More shopping opportunities will be available near Thurston Hall, after a government agency approved plans to add retail shops in its office building.

The National Capital Planning Commission approved plans for retail shops on the E Street side of the General Services Administration headquarters, the building that takes up the square block from 18th Street to 19th Street and E Street to F Street.

Plans include ground-level retail shops along E Street, along with a formal entrance and a new security perimeter.

NCPC Senior Urban Planner David Zaidain said the project will “provide amenities for not only the federal employees that work in the building, but also for the surrounding neighborhood.”

The GSA has not released an expected completion date for the project and haven’t announced what stores or restaurants will fill the space.

Construction plans follow the policy goals outlined in the NCPC’s Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. This includes the “modernization, repair and rehabilitation of existing federally owned facilities before developing new facilities,” according to recommendations by the planning commission.

The GSA’s intent is to make its headquarters more publicly accessible, and to stimulate pedestrian traffic in and around the building.

After several studies, the GSA found that there will be no significant impacts on the human environment, such as noise and vehicular circulation.