworth Place since we added the center to our portfolio,” Culpepper continued. “The DSW announcement comes on the heels of another tenant announcement — Commas, an eclectic food hall with 12 food and beverage vendors that is also scheduled to open this year. Over the past two years, GBT has invested a half-million dollars in property improvements including an indoor playground that encompasses nearly the entire ground level as well as updated lighting, digital directories, and graphic installations.”
Culpepper also hinted in GBT Realty’s January announcement that more new tenants will be announced in the coming months. “Leasing momentum is growing and is higher than it’s ever been since we’ve owned the center. More shopping and dining options are expected to be revealed in the coming months as a good number of retailers and restaurants are in hot pursuit of the available space. Potential tenants are most interested in the full-service, second-generation restaurant as well as the two storefronts that front Fenton Street.”
Source file photo. Floor plan courtesy of Ellsworth Place
