The Georgetown Metropolitan

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Georgetown dominated the top home sales in the DC area last year.
• Coverage of our first ANC meeting of the year.

Looks like we might have another Georgetown Cupcake on our hands. The new cafe Yellow has been open just a couple weeks and it’s already producing lines up the sidewalk.

The scene above was Saturday afternoon. And to be fair, it has not been quite this mobbed every day. But it’s obviously hit a great sweet spot! Clearly the demand for tasty food and drinks is still well in excess of the supply. Let’s hope it inspires more places to open nearby. (I’m particularly thinking about the former Via Umbria across the street, which has been vacant since the Officina pop-up left.)

Success brings challenges, such as keeping the sidewalk clear. But it’s a good sort of problem to have.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• A liquor license was applied for by a new sushi spot coming to Cady’s Alley.
• Student alleges hate crime at GU.

Signage on 3333 M St. announces that District Donut is planning to re-open a Georgetown location at that spot. No information on timeframe, but I can’t imagine it will take too long, since their operation is pretty simple.

Sweets lovers will remember that the donut shop was tucked away on Cady’s Alley for years. It was a classic Eastbanc style pop-up, in that it was described as a pop-up when it opened but remained open way past what you’d consider normal for a pop-up. But the tough location and the pandemic finally popped the pop-up last year.

But happiness returns with this new location on a much more busy street.

3000 block of R St.

The excessive footprint of banks continues to contract in Georgetown. Recently the Chase ATM storefront at M and 34th closed. This is on top of the Capital One, M&T Bank, and the HSBC Bank branches closing in recent years.

The Chase footprint was (and remains) truly excessive. As part of its splashy entry into the DC area back in 2018, the New York bank opened three goddamn locations in Georgetown. That included converting the historic Neam’s market at P and Wisconsin, another location just east of M and Wisconsin, and this ATM storefront. It was, in my estimation, far more about using the locations like billboards rather than any calculated customer service strategy. Have you ever seen a customer actually enter the location at P St.? I sure haven’t.

With this explosive success of Yellow just across the street, you can’t help but wonder what would be the scene if the bank with no customers simply swapped places with the cafe with no available chairs. Or better yet, just went away entirely. One can dream…

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU hires Adnan Syed to join prison and justice initiative after being freed from jail.
• Reminder: ANC meeting tonight at 6:30 via Zoom.

Georgetown Waterfront

My first ANC meeting will be held next Monday January 9th at 6:30 pm (via Zoom). It will be strange to be on the other side of the camera, and I apologize in advance for my resting-jerk-face. I swear I’m not in a bad mood! That’s just what I look like when I’m listening.

The meeting will be held slightly later in the month for ANC 2E’s typical meetings. That’s because the Old Georgetown Board is not meeting this month, and the ANC doesn’t need to meet ahead of it. An additional positive upshot of this is that this meeting should be relatively short!

One discussion that might interest people is the proposal to remove three metered parking spaces on N St. next to Foxtrot Market. This proposal is coming to address the traffic pinch point that occurs often at this spot. Removing these spots will remove all parking on the south side of N St. along Foxtrot. This will make it easier for two-way traffic to pass. (There have been discussions in the past to make N St. one-way, which could also address this issue. But that is a longer term solution that will take some serious consensus-building.)

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Gallery L’Enfant building listed for sale again. The offer price is down to $6.7m from $7.25m.
• Crazy shot inside of the old Maison des Crepes on Wisconsin Ave.