Latney Funeral Home Moves North on Georgia; Six Story Mixed Use Building Coming

by Prince Of Petworth September 19, 2016 at 10:45 am 19 Comments

Petworth funeral home
3831 Georgia Avenue, NW

Thanks to Petworthian for sending the update on Latney Funeral Home.

Back in July of last year we learned:

“construction of a new six-story, mixed-use building containing 20 dwelling units and ground floor retail” was coming.

3831-Georgia-Ave_Schematic-Perspective-01-e1437504277859

Brightwoodian

Oh good. Another funeral home… Between Kennedy and upper Georgia Ave, I feel like we pretty much have the funeral home thing locked down in Northern DC.
- Tsar of Truxton
  
  Are funerals even a big thing still with people being cremated and donating bodies to science? My family didn’t have funerals for any of my grandparents, and I suspect that trend will continue with my parents and me. Funerals seem like such a huge waste of money.
  - Brightwoodian
    
    I’m not sure but I have more funeral houses within a half mile of my home than there are Rocky movies.
  - Petworth anon
    
    in the African American community, they are still a big thing. I just went to 2 last month–elderly neighbors.
    - Tsar of Truxton
      
      Interesting. I guess it probably makes sense that they would still be popular in certain communities, especially among churchgoers. I am not sure that I have been to two in my entire life. I think I went to one in high school, but that may be it.
  - T.
    
    I suspect that, even if your family did not hold a religious service or similar (not the part of the “funeral” that costs much money, incidentally), your family still needed to safely and legally dispose of the bodies. That’s where the funeral home comes in, even if you decide to go the cremation route.
  - textdoc
    
    Tsar of Truxton, you might find Jessica Mitford’s nonfiction book “The American Way of Death” (originally published in 1963; revised and republished in 1998) to be interesting reading.
    .
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Way_of_Death
  - Rich
    
    You clearly have not had first hand experience with a death. It changes perspective on a lot of customs. Plenty of people still have funerals.
- Anonymous
  
  Quietest neighbors you will ever have.
- n3
  
  “In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an industry developed that became a path to economic independence for many African-American funeral directors. With segregation firmly in place, black undertakers performed services for their own communities that whites refused to offer, strengthening racial bonds and lending black funerals a cultural significance that was uniquely African-American….
  
  The funeral directors’ financial freedom and positions as business leaders also played into the civil rights movement. Funeral homes became safe meeting places, and funeral directors were known to assist demonstrations and rallies (including the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott) by providing covert transportation in hearses. Funeral directors also used their community roles to combat some of the negative stereotypes of African-American culture that were emerging in radio, television and film. Advertisements for funeral homes deliberately projected a positive, respectable image of the black experience.” http://www.pbs.org/pov/homegoings/african-american-funeral-director/
fritz

I’m getting a chuckle out of the sign. “We have moved…please join us…”
- I Dont Get It
  
  Yeah I was expecting a hearse on the sign.
NHave

Not surprised at the bland architecture but I’m just glad their stupid hearse won’t be blocking the sidewalk every time I walk to the grocery store!
- west_egg
  
  It looks like every other midrange condo buidling going up these days. Too bad they couldn’t incorporate any of the existing facade; I’m guessing because they’d rather build right up to the sidewalk.
  - Anon
    
    I was just about to say the same thing! Why does it seem like every new building looks like this? It’s so depressing.
  - neighbor
    
    Cost and heigh restrictions are the problem. Preserving part of a facade like that is way more expensive than tearing it down and building a new structure, and it doesn’t add much if any value to the property. Because of height restricts margins are already super thin. That means they almost always go.
    - anonymous2
      
      Margins are not super thin right now
- timmyp2353
  
  HA! I know which one it is now without having to Google map it. It seems that ticketing in this town is very arbitrary.
Te

Beware anyone looking to move into this building when it is finished. The developer used some sneaky and shady tricks to avoid proper parking regulations. As the community fought to prevent their parking requirement waiver, it was clear that the developer had no interest in supporting the community or uplifting the area. Beside limited street parking congestion, onsite parking spaces are required to make it easier for elderly and handicapped residents who have limited mobility to be able to access vehicles. They completely ignored the regulation and found a loophole that was against the spirit of the law. I know they have ever right to try and make money at the community’s expense, I just wish these developer would think beyond their bottom line and work toward something that will last beyond their next paycheck.

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