Mount Vernon Triangle House Tour – Tickets

Paypal has now been setup for the Mount Vernon Triangle Homes Tour taking place on Sunday May 17th. Visit www.mountvernontriangle.org to access.

5th and Mass pedestrian improvements

Tuesday morning I noticed (presumably) DDOT laying out faintly spray painted lines for new wider cross walks and a more substantial pedestrian island at the NW corner of the 5th and Mass intersection. These marking appear to outline plans for more permanent improvements in the near future.

I found the change to the pedestrian island the most interesting. The little tiny stub of Eye Street in front of 555 Mass would be reduced to a one way slip. This will allow pedestrians less distance to cross and a more substantial area to stand while waiting to cross. Will these changes to the island only be paint stripings? Or will the changes be paint first with an eventual upgrade to a landscaped or bricked island?



The red triangle in the second picture above is my best attempt to represent the size of the island.

Urban Turf on MVT

Urban Turf wrote a brief posting on the Mount Vernon Triangle yesterday. A wide range of opinions were expressed by readers in the comments section. Below was my response:

I won’t disagree with the notion that my neighborhood will take 7-10 years to tap into it’s full potential. However City Vista has several of the core amenities you need like the Safeway and Results Gym. City Vista also has the Busboys and will sign several additional restaurant tenants for the vacant K Street retail bays at some point this year.

Let’s also consider that while MVT is a neighborhood in transition it’s only 3 blocks from the epi-center (7th & H) of the downtown’s hustle and bustle. I can be at Verizon Center and dozens of Penn Quarter restaurants with a walk of just a few blocks. Also our location is a short walk to all 5 metro lines, union station, and two DC circulator lines.

MVT will take a little time to grow into it’s own, but it’s immediate proximity to the downtown core make it imminently more livable now than say the Capitol Riverfront, NoMA, or someplace like Jenkins Row by the Potomac Ave Metro.

Downtown Neighborhood Survey Report

The report from the Second Annual Downtown Neighborhood Survey has been published on the Downtown BID website.

The 2008 Survey was noteworthy on two fronts from the Triangle perspective. The boundaries of the survey area extended beyond the Downtown BID north of Mass to include the Mount Vernon Triangle and the majority of the Mount Vernon Square neighborhoods. Additionally, the presence of the new Safeway at City Vista generated a dramatically different distribution of responses to all the grocery related questions.

Report excerpt:

Of the 1057 respondents, 526 were residents.* The results of the 2008 survey validate most of the findings of the 2007 survey, but the opening of the Safeway in the City Vista project has resulted in some major differences. For instance:

• The percentage of Downtown residents that shop for groceries Downtown grew from 10% to 56%
• residents traveling to Virginia for groceries dropped from 41% to 16%

The 2008 and 2007 surveys both suggest that Downtown BID area residents are young, well educated and earn high household incomes. Also, according to both surveys the buying preferences of residents indicates an unmet demand for shoppers’ goods retail.

Charts courtesy of downtowndc.org.

Absolute Thai Restaurant

Tonight after work I spotted a banner for a new tenant at the old Lee Loo Lounge location (521 G Street NW) along 6th Street. The temporary banner says "Absolute Thai Restaurant". Does anyone know more?


Simple google searches yield little insights. The most popular returns are for "Absolute Thai" are restaurants in London and Australia. Will this be an internationally based restaurant or is there no linkage?

Mount Vernon Triangle House Tour – May 17

The below is from the MVT CID website:

---

Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District is hosting its inaugural Mount Vernon Triangle House Tour on Sunday, May 17, 2009 from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. – benefiting Strive DC – a life skills and job training organization. Mount Vernon Triangle is an emerging neighborhood in the east end of Downtown Washington DC with new condos, lofts, apartments, retailers, and offices.

The Mount Vernon Triangle House Tour is a self-guided tour conducted in the “open house” style so you can come and go at your leisure. All buildings on the House Tour are within a short walking distance of each other, so you can start at any location along the tour – and you don’t have to go in sequential order. Your ticket gets you admission into each home on the tour, a tour booklet full of useful information with a map, and a tea reception from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at Vista Green.

The House Tour is designed to showcase the Triangle’s new condos and lofts in their beautiful new buildings. Private residential condos will primarily be featured in the House Tour, which may include units in 555 Mass, The Sonata, Madrigal Lofts, Dumont, The L, and The K. The final stop on the tour is a tea reception in the private park on the third floor of CityVista – Vista Green – for you to refresh and reconnect with friends.

