The fences are down around C Street SE. The private road and the adjacent plaza on the south side of the street are now open to pedestrian traffic, and the weekend flea market could operate there as early as Saturday, Nov. 11th.
A representative for Stanton-Eastbanc said that “The flea markets will open this Saturday and Sunday on the street and plaza. There is no date yet for opening the street to traffic.”
The two private flea markets have been operating on the 300 block of Seventh Street SE since construction began on the Hine School Project in 2015.
The contract with the Department of General Services (DGS) to do so was expected to expire at the end of October, but on October 12th DGS made an offer to both flea markets to extend the contract with an increase in rent until May 2018.
Under those terms, it is possible that for the next seven months the Saturday and Sunday markets could wrap around the corner at C and Seventh Streets SE, and truly get a corner on the market.
This story has been updated. A previous version stated that Diverse Market Management (DMM), which runs the Sunday private flea market on lower Seventh Street SE, would not agree to the terms of the DGS offer. DMM has since accepted the offer.
