Ten Storefronts, One Old Bank: The New Urban Mall Planned For Tenleytown

• September 1st

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The team behind Nesso Plaza, the H Street "urban mall" concept floated back in late 2024, has filed plans to bring a similar concept to Tenleytown. 

Jonathan Askarinam and Moe Pishvaeian have purchased the former PNC Bank branch at 4249 Wisconsin Avenue NW (map) with an eye towards transforming the building into a second concept in the same vein as the H Street outpost. 

Plans filed with DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment show the bank building reconfigured into ten small commercial spaces spread across a cellar level, first floor, and second floor, plus a rooftop penthouse addition with a restaurant space and decks on the north and south sides. 

At the H Street location, which is in the process of opening in the former Biergarten Haus and Brine buildings, the plan is for roughly a dozen to 20 small storefronts with neighborhood-serving, independent operators rather than national chains — the kind of mix that includes a butcher, a coffee shop, a nail salon, a barber, and a fitness studio alongside food and drink vendors. That same emphasis on small-format, community-serving tenants — rather than one big-box anchor — appears to be the model the Askarinam team wants to bring to Tenleytown.

"Rather than creating a traditional shopping center, the goal is to build a collection of complementary local businesses and experiences that give people a reason to visit throughout the day — whether that means grabbing coffee, meeting friends for a meal, shopping, bringing the kids to an activity, or simply spending time in the plaza," he told UrbanTurf. 

The Tenleytown concept, designed by Square 134 Architects, will likely go before the BZA in the coming months. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/ten_storefronts_one_old_bank_the_new_urban_mall/24953.