Fort Totten

Fri. Afternoon Rental Option – Ft. Totten (Reader Request)

By Prince Of Petworth

This complex is located at 5210 3rd St, NE:


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The Craigslist ad says:

Prices range from $1200 for a studio to $1870 for a 2 bedroom. You can find more details on their Web site here.

The reader writes:

“Have you heard anything about the Fort Totten Station apartments? I am wondering if any of your readers have any thoughts on the complex… I do think their actual prices were a bit more inflated then what they are advertising on CL. I was looking at one of their 1 BR + Den and it was $1700.”

Anyone familiar with this complex? What do you guys think – do those prices sound reasonable?

Development News for North Country – Fort Totten

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by norbert.

Thanks to a number of readers for sending these updates. First for Ft. Totten from the Washington Post:

“The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation received final approval Monday night from the D.C. Zoning Commission to move forward with its plans to transform the landscape of a Northeast Washington neighborhood by building a multimillion-dollar, transit-oriented development in Fort Totten.

The foundation plans to build Art Place and Shops at Fort Totten — a project that will include housing, a grocery store, a children’s museum, a senior center, and cultural and arts space — on 17 acres it owns between the Fort Totten Metro station and South Dakota Avenue NE.”

And for Walter Reed from the Washington Business Journal:

“In the first solicitation, Fenty’s economic development team, headed by Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos, is seeking a consultant to help create a master plan for the site, including transportation, landscape architecture and historic preservation services.

Separately, the city is seeking a real estate development firm to provide a financial and technical analysis of redevelopment potential for the site. Both solicitations were issued Dec. 8 with a deadline of Jan. 8, 2010 and much of the work is expected to be done by the fall of 2010.”

Ft. Totten to Get a 7-11 Plus Other Development News

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to a reader for sending the above photo and news about Ft. Totten’s imminent arrival of a 7-11. “The address of the building is 5210 3rd Street NE, but the store is actually on Galloway St NE, right across from the Metro Station in the Ft. Totten Station Apartment building.”

And in other Ft. Totten news The Washington Post had a big article today titled, An uptown vision for a ’50s neighborhood. They write:

“The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation is driving the development on a 17-acre plot it owns between the Fort Totten Metro station and South Dakota Avenue NE. The project, which would be completed over eight years and has an estimated price tag of $425 million, would give a 21st century makeover, complete with sleek buildings of glass, slate and brick, to a 1950s-era neighborhood filled with three-story brick buildings and mature trees.”

You can read the rest of the story here.

Good Deal or Not? Reader Request Affordable Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This condo is located at 5200 North Capitol Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“ART DECCO POST-WAR GARDEN COOPERATIVE, SITUATED WITHIN BLOCKS OF FORT TOTTEN METRO. COOP FEE OF $542.66 INCLUDES ALL UTILITIES AS WELL AS PROPERTY TAXES AND MAINTENANCE. FRESHLY PAINTED WITH NEW CARPET AND APPLIANCES. COMPARE AND YOU’LL SEE THIS A QUITE A VALUE! COOP FEE INCLUDES UTIL,COMMON AREA MAINTENANCE, WATER AND UNDERLYING MTGE PAYMENT.”

You can find more info and photos here.

A reader who lives in this building sent in the above condo after we had a discussion on the small loft for sale in Mt. P above Tonic. This 2 bed/1 bath is going for $149,500. Sound reasonable?

Shooting/Homicide in Alley, 5300 block between 1st and 2nd St. NW

By Prince Of Petworth

A reader sends in the unfortunate news:

“I just got home (2 am) to find the alley behind my house roped off with police tape and two cops standing at each end, and another half dozen cops under a mobile light at the intersection of the east-west and north south alleys in the 5300 block of 1st/2nd Sts. NW. I asked the cops at my end of the alley what had happened, and he said someone had been gunned down in the alley and was dead. He wouldn’t tell me anything more than that.”

Very Scary DC Red Line Metro Train Crash at Fort Totten

By Prince Of Petworth

WJLA reports:

“D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter said one train was on top of the other train.

This is “developing into a mass casualty event,” Etter said. “We’re expecting a number of injuries. We’re not aware of any fatalities at this point.”

Hearing that it is a mass casualty event is very scary news. I hope to report more as info becomes available.

UPDATE: From AlertDC

“Metro reports that 2 train collided and one train is on top of the other train. Metro reports massive injuries at this time. The green line and the red line are affected. Further information to follow.”

UPDATE2: @http://twitter.com/cnnbrk confirms one fatality.

UPDATE3: Photo of crash can be seen here: http://twitpic.com/84vsw

UPDATE4: NBC Washington Reports:

“Passengers are currently still trapped in the trains; emergency workers are using tools to cut them from the wreckage.”

UPDATE5: Here is a very scary photo of the incident.

UPDATE6: NBC Washington has video here.

UPDATE7: Mayor Fenty says 4 fatalities, worst disaster in metro history.

UPDATE8: If you are looking for info on family members please call 202-727-9099.

Dear PoP – It’s Time For Some Good News

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by John von Rosenberg

From a reader:

Dear neighbors,

On Monday I posted to the Brookland list that I had lost a wallet in or near the Brookland / CUA Metro Station. I was fairly frantic at the time, having lost not only my ID, cash, and my credit cards, but proof of insurance and other critical pieces of my life – and worse, I was running from the Metro to get my son on the day my wife left the country on business.

I spent the next day canceling credit cards, getting a new driver’s license, and generally trying to reconstitute my life.

You can imagine my delight and surprise when the wallet arrived in today’s mail, completely intact – cards, money, ID, etc. Not a thing missing. There was a letter (unsigned) saying the person found it by the “Brooklyn Metro Station” and that I must have “been in a rush”. Truer words have rarely been written about the rush and my general
frame of mind that day.

There was no name, but an address, with the closing note, “God Bless.” Continues after the jump.  (more…)

Fenty to Announce Development Deal for $80M Project at Ft. Totten

By Prince Of Petworth


photo by Jami Ansell

Thanks to a reader for sending.

“Mayor Adrian M. Fenty will announce the District has reached a deal with Lowe Enterprises and Jacksophie Development to dispose of a District-owned property that will be redeveloped into an $80 million mixed-use project near the Ft. Totten Metrorail Station. The project is one phase of a three-phase project that will ultimately total a million square feet of development on nine acres of land around the intersection of Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue.”