Tickets
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. To purchase tickets in advance, you can visit 5th Street Ace Hardware, 1055 5th Street, NW (accepting cash or check), or use PayPal (coming shortly). Purchasers buying tickets in advance must go to the Will-Call table to pick up their tour ticket and booklet on event day at 5th Street Ace Hardware at 1055 5th Street, NW. Tickets will be sold on event day at 5th Street Ace Hardware.

Everyone must have a ticket, including children. While there is no age restriction, we believe adults will primarily enjoy the House Tour. Please note that strollers, backpacks, and large bags are not allowed in any of the homes on the tour. While we love our pets, it is best to leave them at home. This event will go on rain or shine, and tickets are nonrefundable.

Getting Here
Mount Vernon Triangle is centrally located in the east end of Downtown Washington DC. You can drive to 5th and K Street, NW and park on the street, in a paid surface parking lot, or in the paid parking garage at CityVista – enter at 5th and L Street, NW beneath Safeway. You may also take Metro to Gallery Place-Chinatown, Mount Vernon Square-7th St-Convention Center, or ride the Circulator, X2, 80, or P6 Metro bus.

Volunteer
Volunteers are needed staff the Mount Vernon Triangle House Tour to take tickets, monitor rooms, and answer questions. Shifts last three hours and run 11:45-2:45 and 2:15-5:15.

As a way of saying thank you, each volunteer will be given a ticket to tour the homes before or after their shift. Email info@mountvernontriangle.org or call (202) 661-7590.

5th and Eye update

Investigatory site work is underway at the Arts at 5th & I. Survey work has taken place over the last week, and Donohoe is beginning geotechnical work.

The little tank-treaded vehicle is a drilling rig for geotechnical investigation. 5 borings will be drilled down to a depth of 70'. This will clarify issues of underground water, rock and soils onsite.

April DNA Meeting Notes

Meeting notes from the April DNA Meeting provided by Miles Groves:

Our primary discussion leader was Neil Albert, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning. He covered the breadth of public space development across downtown including the convention center hotel, CityCenterDC, The Arts at 5th and I, Franklin School, and the Louis Dreyfus 395 air rights project. In short, despite the slowdown, we have a lot of development activity in the pipeline.

Neil shared that our city economy is in good shape, especially when compared with neighboring Virginia and Maryland and we continue to benefit from lots of development. He discussed the mayor’s commitment to no tax increases, buttressed by efforts to reduce overhead by 15 percent and a focus on efficiencies. He noted that city government had been growing at an unsustainable rate of 8 to 11 percent over the past decade. Among the projects discussed:

• The Convention Center Hotel, funded by $152 million in Tax Increment Funding dollars will not be completed until 2012. In order to be competitive, our convention center must have the hotel.
  
• CityCenterDC is moving forward and the deputy mayor was 85 percent sure that we would have a ground breaking this year. (Ed note: Albert said after the Washington Kastles tennis season)
  
• The Arts at 5th & Eye negotiations continue between the developer group and the city. The deputy mayor was 99.75 percent sure that an agreement would close and that the project would go forward.
  
• He acknowledged our interest in the development of the Franklin School property. There will be a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) going out soon to help the city review possible uses for this property before any formal RFP process begins. He promised to engage downtown residents in the process as it goes forward.
  
• The Louis Dreyfus project puts a top on highway 395 with mixed-use development including commercial, retail, and residential uses included. They had shared at an earlier ANC meeting plans to locate the Jewish Historical building to the west lawn of The Building Museum, a plan that DNA had objected too. He shared that they would prepare the new location and that there would be no intermediate temporary location.

Note: Hyperlink markup is from me, not Miles

Franklin School RFO

As discussed by Neil Albert at the April DNA Meeting, it is expected that a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) will soon be issued for the Franklin School. The building had been used as an emergency homeless shelter the last several years until the Mayor ended the program late last fall. I've found that there was a Request for Offers (RFO) issued on April 9th for the property to be reused as a Charter School.

Photo from flickr user (army.arch)

History of the building from www.adolph-cluss.de.

