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  #121  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2011, 7:28 PM
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I walked to the Capital Q BBQ for lunch today and on my way back, I saw workers installing one of the new bikeshare stations across the street from Gallery Place/Chinatown. This is one of the twenty five new Capital Bikeshare stations (http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...e-stations-go/) being installed in the District (with five in Arlington as well). The efficiency of these people installing the stations is amazing. It takes me about a week to fold and put away my laundry yet these people can install a new bikeshare station in about two hours.



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  #122  
Old Posted May 2, 2011, 6:42 PM
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Whole Foods deal for Southeast D.C. falls apart (Washington Post)

Whole Foods deal for Southeast D.C. falls apart

By Jonathan O'Connell
May 1, 2011
Washington Post

"D.C. developer William C. Smith & Co. says it is no longer seeking an $8 million tax abatement for development plans in Southeast Washington, likely defeating the company’s efforts to lure Whole Foods there.

Chris Smith, chief executive of the company, in February proposed building a 39,000-square-foot Whole Foods at 800 New Jersey Ave. SE as part of a building that would include 375 apartments. Smith said luring Whole Foods would require an $8 million tax abatement over 10 years to make the project financially viable.

Proponents had hoped the popular grocer might inject new life into a neighborhood where dozens of development plans have stalled after the recent economic collapse..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...lTF_story.html
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  #123  
Old Posted May 8, 2011, 2:00 AM
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Time for taller buildings in the District? (Washington Post)

Time for taller buildings in the District?


By Roger K. Lewis
5/6/2011
Washington Post


"In revising its zoning ordinance, the District of Columbia should reconsider long-standing, unnecessarily restrictive building height limits in certain areas of the city. There are two compelling arguments for revisiting height limits, one based on real estate realities, the other on aesthetic realities.

The real estate reality is the city’s need for a supply of future commercial and residential space to sustain growth and remain economically competitive within the metropolitan region. The supply of space is constrained by height limits. Better matching supply to demand would help dampen excessive real estate price inflation. And with an adequate supply of commercial and residential space, the District could continue to attract new businesses, create jobs and promote development of new housing affordable for city dwellers.

Aesthetic realities are twofold: the need to preserve the architectural legacy defining the city’s unique form and historic character, and the need to permit taller buildings at designated places within the District where added height makes architectural and urban design sense...."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/reales...d8F_story.html
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  #124  
Old Posted May 8, 2011, 2:49 PM
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Well-written and I can see both sides of the coin on the issue. However, I think taller buildings in a specific area (like Paris) would be a great compromise.
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  #125  
Old Posted May 8, 2011, 3:19 PM
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Although the central business district of DC is mostly built out now, there are still a few areas around downtown that should be built out before we lift the height limit. The Southeast waterfront, NoMA (north of Massachusetts), and around L'Enfant Plaza/Southwest waterfront are some opportunities.

That said, the DC region has made a multi-billion dollar investment in its metro-rail system and we should make the most of that by encouraging more density where it makes sense. 15-18 or 20 story buildings located right near the metro stations at Friendship Heights, Georgia Ave, or Congress Heights would not take away from the views of the Capital or monuments at all. All the fear about revoking the Height Act is a bit ridiculous. Tenley has 400-foot radio towers and our views of the Capital dome are still fine. I also think I've read that Congress Heights and Anacostia are further away from the Capital than Rosslyn, which already has mid-rises and buildings planned to 400 ft.
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  #126  
Old Posted May 9, 2011, 2:55 PM
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The cranes are back in Washington. Are the jobs? (Washington Post)

The cranes are back in Washington. Are the jobs?


Matt McClain/ The Washington Post - Bernardo Tapia Garcia guides a steal beam at the massive CityCentreDC project, where work began in March.

By Jonathan O'Connell
May 8, 2011
Washington Post

"You could be driving down Reston Parkway in Fairfax County, along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue Southeast in Anacostia or on K Street downtown, and you would get a glimpse of the same thing out your window, what is jokingly referred to as the official bird of commercial real estate.

The cranes. They’re back.

It isn’t just in one neighborhood or another. Developers are shelling out to build apartments in transit-accessible neighborhoods with gusto, and in the toniest areas a few have financed condominium construction. Others are lucky to be providing space for government agencies. The cranes never really left NoMa, the neighborhood behind Union Station, where construction workers are assembling the very structure that many thought wouldn’t be back so soon: a speculative office building — meaning one built without leases in place — by StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital.

