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DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has announced her intention to introduce a bill to Congress that would, in effect, gut the Old Georgetown Board. Specifically it would eliminate the authority of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) to review development of any District owned property or any privately owned property.

The CFA currently reviews, among other things, all projects on federally owned land, District-owned land, and any privately owned land in Georgetown or land adjacent to important federal properties, like Rock Creek Park. The CFA has sub-delegated its initial review of Georgetown properties to the Old Georgetown Board. So when you have a project in Georgetown, it is first reviewed by OGB, and then it is reviewed by CFA, although this second review is typically (but not always!) a rubber stamp. Once you’ve got approval from the CFA, the city will issue a building permit. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Slight correction from yesterday’s list of openings and closings. GM counted Georgetown Olive Oil Company as a closure, despite the fact they are actually in the process of moving to 2910 M St.
• Catering truck catches on fire.

3100 block of Q St.

Yesterday GM reported on the overall state of the shops and establishments around Georgetown. Today he’ll follow it up with a list of all the places that closed and opened in the last 15 months or so.

On the closure side there were 47. They were:

• R and G Pop Up Antiques
• Neptune Fine Art Gallery
• Carling and Nichols
• Lynn Louisa
• Hitched
• Dolcezza
• Georgetown Olive Oil Co. (they are moving to M St.)
• P St. Galleries
• Milano
• Smith Point
• Beard Papa’s
• Tresso Interiors
• Café Undra
• Daily Grill
• American Holiday
• Paolo’s
• Frameshop of Georgetown
• Mortons
• Chinese Disco
• Restoration Hardware
• Goorin Brothers
• Diva Nails
• Nine West
• Simit & Smith
• Hashi Sushi
• Eagle Bank
• Scavolini
• The Orange Anchor
• The Best Sandwich Place
• Key Bridge Exxon
• Violet Boutique
• Coach
• Gant
• BCBG
• Sports Zone
• Sea Catch
• Old Glory
• Steve Madden
• Walking Company
• TJ’s Deli
• Diesel
• Chubbies
• Pier 2934
• PostmodernFoods
• Unum
• Maxime
• Mate

And the new arrivals: Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU students (as well as other college students) pushing for DC statehood.
• In the tourist guide that avoids being touristy, the only Georgetown location is Dumbarton House. Surely there are other options too! Dumbarton Oaks (particularly Dumbarton Oaks Park) isn’t that touristy! What about Key Bridge Boathouse! Here’s more of GM’s ideas.

1600 block of 31st St.

As discussed last week, GM finally performed his annual(ish) census of all the stores, shops, restaurants, etc. of Georgetown. Today he will report on the bulk of the results.

Before going further, GM should insert his typical caveat. First, it’s important to know that it’s more of an art than a science. The term “shop” as used here refers to just about all commercial establishments: retail stores, restaurants, salons, gyms, etc. GM doesn’t count pure office space. The rule of thumb GM uses is if you can walk in without an appointment, it’s a shop. But again, sometimes it’s a close call. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

GM also has no capability to measure square footage or annual sales, etc. Check out the BID’s 2016 report for that sort of detail. This is more a pure head count.

That said, here we go:

Overall Picture:

This year, GM counted 509 shops in Georgetown. That’s a slight dip from last year’s tally of 512. But generally speaking, the numbers remain fairly steady. Looking back through the ten years GM has done this survey, the numbers have always stayed pretty stable, even through tougher times. Here are the totals: Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU students complain of moldy dorm rooms.
• Georgetown Cupcake still winning taste-offs.

1400 block of 33rd St.

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• More on Georgetown’s gas leak problem.
• Craft popsicle store coming to Georgetown next spring.