“Dear PoPville,
Thought you might be interested in this house going up – a teardown of a bungalow and a build of a crazy big house, totally out of proportion to what’s around it. I don’t know the zoning laws but this is taking up the whole lot. You don’t even see the two car garage to the right.
Here is what it’s going to look like – don’t know where the lawn surrounding the house is coming from because there will be no lawn or yard when this house is done.”
The Washington Post reported:
“Foul odors and visible sewage have seeped through Turtle Park, a popular playground and spray park in upper Northwest Washington, and children who played there recently have become ill, according to a D.C. Council member.”
Turtle Park reopened after a major renovation last year.
Never mind the kids killed. It’s refreshing to see the huge public turnout by today’s students vs the work of this furtive propagandist. Thanks to Myles for sending from AU Park. He notes that the car had progressive bumper stickers.
Closeups after the jump. (more…)
Photo by PoPville flickr user KJinDC
More disturbing reports involving children from MPD:
“The Second District was recently alerted to several incidents in which unidentified male subjects were observed watching children.
While we have not had any reported abductions or attempted abductions, we wanted to provide our community with a synopsis of each incident and a description of each subject. We have documented each incident and ask that you immediately report any suspicious person(s) or activity in the community so that the person(s) are identified.
We have increased our visibility in the areas around schools and playgrounds and ask that the community continue the great job of being vigilant.
Melvin Gresham
Commander
Second District
Suspicious Person: 4-26-2016 / 7:30PM at 4404 Yuma St. NW. Older Male, Grey hair, Medium Complexion. Driving a blue small SUV. (Subject drove slowly towards a child) CCN# 16-065741
Suspicious Person: 4-29-2016 / 10:12 AM at 4121 Nebraska Ave. NW. Male possibly Hispanic or Middle Eastern, Late 20s to early 30s, 6’0 tall, athletic build. Driving a Maroon Nissan Sentra (Subject seen taking pictures of children on the playground) CCN# 16-067198″
This rental is located at 4350 River Road, Northwest:
The Listing says:
“Sunny fully-renovated 3 bedrooms, 2 baths & renovated kitchen w/ SS appliances & hardwood flrs. Central a/c. Beautiful patio w/ picturesque garden, grill, seating for 6, & fenced in yard. 5 minute walk to 2 metro stops (Tenleytown or Friendship). Conveniently located between Whole Foods, restaurants, and plenty of shopping. Street parking (zone 3) Rent includes seasonal yard care.”
You can see more photos here.
This 3 bed/2 bath is going for $3,500/Mo.
3201 New Mexico Ave, NW
Eating around Town is a new series written by a number of PoPville contributors. Today’s review of Al Dente was written by dcreba. dcreba is a big apple transplant and enthusiast of all things edible. she lives – and often eats – in Logan Circle.
The ever controversial Roberto Donna (Culinary tour de force! Embezzler! James Beard winner!) recently won accolades from Esquire magazine, lauding him as Chef of the Year in their listings of Best New Restaurants in 2012.
This Best New Restaurant is Al Dente. And prior to the Esquire review, I was unaware of its existence. A quick perusal of the literature tracks Donna’s circuitous history: Chef rises to glory with his Italian behemoth, Galileo, which undergoes three different inceptions – and locations – over 16 years. Chef falls from grace with reports of embezzlement and failure to pay his employees. Chef opens La Forchetta in a nondescript building in Wesley Heights, relegated to the kitchen and relieved of financial involvement, leaving this management to owner Hakan Ilhan. Restaurant changes name to avoid litigious goings on with a similarly named Adams Morgan restaurant, La Fourchette. This brings us to present day, where Donna is hoping to rewrite history – or at least change the course of things, moving forward – at the helm of Al Dente.
We visit Al Dente on a chilly Monday night. The restaurant is brightly lit and awash in Valentines decorations. My dining companion, with an excellent eye for design, did a calculated 360 sweep of the restaurant and pronounced its aesthetics distracting. “I’m not sure I can take the food seriously, when its decorated like this,” she said warily. As our meal unfolded before us over the next few hours, there were some clunkers, yes, but very pleasant surprises as well, and it became possible to lose sight of our surroundings and focus on the food at hand.
Continues after the jump. (more…)
Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Featured Property: 4600 49th St NW
Legal Subdivision: American University Park
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: American University Park
Original List Price: $739,000.
List Price at Contract: $700,000.
List Date: 08/31/2011
Days on Market: 172
Settled Sales Price: $695,000.
Seller Subsidy: $10,000.
Original List to Net Sales Price Ratio: 97.86% in relation to final listed price
Settlement Date: 06/29/2012
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. The photos can be seen by clicking on the listing link, then scrolling through the pictures starting with the main photo.
The current subject house is of interest on one hand because in a whirlwind market cycle in DC, this property was listed and re-listed a total of three times since August 2011. Bottom line, it took a relatively long time to sell this house given current market stats. Whereas many buyers get to a point where they are focusing only upon newly listed inventory, here is a good example of why it’s useful to continue to check the entire listing inventory. Because the listing days for the property continue to accrue even when the property is re-entered as a new listing, it may have fallen outside the radar of buyers once the price entered into a more realistic zone.
Someone mentioned in the comments that there are similar homes in the Brookland neighborhood for significantly less, which is true. There are actually quite a few neighborhoods in DC that have cute bungalows. Here is a list of bungalow style detached homes sold since the beginning of 2012 throughout DC. The list is ordered by settled price.
Continues after the jump. (more…)
“Dear PoP,
Any idea when the new restaurant, La Forchetta, in AU Park is opening? I walked by this weekend and it looks almost done.”
I went to snap some photos on Sunday and a guy out front told me they would be opening April 2nd. He also said they were finalizing the menu and it should be complete later this week. Late last month we learned that Roberto Donna would be the chef of La Forchetta coming to 3201 New Mexico Avenue, NW (in the same complex as Chef Geoff’s.) The paper has also come off most of the windows:
This house is located at 4228 Butterworth Pl, NW:
The listing says:
“CHARMING WHITE-WASHED CAPE ON 7200 S.F. LOT COMPLETE W/WHITE PICKET FENCE. HARDWOOD FLOORS, W/B FIREPLACE, SEPARATE DIN/LIV AND FAMILY ROOMS. FINISHED LL W/BR AND FULL BATH.SCREENED SIDE PORCH. EXCELLENT FLOW. ONLY 2 BLKS TO METRO! RESTRICTED TIMES, SUPRA 11-4 M-F, OTHERWISE CALL LA FOR APPT.OPEN SAT/SUN 3/3 AND 3/4 1-4 PM. OWNERS REQ RENT BACK FOR HOC.”
You can see more photos here.
This 4 bed/3 bath is going for $795,000.
In late Jan. 2012 a reader told us that La Forchetta, formerly Al Forno Pizza coming to 3201 New Mexico Avenue, NW near American University hoped to open in March. More details about the space were revealed yesterday.
The Washington Post reports:
Hakan Ilhan, the owner of the local Pizza Autentica chain, has signed a one-year contract with the James Beard Award-winning Italian chef to head up the kitchen of a 116-seat restaurant called La Forchetta (formerly Balducci’s) at 3201 New Mexico Ave. NW. The restaurant, which will feature a wood-burning pizza oven and two open kitchens, is expected to serve fresh fish and house-made pasta and sausage – “Italian country, family-style,” says Donna — as early as the end of March.
