Shaw

New Rendering and More Details about The Wren (you know, the Shaw Whole Foods) near 9:30 Club

By Prince Of Petworth


965 Florida Ave, NW. Image courtesy of MRP Realty and Ellis Development Group with JBG SMITH

From a press release:

“MRP Realty, developers of commercial, residential, and mixed-use real estate across the Washington Metropolitan region, and Ellis Development Group, in partnership with JBG SMITH, have broken ground on their new mixed-use development, The Wren, located at 965 Florida Avenue NW. The celebratory event took place on November 30, and included remarks by Mayor Bowser.

The Wren is a 289,686-square-foot development in the Shaw neighborhood. The building features 433 residential units, of which 132 units will be affordable. Along with best-in-class amenities, The Wren will be a LEED Silver Certified building with solar panels providing a portion of the building’s energy. Anchoring the ground floor will be a 43,406-square-foot Whole Foods–the seventh location of the grocery retailer in the District and its first store in the District since being purchased by Amazon. (more…)

Blagden Alley Row House Owner Seeks Zoning Relief After Allegations of Forged Documents

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo via office of zoning files

The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.

A four-unit apartment building at the N Street entrance to Blagden Alley has been operating for about 14 years on the basis of “forged” documents. That’s the story a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle heard at its regular monthly meeting last night (November 29).

Nneka Shelton, the representative of the owners of 924 N Street NW, told ANC2F’s Community Development Committee that the owners have been operating the building since 2003 without a valid DC Certificate of Occupancy. At various times in the meeting, Shelton characterized the owner’s current Certificate of Occupancy as “faulty” or “forged”.

The certificate of occupancy in the publicly-available electronic files of the DC Office of Zoning for this case is from July 1985 and allows a dry cleaners to operate on the premises. Shelton said at the meeting that this is the latest Certificate of Occupancy for the building.

A Certificate of Occupancy is the DC government’s confirmation that a property is being used in accordance with zoning regulations. In this case, the property is now zoned RF-1, which is “for areas predominantly developed with attached row houses on small lots within which no more than 2 dwelling units are permitted”. Before a 2016 conversion of zoning designations, the building was categorized as “R-4”, but the limitations were the same – no more than two residential units per property.

Now the owners want to get legal. (more…)

Seylou Bakery Open in Shaw Today 1 to 4 pm

By Prince Of Petworth


926 N Street, NW

Thanks to Morgan for the Seylou Bakery & Mill update:

“@PoPville sign up at @seyloubakery (right off Blagden Alley) says open today 1 to 4 pm!”

Another reader reports they had similar hours over the weekend:

“The brownie is legit good, financier solid.”


entrance to Blagden Alley

965 Florida Ave Groundbreaking Finally Happening “a project delivering affordable housing and retail including a new Whole Foods grocery store”

By Prince Of Petworth

From the Mayor’s Office:

“The Wren at 965 Florida Ave NW Groundbreaking
Thu, November 30, 2017
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Join Mayor Muriel Bowser and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner at the groundbreaking of the Wren at 965 Florida Ave NW, a project delivering affordable housing and retail including a new Whole Foods grocery store.

The Wren will be developed in partnership with MRP Realty, Ellis Development and JBG Smith Companies.”

This is what it’s gonna look like across the street from Darnell’s:


965 Florida Ave, NW near 9:30 Club

Chrome Industries, Frank and Oak closing at The Shay in Shaw

By Prince Of Petworth


8th and Florida Ave, NW

A reader reports:

“Saw Chrome Industries and Frank and Oak (said Tuesday is their last day) Ed. Note: Their website list this store as a “Washington DC Pop-Up” are also closing at The Shay. They seem to be hemorrhaging tenants over there.”

Washingtonian reported:

“Chrome Industries’ DC shop is soon shutting its doors, marking the third retail closure for high-end development The Shay since September.

The 8th Street, Northwest, store will remain open through November and December and close in the new year.”

Chrome and Frank and Oak will follow other closures at The Shay including Steven Alan, Bucketfeet, and Kit & Ace. Before we bury retail at The Shay completely, it’s worth noting that Argent will be replacing Kit & Ace and Violet Boutique will be popping up in the Steven Alan space. Updates on the rest of the retail spaces as more is known.

Violet Boutique Moving To Shaw – Last Day in Georgetown is November 26th

By Prince Of Petworth

From an email:

“We at Violet Boutique are excited to announce that we are moving from our current Georgetown location at the end of November, and are headed to the Shaw neighborhood. You may remember that we relocated from Adams Morgan to Georgetown in 2016, and we learned so much by being able to expand our square footage, and by testing the waters in a retail-heavy neighborhood.

Our last day in Georgetown (3289 M Street, NW) will be Sunday, November 26!


1924 8th Street, NW

And in December – we’re back. We will be opening a temporary pop-up shop from 12/1 – 12/31 in The Shay (1924 8th St NW – the former Steven Alan space), and the tentative opening date for our new location (a few doors down from the pop-up space) is March 2018. (more…)

“5:30 AM FBI Raid in The Shay”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

There was an FBI Raid in this Apartment yesterday at 5:30am (we heard them breach the door). This is at The Shay. Other than an email from Management acknowledging it and seeing the agents with rifles hours later no information to be found. Anyone know what’s going on?”

Demo Starts at old Scripture Cathedral in Shaw – Apartments and Retail Coming

By Prince Of Petworth


Photo by James Fallows Tierney

Thanks to James (and Lisa) for sending. Last year the Washington Business Journal reported:

“Four Points recently submitted plans with the D.C. Zoning Commission to replace the church at 810 O St. NW, at the corner of Ninth and O streets NW, with 66 apartments over 6,988 square feet of ground-floor retail and 68 underground parking spaces.”

Updates as construction progresses.

Before:


810 O Street, NW

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