The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Blue Bottle Coffee opens this weekend on the alley behind Dean and Deluca.
• Clyde’s is opening a waterfront music venue in Columbia, MD, which is Georgetown-related in that it recalls their failed effort to build a floating restaurant in Georgetown.

1500 block of 33rd St.

GM finally did his annual survey of stores this past weekend. And the initial tally (before double checking) would suggest a decently active year in terms of openings and closings.

According to these preliminary numbers there were 36 store openings in Georgetown last year, with 30 closings (and 6 store moves). Last year he counted only 23 openings and 25 closures.

GM should note that last year he counted in April, not June. And last year’s survey only covered 10 months, whereas-due to GM’s tardiness-this year’s covers 14 months. If you normalize the numbers to 12 months it would be 27.6 openings and 30 closures for 2016 vs. 31.0 openings and 25.7 closures. So that makes this year only slightly more active than last year.

GM is still quality checking the numbers and crunching them, so he’ll report more later this week.

Photo by Marc Andre.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Kung Fu Tea no open above Zannchi.
• The Wawa got some serious pushback from the ANC last week. The company needs zoning relief, but it may be tough to get.

GM’s going to knock-off for the long weekend. Enjoy it!

1600 block of 32nd St.

This week for Now and a Long Time Ago, GM is back again with a photo from the Wymer’s map. This one is of M St. facing west from Thomas Jefferson St.

For the most part the buildings haven’t really changed much. There is one big exception though. The second black and white building from the right (the one just to the west of the Old Stone House) is no more. It was (apparently) torn down to access the large surface parking lot that now sits at the end of the alley. Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Starrels.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A little more on how the DC budget is keeping the gondola dream alive.
• The maze of tunnels under Georgetown University.

1600 block of 32nd St.

GM has heard that the horrendous proposal for the Marvelous Market property has been pulled from review. It was going to get its first vetting by the ANC this week, and the Old Georgetown Board next week.

Perhaps sensing that it was walking into a meat grinder, the developer pulled the project and has not notified the CFA staff when it will resubmit altered plans. From what GM understands, it is a case where a prospective buyer is seeking approval of the plans prior to closing the deal. So ultimately this might just be a question of money, i.e. the smaller the approved plans, the lower the purchase price. Continue reading →