Franklin School
13th and K Streets, NW
Constructed in 1869

By 1869 the modern school building was again redefined by Adolf Cluss in his design of the Franklin School on the corner of 13th Street and K Street, Northwest. Franklin was the grandest building of all the schools, meant to house not only all grades at the time, but the offices of the Superintendent (this office created in 1869) and the Board of Trustees (Education), as well. Franklin also housed the first Normal School for white students.

The massive Great Hall at Franklin functioned as a community resource for concerts and other special events. Alexander Graham Bell successfully tested his new invention, the photophone (sound transmitted by light waves), from the rooftop of Franklin School in 1880.

The building’s 19th-century façade - including a bust of Benjamin Franklin - is an eloquent expression of principles of public education in post-Civil America. The exterior of Franklin was restored in 1992 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The interior, however, remains largely as it was when the building was closed decades ago. Stanley Jackson, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, announced on March 10, 2005 that the Franklin School will be re-developed by the District-based Western Development Corp. and Jarvis Corp. as a boutique hotel.(Ed note: Seems the building has been down the RFEI path unsuccessfully before)

The new 25-page 2009 RFO (PDF) can presently be found on the district's website.

DuMont for sale: $170 million

The DuMont condominiums have been in limbo for months. A tip from reader PQResident shows that the building Ideal Realty Group, on behalf of the lender, is listing the two 14 story buildings totaling 559 units at the price of $170,000,000. A four page flyer is available on the IRG website.



Reactions to this quote?:

The Esocoff architectural designed community is the most luxurious property constructed in the Mount Vernon Triangle and Gallery Place / Chinatown submarkets.

K Street Streetcar discussion

At tonight's MVSNA meeting new board member, and City Vista resident, John Thompson will lead a discussion on the possibility of a K Street Streetcar. John has talked with contacts at DDOT about extending the H Street NE/Benning Road streetcar project to Mount Vernon Triangle via K Street.

The H Street NE / Benning Road Streetcar (fact sheet from Streetcars4DC) has been in planning for several years and tracks are presently being laid. The proposed alignment from 2006 begins by the Minnesota Ave metro, travels west along Benning Road over the Anacostia, upon reaching the Starburst intersection the streetcar follows H Street NE until terminating in no man's land behind Union Station.

Click image to enlarge

John has been discussing the possibility of continuing to run the streetcar west to connect to K Street before terminating at Mount Vernon Square. This could increase benefit to the Mount Vernon Triangle and proposed development at Northwest One while also affording the H Street NE greater connectivity to downtown DC.

View Larger Map

The above map shows two potential extensions for the streetcar line to K Street NW. The red segment takes the straightforward approach of going over the H Street NE bridge, heading north on North Capitol for one block before heading west on K Street for 7 blocks. The green segment promotes integration with the Columbus Circle area in front of Union Station. This alignment, while more expensive, would place the streetcar at a more natural transfer point for Metro, buses, and future streetcar lines.

April MVSNA Meeting

UPDATE: The K at City Vista is actually 475 K Street NW not 499.

Gallery Tower at 7th and H

At a happy hour last night a neighbor inquired about the development plans for the NE corner of 7th & H in Chinatown. I thought I'd outlay what I know from reading other sources (mostly PQLiving). I'm not breaking any new insights here but I think there is value in revisiting topics now and again for new residents/readers.


Chinese American business woman Yeni Wong purchased the historic four story structure on the NE corner of 7th and H for 10+ million. Her plans are to develop the site as mixed use with an emphasis on retail. Past projects from Wong in the area include Fado, Capital Q and Matchbox. PQLiving reports that CVS will occupy the first floor and basement of the building after it’s rehabbed, leaving 3 more floors of retail available for lease. [Ed note: This prime spot can't do better than CVS? Ugggh. ]

Developed around Wong's four story building will be two towers. I believe the one with 7th Street frontage will be residential. The all glass tower fronting H Street has the look of an office building.

Rendering of entire mixed use project from Transwestern.

There was discussion in the comments about PQLiving about the setback of this developer (i.e. not building over the 4 story structure). Some think about from the perspective of "who would want to live on the 5 story of the adjacent building and have a view of HVAC equipment?" I totally get that argument and once had the very same thing turn me off to a condo in Clarendon. However I still feel variety in architecture and historic preservation contributes to sense of place and that trumps the impact on views from a few yet to be built condos. Afterall, with all the other positive attributes that come with that location I doubt a subpar view is going to cause a condo unit to sit vacantly indefinitely.

