Michael Pratt, a real estate broker with D.C.-based Madison Retail Group, said the Toronto-based chain has signed a lease for 8,000 square feet at 3235 M St. NW, the former home of Cafe BaBaLu.

Pratt said the store is slated to open this fall. Club Monaco's landlord is Georgetown developer Anthony Lanier and his investors, who purchased the building in 1997. Club Monaco executives couldn't be reached for comment.

Fashion writers describe Club Monaco as a sleek version of Banana Republic, a division of The Gap, based in San Fran-cisco. Both stores are known for their fashionable twists on basics such as tank tops, chinos and drawstring pants.

Although Club Monaco will be entering the D.C. market for the first time, its parent company already has one location here. New York-based Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) bought Club Monaco in May for $52 million in cash. Polo also assumed $35 million in debt.

Polo's only store in the area is at 3270 M St. NW in Georgetown, across from the Club Monaco site. No word yet on whether more Club Monaco locations will open here.

Ralph Lauren himself has said he purchased the company because of its growth potential. Club Monaco has at least 14 U.S. locations: six in New York, four in Los Angeles, two in Chicago and one each in San Francisco and Seattle.

Founded in 1985, the chain has 75 stores in the United States and abroad. The company, which was publicly traded in Canada until the Polo deal closed, reported sales of $90 million last year.

Lewinsky plugged Club Monaco during her televised interview with Barbara Walters. Remember those extreme close-ups? That was Club Monaco eye shadow, lipstick and lip liner she was wearing. The day after the interview aired, stores reportedly sold out of the shades she wore.

Brew Moon postpones D.C. locations
Looks like Brew Moon won't be rising anytime soon over the Washington area.

Elliot Feiner, president and CEO of the Boston-based chain of restaurants with microbreweries, said his company has delayed its plans to open two locations here but provided no other details.

Brew Moon has signed a lease for 8,000 square feet at Georgetown Park, where it was slated to open this October in space that had housed Houlihan's. The company also was shopping for sites in Tysons Corner.

Brew Moon has six locations across the country, including one in Hawaii. Feiner told Washington Business Journal in March he planned to open four more this year and eight next year.

The news of Brew Moon's delay comes as consumers appear to be turning their backs on microbreweries.

Consider Frederick Brewing, maker of microbrews such as Blue Ridge, Brim-stone and Wild Goose. Frederick Brew-ing's executives said July 1 they are in negotiations to sell a majority interest in the cash-strapped company to Cleveland-based Snyder International Brewing Group. Frederick Brewing said it would use the money to refinance its debt.

Lifetime Fitness plans taking shape in Md.
Minneapolis-based Lifetime Fitness, developer of fitness centers so large that they border on being amusement parks, has filed plans for its second location in the D.C. area.

The 108,620-square-foot facility is slated for Traville, a 198-acre residential, office and retail project under development at Shady Grove and Darnestown roads in north Potomac.

Lifetime's first location here is under construction at Trinity Centre in Fairfax County. That's a 70-acre office, hotel and restaurant project at Interstate 66 and routes 28 and 29 in Centreville.

Lifetime's Centreville location is scheduled for completion in November. Shaun Nugent, the company's chief financial officer, said privately held Lifetime typically spends up to $15 million beefing up each of its sites.

That buys extras such as pools with two-story slides, rock climbing walls and basketball courts.

News & notes
The Bethesda retail development office of Dallas-based Trammell Crow has broken ground on First Colony Center, a 500,000-square-foot power center at routes 4 and 235 in St. Mary's County near the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. The center will be anchored by Giant, Lowe's, Staples and Target. Construction is slated for completion next spring. Trammell Crow's Bethesda retail office was part of Charlotte, N.C.-based Faison Enterprises. Trammel Crow bought Faison last year. ... Lanham-based Shoppers Food Warehouse has inked deals for two new locations here: a 60,000-square-foot store at White Flint Plaza in Rockville and a 58,230-square-foot store at Oxon Hill Plaza. Ronald Haft's company, D.C.-based Combined Properties, manages both retail centers. ... North Wilkesboro, N.C.-based Lowe's has inked a deal for a $15 million, 145,000-square-foot store at Largo Plaza. The home improvement center is slated to open next year. Calverton-based Carroll-ton Enterprises manages that retail center.

Pat Lopes Harris can be reached at (703) 816-0331 or by fax at (703) 875-2231. E-mail: plharris@washbj.com