The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Adam Fagen.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown sidewalks: the epitome of DC Cool.
• Has Georgetown cheapened its brand? Good question, but in this particular instance it should be more like: Did Vornado cheapen Georgetown’s brand?

3000 block of Cambridge Pl.

Last night at St. John’s, representatives of the DC Department of General Services presented more detailed plans for the most recent version for the planned expansion of Hyde-Addison School. The city has been planning the expansion for years, and these plans appear to be the closest to the final ones that the neighborhood has seen yet.

The primary reason the expansion is that the school completely lacks a gym. It has no space large enough to contain the entire school population in one room. It has a cafeteria and library, but both are insufficient. Finally, it doesn’t have enough classroom space to accommodate the growth the school is anticipating.

The plan has evolved dramatically. Back in June, the idea was that to preserve the outdoor space, the entire building would have to be built underground. While this was an intriguing design, ultimately the Old Georgetown Board rejected it.

Since then the OGB has approved the modified massing of the project (i.e. the general size and shape). It will be an above-ground building located between the Hyde and Addison buildings. The gym, though, would be buried mostly under the playground. You can see the footprint of the project above, showing the gym.

Most of this was already known before last night. What last night revealed was what the new building would actually look like. And here it is:

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Photo by Ehpien.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• It appears that Bistro Francais is going to be reduced by half to fit in Francesca’s, a mid-market women’s clothing chain. Boo.
• GM can’t imagine living somewhere where the condo fee alone is over $6,000.

Georgetown Waterfront

If you’re a federal employee, you’re probably getting asked by you agency to sign up for the Combined Federal Campaign right now. And you should! It makes donating to charity so easy, you hardly notice it.

You should spread your donations around as you see best. But if you’d like to have some of your money go to very local charities, there are great options. Here are a few Georgetown charities that could use your help:

• Georgetown Ministry Center – This is GM’s favorite and one that’s always on his CFC list. If you don’t already know it, it’s based out of Grace Episcopal and it offers a wide range of services to the homeless citizens, everything from food, winter shelter, transitional services to just a simple shower. Last year due to a snafu they didn’t get into the CFC system. So if you’re the type to just re-up your last year’s list, consider adding this one back one. Its CFC code is 31661.
• Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing – Ever wonder what the Volta Bureau is (i.e. that cool building on the corner of 35th and Volta)? It’s the original name of the organization that is currently called the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. It’s mission is rather obvious: to continue the work of its founder (a Georgetown resident) to improve the lives of the deaf. Its CFC code is 11852
• Duke Ellington School for the Arts – This magnet school has given thousands of DC school kids a chance to receive premier performance arts training as well as a top notch general education. The school is under a massive renovation right now, but will come out of the work as strong as ever (with a brand new performance space). Its CFC code is 38270

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Photo by Paul Goddin.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Chuck Todd to Q & A Cafe in December.
• GM had dinner at Chez Billy Sud last week. It was very good! Fancier than expected.

1600 block of 28th St.

GM recently learned of a report last month that the “Georgetown” Holiday Inn may be up for sale.

GM uses scare quotes because, like many Georgetown-titled hotels in DC, this one isn’t actually in Georgetown. But it’s really close. Whitehaven is the official northern boundary, and the hotel is on Whitehaven, albeit the north side. So maybe GM shouldn’t give it a hard time over the name.

In fact, due to its proximity to Georgetown, its future could affect Georgetown. From the Bisnow report:

Sources tell us the Holiday Inn Georgetown, just a few blocks away, is on the market and that interested buyers haveredevelopment in mind. One source even said a mixed-use, grocery-anchored project could be in the works, which would put three grocery stores in that small stretch of Wisconsin Avenue, including Whole Foods and the Social Safeway.

This is surprising on a couple levels. First, does anyone still use the “Social Safeway” term? But seriously, this is a huge plot of land. And it creates a huge gap in the continuous streetscape that is Georgetown to the south and Glover Park to the north. If a new building did what the Nobody-calls-it-the-Social-Safeway did and rebuild right along the sidewalk, that would improve the quality of the pedestrian experience immeasurably, better connecting upper Georgetown with Glover Park.

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Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Quiz night at the Tombs gets a little bigoted.
• GM first reported this months ago, but the vegetarian taco place is now confirmed for Grace Street.