Properties of the 600 Block of K Street NW

As mentioned in the posting from earlier today, two HPRB cases regarding the 600 block of K Street NW, will be heard in the near future. The images below outline the properties being considered. If all these properties are landmarked, the development concept from Douglas Jemal would involve relocating the structures to the far east end of the block to be adjacent to one another.

Please share your thoughts in the comments. I clearly believe the Hartig Motor Company building is worth preserving and of ample size to contribute to future retail for the block. I am on the fence about the second set of properties.

Hartig Motor Company, 627 K Street, NW , Case #05-10


601, 607-609, 611, 613 and 617 K Street, NW , Case #05-11

601 K Street NW (previously written about)

607 K Street NW - Executive Auto Detailing

611-613 K Street NW - Akosombo and Styles International

617 K Street NW

There is a delicate balance between preserving enough historic character to create a special place and requiring so much preservation that the economics become more complicated and delay the feasibility of the project. For Case #05-11 I would say at a minimum the non-descript one story garage at 607 K Street NW is not worthy of landmarking.

HPRB for 600 Block of K Street NW

As Si Kailian posted on the MVSNA blog last week, properties on the 600 block of K Street NW are slated to before the Historic Preservation Review Board in the very near future. These properties are owned by Douglas Development, who in their early concepts for Square 451, is planning that these properties will be landmarked and need to be clustered together.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION REVIEW BOARD MEETING
April 23, 2009
441 4th Street NW, Room 220 South, 10:00 a.m.

The Historic Preservation Review Board will meet on April 23, 2009, to consider permit and concept applications for work affecting historic properties. This meeting may also include a public hearing on nominations to designate historic landmarks or historic districts.

The final agenda for the HPRB meeting will be released on April 17, 2009. The agenda will be emailed to all recipients of this monthly public notice. Staff Reports will be posted on the Historic Preservation Office website at www.planning.dc.gov/hpo on April 17, 2009.

Historic Landmark and District Nominations

• Hartig Motor Company, 627 K Street, NW , Case #05-10 (to be heard in May) (Tim Dennee)
  
• 601, 607-609, 611, 613 and 617 K Street, NW , Case #05-11 (to be heard in May) (Tim Dennee)

How does this HPRB process work? I assume Tim Dennee will be arguing in favor of the landmark designation. Will Douglas Development or others attend and argue in opposition?

My photos of the properties will be posted later in the day.

City Vista Grate Public Art - UPDATED

UPDATE (4/15/2009 3:40PM) - Artist Ethan Kerber has sent me the most up-to-date renderings. I've edited this post to reflect them. Ethan has an entire Flickr photostream dedicated to the project.

Following up on the prior posting regarding the Ethan Kerber art for City Vista the below images show the rendering and the location the art will be installed.

Renderings emailed to me by artist Ethan Kerber on 4/15/2009

Red polygon denotes the large grate

From the 2007 press release:

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in collaboration with the Office of planning and local developers have selected artist Ethan Kerber to create and install a large permanent decorative grate for the ground level fresh air intake at City Vista, a new development in the Mount Vernon Triangle area of downtown Washington D.C. This sculpture will enhance the purely functional role of the vent and create a powerful visual metaphor on the façade of the building. This work of art is a representation and celebration of the diverse paths we all walk in life. It engages with the audience to lift their eyes upward along the building and integrates a fluid urban style into the modern lines of the architecture.

Image of ongoing fabrication at Midnight Metal Works

SFSU student designs public art for City Vista

Updated [4/15/2009 11AM]: This piece of public art is not for the 5th and K corner - but rather a decorative grate to beautify the large fresh air intake grate adjacent to Busboys' 5th Street entrance.

From the San Francisco State website:

Student's public art to spruce up downtown D.C.

April 14, 2009 -- Ethan Kerber hunches over a giant metal frame, illuminating his SOMA warehouse with pulses of light from a blow torch as he bonds metal to metal.

For nearly two years, Kerber, a graduate student in Design and Industry, has worked to design and create a metal public art piece that will be on permanent display 10 blocks from the White House.

After finishing, Kerber removes his welding mask and admires the work in progress, titled, "Inspiration." Made of five panels, it will measure 25 ft. by 25 ft. and weigh nearly 3,500 pounds when it is installed this summer.

"I'm only about three months away from install, and it's still hard to imagine what it will look like, but it will be big, that's for sure," Kerber said of the piece commissioned by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities in conjunction with Lowe Enterprises.