Does having more cranes in the air mean the Washington area’s building industries — the construction, landscape and engineering firms that employ thousands of people — are back from the abyss? It’s encouraging to see dump trucks rumbling down the street, but it’s hard to tell if they indicate a real improvement in business for the area’s top companies, many of which shed hundreds of jobs in the recession. ..."


http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...sRG_story.html
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  #127  
Old Posted May 9, 2011, 3:17 PM
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EastBanc's Lanier Says He is 'Happy to Abandon' Current Design Scheme for Exxon Site

EastBanc's Lanier Says He is 'Happy to Abandon' Current Design Scheme for Exxon Site Condo

At the Old Georgetown Board meeting Thursday, EastBanc, Inc. responded to neighbor's about the design for the building planned for 3601 M St., NW.

By Shaun Courtney
May 6, 2011
Georgetown Patch

"At the Old Georgetown Board meeting Thursday, Anthony Lanier of EastBanc, Inc. stood before a group of objecting neighbors and the board commissioners saying he, too, objected to the current design of his planned condo building for the Exxon site at 3601 M St.

This was the third time the EastBanc building had been before the OGB and this time it returned with a letter of objection from the Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

...Lewis also said the "entire roof system is not successful" and that she would like there to be no activity there at all.

“There are going to be fat people in bikinis out there and nobody wants to see them,” she commented...."

http://georgetown.patch.com/articles...xon-site-condo
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  #128  
Old Posted May 13, 2011, 3:02 PM
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Traffic worries stall plan for federal site (Northwest Current)

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is consolidating its properties in the DC region. The most significant of these projects is the massive redevelopment of the Saint Elizabeth's campus in Anancostia. Off of Nebraska Ave, in northwest DC, DHS is modernizing its campus which dates back to the FDR administration. DHS plans on increasing the number of employees from just under 2400 to 4200, adding new buildings, and reducing the number of parking spaces from 1,239 to 1,150. This, along with the American University campus plan will bring significant changes for this section of DC. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E is pushing for a bike path from the New Mexico/Nebraska Ave intersection to Tenley, along this property.

DC Mud also had a post earlier this week about the Dept. of Homeland Security plans: http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2011/05/nc...-plan-for.html .

Traffic worries stall plan for federal site
Homeland Security: Panel questions complex’s expansion

By ELIZABETH WIENER
Current Newspapers
5/11/2012

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s plan to nearly double employment and office space at its Nebraska Avenue Complex on Ward Circle got a decidedly mixed reaction from the National Capital Planning Commission last week.

All four representatives of the District government voted not to support a draft master plan for the 38-acre site, citing the lack of firm proposals to control parking and traffic. Other commissioners, representing various federal entities, offered suggestions for revising the plan but declined a staff recommendation to “comment favorably.”

The draft plan from the U.S. General Services Administration is part of an effort to consolidate the sprawling department’s facilities — roughly 40 locations around the metropolitan area — down to seven to 10 sites. A new headquarters is being built on the grounds of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Anacostia, where headquarters staff currently working at the Nebraska Avenue complex will eventually move..."

http://currentnewspapers.com/admin/u....11.01%201.pdf
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  #129  
Old Posted May 15, 2011, 12:25 PM
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The blog, DC Metrocentric (http://dcmetrocentric.com/2011/05/13...enfant-plaza/), posted a rendering of the remodeled L'Enfant Plaza mall. I've heard that Potbelly and Roti already opened this past week. This will be a significant improvement over previous conditions. It will be interesting to see who these restaurants compete against all the food trucks that are around L'Enfant Plaza daily now, as captured in the photos Cirrus recently posted.

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  #130  
Old Posted May 16, 2011, 1:16 AM
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Safeway plots mixed-use development in Tenleytown (Washington Post)

This is excellent news. This Safeway is within a ten minute walk of two metro stations and is right off of Wisconsin Avenue. This is exactly where new residential units should be built. This will make Tenley a more exciting location, a good contrast to the vacant lots, mattress stores, and fast-food restaurants that characterize much of the neighborhood now. With this, the American U. proposal to relocate the law school to Tenley Circle, the Dept. of Homeland Security campus modernization, and the Giant (Cathedral Commons) development further south on Wisconsin Avenue, this corridor is going to see some significant changes over the next couple of years.


