In case you missed it: Monument Realty exploring massive Logan Circle redevelopment

While we've been away on a bit of a blogging hiatus (much like the city itself, the 14thandyous slow down a bit during the summer months), there has been a steady stream of news coming into the neighborhood. The most intersting, in our opinion, was the story broken last week by Lydia DePillis at the City Paper regarding Monument Realty's potential acquisition and redevelopment of two massive sites in the Logan Circle area.



You probably know the Frontiers developments (one located at 14th and Riggs, the other at 11th and N): the series of bland brick townhouses built in that oh-so-lovely 1970s style, each featuring an almost comically massive (by urban neighborhood standards) parking lot. Originally built as public rental housing by the city, the units were eventually sold to private owners in the late 1990s. Today, the units that were originally purchased for around $125,000 are now appraised at upwards of half a million.

But in Logan Circle, where new developments are going up practically every day, developments such as the Frontiers aren't exactly aligned with the rest of the neighborhood. So in steps Monument Realty to address that issue.

DePillis takes readers through a recent meeting Monument representatives held with members of the Frontier condominium associations about a potential acquisition of the properties. In short, it would look something like this: 80% of the 54 unit owners in the east and west Frontiers associations would have to vote to dissolve the master condo association, and then the east and west associations would have to vote unanimously to dissolve themselves. If that unlikely series of events occurs, Monument is prepared to pay each unit owner over $800,000 for their respective units, along with an assurance to make units available in the new development(s) available to owners who wish to remain in the neighborhood.

In all, Monument could end up with one, both, or neither parcel, and end up paying upwards of $40 million to acquire both. (Which tells you how profitable the condo market is these days.)

Initially, it's easy to take a cursory look at this situation and proclaim it the clearest example in an ever-lengthening list of perceived attempts to purge Logan and the 14th Street corridor of low- and moderate-income residents. Undoubtedly, if this sale goes through, there will be those pining for the redevelopment of the buidlings along the 1400 block of R street as well.

But as with most such issues, the situation is a bit more nuanced than that. After all, receiving an amount equal to 175% of the value of your home is a deal that many people would take. $800,000 would grant you pretty wide latitude to purchase a new property in many areas throughout the city. And, since all units are privately held, and with the complexity of the condominium association governing documents, each individual owner literally has final say as to whether the deal moves forward. And based upon comments made by Monument representatives, they appear prepared for the very real possibility that it won't.

Owners also seem to be aware that they're in an advantageous position: the developers came to them, and they basically hold all of the cards. But Monument is unlikely to have endless patience (or pockets) for pursuing the acquisition of the properties. In the meantime, there are 54 condominium owners in Logan Circle who have a lot of thinking (and meeting) to do.

What Could Have Been: "Diner," "Tryst" Team Opening in Columbia Heights

Remember back when there was talk of The Diner own Constantine Stavropoulos opening an outpost of his fledgling culinary empire in the U Street corridor? Sure you do. Approximately three years ago, while plans for the building at the corner of 14th and T were still up in the air (the City Paper even did a story on the building), talks were in the works to bring Stavropoulos and a 24-hour diner to the space.



Or, rather, I should say talks were in the works to prevent Stavropoulos from opening a 24-hour diner in the space, as local ANC officials and neighborhoods residents opposed to the concept helped to torpedo the plans. Furniture retailer Room and Board eventually stepped in to claim the space and did a bang-up job on the renovation (and the inexplicably decided to close the store at 7 PM every evening, just as people were getting home from work).

Meanwhile, Stavropoulos never abandoned his plans to open another "Diner" concept in central DC. And now, it seems he's finally landed a space on the burgeoning 11th Street corridor in Columbia Heights. The concept, currently named The Fishbowl, will consist of a combination of a coffee house, restaurant and bar/lounge, and will open in a building at 11th and Monroe that is currently under renovation.

When all is said and done, the over 7,000 sf space will welcome nearly 200 guests and--here's the kicker--be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (Of course, such plans are still at the mercy of local neighborhood groups such as the ANC, but by all rights Stavropoulos appears confident that the 24 hour concept will go forward.) At this point, some of you are probably breathing a sigh of relief that such a concept didn't open up at 14th and T, whereas others (a majority, I suspect) are likely lamenting a missed opportunity.

At any rate, the announcement by Stavropolous seems to solidfy 11th Street as one of the city's new premier restaurant/lounge corridors, and offers a sufficient rebuttal for those who think Columbia Heights is simply an extended suburban strip mall.

