Category Archives: Development

June 9, 2010 · 10:00 am

Construction Fatigue in North Georgetown?

Last month the new Safeway opened up at 1855 Wisconsin Ave. This was a huge construction project for Georgetown, but it was just one of many construction projects either complete or on the drawing board for upper Georgetown. Going all the way back to the major Hardy School renovations, the northern quarter of Georgetown has gone through a significant amount of construction and there is no end in sight. Despite the benefit of a beautifully renovated school and a new palatial supermarket, the neighbors are starting to grumble.

The string of major projects in upper Georgetown starts at least as far back as the Hardy School renovations, beginning in 2005 and only ending in 2008. (You could even perhaps argue that the Georgetown Project of several years prior was the real beginning of the construction streak).

After the Hardy School renovations there was (and still is) the Georgetown Library reconstruction. Then, of course, there was the Safeway project, which brings us up to today.

On the horizon are at least four more significant construction projects: the Jelleff field renovations, the Fillmore School conversion, the Hurt Home,  and the Safeway annex (it’s not really an annex, but for now that’s what GM will call it). Continue reading →

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June 4, 2010 · 10:00 am

Hurt Home Meeting Changed Up

Last month, GM reported that the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Economic Development had planned a community meeting for June 9th to discuss the sale and conversion to condos of the historic Hurt Home at 3050 R St.

At least two things have changed about this meeting. The first is the location. Rather than being hosted in the even more historic Renwick Chapel, the meeting will be held in the Jelleff Gym. The second change is a bit more nebulous. At this week’s ANC meeting, Ron Lewis announced that due to a change in the city’s policies, before a property can be identified as surplus by the city a public meeting must be held to determine whether there is any practical public use for the property.

This struck GM as rather odd, since he heard the property had already been sold to the Argos Group. But it appears that the deal wasn’t finished in time to avoid complying with the new requirements of the District’s new Public Land Surplus Standards Amendment Act of 2009 (this is the policy that Ron Lewis was referencing at the meeting). Under this new law, which became effective in March, the city must follow a string of new procedures before it can declare a property surplus. One of those steps is holding a public hearing to solicit public comment on the project. Continue reading →

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May 28, 2010 · 10:00 am

Safeway Plans Major Redevelopment

Fresh off the opening of its new Georgetown store, Safeway is planning another major development right next door. They are planning on building a new building (seen above) on the small plot of land just south of the Safeway (between Jelleff and Wisconsin) that was a parking lot but is now just grass. In addition they plan to “re-skin” part of the next building down, which contains the Einstein Brothers’ Bagels and a pawn shop.

Continue reading →

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May 27, 2010 · 10:00 am

Introducing: Aren’t They Building…

GM gets asked all the time about various projects around Georgetown. The questions normally start off something like “aren’t they building a…”

Well, you may have noticed a new link at the top of the page here at the Georgetown Metropolitan that addresses these frequent inquires.  Just click on “Aren’t They Building…” and you will find a list of all the potential projects that GM knows about with a link back to his article on the project. An official opening date is listed, if any is available. If no date is available (or the official date is obviously not going to happen) GM provides his own guess at when it’ll come.

If GM left anything out, let him know.

For posterity’s sake, here is the innaugural class of “Aren’t The Building…”: Continue reading →

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May 6, 2010 · 10:00 am

The Plans For the Jelleff Sports Fields

As discussed at length here at the Georgetown Metropolitan, over the winter the District entered into an agreement with the private Maret School for the school to renovate the dilapidated Jelleff sports fields in exchange for an easement granting the school exclusive rights to use the field during prime hours for a decade. Today, the Old Georgetown Board will be considering several design elements of the plan, including the proposed lighting and the fences.

GM expressed strong misgivings about the manner in which the District Department of Parks and Recreation entered into an agreement with Maret. It appeared to be, essentially, a sole source contract without a genuine public request for proposal and GM argued that the deal should be scrapped and reopened for bids. The ANC agreed.

DPR didn’t.

