"It was truly just a big cement box," Shanara Gabrielle, executive artistic director of Theater Alliance, told Washingtonian, describing the ground floor of The Westerly at 340 Maple Drive SW when her company first moved in. It had no bathrooms or running water, and it didn't have enough electricity.
That shell is now the Revada Arts Center, which opened October 23. Over the same weeks, two Wharf restaurants closed and a third stopped taking reservations. The newest reason to spend an evening in Southwest DC is a block from the Waterfront Metro station, and its business model has a lot to do with why it opened at all.
Three rooms on the water went quiet this fall
The Wharf still has a crowded waterfront and a busy holiday calendar. Still, the autumn turnover along its restaurant row is easy to track.
| Restaurant | Address | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Easy Company | 98 Blair Alley SW | Last service Sunday, October 11 |
| Mi Vida District Wharf | 98 District Square SW | Closed September 17 for water-damage repairs; reopening targeted for Q1 2027 |
| Officina at The Wharf | 1120 Maine Ave SW | Stopped taking reservations after October 30 |
Easy Company was a Better Hospitality Group project. According to PoPville, its closing note said the economics of the location had become unsustainable.
Mi Vida's closure had nothing to do with economics. PoPville reported that a water leak from the restaurant above damaged all three of its floors. The plan is to repair the space, give it its first renovation, and reopen in the first quarter of 2027.
At Officina, Capital City Post reported on October 30 that the multi-level Italian restaurant had stopped taking reservations after that date.
A big waterfront room depends on one operator covering one rent. That's the problem the people behind the Revada built their project to avoid.
Three nonprofits, one lease
The Revada is a shared home. Theater Alliance, the opera company IN Series and a new arthouse cinema called 4EYE Film Center co-steward the building. Inside are a black box theater, a cinema, a micro-proscenium stage, a rehearsal studio, a scene shop and a community and co-working space.
Theater Alliance had been at the Anacostia Playhouse for just over a decade and lost that home in 2024, according to The 51st. It then took the empty Westerly ground floor under the District's pop-up permit program, which lets tenants lease vacant commercial space for up to a year on short notice. Over the next year and a half, more than 5,000 people came to the five shows the company produced there, while the only bathrooms available were in the preschool next door.
The temporary arrangement became permanent. Theater Alliance signed a 15-year lease with the landlord, Hoffman & Associates, and raised more than $5 million from individual donors. The money also included a large grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and support from the Revada Foundation, an Alexandria family foundation that gave the center its name.
Washingtonian reports that the foundation was the largest donor. Gabrielle and the foundation's chairman, Dan Logan, worked out the idea of a space that would serve more than one organization so the cost wasn't carried by one nonprofit.
Emily Lenzner, a former Motion Picture Association executive who runs 4EYE, told The 51st that planning a new cinema has been "less daunting" because she isn't paying rent and utilities alone. Gabrielle described the arrangement to The 51st this way:
"We're talking about opera and music, film, and theater, right? So there's both cooperation and a lack of competition built in. A win for one is a win for all."
On a single weekend this month, the building has a play opening in the black box while the cinema runs matinees and evening screenings next door.
Where the door actually is
The address is Maple Drive SW, but you get in at street level between M and I Streets SW, between The Westerly apartment building and the Appletree Institute.
Theater Alliance says the venue is one block from the Waterfront Metro station on the Green Line. 4EYE's visitor page puts the walk at three to five minutes and lists the Metrobus D50 as the closest bus route.
If you're driving, both organizations point to the ABM Westerly garage on Wesley Place SW near K Street. 4EYE also mentions validated garage parking and street parking on weekends.
The center also has an artist co-working area. Before opening, Washingtonian described it as a cafe by day and a bar by night.
Just up the street, the 4th-and-M corner is going in a different direction. The Southwester reported that at the October 19 ANC 6D meeting, Transwestern returned with EYA as its development partner and proposed about 68 townhomes on the M Street SW parcels, including 11 affordable homes. The earlier retail concept for 4th and M is off the table. For now, the Revada is the one new reason to stop on this block at night.
What's on stage and screen through Thanksgiving weekend
Theater Alliance's Cold War Choir Practice runs November 19 through December 13. Washingtonian describes it as a comedy with music about a Black girl grappling with the implications of the Cold War. Showtimes and prices are on the company's show page.
4EYE opened with a "Made in DC" series of films shot in or about Washington, according to Washingtonian. In its first weeks, the cinema showed the documentary Being Heumann in open-caption, open audio description and sensory-friendly versions. Individual screenings on 4EYE's calendar cost $8 to $16.
Here's what's listed from publish day through Thanksgiving weekend:
- Thursday, Nov. 19: Syriana at 3 p.m. and March Forth at 7 p.m., followed by a conversation with Dwayne Betts and Marcus Bullock.
- Friday, Nov. 20: Big Night at 4 p.m. and Being Heumann at 8 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: A family matinee of Ratatouille at 10:30 a.m., then Being Heumann at 2 p.m. and Big Night at 6 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 22: The Post at 2 p.m. and Being Heumann at 5 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 27: Soul Food at 2 p.m. and The Taste of Things at 5 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Chocolat at 2 p.m.
After Thanksgiving, the screen leans toward food: Big Night, Soul Food, The Taste of Things and Chocolat all run in the week before and after the holiday.
IN Series' next listed DC production is (N)O King(s), running January 23 through February 7, 2027.
The Wharf still owns December
The waterfront is short a few dining rooms, but it keeps the big outdoor dates.
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 3 to 7 p.m.: The 2026 NWSL FanFest at the Wharf ahead of the NWSL Championship at Audi Field. That afternoon fits between the Ratatouille matinee and an evening showing of Big Night on Maple Drive.
- Friday, Nov. 27, noon to 8 p.m.: The Christmas Tree Market at The Wharf opens at 7th Street. Capitol Snow sells fresh-cut trees and will bundle yours and tie it to your car.
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 5 to 8 p.m.: The free Holiday Boat Parade & Party, with more than 60 decorated boats, live music, children's activities, Santa and fireworks.
- December: The Wharf Ice Rink on Transit Pier at 970 Wharf St. SW returns in December.
On a Saturday this season, you can see the parade on the water and then walk a few minutes inland to Maple Drive for a matinee or a show.
If you live near the Revada and want to know how a new arts anchor and the planned townhomes on M Street SW might affect your block's value, Hoyos Real Estate can walk you through it. Request a free home valuation, and Franky will put recent Southwest DC sales next to what's changing around 4th and M.