The two-year process has been a learning experience for Kerber. Finishing a public art piece requires constant communication between the artist, the client and engineers who ensure that the art meets building codes. Kerber's work will adorn the side of a mixed-use retail/residential building as part of revitalization efforts in the Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood.

Assistant Professor of Design and Industry Hsiao-Yun Chu said the process of producing public art can be overwhelming, particularly for an individual facing their first big commission. "He's not a big architectural firm," Chu said. "Ethan is communicating long distance with fabricators and engineers and adjusting his designs accordingly. For a student, it's not something he's doing for his schoolwork. It's a highly professional product."

To create the piece, Kerber used computer-aided design technology. He then took the design to a CNC machine, which turns the design into X-Y coordinates and then makes the cuts in the metal. He then took those pieces and welded them to five metal frames.

The 3-D piece is inspired by art in the Queens, N.Y. neighborhood where Kerber grew up. "Inspiration" has a distinctly "modern, urban" feel, and the differing depths of the metal pieces mirror Kerber's interest in emphasizing space. He envisioned an urban-style version of the exhaled breath on a cold winter morning when designing the piece.

Before it's unveiling, scheduled for the middle of this summer, the piece will be fit into a packing frame, and lifted with a crane onto a truck for its cross country journey. "I've always dreamed of building things for a public space," Kerber said. "public art can transform a space and create a unique experience."

Northern Liberty Market

The Washington Kaleidoscope has an excellent posting on the history of the Northern Liberty Market which once sat where City Vista is today.


Visit this Washington Kaleidoscope posting for more photos both interior and exterior.

MVT CID Marketing Committee Meeting Agenda

MVT CID Marketing Committee Meeting
April 14, 2009; 5:30 p.m.
City Vista L Community Room (440 L Street NW)

AGENDA

Welcome and introductions

Approval of the agenda

MVT House Tour

• Sponsors
  
• Properties
  
• Field Guide
  
• Volunteers
  • House Captains
    
  • Registration Table
    
  • Room Volunteers – 80 needed

Next meeting date – May 12

Minutes for the March MVT CID marketing meeting can be found here.

B&M Foodmart earns ANC support for exemption

At April's ABL committee and full commission meetings B&M Foodmart (215 New York Ave NW) earned ANC support for a Single Serve Moratorium exemption. The ANC's conclusion contradicted the MVSNA vote to NOT support the exemption for this Class B licensee. Having been at both the MVSNA and ANC ABL meetings I can say the store owner came with much more evidence of community support to the ANC than she did to the MVSNA.


The ABL committee evaluated the application and the written and oral testimony at a public meeting generating an hour of discussion. The final resolution the ABL crafted and recommended to the full commission was so thorough the applicant's exemption was supported with minimal debate {7 in support; one absention (Richardson)}.

Below is the resolution:

On Monday, April 6th 2009, the ABL Committee evaluated the application for a single sales exception for B&M Food Store. We heard from the applicant and received letters/testimony in support and opposition of the application. The Committee found:

Special circumstances exist due to:

1. the establishment's close proximity to Ward 5 and to Ward 5 liquor stores, which are not subject to the same or similar moratorium; and
   
2. the establishment’s lack of Ward 6 competitor liquor stores in the same relative close proximity; and
   
3. the establishment’s 30 years as an ongoing business in that location; and
   
4. the applicant’s substantial support from the surrounding community; and
   
5. that the majority of community comments do not perceive the selling of singles at this store as contributing to loitering, littering, and other behavior the ban is intended to reduce.

Accordingly, the Committee recommends 5-0-0 that ANC 6C support B&M's request for a single sales exception to sell single beers, so long as:

1. the exception is granted with the explicit condition that if the special circumstances cease (i.e. if Ward 5 enacts a similar moratorium) the exception shall be revoked and all Ward 6 moratorium restrictions shall resume; and
   
2. the exception shall be granted for a one-year period, upon which time the ANC shall re-evaluate; and
   
3. that a Voluntary Agreement shall be required that establishes the parameters of this recommendation; and
   
4. that the Commission encourages the applicant to explore micro grants, such as those offered by the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, to make interior improvements to the store (for example, limiting the plexiglass security to the cashier area only) to help expand its ability to compete with other stores.

