Starbucks will open a location in historic Anacostia -- the company's first stand-alone location in Washington D.C. east of the Anacostia River.
Courtney Snowden, the city's deputy mayor for economic development, told News4's Tom Sherwood that the coffee chain had agreed to open the location. Then, Mayor Muriel Bowser's office issued a statement announcing the big news.
The coffee shop will open as part of the Maple View Flats complex of 114 units of affordable housing, plus ground-floor retail. The development on a long-vacant lot is located at 2228 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE.
The local bookstore and cafe chain Busboys and Poets recently broke ground on a location nearby.
Some people who live nearby said they're worried that gentrification will displace longtime residents and small businesses.
"I'm happy for the change, but a lot of new businesses are going to force people out," one woman said.
Bowser said the Starbucks will create jobs and help create wealth.
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"This is how we expand prosperity -- by being intentional about how we develop our neighborhoods and ensuring that as we grow, we create jobs for residents and set our communities up for long-term success," she said in a statement.
Starbucks already has locations east of the river inside Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling and in the Safeway store on Alabama Avenue SE.
