9/27/02:
Local 16 opened in old Julio's spot on U St, looking
glam yet comfy, with food purchased from local farms.
WP revisits plans for shops & housing on L St site
between 24th & 25th. See "Developer Pays $26 Million
For Columbia Hospital Site,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2774-2002Sep25.html
WP reviews our little fish restaurant at P & Hopkins
St. See "Just Enough Cooks: Chefs may come and chefs
may go, but Pesce keeps a steady course,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37773-2002Sep4.html
Keith Stanley has new photos of Dupont at
http://www.kestan.com/travel/dc/dup_cir/,
See also http://www.kestan.com/dcstock/dupontcircle
WBJ peeks at new cafe Firefly on NH Ave. See "New
Dupont Circle bistro lands D.C.-area veteran chef,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/09/23/newscolumn5.html
See also WP preview, "The Weekly Dish,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28409-2002Sep17.html
See "Back to Downtown: The Quiet Streets of a Year Ago
Have Been Brightened by a New Hotel Restaurant Scene,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61265-2002Sep10.html
NYT covers Dupont's Topaz and downtown's Monaco; says
"the capital now has an oasis of lodging hipness." See
"Two Washington Hotels Break With Convention,"
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/06/travel/06HEAD.html
Same group behind those hotels (and The Rouge at
16th & O) will open Hotel Medera and Hotel Helix.
Scottish Rite Temple's front steps are being reset;
supporting area is being repaired and waterproofed.
Plaza will reopen late spring/early summer.
Dawn Price Home will open in about a year at 1402 14th
St in site of Logan Cleaners, to feature home
furnishings and architectural salvage.
See drawing of "Lofts 14" at 14th & Church:
http://metropolis-dccom.60.tempurl.net/loft14.html
WP visits U St fave. See "Coppi's Italian Cornucopia,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8580-2002Sep12.html
WP says Atlanta's True Colors Theatre Company is
working on deal to mount 3 shows per year at the
Lincoln Theatre. See "Director Steps Toward a
National Black Theater,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31782-2002Sep17.html
Marc Fisher looked at RoboShop in Adams Morgan. See
"Tik Tok Box's Cool Convenience, Cold Reception,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36968-2002Sep18.html
18th St's The Reef opened their ground-floor level,
called the Jungle Room and built around a giant Olmec
Head. It's like a Rainforest Cafe, but with booze.
Across the street, Bossa opened, looking very glam,
with an organic restaurant downstairs and a candlelit
lounge upstairs, with tapas, art and live music.
Adams Morgan's Daisy (women's clothing) is opening a
second location in Bethesda, called Daisy Too.
Last month the Quincy Patriot Ledger wrote how some in
Adams Morgan want the Adams Memorial to reside there.
See "Washington neighborhood wants Adams memorial,"
http://www.medillnewsdc.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=13&t=000073
Norman Jemal is seeking to convert former warehouse at
1701 Kalorama Rd into condominiums. See [1] below.
See "A New Day Dawning in Columbia Heights,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A31352-2002Sep17.html
WP reports on $400 million project to link Big Ken to
State Dept, moving some of the surrounding roads. See
"At the Kennedy Center: Plaza Sweet: Bush Authorizes
Pedestrian Square Linking Arts Venue to Downtown,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36695-2002Sep18.html
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Wilson
Building (City Hall) and the National Museum of
Women in the Arts downtown will be lit up in pink.
See http://promo.yahoo.com/gopink/global.html
WBJ reports the niece of Studio 54 founder will
transform the Best Western at S Cap & I SW, saying
"Washington is ready for an edgier hotel that's
comfortable." See "Rubells buy Southwest D.C. hotel,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/09/09/daily66.html
See "The great Southwest hope: With the billion-dollar
Portals, waterfront redevelopment plans and an old
mall makeover, could Southwest D.C. be poised for a
revival — again?" http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/09/16/focus1.html
WP reports on plans for 2 theatres and a cafe on H St
NE. See "An Agreeable Chorus on the Atlas Theater,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53320-2002Sep22.html
See also "Atlas Theater Announces Redevelopment
Plan: Historic Theater to Re-open in 2004,"
http://www.voiceofthehill.com/latest.htm#Atlas
See "$12 Billion Metro Plan Has Trolleys, Rapid
Buses,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10635-2002Sep12.html
More details on plan for first project, to have
trolley from Minnesota Ave to Anacostia Metro station,
crossing the river by 11th St and passing the Navy
Yard and Waterfront stations. See "District's Top
Light-Rail Project Would Link Anacostia, Southwest,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36785-2002Sep18.html
See "Making a Movement For a Little Metro Music: With
Rush-Hour Concert, Players Plead to Be Heard,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8442-2002Sep26.html
WP looks at local retail, saying Costco is considering
coming to Fort Lincoln, along NY Ave. See "The Urban
Invasion of The 'Big Box': Home Depot, Other Retailers
Are Altering the Way People Shop, Live,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21722-2002Sep15.html
WP finds pair who "used to make the 30-minute trip to
see films in Dupont Circle. No more." See "Cinema at
the Cineplex: Art Films Make a Move to the Suburbs,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22248-2002Sep15.html
See "Night Birds Find Few Places to Roost: Other Big
Cities Have 24-Hour Life, But D.C. Loses It to the
Suburbs,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21872-2002Sep15.html
WBJ reports on planned town center next to PG Plaza
Metro, to include 1,800 apartments, a hotel, cafes,
pedestrian town square and garden, public art, movie
theater and year-round ice skating rink. See "Project
envisioned 50 years ago becomes more concrete,"
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/09/16/focus6.html
Blade has online survey for "The Best of Gay DC." See
http://www.washblade.com/bestofsurvey/bestof.php3
Story reveals dark future for parent co. of Washington
Blade. See "Creditors Stab at New York Blade: Lawsuit
bares problems of an ambitious media conglomerate,"
http://www.lgny.com/GCN16/creditors.html
Saturday, September 28: National Cathedral Open House.
