The Georgetown Metropolitan

Tudor Place

If you’re like GM, you’ve taken note of the remarkable changes that have occurred to neighborhoods to the east of Georgetown. When GM first moved to DC over 15 years ago, he was frequently advised not to venture must east of 16th St. Whether that was ever genuinely sage advice, it certainly isn’t any more.

Now when he scans real estate listings in the newspaper, GM is often struck just by how damn expensive these formerly “no-go” neighborhoods have become. So much so that it makes him wonder if a neighborhood like Georgetown–which has traditionally been much more expensive than, say, Logan Circle–is still more expensive.

To test this, GM looked at all sales in Georgetown vs. Logan Circle in the last year. The results are that the gap remains, but it’s not as much as conventional wisdom would suggest. Continue reading →

1500 block of 15th St.

There’s a sign on the old Wagner’s Liquor store announcing the coming of a new liquor store named Hops, Cask and Barrel.

GM could find no information on the store other than the regulatory materials transferring the license over to the new entity. But based on the name, it would seem likely that it will continue to be a full service liquor store.

Wagner’s has gone through high’s and low’s over the years. As late as a few years ago it was a reliable, if not particularly great, liquor store. It has always relied heavily on the student keg market, but it nonetheless had an acceptable array of finer beers, wines and liquors.

Unfortunately it’s ownership changed and the quality plummeted. The eventual closing last year was not a terrible surprise. Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A nice history of the church-turned-home-turned-GM-neighbor, which can be yours for $3.895 million.
• When the waterfront was seedy.

Tudor Place

Rejecting the recommendation of the staff of the Historical Preservation Office, the Historical Preservation Review Board denied the application to landmark the West Heating Plant. While not unprecedented, it is nonetheless rare for the board to diverge from the staff’s conclusions. But like most opinions regarding the West Heating Plant, it seems that a conviction that the building is ugly caused the board to ignore fundamental preservation principles.

Two of the board members voted to landmark the building. According to the report, they cited the building’s place in Georgetown’s industrial past and how it uniquely stands as an example specifically of the architecture of the federal government.

The three other members, however, weren’t persuaded. For instance, according to WBJ Graham Davidson said he “didn’t see how a case could be made for its preservation as either a strong addition to the residential portion of Georgetown, its waterfront and architectural composition.” (Funny aside about Davidson: he once testified in favor of landmarking this unremarkable building, perhaps because his firm designed it.) Continue reading →

Photo by DOD.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Where to eat outside in Georgetown (and other places).
• Sietsema loves Grill Room.

3200 block of M St.

Earlier this month, GM reported on the historically long waitlist that Georgetown families face to enroll their children in Hyde for the new three year old program. At the time, GM pointed out that while the waitlist was long by Georgetown standards, it was nonetheless much shorter than some especially popular schools like Stoddert. However, the city release data this week that puts Hyde among the the tops in the city in terms of difficulty for residents to get into.

The city analyzed what percentage of in boundary families for each school ended up on the waitlist. (Even in-boundary families need to win a lottery to get a spot in the PreK three year old and four year old programs.) Oyster Adams, in Woodley Park, is the toughest for neighborhood kids to get into, with 74.5% of families ending up on the waitlist. Stoddert is second, with 68.3% on the waitlist. But Hyde is right behind Stoddert at 62.9%. Continue reading →