Petworth

Thanks to a reader for sending:

“District of Columbia officials have identified their partners that will oversee a $5 million development project of vacant properties on Georgia Avenue in northwest Washington.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said Friday the city is working with Donatelli Development and Mosaic Urban Partners to create retail space and condominiums on the site of three properties, about a block north of the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro station.”

I think these are the vacant properties at 3813 and 3825 Georgia Avenue. So here’s some scuttlebutt that I heard. Now keep in mind these projects are not likely to be completed until 2010 but there are still some exciting possibilities that have already emerged.

There has already been interest expressed by the owners of Marvin’s as well as interest from a hardware store that will have a garden center and finally some interest from the owners of Jackie’s in Silver Spring. Pretty exciting possibilities but remember it’s still scuttlebutt at this point…

Now we don’t need to have a debate about more community centers here if you’d like you can re-read that debate. But as for the folks that have been mentioned, which would you rather see – a Marvin’s, Jackie’s or Hardware store with a garden center?

An eye witness sheds some light on the fire at the Bodega at Warder and Rock Creek Church Road:

“Now, the fire was really strange. It started early in the morning, like around 2:30-3:00am. The thing is, it was really, really quiet. My bedroom window looks directly onto the store and I heard only a tiny bit of crackling. My dog forced me out of the bed by continuously growling at the window. When I peaked through the window the flames were already at least ten feet high into the sky. There was nobody outside.

I called 911. My neighbors began to pour out of their houses. They too had called for emergency assistance. The fire department arrived within minutes. But, the bars made it very difficult for them to tame the fire in a timely fashion. Eventually, the store operator came out of the building and so to did the people that live in the houses adjacent to the store. Other than a fireman that burned his hand while trying to disengage the bars, nobody was harmed.

But, I do have a few questions. First, is it common for an assistant police chief to visit the fire sight. You’ll notice that I caught a shot of her assessing the site a day or two after the blaze. Second, are fires of this size quiet? Shouldn’t there have been a smell or a popped circuit breaker, if the fire was cause by an electrical malfunction?

Okay….I think I’ve gone on long enough. I hope that my two cents on the subject have shed some light on the situation.”

More incredible photos after the jump. (more…)