Safeway plots mixed-use development in Tenleytown

By Jonathan O'Connell
May 15, 2011
Washington Post

"Safeway, one of the area’s top grocers, has updated its stores and solidified its presence in the region by playing the role of co-developer in mixed-use projects.

Now the Pleasanton, Calif.-based chain has its sights set on its next project, in Tenleytown, where the chain owns a 34,000-square-foot store off of Wisconsin Avenue NW and is considering a mixed-use project featuring a larger, 58,000-square-foot store, with some 150 apartments on top and 10 to 15 new town homes.

Tenleytown could become the third in a string of redevelopment projects Safeway has begun in order to expand and update its stores and leverage its Washington-area real estate holdings..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...K4G_story.html
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  #131  
Old Posted May 16, 2011, 1:22 AM
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After 10 years, will Northwest D.C. neighborhood get a new Giant? (Washington Post)

After 10 years, will Northwest D.C. neighborhood get a new Giant?



(Courtesy Interface Multimedia / COURTESY INTERFACE MULTIMEDIA ) - A rendering of a proposed development in Northwest Washington called Cathedral Commons. Giant wants to make over its store there as part of a mixed-use development. The project has been a source of contention in the neighborhood for more than a decade.

By Lori Aratani
Washington Post
5/10/2011

"Nearly 10 years ago, Trudy Reeves moved to McLean Gardens, lured in part by the promise that a new Giant supermarket would be built within walking distance.

Today, there is a Giant nearby on Wisconsin Avenue, but the ’50s-era store with low ceilings and cramped aisles can hardly be called state-of-the-art. So Reeves, 68, takes the bus to do the bulk of her grocery shopping elsewhere.

In the history of the District, few redevelopment battles have been quite as bitter or as enduring as the one that has been waged over the supermarket in this Northwest Washington neighborhood..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...P4G_story.html
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  #132  
Old Posted May 19, 2011, 3:54 PM
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Waterfront Gamble (Alexandria Gazette Packet)

Waterfront Gamble

City Council members poised to consider allowing hotels and increasing density.

By Michael Lee Pope
May 12, 2011


Image courtesy of Department of Planning and Zoning
City Council members will be considering designating the parking lot of the Old Dominion Boat Club as a new public park known as Fitzgerald Square.



"This weekend, members of the Alexandria City Council will consider a plan that would reshape the waterfront for generations to come. The plan under consideration would designate the Old Dominion Boat Club parking lot as a new public park known as Fitzgerald Square, although it’s unclear how that would happen considering the club’s resistance to the idea. It would also overturn a longstanding ban on hotels along the waterfront and increase density at three sites where hotels are envisioned. Finally, it would increase the height limit at one of the sites where one of the hotels would be located.

Critics of the plan are calling for a delay, but Mayor Bill Euille says his intention is to take action on Saturday.

"This plan might not be perfect, but at least it’s a way to move forward," said Euille. "Unless there’s a reason not to vote for this on Saturday, I’d like to go ahead and take action..."

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/...per=59&cat=104
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  #133  
Old Posted Jun 1, 2011, 4:48 PM
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Transit Hub in Maryland Gets a Second Chance (NY Times)

Transit Hub in Maryland Gets a Second Chance

By EUGENE L. MEYER
Published: May 31, 2011
NY Times

"NEW CARROLLTON, Md. — Many people in the mid-Atlantic region probably know this small suburban town as a train stop on the way to or from Union Station in Washington. But with Amtrak and Maryland commuter train stops, a Washington Metrorail station, buses and major highways nearby, New Carrollton seems to have everything a far-sighted developer could want.


Michael Temchine for The New York Times
Steven Goldin of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in New Carrollton, Md., a regional transit hub.


On either side of the tracks are surface parking lots, undeveloped land and underdeveloped office parks, hundreds of acres that have been ripe for new building.

And yet this prime piece of real estate has lain fallow, full of unrealized possibilities, for nearly 25 years. Hotels, residences and retail that were envisioned when the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or Wmata, chose a developer in 1988 — a decade after the Metrorail station opened — never materialized..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/re...etro.html?_r=1
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  #134  
Old Posted Jun 6, 2011, 12:02 AM
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Here is a photo I took today of construction for the District Condos (http://dcdistrict.com/)/ ,not the most original name) being developed by JBG. This will have 125 units and some ground-floor retail. Across the street is a new Mexican restaurant/tequila bar, El Centro DF, which looks fantastic and a beer garden that also opened this year.

