Carroll Square Welcomes Le Pain Quotidien and Leica Camera

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Casual French eatery Le Pain Quotidien and exclusive retailer of photographic equipment Leica Camera, Inc. will soon fill the last available retail bays at 975 F Street, NW, in DC's East End. Akridge and Seaton Benkowski & Partners today announced the two 10-year leases that will bring their Carroll Square development to 100 percent occupancy this year. Both new retailers have already begun build-out on this prominent corner of the historic F Street shopping district.

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"We couldn't be happier to have such ideal businesses filling these final spaces," said P. Brian Connolly, Senior Vice President of Akridge. "The addition of these quality retailers continues the renaissance of the F Street corridor, and their presence represents a great new amenity for our building Clients."

Le Pain Quotidien's 2,749 square foot space at the northeast corner of 10th and F Streets will represent the restaurant and bakery's fourth DC location, with others opened in Spring Valley, Dupont Circle, and the Golden Triangle over the past three years. Several additional DC openings are planned. Surrounded by a mix of office, residential, cultural, and visitor traffic well-suited to the popular and growing operation, the Carroll Square address is expected to open in October.

The Leica Camera space is also expected to open before the end of this year, and will include a product showroom, image gallery, and a studio where customers will have the opportunity to try out the company's finest cameras. The 1,837 square foot boutique will be Leica's first stand-alone store in the country, although the product line has been preferred by White House photographers and other prominent photojournalists for decades. Carroll Square's proximity to the National Press Club at Fourteenth and F Streets was part of the building's appeal as a retail location.

Steve Combs and Matt Skalet of NAI KLNB represented Le Pain Quotidien, and Jeff Pollak and Rich Amsellem of Streetsense Retail represented Leica Camera in the new leases. Carroll Square was represented by Akridge's Wil Pace and Katie Gorretta. Akridge developed Carroll Square in partnership with Seaton Benkowski in 2007 and continues to provide leasing and property management for the building.

Other upscale retailers at Carroll Square include chocolatier and restaurant CoCo Sala, fine jewelry gallery Mia Gemma, French beauty products company L'Occitane, men's custom shoemaker Alden Shoes, and high-end eyeware purveyor I-doc Optical.  In addition to these boutiques, the building is home to the offices of prestigious law, investment, and lobbying firms including Seyfarth Shaw, Kraft Government Affairs, and Fitzpatrick Cella Harper Scinto. The property also houses a first class fine art gallery curated by Hemphill Fine Arts.  

About Akridge
Akridge is a comprehensive real estate services company that provides acquisition, development, property management, leasing, construction management, and consulting services. The industry's foremost benchmarking firm, CEL & Associates, has ranked Akridge the number one real estate firm in the country for Client satisfaction, among firms of similar size, 11 times since 1999. Akridge has been honored with the National Capital Business Ethics Award, awarded by the Society of Financial Service Professionals, and was recognized by the Washington Business Journal in 2011 as the #1 'Best Place to Work' in Greater Washington among large, locally-based companies. For more information, please visit www.akridge.com.

About Seaton Benkowski & Partners
Seaton Benkowski & Partners, North America Inc. provides real estate investment and management services for clients around the world. Domestically, it specializes in the placement and management of endowment, trust, and pension fund money. Locally, the firm has invested in over two million square feet of prime office space, emphasizing government and credit tenants with long-term leases. The firm is currently seeking additional investment opportunities in this market.

About Le Pain Quotidien
Founded in Brussels in 1990, Le Pain Quotidien now has more than 150 locations in cities around the world and across the US. The bakery/cafe restaurants serve simple, elegant boulangerie fare - soup, salads, tartines, breakfast, homemade pastries, and handmade organic bread - made with organic ingredients whenever possible. The menu includes many vegan and vegetarian options. Le Pain Quotidien is committed to responsible business practices that are good for the community and the environment. For more information, please visit www.lepainquotidien.us.

About Leica Camera
Headquartered in Solms, in the state of Hesse in Germany, Leica Camera AG is an internationally operating, premium-segment manufacturer of cameras and sport optics products. The legendary status of the Leica brand is founded on a long tradition of excellence in the construction of lenses. And today, in combination with innovative technologies, Leica products continue to guarantee better pictures in all situations in the worlds of visualisation and perception. For more information, please visit us.leica-camera.com.

SOURCE Akridge

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