I am not particularly pleased with the outcome but I can live with it because the conditions afford the exemption to be revoked if the special Ward 5 circumstances change. Greater participation of those in opposition would have been needed to counter the community support the owner provided in her packet - which included a petition with 217 signatures.

Ed note: I will say, I'm not sure all the applicant's supporters even understood what was at stake, as two that delivered testimony in person at the ABL meeting asked for the committee to "please not take the store's license away"...

Chinese Community Church exterior upgrade complete

The Chinese Community Church at 500 I Street NW has completed it's exterior remodeling in time for Easter. The upgrade returned the building to it's roots by discarding a Formstone exterior for the elegant look of brick and sandstone. These improvements to the facade and roof were made possible by a $600,000 donation from the Gould Property Co which will be developing an office building at 600 Mass Ave NW.

1906 image from the Washington Times

July 2007 photo from flickr user Kyle Walton

2008 image from Google Streetview

2009 image taken on Easter

The building has a 155 year history and currently serves as the only Chinese house of worship in the district.

April DNA Meeting

See the below description from Miles Groves of the agenda for the Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting on Tuesday, April 14th. The meeting starts at 6:30PM at Calvary Baptist Church in Chinatown located at 733 8th Street NW.

April Meeting

PSA 101W Meeting
We recently learned that the Guardian Angels have been patrolling our neighborhood with new members from Gallery Place joining their ranks. We followed up with both First District Commander Kamperin and learned that they work with this group, just as they work with other neighborhood watch groups across the city. After contacting our own MPD Lt. Craig Royal, we invited the Washington DC Director of Operations, John Ayala join us for our April meeting. This is an opportunity to learn more about this group and their involvement in our neighborhood.

Development Plans: Deputy Mayor Neil Albert
This should be an interesting meeting for all residential stakeholders to attend. We have Neil Albert, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning, attending as our key discussion leader. His agency is responsible for many ongoing projects that directly impact our neighborhood. Not only is he responsible for finding affordable housing for the placement of our homeless population, he is key in the determination of the disposition of public space for private development. Some of this includes the CityCenterDC project at the old convention center site with residential, retail, and commercial, The Arts, a project planned of the corner of 5th and Eye Streets NW that will include gallery space, restaurant, hotel, and residential, and the Louis Dreyfus I-395 Air Rights project that will include commercial and residential buildings. In addition, we have urged the Mayor to consider alternatives for the use of the Franklin School building. So, this will be the meeting to attend to learn about neighborhood developments.

Iron Horse Cafe
We have a new restaurant coming to our neighborhood, the Iron Horse Cafe, that will open near the corner of 7th and E Streets below the Terrell Place condominiums in January. It will be a Tavern with food, darts, billiards, and a juke box for music. Kurt Large, the owner will join us to discuss the Iron Horse concept. He is also one of the owners of Rocket Bar on 7th Street across from Gallery Place.

New Web Site Design
If you have not checked it out, go to our site www.dcdna.org. It now includes an editorial blog section commenting on neighborhood issues.

Note: Hyperlink markup is from me, not Miles

Alley Reconstruction

From the Mount Vernon Triangle CID:

Alley Reconstruction

The District Department of Transportation has begun alley construction in the 400 block of K Street bounded by I Street to 4th Street and 5th Street. The construction is scheduled to last three weeks and will start at 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, weather permitting. The alley reconstruction includes removing the old pavement and pouring a new concrete surface. Access to the alley will not be permitted during construction. If you have questions, call the Project Engineer Matthew Gana at (202) 671-4628.

Crime camera relocated to 6th and Eye NW

From an April 1st release:

MPD Moves CCTV Camera to 6th and I Streets, NW

Chief of Police Cathy L. Lanier announced today the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has relocated a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera from the unit block of K Street, NW to the 600 block of I St, NW. The camera is among 75 neighborhood crime cameras in the District.

The primary goal of the CCTV system is to enhance the safety and security of residents, workers and visitors in the District of Columbia, while vigorously respecting the privacy rights of individuals.

I believe this location is nearby the site of multiple past muggings of Chinatown store owners.

Artwalk lights and benches

With the tree planting completed the next major upgrade to the 2nd and Mass park in tentatively slated for the fall. The plan from DPR is to transplant the lighting, benches, bike racks and trash cans from the Art Walk when development of the Old Convention Center site begins.




I counted over 20 lights surrounding the Art Walk on the South and North ends.

