The owner of a mixed-use building one block away from Nationals Park has given up on leasing its second floor to another retail tenant after it lost an upscale mini-golf concept last year.
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Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners filed a request for a modification of consequence with D.C.’s Zoning Commission late last month to convert the second-floor retail space of the 312-unit The Kelvin building into 16 residential units.
The developer cited the loss of Swingers and "difficulty in leasing second-floor retail space" for the change.
The building's second-floor retail space totals about 24K SF, but a retail listing this year from KLNB shows 20K SF available and another space occupied by fitness operator F45.
Swingers, which opened on the first and second floors of The Kelvin in March of 2023, was an eatertainment destination for just seven months before shuttering last October. The location included three bars, three golf courses and four food venues. It was the second location for the British-based concept in D.C. — the Swingers in Dupont has been open since 2021.
The mini-golf operator was the owner's Plan B for the space. Jair Lynch had initially leased to Punch Bowl Social, but that deal fell apart after the bowling bar operator filed for filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2020.
Jair Lynch delivered The Kelvin and the neighboring 127-unit condo development eNvy in 2020. The buildings’ retailers include Tom’s Watch Bar, Silver Diner, Chicken + Whiskey and Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Apartment List shows rents for studios at The Kelvin priced at just under $2K and two-bedrooms at around $2,800.
Capital Riverfront has a retail vacancy rate of 16.65% according to Dochter & Alexander’s Fall 2024 report, which cited four recent closures and five recent openings. Buffalo Wild Wings, one of Half Street’s staples since 2015, closed its doors in the building next to The Kelvin at the end of August.
Several Capitol Riverfront developers, including Jair Lynch Director of Investments Anthony Startt, said at a 2022 Bisnow event that the area around the ballpark needed to shift its retail tenancy to offer more than just bars and restaurants for baseball fans on game days.
"Diversifying the tenant base ... is a huge opportunity," Startt said. "More diversity, more affordable housing, more homeownership are key opportunities."
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