The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo by Tim Evanson.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Probably not the first GU grad to get a job due to who his dad is.
• Phillip Johnson wing of Dumbarton Oaks flagged as one of the best mid-century modern buildings in DC.

1500 block of 35th St.

Photo by M01229.

As GM mentioned briefly yesterday, Serendipity 3 has closed down. The Washingtonian had this to add:

There’s no word yet on why the home of the $1,000 “golden opulence” sundae locked its doors. Under Armour founder Kevin Plank recently bought the building that housed the sweets spot, as well as a luxurious home nearby. Rumors of the sports clothing store moving into Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, Northwest, have abounded since. We’ve reached out to the Under Armour team to find out more.

GM has since learned that they received confirmation back from Under Armour that the restaurant has closed. Citypaper dug in a little deeper and found:

that the landlord, 3150 M Street LLC, filed a lawsuit in the Landlord and Tenant Branch of D.C. Superior Court seeking to evict the restaurant on March 12. The complaint alleges the restaurant owed $98,921 from February 14 through March 31.

This is an ignoble end to what was a mostly disappointing saga. As you may recall, after kicking Nathan’s out and leasing the space to the new tenants (Britt Swann and Rodrigo Garcia) the space sat empty for over a year. Even at this point GM was already hearing rumors of dysfunction and speculation about whether it would ever open.

It eventually did open after pretty shoddy renovations and a terrible paint job. GM was never excited about the prospect of such a touristy restaurant, but he always figured it would eventually catch on with said tourists, and suburbanites to boot. But as an average walk by could tell you, that just never happened. Continue reading →

Photo by Tim Evanson.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown Waterfront has normal people.
• New Orange Anchor will offer dockside delivery.

3400 block of Volta Pl.

Last night the ANC met for its June session. Sadly, as has been the case for a while, GM could only attend the first hour or so of the meeting. But here’s what GM caught:

School Boundaries

As GM covered here, part of the proposed changes issued by the Deputy Mayor of Education called for changes that would affect the attendance boundaries of Hyde-Addison, Key and Stoddert elementary schools. Essentially, the proposal called for future Burleith and Foxhall students to be assigned to Hyde instead of Stoddert or Key, respectively.

The recommendations are based on existing and forecasted demographic growth and were designed to reduce overcrowding at Key and Stoddert.

But Burleith families don’t see it that way. They would like to continue to be in Stoddert’s boundary (it should be noted that any boundary change will not likely affect existing students but only future students). And the ANC decided to wade into the controversy.
Continue reading →

Photo by Terry Dunn.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM here’s word that Serendipty 3 closed suddenly. This would not be a huge surprise, given the building’s acquisition by the owner of Under Armour, but it’s a bit of a jarring end to a long comedy of errors.
• In slightly more cheerful restaurant news: Little Viet Garden has completed its transition to Pier 2934.

Georgetown Waterfront Park

Photo by AJfroggie.

Last week the District Department of Transportation issued its Multi-Modal Long-Range Transportation report, the product of its Move DC initiative. Yes, that sounds terribly dry, but it’s actually an incredibly ambitious report, particularly for Georgetown. And if these plans ever become reality, Georgetown will be a much more pleasant place to travel to, from and through.

There are a raft of recommendations in the report, but GM will highlight just some of the more dramatic plans that could affect Georgetown:

Biking

The report calls for the construction of several new bike lanes, including separated cycletracks (like you see on 15th St., show above).

The city is currently finishing a cycletrack on M St. from downtown to the intersection of M and Pennsylvania in Georgetown. That’s great, but unfortunately it dumps riders on to M St. in Georgetown, which even an experienced city biker like GM does not feel comfortable riding. The report declined to recommend continuing a cylcletrack on M St. through Georgetown, but it does recommend the painting of bike lanes through the same stretch. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start at least.

The report does call for the creation of a cycletrack on Q St., from the Dumbartion Bridge to 28th, up to R St. and west to 37th. This is more designed for bikers looking to get quickly through Georgetown (and it’s a popular route already for drivers looking to do the same). GM finds the stretch of Q St. from 28th to the bridge (and eastward) to be a dangerous stretch for bikers. The creation of a cycletrack there would be a great improvement. Continue reading →

Photo by Richard Riccardi.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Where to score dope on campus.
• Penny farthing on M St.