The Georgetown Metropolitan

As you probably already heard, tragedy hit Q St. once again this weekend when a domestic dispute led to the stabbing of an elderly couple. The husband died at the scene and the wife is still in critical condition. Their son–who reportedly has struggled with mental health–is the lone suspect.

As pointed out in this piece, there is a morbid coincidence that this tragedy occurred the same week that Albrecht Muth was convicted for killing his wife Viola Drath blocks away on the same street. And that murder was itself preceded by the equally horrific murder of Alan Sennit in 2006 just steps away also on Q St. Continue reading →

Photo by Vpickeirng.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• DSW coming to the mall.
• Murder on Q St. (GM will have more on this later)

3100 block of Dumbarton St.

The Washington Business Journal reported this week that 75% of the new Montrose condo (FKA the Hurt Home) has already been sold.This is remarkable for several reasons. First, the building is not even done yet. Second, the one and two bedroom units are priced between $1.65 to $2.39 million. Finally, it’s most remarkable when you remember that the developer bought the building from the city for only $450,000.

The story of the Hurt Home condoification is long (just read here) but here are the quick facts:

• DC announced its intention to surplus the former institutional building way back in July 2009.
• The only bid that came in was from the Argos Group, and they originally proposed to build 41 units.
• The neighbors lost it.
• Eventually Jack Evans stepped in and negotiated the number of units all the way down to 15.

Negotiating the number of units down also meant lowering the price that the developer would pay. Originally the price was somewhere around $1.5 million. Part of the rationale was that the cost to remedy decades of structural neglect of this historic building was a relatively fixed cost. The developer argued that the fewer units it could build, the less it could recoup the construction costs, and thus the less money it was willing to pay up front.

(You might ask, “Aren’t you just talking about how many slices a pizza has? If they had to build fewer units, wouldn’t they get that money back by selling larger units?” Yes and no. They originally planned a large wing off the back which would have returned a lot more money. So it was in fact a matter of a smaller pizza, not fewer slices, so to speak.)

Continue reading →

Photo by Ehpien (of a photo at GU Hospital).

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Website that looks about as old as the Internet advertises a hotel’s proximity to both the Foggy Bottom and Georgetown Metro stops. Optimistic?
• Muth trial update.

1400 block of Wisconsin Ave. (in 1993)

GM is taking another stab at his attempt to colorize Old Georgetown. Today’s victim is a Georgetown University basketball team from the 1920s (care of GU).

The fellow on the far left appears to be James Colliflower, who managed the team during the 1921-22 season. If that’s correct then we can say this photo is of that team.

Photo by Rudi Riet.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Alrecht Muth trial finally underway.
• Still time to toss your Christmas tree to the curb and have the city take it away to be mulched.

3200 block of N St.