Site of the former Harris Teeter at 1350 Potomac Avenue, SE
Harris Teeter Will Terminate Lease on Potomac Ave Space
by Larry Janezich
Posted January 15, 2026
The main obstacle to leasing the former Harris Teeter at 1350 Potomac Avenue SE is that the company has continued to hold their lease on the unoccupied space. That’s about to change according to an announcement in an email from Danna Robinson, Director, Corporate Affairs and Customer Relations for Harris Teeter. Robinson announced today that the company has “a fully executed termination agreement for this location. Negotiations required to reach this agreement took time, but they were necessary to ensure an appropriate resolution.”
Asked to comment on the announcement, ANC6B09 Commissioner Karen Hughes – in whose single member district the site lies – said, “I hope another grocery goes into the space as a matter of food equity. The Potomac Avenue transit plaza is an important hub for Ward 7, which has very few grocery stores. I’m also looking forward to more competition in the neighborhood, as prices at the Safeway are quite high. Streets Market is already opening at 15th and Penn, and having another food vendor in the Harris Teeter space would be huge progress for food access on the east side of the city.”
Also weighing in on the announcement was Marc Levinson who is a board member on the Jenkins Row Unit Owners Association and also president of the building’s REA Board which governs shared property rights.
The commercial properties on the ground level of the building are owned by EDENS Properties who was Harris Teeters’ landlord. Levinson said, “Harris Teeter moved out of the store four years ago this month but continued to maintain the lease on the property and did not allow EDENS to show the property until last year.
I know the building has shown the space to a number of potential tenants, but no takers yet. Any new tenant will need to re-fit the interior space to suit their needs. So I’m sure we’re still looking at 1-plus years till something moves in, but that’s much better than having to run out the lease. I still don’t know a date at which the lease is going to be terminated. This…letter did not specify that…people should not be expecting a new grocer to come into that space next week. It’s going to take a lot more time than that for any new tenant to move into the space.”
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 
This is great news! This space has been empty for too long. I agree with Commissioner Hughes: We need another food market in that space. The Beckert’s Park Safeway has suffered from Harris Teeter’s departure from Jenkins Row. A capitalist economy needs competition to keep up the quality of goods & services. Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long to get another food market into the former Harris Teeter space.