One Dead in Drive-By Shooting @ 11th and U

EDIT: MPD have made an arrest in the shooting, which appears to be a case of two rival gangs getting into an altercation at a funeral which led to the gunfire. Stay classy, street gangs.

On a related note, the victim who died--Jamal Coates--appeared in a campaign video for Ward 1 council candidate Bryan Weaver.

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DCist is reporting that one person has died, and two others have been injured, in a drive-by shooting this afternoon at 11th and U streets. Apparently, the shooting somehow involved the procession for Ashley McRae, who was found shot in the backseat of a car on September 18 after a night out at a nightclub in NE.

Ward 1 ANC commissioner and city council candidate Bryan Weaver tweeted at approximately 12:45 that police had covered the body of an African-American male in his 20s, and that Weaver "might know him".

From DCist:

Details about the actual gunfire are scant -- a Ben's Chili Bowl employee that we talked with on the scene said that he saw gunmen fleeing from the scene southbound. Other eyewitnesses also said that two men escaped from the overturned car after the crash and fled on foot. D.C. Fire and EMS are on the scene and evaluating injuries, but there is no word yet on specifics. The car was completely totaled.

Several people were in hysterical tears by the entrance to Solly's at the intersection of 11th and U, and it took several authorities to calm them. Emotions were running very high at the scene; several people who were yelling at police had to forced to leave the scene as they investigated. Detectives with MPD were on their way to the scene when DCist came back to file this report.

Changes in Store at Modern Liquors; New Microbrewery Coming?

This afternoon, we received the following message from Jeff Harrison, (former) owner of Modern Liquors at 9th and M streets:

FYI, after today I will no longer have any involvement with Modern Liquors. The new owner fired my staff last night, and as a result, I've decided that I need a clean break. The Modern Liquors you know today is the result of my hard work, and it was my desire to reap the rewards, but obviously that's not going to happen. It's highly unlikely that I'll open another shop, however, I have been approached by the infamous District Liquors (11th St.) to revamp their store just as I did with Modern. I'll let you know if/when things become official.



For anyone who attended Modern Liquors' frequent wine and spirits tastings, you know that Jeff's friendliness and personality were a significant reason to patronize the establishment. He took what was basically a run-of-the-mill liquor store and, through frequent tastings and events (including some lovely cheese and chocolate pairings) transformed it into an enjoyable and unique establishment. We can only hope that the new owner continues operating the business in a similar vein.

Along similar lines, Jeff also makes mention that he and a group of friends are embarking on opening a microbrewery they intend to call "Logan Shaw". They are aiming to open the microbrewery, which will begin with three varieties, by "early 2011" at an as-yet-undetermined location.

If plans for the microbrewery get off the ground, I have to think that will be a winning enterprise. Lord knows the wine bar idea is quickly getting tapped out, and ChurchKey has firmly entrenched itself as the area go-to for a wide and obscure beer selection. The next logical choice, as far as alcoholic-themed establishments go, would be a mircobrewery--something DC has lacked ever since the Heurich Brewing Company packed up and left town.

Random Neighborhood Thoughts, Pt. 2

The latest in a continuing series of posts that are basically a series of disconnected thoughts. Best for those of us with ADD.

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OK, I get that people enjoy dining al fresco, particularly when the weather is nice. But is dining outside along 14th Street really that enjoyable of an experience? Between the noise and fumes emanating from the Metrobuses, the general cacophony of 14th Street traffic (particularly motorcycles and EMS vehicles) and random people approaching you for a "friendly chat", let's just say that I've dined outside in better places.

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It will be a nice day once Metro is able to update its fleet of buses and get everything running as quiet as, say, the G2 along P Street. The 50 line buses can sound like a jet engine taking off when they accelerate--which is amplified when the Metrobus driver stops and accelerates a dozen times in the space of a single block.

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Speaking of buses, I meant to write earlier about the story from a few weeks back noting that the District was stepping back from Circulator expansion out of concern that it was competing with the Metrobus system. My question: why is that a bad thing? If people gravitate towards a system that offers greater frequency and reliability, a simplified route and fewer stops (meaning you get to your destination faster), that should say something to the Metro powers-that-be. Your job should be to present District residents with the most dependable and reliable public transit possible; if Metrobus is failing in that regard, fix it. Don't cut back on Circulator expansion simply because it's perceived to be stealing riders from Metrobus.

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Switching gears a bit...I'm impressed with how the Room and Board building is coming along. I'll be the first to admit that the prospects of yet another furniture retailer along 14th Street didn't exactly send me rushing into the streets with giddyness. But they're doing a fantastic renovation on that building, and the customer traffic they will bring into the neighborhood can only serve to help the other local retailers. It's also nice to have a new business enter the neighborhood that doesn't provoke some kind of alcohol-fueled controversy.