Bozzuto

DCMud has a writeup on Bozzuto's projects on the 400 Block of New York Ave. Bozzuto has land (and plans) on each side of the street. DCMud seems to be mish mashing some of the details of the two distinct projects together. I'll try to sort through and outlay the real stuff later in the month - in the meantime for residents who have never seen the renderings it's still worth a read.

Quick Buddha Bar ABC license update

At tonight's ANC 6C Meeting the lawyers representing Buddha Bar admitted they mistakenly filed the license under the wrong placard. I didn't follow all the legalese, but because they will have a DJ they need to file in a different way. This will push the timelines for ABC licensing outward a month. Considering the restaurant has not begun buildout of the space this setback on the application of the CR liquor license is not holding anything up.

On a related note, Buddha Bar is agreeable to scaling back the patio hours to midnight on the weeknights and 1am on the weekend.

Smart Bike Expansion

In mid March DDOT announced that they would be expanding the Smartbike program from 10 stations to 50 stations.

"We are already seeing that the vast amount of usage is commuting," DDOT Director Gabe Klein tells WTOP. "This will be a pretty drastic expansion of the program, and this is what we set out to do when we launched it."

"You want the bike stations to be relatively close together so that if a rack is full, you can ride to another one and drop it off," says DDOT spokesperson John Lisle. "We will fan out from the center of the city in concentric circles."

With the focus on expansion of the program at the city center the Mount Vernon Triangle and surrounding area may have a chance to land one of the new 40 stations. John Thompson recently posted on the MVSNA blog about this possibility and has been in direct contact with Jim Sebastian of DDOT.

I think there is near unanimity that the Mount Vernon Square/Conv Center metro station should land a station in this round of expansion. Could an additional station also be supported? If so, where?

Farragut Square station from flickr user Pedal_Power_Pete

In the long run, after streetscape improvements, K Street seems like a great eventual destination for a station. However present day only the streetscape along City Vista is complete and could support a station this summer. I struggle to identify the perfect location at City Vista. Considering the wide plaza area in front of Busboys is slated for a very large art installation I don't see it as an option. You could make a case for the area in front on Safeway on L Street.

After mulling it over myself I think the best option is to stay on Mass Ave. My choices would be the pocket park at 5th and I or Chinatown Park. DDOT cited that Smartbikes have been utilized heavily for commuting. These parks are in locations with marginally more residential density and greater proximity to office buildings. Additionally, Mass Ave being much closer to build out and featuring more complete streetscapes could serve as a less chaotic location for bicycles.

What are your thoughts?

Dispute between AA Auto and Church

On the tail end of the of the April ANC 6C Agenda is an item surrounding a dispute regarding a lot of land on the 300 block of K Street NW. The lot is owned by Bible Way Church however the adjacent business, AA Auto, had annexed it as overflow parking for junker cars. I do not know the backstory if the church had once permitted this use by AA Auto. However at present day the church does not support the use and is seeking enforcement through legal means.

Below is a photo I took last summer of the dogs that had been serving as security at this lot.


This evening I do see activity of cars being towed off the lot. The tow truck appears more like a private towing firm than civic...

UPDATE [4/7/2009 8:00AM] - This morning the lot remains about 1/3 full of cars. A big pile of tires is also visible.

Click image to enlarge

Include Chinatown Park in streetscape upgrades

From Miles Groves of the DNA:

DDOT will be presenting their Downtown Streetscape (trees and streetlights) report, which will disclose whether they will include trees and streetlights in the area around the proposed Chinatown Park at 6th and Massachusetts Avenue. We need concerned residents who are concerned about the plight of Chinatown Park to attend the ANC 6C meeting which will be held at the Heritage Foundation at 214 Mass Ave NE starting at 7PM this Tuesday. As you can see from the agenda, several items are being covered.

We need to show DDOT that the neighborhood is concerned with the state of Chinatown Park and the delays to include the public space streetscape improvements that the National Park Service wants to see put into place before the renovation of the park begins.

Please try to come and bring neighbors. Some of us have spent exhaustive hours trying to get this work done and we need to show public support to the ANC and to DDOT.

Reservation 72, aka Chinatown park, bounded by 5th, 6th, Mass and I

Upgrading the park has long been discussed but continues to be postponed due to NPS control of the land and lack of funds. The streetscape money presents an opportunity to infuse life into the project. The Chinatown Revitalization Council would like to renovate the park in a way that incorporates Chinese Heritage. Triangle residents would like it to be a lively space and not just a worn patch of grass.