http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/programs/openhouse.shtml
Monday, September 30: "Smart Growth" lecture, "Public
Space: A Building Block for Smart Growth," 12:30 -
1:30 pm. "How the creation and improvement of
parks, playgrounds, pedestrian-friendly streets, and
other special places encourage people to live in
compact, mixed-use communities rather than sprawling
subdivisions." Free. See
http://www.nbm.org/Events/Calendar/Lectures_Symposia.html#public
October 5 & 6: DC Open House. See Dupont events at
http://www.dcheritage.org/calendar2532/calendar_show.htm?doc_id=115476#DC
Saturday, October 5: Go Mama Go! has an art reception,
with works by Rod Glover, Estefan Gargost ("Kauai
experience"), and Peter Steinhauer (photographs from
Folsom Street Fair). 3 - 7 pm.
Also, 20% off dishes & glassware, Oct. 4, 5, 6.
Monday, October 7: DCCA mtg at Belmont Mansion. See
http://www.dupont-circle.com/calendar.htm
Sunday, October 20: Dupont Circle House Tour, noon -
5. See http://www.dupont-circle.com/housetour.htm
Best regards,
Michael
------------------------------------------------------
[1]
1701 Kalorama Road Project Focus of Adams Morgan's
Reed-Cooke Neighborhood Meeting
Norman Jemal opened his doors to the residents of
Adams Morgan last night to lead a walk through of his
property at 1701 Kalorama Road. Mr. Jemal is seeking
a zoning variance to allow for conversion of the
former warehouse into condominiums. The project would
be one of Washington's first genuine loft conversions
from an industrial space. Unlike P.N. Hoffman's Lofts
of Adams Morgan, which was designed and built to look
and feel like a loft warehouse conversion, this would
be the real thing. If approved, it would compliment
the Adams Investments' Colortone Building conversion
and mark a major stride in changing the 1700 block of
Kalorama Road to residential use.
The plan proposes about 60 units with no interior
walls, high ceilings and large windows opening onto
the surrounding streets and alleyways. That visual
aspect would significantly enhance the quality
of life on the surrounding block. With crime and drug
dealing taking place in close proximity to the current
structure, a good residential development has the
potential to dismantle a violence prone neighborhood
`business' by placing the activity in the view of
residential occupants where none now exist. With crime
and drug dealing recognized problems in the immediate
vicinity of the building and thriving close to 18th
Street's bars and lounges, the neighborhood
association is being challenged to respond to several
trade offs. Among those are a height variance of about
15 feet, a significantly higher ratio of parking space
per unit than required, a slightly larger Floor Area
Ratio than that allowed and the establishment of new
home owners in a strip without much residential
presence.
Neighborhood issues raised last night included
increased population density in one of Washington's
most densely populated neighborhoods; more evening
parking demand in a neighborhood already over
saturated with the residential parking needs of its
residents; the cultural and social impact of middle to
high income artists and single adults in an area that
has been home to generations of low income families;
the loss of views for some; the potential for an
environmentally friendly incorporation of a Zipcar
type operation to alleviate some car ownership and the
attendant parking issues for both new and nearby
residents; and the anticipated increase in property
taxes for nearby residents. The later is particularly
burdensome for those with low income where tax
increases have a hard effect on limited disposable
income.
In an effort to respect the property owner's
development rights and involve neighborhood
participation in the groups recommendations, the
Reed Cooke Neighborhood Association passed a
resolution acknowledging the developer's agreement to
voluntarily seek an extension of his BZA review so
that it can take place after the next RCNA meeting on
October 8th. RCNA has invited all interested parties
to participate in that open neighborhood forum.
John Holmes and representatives of P.N. Hoffman will
also make a presentation at that meeting seeking to
inform the Adams Morgan neighborhood and ask for
support for their application for a zoning
variance at 2327 Champlain Street.
|
