DC Metrocentric

Le Droit Park - Local fixer upper featured on HGTV’s curb appeal. It’s no “This Old House” but it’s cool to see a local house rebuilt. Why don’t more people do this? [Bloomingdale]

U Street - The retail around the major intersections along U street are pretty blah for the most part. However with projects like the boutique hotel going in at 1300 U Street (pictured left) and the new Utopia project at 14th and U, all that may be changing. [14th & You]

Penn Quarter - New office planed for 10th and G Street (pictured right) is having trouble securing a tenant and the project has been put on hold. [PQLiving]

We got our hands on the first of the design renderings for the redevelopment of the Engine 13 station in SW. This rendering is part of the proposal by City Partners and is really distinctive with the fire station occupying the first floor.

Some might say the Beyer Blinder Belle design is a little too literal, we say it’s hot… all it needs is a nine story fire pole.

City Partners proposal (sorry it’s a PDF) along with two others were presented to the community and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development is making a choice next month. What do you think of the plans?

[Rendering: Beyer Blinder Belle]

We’ve been wondering where all those people who are actually going to implement and run all the new initiatives to save our nations financial markets were going to work. Apparently the Treasury Department is taking out a ton of office space for the Troubled Assets Recovery Program at 1801 L Street (the building with the “which window” ad campaign we made fun of a while back).

The interesting thing is that the lease was signed for 10 years, so we guess the recovery is going to take a while? [Photo: DCMetrocentric]

A bi-weekly take on the area from our friends at UrbanTurf.com

The Best Open Houses for the Weekend of 3/1

This weekend’s recommended open houses include a two-bedroom condo in Dupont Circle with low condo fees, a two-bedroom rowhouse near Gallaudet for under $400k and a bungalow built in 1921 in Chevy Chase.

Read the rest of this entry on UrbanTurf.com »

The soon to be finished View 14 by Level2 Development at the corner of 14th and Florida Ave has finally topped off. It looks like the building is staying pretty close to the original design we showed you back in July and definitely makes good use of the lot size and change in elevation, but we will hold off judgement till we start to see how the exterior finishes look.

[Photo: Iceman882]

Apparently there is going to be a little bit of shuffling going on in Southwest to get ready for the ground breaking next month on the new $220 million Comprehensive Forensic Laboratory (pictured below). Currently located on the site at Fourth and E Street SW is a fire station and a police station which will be moving temporarily into the old Bowen elementary school.  

As for replacing the fire station, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development is still vetting the proposals received but we should have a decision soon. [Rendering: District of Columbia Gov]

The District’s Brookland will soon be seeing some major activity to bring over 78,000 sq-ft of mixed use space for an arts campus to the neighborhood. Community organizations Dance Place and Artspace are partnering to create a $19 million facility with 41 affordable live/work units for artists and their families, a gallery, studios, as well as a new performance and rehearsal space. 

The really great looking design is from architects Hickok Cole and has a distinctive two story multilevel lobby. There also look like there are some interesting finishing exterior material in the rendering, what do you think of the design? Artspace will break ground later this year and should be completed by 2011. [Rendering: Hickok Cole Architects]

 U. Md. to Build New $80 Million Dorm -  Clark Construction has been tapped to build Oakland Hall, which amazingly will be the first new residence hall on the College Park campus since 1982. [WBJ]

That’s right… under one of the I-395 overpasses someone is apparently keeping horses. We know it looks like a mirage of a unicorn, but that’s a real live horse! The property is right along New Jersey Avenue in case you’re interested in checking it out. Anyone know what these horses are used for?

[Photo: volcanojw]

The future of venerable Georgetown retaurant Nathans is still up in the air as the end of their lease in March fast approaches. We checked in with the dinning institution which has been around since 1969 and apparently they expect to have word on the final decision only a few days before the lease ends.

This has to be one of the most prime storefront spaces in Georgetown so we understand the premium, we just hope they can make it work! We will be sure to keep you updated. [Photo: MV Jantzen]

It’s to bad we don’t have sunrises like this one every single morning! This Great Shot is taken from Arlington across the Potomac and isn’t altered in anyway, that’s the real color spectrum. Almost makes us want to wake up early enough to actually see the sunrise (but why would we when we have people like Dan DC to capture it for us!).

[Photo: Dan DC]

A bi-weekly take on the area from our friends at UrbanTurf.com

Washington, DC Housing Report - January 2009

Fred Kendrick of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, with help from Peter Clute of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, puts together a monthly report on the state of the housing market in the District. After the jump is the most recent installment, which looks at January.

Read the rest of this entry on UrbanTurf.com »

The new development at 1331 L Street can now officially call itself LEED Gold Certified. This is a pretty big deal considering the building is only the second in DC to achevie the highest sustainability rating and joins only 18 buildings in the entire country with this ranking.

The ten story building was designed by the SmithGroup in a modern (and very glassy) style to serve as the headquarters for the Mortgage Bankers Association. We can be proud that our city is truly leading the way with sustainable development. [Credit: SmithGroup]

We got word this weekend that the new restaurant Policy along 14th street has finally set the date of their soft opening for March 12th! After months of pushing back the date, the restoration of the gorgeous  interior and exterior designed by CORE architects will be ready to make it’s debut… oh and there will be food too.

[Photo: MV Jantzen]