April ANC 6C Draft Agenda

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6C
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 7:00 pm
Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue N.E.

Draft Agenda

Call to order
Quorum
Approval of agenda
Approval of March minutes
Treasurer’s report

• 2009 Budget

Brief community announcements

• Capitol Hill Classic 10 K race, May 19 - Jason Raymond
  
• ITU World Championship Triathlon, June 21 - Ira Brody
  
• Census - Laurie Anderson
  
• Chinatown Market outcome - Comm. Docter

Old Business

Public Safety report (Comm. Dixon)

Liquor License Committee report (Comm. Phelps)

• Buddha Bar - New establishment
  
• B&M Grocery - Brenda Keyes, application for exemption from single sales

Transportation Committee report (Citizen Co-Chairs John Kelly, Joe McCann)

• Plans for addressing Motor Carrier Office issues
  
• Parking on public space - Kurt Pluntke

Youth and Education Committee report (Comm. Hamilton)

Zoning and Planning Committee report (Citizen Chair Rob Amos)

• 1209 and 1211 Fourth Street NW (HPRB Concept #09-151) Concept approval for 3-story, rear additions to both 1209 and 1211 4th Street. Applicant: Abbas Fathi, Owners: Mr. and Mrs. Ostad Housseini; Hearing: April 23.
  
• 19 I Street NW – Gonzaga High School (BZA # 17913) - Jeff Utz, request to construct new facilities and new below grade parking.
  
• 1179 Third Street NE – Oasis Liquors (BZA # 17992)- Joseph Park, application to re-open liquor store.
  
• 728 F Street NE (BZA #17791) Application to continue operations of a day care center
  
• Downtown streetscape and streetlights, BID plans presented by DDOT including streetscape surrounding Chinatown Park
  
• 515 D Street NW- Recorder of Deeds building (HP application #09-144) Suman Sorg, request for 3-story rooftop addition.

New Business

• 300 K Street N.W. - Temporary restraining order against illegal parking on church lot
  
• Urban Institute request for letter of support for tax exempt bonds to build in NoMa - Tala Shalavi
  
• Resolution honoring Mrs. Loree Murray - Comm. Phelps

Adjournment

Jacked up tree guards

The photos below show the wake of destruction from WASA inflicted on the custom tree guards outside of 555 Mass during their late night jackhammering a couple weeks back.




Click images to enlarge.

This one goes to Eleven

• The NoMA BID wants your input on which films to include in their outdoor summer movie series. (Ed note: vote for Spinal Tap!)
  
• Infamous Murky Coffee owner Nick Cho is behind the new coffee shop at 5th & H which will be called Wrecking Ball Coffee. Word of advice, don't attempt to order an iced espresso.
  
• Mark Toorock, of Primal Fitness, is sponsoring a Neighborhood cleanup for the area around the 200 block of New York Ave NW
  
• Greater Greater Washington created a metro map with an overlay for the DC Circulator and H Street Shuttle routes.
  
• FOX5 reports that business owners on H Street NE says that streetscape construction is hurting business.

Image courtesy of David Alpert

K Street Streetscape Funding

On the heels of yesterday's posting that outlined the streetscape plans for K Street the natural questions are when will this happen and how will it be paid for?

The timeline is linked to the financing. The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District (MVT CID) has been lobbying heavily for this project over the last year with the Mayor's office and the DC Council to secure funding. Within the past two weeks the CID engaged new DDOT director Gabe Klein in discussions on this project.

The best opportunity to jumpstart these improvements is via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), also known as stimulus money. The District has been allocated roughly ~$120 million dollars in FHWA ARRA money for roads and highways. Mayor Fenty recently signed and submitted an act to request the funds for Phase I spending of this money ($57.7MM). Blogger TSARCHITECT has a comprehensive recap regarding which projects were included in this first phase of spending.

Of note is that the shovel ready Fourth Street improvements applied for funding but were not included. I believe DDOT had funds for Fourth Street in the 2009 budget and the upgrades will proceed this summer without the ARRA money. K Street however does not yet have a budget and ARRA funding could truly accelerate the time table (2010?) for these transformations to our community's commercial corridor.

Let's show our support for K Street Streetscape improvements to Deputy Mayor Neil Albert when he speaks at the DNA meeting on April 14th.