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For all the talk about how DC's homicide rate continues to plummet (and that is a *good* thing), why no talk about how gun crimes are going up through the roof? It's good that the triggers aren't getting pulled as often, but for anyone on the wrong end of a gun robbery the experience can be traumatizing. Yeah, DC's something like a thousand times safer than it was 20 years ago, but let's maintain some perspective.

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OK, seriously, WTF is with all of the tagging going on in the neighborhood? We raised this back in February, with assurances that it would be addressed. Yet, near as I can tell, the volume of tags has only increased. The Verizon building next door to Cafe Salsa got hit sometime last week.

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I noticed that the 11th Street streetscape project is finally wrapping up. A mere 10 months over schedule. And people wonder why business owners get nervous whenever a streetscape project is announced? To see what a *really* messed up street looks like, head over to H Street NE. That one is a real mess.

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And finally...yes, the Caps loss to Montreal is beyond disappointing, yes Bruce Boudreau should be brought back, and no, Jaroslav Halak is not the second coming of Patrick Roy or Dominic Hasek. He just played like it.

Now I've been reduced to rooting for my other favorite team: whoever is playing Pittsburgh.

Meeting on 11th Street Reconstruction Project

Those of you who live along or have occasion to traverse 11th Street know that the ongoing reconstruction of it has left things all kinds of ^$%@ed up.

If you are interested in learning about the current status of the project, including its anticipated completion date, DDOT is holding a public meeting on Tuesday, July 21 from 6p - 8p at Asbury United Methodist Church, located at 926 11th Street NW.

In a rather foreboding note, the flyer that was distributed encourages residents to attend to "learn what construction activities are planned for the coming weeks and months." The word "months" is suspicious because, as you may recall, the project was supposed to have been completed in July. As in, now.

We hate to bring this up, but we totally called this one.

Delays for 11th Street Reconstruction

If you ever venture along 11th Street, NW in Shaw, you are well aware of the street reconstruction underway. Though this project was very necessary given the state of the street, it has been incredibly destructive. The latest news is that the street reconstruction has just been delayed due to "utility conflicts." If all goes well, however, it should take WASA about a week from the 15th through the 21st of this month to complete their construction, and residents shouldn't experience any additional pain other than periodic daytime water outages.

11th Street Reconstruction Set to Start

Any day now, the construction vehicles are going to set up shop and the long-awaited reconstruction of 11th Street between L and O streets is set to begin. A website, www.11streconstruct.com, has been set up to alert the public to construction milestones and progress on the project, which will feature a complete reconstruction of the street, landscaping improvements, and the installation of a traffic signal at 11th and O streets.

You can read all of the details about the project at the website, but we thought it would also be helpful to highlight the project phases, so that those of you who either live along and/or frequent 11th St. know what's in store. The project will be broken up into four phases, as follows:

Phase 1 of the construction is between L St. and N St. on the northbound side of the street. Phase 2 is construction between N. St. and O St. on the same side. Phase 3 is construction between L St. and N. St. on the southbound side of the street, and phase 4 is construction between N. St. and O St. on the southbound side.

At the public meeting, there were some pertinent questions asked which are not answered on the website, so we're sharing a couple of them here.

Question: Why only between L and O streets? Why not reconstruct 11th street up to Rhode Island or beyond?
According to DDOT officials, it's an issue of funding. The DDOT budget, like most other city and governmental agencies, has seen their budget cut significantly, leading to the scaling back of some projects, and the indefinite delay of others. It seemed as if the DDOT officials would have liked to gone ahead and reconsruct 11th Street farther north, but the budget simply wouldn't allow it.

Question: What assurances are in place that the project isn't going to run months over schedule?

Many of you probably remember the Q Street reconstruction project and the significant delays that were incurred there--taking the project over 6 months over its projected end date. The biggest impediment to completing the Q Street project in a timely manner was the accidental severing of PEPCO service lines that were buried under the street. Whoops. DDOT officials assured us that there were ongoing communications between the DDOT contractor and the utility companies, and that there would be no repeat of the problems that delayed Q St. Additionally, the DDOT contractor is penalized $1,100 per day for every day the project runs over its projected end date. that may sound like a lot of money, but a $30,000 penalty for running a month over on a multi-million contract doesn't strike us as particularly foreboding. We shall see.

So, get ready for some significant road upheavals over the next nine months. Hopefully the finished project will be worth the wait.

