Residents Fight To Preserve a Parking Lot
On Aug. 14, 1942, the Spring Valley Shopping Center on Massachusetts Ave NW was developed by W.C. & A.N Miller Development Co., which also built most of the exclusive Spring Valley neighborhood. Last fall, the shopping center was sold to the Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, which plans to build a two-story retail and office structure on a portion of the parking lot. But Spring Valley residents say the parking lot is a historic landmark, Washington City Paper reports. The shopping center received landmark designation in 1989; the parking lot is just a standard parking lot. Neighbors argue that the parking lot was built during a time of car-focused retail development, making it historically significant. Now it's up to the HPRB to decide if a parking lot can be a landmark. [WCP]
