Back in May ’10 we learned that the former space of Station 9 was for sale. More recently there has been a for lease sign out front advertising for a “retail/restaurant/office”. I happened to notice a couple of permits that have gone up which list proposed uses for offices and “2 family flat”. I wonder if they are also still looking for a restaurant or if all the space will be occupied by the flat and offices? I’ll be sure to update when more info becomes available.
Wow, I feel it’s been a really long time coming but it looks like it’s gonna be worth the wait. This past weekend was the first time I’d seen what the space was looking like. Even though planting still needed to be completed – you can certainly get a taste of how it’s gonna look. It was bulldozed back in Sept. ’10. And of course this the former home to the benches.
From what you can tell now – do you think this is an improvement?
Ed. Note: Yesterday the Washington Post reported that:
“An outside investigator has concluded there was “no wrongdoing” by former D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty in the issuance of parks and recreation contracts to firms with ties to his administration.”
I will return for more photos when everything has been planted and the weather warms up a bit.
1323 Girard St, NW March 2011
Thanks to Capcityre for sharing the rendering. Looks like it’s gonna be a complete new construction.
1323 Girard St, NW Rendering
And Capcityre also shares their new transom for 3311 13th St, NW (at Park Rd):
Transom at 3311 13th St, NW
Rendering of the Educare facility
From a press release:
Groundbreaking ceremony to begin construction of a $12-million, state-of-the-art Educare school providing early childhood education aimed at closing the achievement gap for children in poverty. Scheduled to open in early 2012, Educare of Washington, DC, will provide direct services to 171 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their families and offer full-day, full-year programming along with space for community gatherings.
In addition to serving families in the Parkside-Kenilworth communities, Educare will provide technical assistance and training to support a new effort aimed at raising the quality of birth-to-five services for hundreds more at-risk children in Wards 5, 7, and 8 – areas of the district with the highest concentrations of poverty.
“Dear PoP,
Looks like JBG just recently bought the neighboring lot to my building (The Floridian) for $10m! And looks like they are temporarily at least naming it after the existing building on the lot:
Address: 945 FLORIDA AV
SSL: 2873 0799
Neighborhood: COLUMBIA HEIGHTS
Land Area: 37,402
Triennial Group: 1
Owner and Sales Information
Owner Name: ATLANTIC RESIDENTIAL C LLC THE JBG COMPANIES
Mailing Address: 4445 WILLARD AVE STE 400; CHEVY CHASE MD20815-4641
Sale Price: $8,977,000
Recordation Date: 12/23/2010
Tax Year 2012 Preliminary Assessment Roll
Current Value (2011)
Land: $8,976,480
Improvements: $100
Total Value: $8,976,580
Taxable Assessment: * $8,976,580
Holy cow this could be huge. This is a really prime location. And JBG is a serious group. From their Web site:
JBG has vast experience in developing office, residential (both multi-family rental and for-sale condominiums), grocery anchored and urban retail, and hotels. In many cases, JBG develops these product types as mixed-use assets in very high barrier-to-entry markets which gives it a distinct competitive advantage.
JBG has developed, owned or managed over 30 million square feet of office space, 5.5 million square feet of retail space, 15,000 residential units and 15 hotel properties totaling over 4,500 rooms. It is currently responsible for development/redevelopment opportunities of approximately 8.5 million square feet of office space, 2.2 million square feet of retail space, 13,200 multi-family residential units and 2,500 hotel rooms throughout the Washington Metropolitan area.
I think at one point there were plans for condos and if I were a betting man I’d say that’s likely what we’ll see. I’ll be sure to update when more info becomes available.
Thursday, March 10, 2011, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
*West Education Campus, West Elementary School at 1338 Farragut St., NW (Cafetorium) (NEW LOCATION)
STUDY PURPOSE: With the help of government agency representatives and community stakeholders, the revitalization strategy will help prioritize concerns and determine potential opportunities for revitalization and infill development for the following commercial nodes along 14th Street:
Spring to Shepherd Streets |Webster to Decatur Streets | Jefferson to Longfellow Streets NW
MEETING #4 PURPOSE: A presentation of conceptual drawings at potential opportunity sites along the corridor : 1) C&K Motel, 2) Ethiopian Church parking lot & WMATA bus barn parking garage, 3) the Value Furniture site, and 4) the intersection of Colorado Ave. and Kennedy Street. OP will incorporate public feedback received during this meeting to further refine the conceptual drawings and plan recommendations. Visit www.planning.dc.gov for more information on the planning process.”
