Photo by NCinDC.

GM was told that this was going to happen eventually, but he didn’t realize it would happen so fast: Barnes and Noble has lost its lease. GM has only heard a brief rumor about it, so he has almost no details. The only piece he heard is that the new tenant, whoever they are, are paying $65 per square foot.

GM’s no real estate expert, but that sounds awfully high, particularly for such a spacious building.

Either way, GM’s going to be seriously depressed when this finally closes. Yes this is a dying business model, but he wishes that at least in cities like DC they could hold on longer. The Barnes and Noble was a great “third space” and a wonderful resource for tourists and residents alike. Yes, you can get all you want at Amazon instead, but you have to wait days for it. And the Internet has yet to recreate the experience of browsing an aisle.