While GM still is disappointed in all the parties involved in the crafting of this agreement, it’s a done deal and, frankly, it’s time to move on. The sooner the field is built, the sooner children can benefits from it and the new pool (and, not for nothing, the sooner Maret’s ten year easement extinguishes). In the meantime, GM is pleased to report that since the confrontational ANC meeting, Maret has reportedly been a good partner with the neighbors and the primary stakeholders in the field, including Stoddert Soccer, Hardy Middle School and the British School. And in defense of Maret, GM should say that he learned that while the agreement was being formed Maret reached out to CAG to include them but was essentially ignored. (If only it had somehow related to drunk Georgetown students maybe CAG could have been bothered to care). Continue reading →

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December 2, 2009 · 10:00 am

Neighbors Express Concern at Hurt Home Meeting

Last night in the wee but beautiful Renwick Chapel, members of the neighborhood came to hear a presentation from Argos Group to redevelop the historic Hurt Home into high end condos. While the plans are at an early stage (the city hasn’t even officially chosen them for the project, although there are no other candidates) they were clear enough to draw sharp protests from the audience.

The Plan’s Basics

The current plan calls for the construction of 41 units in the development. These units would be spread across the existing historic structure and a new wing that would be built off the back of the main building (the standing modern addition would be torn down).

A little less than half the units would be constructed in the historic building, the rest would be built in the new wing. According to the project’s presenter, Argos president Gilbertos Cardenas, the development would set aside roughly five units for below-market rates. Because of the building’s historic role as a home for the blind, Argos has reached out to the DC Council of the Blind to develop units specifically for blind residents. Cardenas also mentioned the possibility of workforce housing for D.C. police or firefighters.

The project has already changed shape a bit. Originally it was 46 units with 36 parking spots. The current plans are for 41 units and 41 parking spots (more on that below). The size of the units would skew much larger than normal DC apartments. According to the presentation:

  • 11 would be 3 bedroom apartments (roughly 1300 square feet)
  • 23 would be 2 bedroom apartments (roughly 1100 square feet)
  • 7 would be 1 bedroom (no size mentioned)

Cardenas estimated that very roughly speaking, the units would cost 250-280 per square foot for the below market units and 500-600 for the market rate apartments. That would mean the below market rate apartments would be roughly $275,000 – $300,000 and the market rate apartments would be around $700,000 – $800,000. Continue reading →

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November 25, 2009 · 10:00 am

Hurt House Meeting Announced

The Office of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development announced a community meeting for December 1st at 7:00 to discuss the planned development of the historic Hurt Home at 3050 R St.

The best part of the meeting? Attend it and you get a rare chance to see the inside of the Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel:

Check out some photos from inside after the jump: Continue reading →

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October 7, 2009 · 10:00 am

To the Georgetown Metropolitan,

GM occasionally receives an email inquiring about a particular building (e.g. “what’s going on with that construction?”). For instance yesterday he received this note:

I don’t know if you have ever noticed the building that stands on the SE corner of M and 31st Streets…It’s currently occupied by German television Channel 2, I believe. Anyway it is under scaffolding right now and I wonder what they are up to. It’s a beautiful old building but had some regrettable alterations – from a purist’s point of view – made to it over the years.

Ask, and you shall receive.

Ask GM

The current tenant of that space is ZDF (that’s “Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen” or, as the reader suggested, “German Channel 2”). ZDF is a German television station based in Mainz, Germany. Continue reading →

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September 22, 2009 · 10:00 am

Lanier Holds Court for CAG

Last night, the Citizens Association of Georgetown held its September meeting at the Thomas Moser store on M St. Georgetowner and real estate magnate Anthony Lanier held court for the entirety of the meeting dispensing his wisdom and world view to the packed furniture show room.

A native of Vienna (Austria, not Virginia), Lanier arrived to Georgetown in the 80’s. He founded East Banc in 1987, and has since then gradually brought the best of European urbanism to our village through fantastic projects like Cady’s Alley.

Last night, Lanier spoke off-the-cuff for over an hour discussing his projects, both past and future, and the challenges we face making Georgetown even better. It was a fascinating window into the business of real estate and the thinking of a man who’s been called more than once the “Mayor of Georgetown”.

Continue reading →

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July 23, 2009 · 10:00 am

Georgetown Library Plans

Lobby for New Georgetown Libary

GM was alerted by DCist and We Love DC that the plans for the renovated Georgetown library are available online. GM saw them from afar briefly during an ANC meeting last winter, but it’s nice to see them up-close without having to sit through two hours of applications to replace old windows.

Above is an image of the new library’s lobby. It will retain a lot of the traditional feel of the old library, but will open up the space considerably. After the jump, more of the images:

Continue reading →

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