The Georgetown Metropolitan

This may not be new, but GM just realized that Google Maps has finally added 3d renderings of Georgetown (and other parts of DC) to its Google Maps program. Just follow this link over there. (Or alternatively, load up Google Maps, move the location to Georgetown, click the “Earth” box on the lower left, and then click the “3D” button on the lower right. And then push your mouse’s scroll bar up to zoom in.)

It sort of funny to see your home rendered in 3d animation. Granted, at the close in zoom the quality isn’t great. But it gives you a realistic birds-eye view of the neighborhood. It’s particularly cool when you hold the CTRL button down and move the mouse. This enables you to pan the “camera” around. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• No fable: Aesop Skincare opened yesterday on M St.
• Andrew Sullivan coming to the Q&A Cafe in January.

3000 block of O St.

GM knew it was coming, but it was nonetheless sad to see that the beautiful catalpa tree at lock three of the C & O Canal was cut down. It’s necessary to rebuild the whole lock. But it’s loss will mean another welcome pool of shade is gone, and this stretch of the tow-path will be significantly less welcoming for many years. It will be another generation before we can see this scene again: Continue reading →

Photo by V. Pickering.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Keep an eye out for colorfully lit bicycles tonight.
• Some Georgetown restaurants among Washingtonian’s Readers’ Picks.

3200 block of Q St.

There’s some winter weather in the forecast this week, which gives GM an excuse to run one of his winter movies. Enjoy!

Photo by V. Pickering.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• American Apparel and Keith Lippert Gallery are closing.
• Where to get eggnog in Georgetown (and other places) besides your fridge.

1500 block of Wisconsin Ave.

A development taking shape just north of Georgetown is demonstrating what should have been done with the Safeway.

In the former Holiday Inn on Wisconsin and Whitehaven, JBG is proposing to build a mixed use project. DC Urban Turf describes:

UrbanTurf has learned that the development firm and Eric Colbert & Associates will redevelop the former site of the Holiday Inn at 2101 Wisconsin Avenue NW (map) into a by-right mixed-use development with 225 residences and 20,000 square feet of retail. The Holiday Inn closed late last year, and JBG acquired the leasehold interest in the property from 2101 Wisconsin Associates LLP in June.

As GM has argued in the past, this stretch of Wisconsin could use more residents. Safeway could have built condos on top of the store when they rebuilt it in 2010, but chose a plan less likely to create a fight. And the immediate area is probably worse off for this lost opportunity. Storefronts have remained vacant for years, and the stores that remain open face a struggle due to the low foot traffic.

The new proposal should help bring more life to the area. GM has long heard rumors that the anchor tenant of this building will be a Trader Joe’s. This would make sense. A “normal” grocery store (e.g. Giant) would directly compete with the Safeway. A higher end grocery store would struggle with Whole Foods so close. But Trader Joe’s is sort of in a category of its own and could probably succeed here.

Regardless, while losing an affordable hotel so close to Georgetown is a loss, gaining so many new full-time residents will surely help lift the prospects of upper Georgetown.