In a letter delivered Tuesday to Eastern Market Venture, Inc. (EMV), the District Office of Property Management (OPM) put Eastern Market’s current management on notice that it is in default of its lease to manage Eastern Market.

OPM included nine instances of default in its notice to EMV including:

• Entering into contracts in excess of $25,000 without prior written approval of the District;
• Failure to maintain its status as a non-profit corporation in the District. (Currently, EMV’s non-profit status is revoked);
• Failure to register with DC’s Office of Tax and Revenue; and
• Failure to monitor subtenants for sales and use tax registration, liability insurance and business licenses.

In accordance with the lease, EMV has thirty days to correct the defaults. The Notice of Default is part of OPM’s efforts to ensure that Eastern Market is the best public market in the country.

After a devastating fire in April, 2007, OPM initiated a major reconstruction effort and has issued a Request for Proposals for the management of Eastern Market upon expiration of the current agreement.

Eastern Market has been continuously used as a public food market since 1873. After last year’s fire, the displaced merchants were relocated to the new East Hall while the Market was rehabilitated. 

Today, the Market, on 7th Street, SE, between C Street and North Carolina Avenue in Capitol Hill, is the only public market in the District that has retained its original function as a thriving marketplace.  It features a broad array of food merchants, farmers, and growers, who are joined on weekends by artisans, antiques dealers, and other specialty vendors.  Art shows, music and theatre performances, and craft sales complement the vending.  All of these activities make Eastern Market popular with local residents, shoppers from the entire metropolitan area, as well as tourists visiting the DC area. 

Download the full Notice of Default*.