14th Street Corridor Vision Plan and Revitalization Strategy Meeting #4
“Dear PoP,
This building is at the corner of Vermont and V St. NW, between American Ice Co. and Duffy’s. Both it and the lot next to it have been vacant ever since I moved into the area late last year, but I never noticed the windows on the second floor until last week. They look to be brand new compared to the rest of the building, and they still have stickers on them. I immediately got excited and wanted to know more, but there’s no sign of any other changes. I was hoping maybe you knew something about the building or the lot next to it. I’m also curious about what the building used to be given the large oval where a sign once hung.”
This building has been reader nominated multiple times for a horse’s ass award. A reno here would be most welcome news. Anyone have any info or scuttlebutt?
“Dear PoP,
The complete chaos on Sherman Street came up in the comments on yesterday’s taxi post. Yesterday I counted seven backhoes in a three-block stretch, so today I had my partner take a photo from the passenger seat (only three backhoes and a crane in this photo). I asked for details about this intense construction and commenter jcm helpfully provided:
RECONSTRUCTION OF SHERMAN AVENUE FROM FLORIDA AVENUE, NW, TO PARK ROAD, NW – Total redesign and reconstruction of the roadway and sidewalk;upgrade of ramps, streetlights, traffic signals and drainage. New median with street trees. Scheduled completion date is July 8, 2012.
Sounds like a great improvement to what was a fairly sketchy few blocks. Any more information? Are there sketches of what the final result will look like?
Yes, there is a phenomenal Web site from DDOT devoted entirely to the Sherman Avenue Reconstruction project:
“The Sherman Avenue, NW Streetscape project will provide modifications and safety improvements for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic within the Sherman Avenue corridor from Barry Place, NW to Park Road, NW. The project is a reconstruction and streetscape project that will also include elements of safety improvements, traffic signaling, pavement marking, signage and bicycle access modifications.”
You can see the construction schedule here.
And here’s a rendering:
Rendering from DDOT
The Old Post Office Pavilion located at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave, NW is one of my favorite buildings in DC. Though, I always seem to forget that it even exists until the next time I pass it on a walkabout, when I find myself marveling at it’s beauty again. (We judged it back in May ’09) So I was very excited to see some potential news from the Downtown BID:
All eyes are on the Old Post Office Pavilion (1100 Pennsylvania Avenue), the 112-year-old historic landmark that soon could see a new use in the days ahead. The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking a private partner to restore the 400,000 square foot (SF) property and the adjacent vacant pavilion. GSA plans to issue a request for information soon. Several possible uses have been discussed over the past few years, including turning the seven-story building into a hotel. The building currently houses the National Endowment for the Arts , the National Park Service (NPS), the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and several hundred office workers. In addition, there is 15,000 SF to 20,000 SF of food outlets and tourist retail. The NPS runs the observation facility that provides programming for, and access to, the bell tower, a great place to take in excellent views of Downtown Washington, DC, and the National Mall.
A more active use than an office building could help reinvigorate Pennsylvania Avenue, much as the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Avenue), Central Michel Richard restaurant (1001 Pennsylvania Avenue) and Café du Parc (1401 Pennsylvania Avenue) have. Several members of Congress, including DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton—a longtime champion of the project’s redevelopment—are anxious to push the project forward. And with good reason: it is reported that the property loses more than $5 million annually due to underutilized space, low retail rents and high operating costs.
So what do you think would be the best use for this amazing building – a hotel? Combination hotel and restaurants? A museum? A movie theater? A Trader Joe’s? (I’m just kidding.) What do you think would be the best (combination of) use(s) for developing this amazing space?
Photo by PoPville flickr user JosephLeonardo
The old Bloomingdale Firehouse is located at 1626 North Capitol Street, NW. I was happy to see some improvements when I walked by last weekend. You can see what it used to look like here. And in really good timing a reader commented earlier today:
“I attended the Bloomingdale ANC meeting last night were the developers of the Firehouse were there to pitch their alcohol license and said the first floor restaurant will be open for July 4th and the second floor tavern will be open by Aug 1, and the third floor would come after that. Go Bloomingdale!!!!!”
Though I thought it was interesting that another reader commented a dissenting opinion a couple days ago. He wrote:
“I live on Quincy near the firehouse and I don’t (a) want a gigantic late night restaurant right on top of me, and (b) don’t think one would succeed.
Let’s take Saint Ex, for example, which is a restaurant on a corner. It’s decent sized and it probably does a good business. But what happens if you were to triple the size of it and put it in an area that with way less street parking and way less foot traffic. I’d say it’s a bad bet.
Also, given what it took for the alcohol approvals at Big Bear, would it take any less to get a license for that spot? I’m not being facetious. Does someone know?
Anyway, when I saw the construction, I thought “condos.” But that was before I saw this stuff about the blight designation. Maybe the best thing for him is to do the minimum amount of work to hold onto the space until the neighborhood can sustain a restaurant that size–if that is what he really wants.”
More updates as they become available.
