Read below the article from HillRag:

“On Wednesday, June 27, local dignitaries presided over the ground-breaking at the new ‘Beckert’s Park’ development on the site of the 14th Street SE Safeway.

Real estate development firm Foulger-Pratt is building ‘Beckert’s Park,’ a 402,012 square foot mixed-use building. It will include a 60,000 square foot Safeway store, 325 units of housing in five stories and 8,000 square feet of additional retail including a Starbucks above below-grade parking. The marquee entrance will be placed at the corner of 14th & D Streets SE. The project is expected to be completed by 2020.

Dignitaries including Councilmember Charles Allen (Ward 6-D), DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DCHD) Director Polly Donaldson, Foulger-Pratt CEO Cameron Pratt and Jim Perkins, the Eastern Division President of Albertson’s, Safeway’s parent company, donned hardhats and picked up shiny shovels for a ceremonial dirt-tossing shortly after comments were delivered.

State of the Art Grocery Store

Safeway Division President Perkins said Safeway operates 15 stores in DC, two times as many as the closest competitor, and has been in business in the District for 75 years. “We love being here and we love doing business here,“ he said.

Perkins said there had been a Safeway in the area since 1955, and that the current 14th Street structure was built in 1980.

The new 60,000 square feet store will be 10,000 square feet larger than the current space and will constitute “a state of the art grocery store,” said Perkins, “with all the bells and whistles,” including a Starbucks and a ‘drive up and go’ grocery pick-up.

He said the store would employ 180 employees. Many would be staff returning to the location, but he said additional hires are necessary because of an expected increase in business due to growth in the neighborhood…”