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  #135  
Old Posted Jun 8, 2011, 7:47 PM
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Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist View Post
After 10 years, will Northwest D.C. neighborhood get a new Giant?



(Courtesy Interface Multimedia / COURTESY INTERFACE MULTIMEDIA ) - A rendering of a proposed development in Northwest Washington called Cathedral Commons. Giant wants to make over its store there as part of a mixed-use development. The project has been a source of contention in the neighborhood for more than a decade.

By Lori Aratani
Washington Post
5/10/2011

"Nearly 10 years ago, Trudy Reeves moved to McLean Gardens, lured in part by the promise that a new Giant supermarket would be built within walking distance.

Today, there is a Giant nearby on Wisconsin Avenue, but the ’50s-era store with low ceilings and cramped aisles can hardly be called state-of-the-art. So Reeves, 68, takes the bus to do the bulk of her grocery shopping elsewhere.

In the history of the District, few redevelopment battles have been quite as bitter or as enduring as the one that has been waged over the supermarket in this Northwest Washington neighborhood..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...P4G_story.html
way to go, D.C.!!!
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  #136  
Old Posted Jun 12, 2011, 3:25 PM
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Alexandria presents alternative to waterfront plan as protests continue (Wash Post)

Alexandria presents alternative to waterfront plan as protests continue



(Tracy A. Woodward/THE WASHINGTON POST) - Artist Peg Bruhn works in Studio 3 in the Torpedo Factory Art Center on the Alexandria waterfront.

By Christy Goodman
June 11, 2011
Washington Post

"About 200 Alexandria residents marched through Old Town on Saturday and converged on City Hall to protest a $51 million plan to bring hotels and other new development to the city’s waterfront.

Opponents of the proposed project, who have organized as Citizens for an Alternative Alexandria Waterfront Plan, said they want the City Council to consider designs that include more parks, a focus on arts and Alexandria’s history, and have no hotels.

“They are not representing us. That is the bottom line,” Mark Mueller, 42, of Alexandria said of the council members. The plan “favors the desires of the developer over the will of the people..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...sQH_story.html
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  #137  
Old Posted Jun 14, 2011, 7:36 PM
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49-Unit Condo Project To Be Built Behind Union Station (DC Urban Turf)

While it's good to see more development in the Distirct, look at these setbacks! This is near Union Station, not out in Reston. I've also heard that this development will have two parking spaces per unit.

49-Unit Condo Project To Be Built Behind Union Station

June 14, 2011
By Mark Wellborn


Rendering of 300 L Street NE. Courtesy of PGN Architects.

"Valor Development and Ellisdale Construction are collaborating on a six-story, 49-unit condo project at 300 L Street NE, H Street Great Street reports. The blog received news about the project from Capitol Hill North Neighborhood Association board member Tony Goodman, who said that in addition to the residences, there will be a 5,000 square-foot retail component on the ground floor, and that the developers would like at least a section of that space to be occupied by a restaurant.

As for the units, Jeff Goins, a principal at PGN Architects, told UrbanTurf that there will be eight studios and the rest will be one and two-bedroom condos, three of which will be reserved for those making 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). Goins said that the project could break ground as early as later this year, and is scheduled to deliver in the spring of 2013..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...n_station/3655
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  #138  
Old Posted Jun 15, 2011, 1:12 AM
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Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist View Post
While it's good to see more development in the Distirct, look at these setbacks! This is near Union Station, not out in Reston. I've also heard that this development will have two parking spaces per unit.
202, you post in the DTLA forum all the time, so I assume you're bi-coastal and know this already, but those setbacks are par for the course in Los Angeles. DC, how lucky you are that this stuff is the exception and not the rule.
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  #139  
Old Posted Jun 15, 2011, 1:33 PM
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I finally enjoyed the best view of the city yesterday. I attended a meeting on the 28th floor of one of Rosslyn's twin towers in a room facing DC. Just amazing. I felt like turning my back to the speakers and just staring out the window the whole time.

A city like DC needs more public access to observation decks.
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  #140  
Old Posted Jun 15, 2011, 2:12 PM
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dgreen:
Quote:
I finally enjoyed the best view of the city yesterday. I attended a meeting on the 28th floor of one of Rosslyn's twin towers in a room facing DC. Just amazing. I felt like turning my back to the speakers and just staring out the window the whole time.
The office where I work has a tenth floor conference room with views of the Mall, downtown, and Rosslyn and it's a challenge not to do this every meeting. The views are simply spectacular.
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