Peek Inside the Carcass of Old Tall Oaks’ Anchor Space

It’s been five years since a store occupied the 25,000-square-foot grocery store space at Tall Oaks Village Center.

Giant Foods was in residence from the center’s founding in 1974 until 2007. In the following four years, two international groceries gave it a go, but came and went pretty quickly. Compare Foods, the last tenant, left in March of 2011.

The Jefferson Apartment Group purchased Tall Oaks for $14 million in late 2014. The developer has plans to tear down the strip center and redevelop it as residences (townhouses and condos) with 8,500 square feet of service and retail.

JAG reps say a recent consultants’ study, reviewed by the county, shows that no grocery store will thrive at Tall Oaks because of severe nearby competition (Whole Foods, Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter and future Balducci’s) and lack of road visibility.

JAG held a community meeting in the store space on Tuesday. With no heat or light, the old bones of the place are far from historic. With all store accoutrements stripped away, what’s left is rust, dust, must, and for Tall Oaks-area residents, memories.