New development in Anacostia exposes Competition and Concerns
ANACOSTIA-- Mahogany Books, the only bookstore in Washington D.C’s Anacostia neighborhood will soon have competition.
The Historic Anacostia neighborhood celebrated its first bookstore just last month with a grand opening, but it will now compete with the famous local restaurant and bookstore franchise Busboys and Poets. According wide news reports the popular foodchain’s owner Andy Shalla, the company will resume construction on the 2000 block of Martin Luther King Jr Avenue SE by this May. Contractors broke ground with the help of Mayor Bowser in 2016, but stalled the project for a variety of construction issues. The bookstore slash restaurant slash hipster hangout is slated to be finished by the end of 2020 according to Shalla who spoke to the Washington business Journal early this month. The sixth and newest location is only three miles from the Mahogany Bookstore which is located at 1231 Good Hope Road SE inside the Anacostia Art Center.
The opening of the new bookstore did not come as a surprise to Mahogany Books. “We all knew it was coming at some point,” Tanya Barnet an employee of the Mahogany books, said about the pending opening.” Both stores offer community space for residents to gather and authors to do readings. Mahogany books also reaches out to the community to do reading workshops and other learning initiatives. The community which previously relied on the Anacostia neighborhood library is making use of the store.
Few useful businesses have been quick to move east of the river in recent years. Walmart backed out of a deal with Ward 7 in 2016 costing the area hundreds of potential jobs. Starbucks also committed to plans to start building back in 2016. The coffee franchise announced that it would build a store outside the Bozzuto’s Maple View Flats, the new affordable housing apartment building in Ward 8. This year as the $50 million apartment project began construction, workers were halted by protesters who claimed the contactors failed to hire enough members of the community for the project.
“No strings were attached by the Mayor to ensure that Ward 8 residents would be employed” said Carl Ghurly , former Washington D.C. council candidate who attended the protest. Councilman for Ward 8, Trayon White, attended and supported demonstrators. He echoed their concerns in a tweet that said “Only four people on site were D.C. workers today.”
Those in protest also pointed out the forthcoming Starbucks does not exactly fit community needs. The average income in Ward 8 is just under $31,000 a year making it among the poorest in the district according to the 2015 US Census. The 2017 Census shows that the unemployment rate in the area is nearly 13 percent, making it unlikely for residents to splurge on expensive beverages. The peaceful demonstration highlights the fear of displacement that many in the Anacostia neighborhood have of new developers entering the area.
Other Anacostia residents welcome the opportunity for job growth and access to a variation of resources. Machia Partridge said that his mom commutes to work but if the community had local business she would be home more. Councilmen White discussed with residents what the role of new contractors in the Anacostia neighborhood should be in a community forum last Sunday. At the meeting he discussed jobs, construction projects, budget priorities, crime prevention and ways to get new money into the Anacostia community. He told residents that while overall development east of the river is significantly less than in other parts of the District according to Washington D.C. building permits, new developments if managed correctly can have the ability to increase employment .
Mahogany Books is a great example of that. The bookstore which officially opened its doors last November continues to show the community how important representation is. The owners have not only hired locals to work in the store, but also feature the works of African American writers to the predominantly black Anacostia neighborhood.