11th Street About to Get All F'ed Up

A safe bet is that your 11th St. commute is going to get pretty nasty come this fall. According to a message from ANC 2F06 commissioner Mike Bernardo:

In response to my continued questioning about the reconstruction of 11th
Street, NW (between L and P Streets), DDOT has informed me that bids will
open tomorrow, on July 2, 2008. In approximately six to eight weeks, a
Notice To Proceed (NTP) for construction will be issued. They don't expect
actual construction to begin before September 2, 2008.

In other words, expect construction to begin sometime in late October to early November, to go on far longer than planned, and to enormously disrupt business operations, traffic, and pedestrian/bicyclist access.

The problem with these "reconstruction" projects, as we've seen on P St. in Dupont and, more recently, Q St. in Logan, is that they *always* run over their projected timeframe and are *always* more disruptive than initially believed. (Q St. finished approximately 6 months over schedule, and the P St. project virtually killed the commercial strip west of the circle in Dupont.) 11th St. should be particularly interesting (read: frustrating) due to the volume of traffic it carries and the 66/68 bus lines that frequently travel it.

This will also be worth watching due to the pending 14th St. "streetscape" project and the streetscaping of the Logan portion of P St.

Neighborhood Meetings

Some things to put on your calendar:

ANC Stuff
The monthly ANC 2F meeting will be held next Wednesday, February 5th.The ANC 2F Community Development Committee (CDC) meeting will be held at the end of the month on Wednesday, February 2nd. All ANC 2F meetings are scheduled to run from 7 to 9 p.m. and are held at the Washington Plaza Hotel on Thomas Circle.

ANC 1B will meet on Thursday, February 7th from 7 to 8 p.m. at the True Reformer Building, 1200 U Street, NW.

As of today, no agenda has been posted for any of the above ANC meetings.

Streetscapes
The third of four public meetings regarding the 14th Street streetscape will be held on Tuesday, February 19th from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Studio Theater. At this session draft recommendations for the project will be reviewed. As Mr. 14th & You mentioned in "P is for Phrustrating," it is a little scary to think of all of the pending NW street projects in and around Logan Circle. One of our suggestions would be to make sure that they are all very well scheduled so that we aren't beset with DDOT projects on P Street (in Logan, as opposed to the prior Dupont streetscape), 11th Street, 14th Street, 15th Street, and 17th Street running simultaneously or very close together.

There will also be a public meeting to review design concepts for the 17th Street Streetscape Project this coming Saturday, February 2 at the United Methodist Foundry Church, 1500 16th Street, NW.

Have issues with Verizon, Pepco, or Washington Gas?
Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh is holding hearings on the quality of utility services in our city. If you want to give praise, or more likely, gripe, plan on attending the Saturday, February 9 meeting at 11 a.m. in Room 412 of the Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. Alternatively, there will also be a hearing during the work week at 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 7 in the Council Chambers. If you are already thinking about how you'd love to rant publicly about your high home phone bill, contact Aukima Benjamin at (202) 724-8062 or abenjamin{at}dccouncil{dot}us to arrange to testify.

Less Lead in Your Water
WASA is holding meetings in each quadrant of the city to update residents on the current plans for replacing lead service lines. The NW forum will take place on Tuesday, February 26 from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Fort Stevens Recreation Center, 1327 Van Buren Street, NW.

Police Department PSA Meetings
On Thursday, Feburary 14th from 6:30 to 8 p.m. you can join local citizens and police from PSA 308 (Shaw) for a meeting about crime problems and potential solutions. Meetings are held at Gibson Plaza Apartments, 1301 7th Street, NW on the second Thursday of every month.

PSA 307, which covers Logan circle, also meets monthly. The February meeting is not yet on the calendar, but you can see more information about the meetings here.

Dupont Circle Citizens Association
The DCCA will meet on Monday, February 4th at 7:30 p.m. to discuss plans for a senior village to allow older area residents to "age in place" in their Dupont neighborhood. The meeting will be held at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University Bernstein-Offit Building, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Room 500.

Yet Another Streetscape

Seventeenth Street between Massachusetts and New Hampshire Avenues will be one of the upcoming streetscape projects with construction scheduled to begin in fall 2008. Those interested in the project should consider attending the public meeting 7 p.m. on October 22 at Foundry Methodist Church.

Shortly after the P Street streetscape is complete, we will soon see the start of the 11th Street reconstruction project (spring 2008), the 17th Street streetscape (fall 2008), and the 14th Street streetscape. The ANC and DDOT assure us that these projects will amount to a little pain now for large gain later. I can't help but notice, however, that we'll have a lot of torn up streets and sidewalks next year.