Apple reveals plans for future Washington D.C. Carnegie Library store
Apple's plans to restore Washington D.C.'s Carnegie Library into a massive retail presence are moving forward, with the company presenting its plan to the Advisory Neighborhood Commission Monday evening.
Apple is planning on more than just an interior renovation for retail. According to the Washington Post, the company will outfit the location in accordance with Apple retail head Angela Ahrendt's vision of retail, and will host free concerts, art exhibits, and educational workshops in the space.
The library's book collection will be relocated, and the space will hold Apple's "Genius Grove." Reading rooms will become product demonstration areas.
"This is a way of creating a reason to come to the store, to touch and feel our products, but also to have an engaging experience with someone who is passionate about the same thing," said Apple Retail's Senior Design Director B.J. Seigel. "For us, it wasn't about coming in and leaving our mark. It was about bringing the history back out and respecting it."
Events D.C., Washington D.C.'s sports and convention authority proposed a 10-year lease, with two five-year extensions in December 2016. Apple will allegedly pay market rent, as well as a sum between $1 million and $2 million to Events D.C. to compensate for any losses related to the Apple shop being in the space, versus the prior use of it.
The space said to be attributed to Apple's lease measures around 63,000 square feet. For the design project it has reportedly tapped frequent collaborator Foster + Partners, aiming to replicate ideas used at other Apple stores in London and San Francisco.
Events D.C. is expected to retain rights to use the space for meetings and events several times a year, and maintain a small office space.
Ahrendts talked about her vision for Apple Retail in an interview at the end of April. Under Ahrendts, Apple has been overhauling the design and operations of its retail chain, with many shops adding trees, wooden shelves, oversized video screens, and new conference rooms, as well as alteration of work roles -- which have been controversial.
Apple is planning on more than just an interior renovation for retail. According to the Washington Post, the company will outfit the location in accordance with Apple retail head Angela Ahrendt's vision of retail, and will host free concerts, art exhibits, and educational workshops in the space.
The library's book collection will be relocated, and the space will hold Apple's "Genius Grove." Reading rooms will become product demonstration areas.
"This is a way of creating a reason to come to the store, to touch and feel our products, but also to have an engaging experience with someone who is passionate about the same thing," said Apple Retail's Senior Design Director B.J. Seigel. "For us, it wasn't about coming in and leaving our mark. It was about bringing the history back out and respecting it."
Events D.C., Washington D.C.'s sports and convention authority proposed a 10-year lease, with two five-year extensions in December 2016. Apple will allegedly pay market rent, as well as a sum between $1 million and $2 million to Events D.C. to compensate for any losses related to the Apple shop being in the space, versus the prior use of it.
The space said to be attributed to Apple's lease measures around 63,000 square feet. For the design project it has reportedly tapped frequent collaborator Foster + Partners, aiming to replicate ideas used at other Apple stores in London and San Francisco.
Events D.C. is expected to retain rights to use the space for meetings and events several times a year, and maintain a small office space.
Ahrendts talked about her vision for Apple Retail in an interview at the end of April. Under Ahrendts, Apple has been overhauling the design and operations of its retail chain, with many shops adding trees, wooden shelves, oversized video screens, and new conference rooms, as well as alteration of work roles -- which have been controversial.
Comments
Um... certainly not relative to the past, if you believe in things such as data or facts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Washington,_D.C.
The area where this Apple Store will be located is in a pretty good part of town, just north of Chinatown and across the street from the convention center. The location isn't great for casual foot traffic (other than convention visitors) but it's not far from a couple of subway stations and only a block or so out of the way. Chinatown has a lot of restaurants (mostly not Chinese) and a sports arena. There are also a few museums in the area. This Apple Store will also be the only one that's in downtown proper, with the current nearest stores being in Georgetown and across the river in Virginia. For those of you not familiar with DC geography, Georgetown is quite affluent and also inconvenient. The subway doesn't go there and with traffic it could take a little while to drive there despite the fact it's only a couple miles from the center. If I am downtown and need an Apple Store, I would go to the one at Pentagon City in Virginia.
Back on-topic, I welcome Apple's plans. Exciting.
Even so, a choice property. Not just Georgetown, but much of DC has some of the highest median zip codes in US now. (Yes, that's bizarre.) I think a large benefit of the place will be to attract convention attendees between sessions. New hotels and convention center.
Apple told the Post it doesn't intend to emblazon its logo on the historic building. It already has a huge billboard w latest iPhone on RFK stadium for traffic entering Capitol Hill.
In the sense that Apple interested in drawing people for unique experiences, this place certainly fits-- so long as you don't intend on finding easy parking.
DC is 11th in violent crime, 7th in murder, 23rd in rape, 8th in robbery, 17th in assault, 19th in property crime, 13th in larceny, and 34th in auto theft. The only things too far down for me to care about counting are burglary and arson. As to the reason for this, we’ll leave that for another thread.
The mention of turning Carnegie's philanthropic donation into a "massive retail presence" doesn't sit well with me. I appreciate that Apple is restoring the building, but this building should be used exclusively for the public good and not for someone's profit.
I don't blame Apple, I blame poor city planning that let this resource slip away. And it's not just Washington DC, this has happened at Carnegie library buildings all over the country.
Nope.
Apple is one of the biggest philanthropists in the world and environmentally conscious tech company so it's fine.
So, given your vague wording, which, to a reasonable reader, seemed like you were referring to crime levels in the present compared the past in close-to-all ("much") of DC, my data points were perfectly apropos.
Then you changed your premise. Typical, when you get called out.
Got to move on now. Sorry.