RSS FeedPlans And Timeline For Old YWCA Building (9th & G St NW)
Photo courtesy of Rockpoint Group website
DCMud broke the news that the YWCA building at the southwest corner of 9th & G St NW will be demolished sometime around June 2012. In its place, a 112,000 square foot LEED-GOLD certified building will be built. It is uncertain how the planned construction will affect the residents of the 50-unit Mather Studios condominium which is adjacent to the future construction site. Also, adjacent to the future construction site is the only alley entrance for most buildings on the same block.
The project will bring an updated design to the corner of 9th & G St NW in the way of a mostly glass facade and 9 foot ceilings for floors 2-7 and 10 foot ceilings for the 2 penthouse levels.
Year of the Dragon
Monday marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Following are a few ways you can celebrate the Year of the Dragon – considered to be the luckiest year in the zodiac.
Sunday, January 29 @ 2 pm
6th and I Sts. NW and throughout Chinatown
The Source (575 Pennsylvania Ave., NW)
Wolfgang Puck will be on-site for a special Feb. 3 dinner, which is five courses for $125 per person ($175 with wine pairings). The Year of the Dragon menu will also be available daily beginning on Jan. 23.
Ping Pong Dim Sum (900 Seventh St., NW)
A “Green Dragon Party Brunch” on Jan. 29th and Feb. 5th — wear something green and get 15 percent off your entire bill
“Lady Dragon Night” on Jan. 24 and Jan. 31 — ladies get a free glass of Champagne
“Red Dragon Party” on Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. — from 10 p.m. until midnight, those dressed in red get a complimentary martini from the Ping Pong After Dark menu
Asia Nine (915 E St., NW)
Four-course feast for $35
CORRECTED & UPDATED: Local Vine Cellar Coming To PQ
Correction & Update: Apparently we need to visit our Optometrist because the soon to open wine & spirits store is called “The Local Vine Cellar” not wine cellar. Our apologies to the owner!
Armed with that info we found their website which lists an opening in February, as well as this Prince of Petworth post from July of 2011 noting the possibility of this establishment coming to the space.
Originally Published 1/20/2012: We just noticed that the old Ritz Camera store front on the 400 block of 11th St NW will soon become “The Local Wine Cellar, Wine & Spirits” (425 11th St NW, we believe). The permit to begin interior work was granted 10 days ago, so we probably have quite a while before this place opens. Still it’s nice to see another vacant space gaining a new retailer. With the recent opening of Elisir, this block of 11th Street is really starting to pick up.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Follow PQ Living via Facebook here and Twitter here. Our Flickr tag is pqliving.
Here’s what we were reading recently about neighborhood news in DC. Have something to add? Leave it in the comments!
Mount Vernon Triangle – BicycleSpace announces their new location on 7th Street NW and still in the Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood [The Triangle]
Penn Quarter – One Medical wrote in to point out that their new approach to delivering family practice medicine is available at 10th and G Streets NW and at 16th and Eye Streets NW. [One Medical]
Downtown – Fuel Pizza opens on K Street NW between 16th and 17th Street NW in the former Burger King space. [Urban Daddy]
Mount Vernon Triangle -The Hoagie House at 4th and N Streets NW has a new owner and will become apartments. [Life in Mount Vernon Square]
Downtown – W. Curtis Draper, the cigar store, has restricted smoking at the store to non-office hours until they can work out some ventilation issues. Discounts ensue. [W. Curtis Draper website]
Shaw – The Jefferson Apartment Group is moving forward with the Jefferson at Market Place near the O Street Market development on 7th Street NW. [Washington Business Journal]
All Over DC – A funny look at “stuff” people in DC say. This is not safe for work, by the way. [Social Studies - Living Social's blog]
West End – The founder of the now shut down Blackie’s House of Beef and Lulu’s, Lulu Auger, passes away. Blackie’s was a legendary Washington restaurant that ran between 1952 and 2005 and Lulu’s was a mammoth bar/nightclub on M Street in the West End. [WaPo Obituaries]
Chinatown - DC’s Chinatown gets a shoutout in this Wall Street Journal article about the shrinking of urban Chinatowns around the United States. [WSJ]
Foodie Find: Alice Waters
This weekend there are three exclusive opportunities to get to know to the Godmother of good food, Alice Waters, and enjoy the talents of some of our area’s most recognized chefs.
Discussion with Alice Waters and Jose Andres
Reception honoring Alice Waters featuring local chefs
Friday, January 20 at the National Portrait Gallery (8th and F Sts NW)
Click here for more information and tickets.
Saturday Night Sips
Saturday, January 21, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at The Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW)
Click here for tickets and more information. Benefits Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen.
A cocktail reception celebrating the contribution young people are making to feeding their community. Special guests will include Jose Andres, Joan Nathan and Alice Waters and speakers from Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen.
A bevy of DC favorites including Penn Quarter Chefs Dennis Marron of Poste and Kevin Villalovos of Cure.
Sunday Suppers
Sunday, January 22 at various private residences in DC.
Click here for tickets and more information. Benefits Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen.
Jose Andres, Joan Nathan and Alice Waters are hosting twenty intimate dinners in Washington, DC homes featuring outstanding Chefs from around the country.
A Rock Star list of Chefs from around the Country and Penn Quarter Chefs Scott Drewno of The Source, Haidar Karoum of Proof Nick Stefanelli of Bibiana, Vikram Sunderam of Rasika, and Paul Yeck of America Eats Tavern.
Threat Of Penn Quarter Light Pollution Looms Large
Ed. Note: The hearing referenced below scheduled for Monday, January 23 has been canceled.
It’s happening again. A business in Penn Quarter is thinking that bigger, brighter, and bolder is better for the neighborhood. Normally, this might be true but in this case allowing for lit displays unrestricted in size and subjectively regulated in brightness could result in areas surrounding the Verizon Center lit up like an over-the-top Christmas lawn display. Except that it might not just be during Christmas…it could be all year long. And, it wouldn’t be limited to a front lawn…it might be on the walls of the Verizon Center facing 7th Street, F Street, and 6th Street NW.
We’ve seen this story before in the spring of 2010 when a media company wanted to erect electronic signs on the side of a 7th Street condominium placing residents in a similar untenable situation where light pollution would demonstrably affect the quality of their homes and businesses. Direct sightlines exist from the Verizon Center into a number of condominiums, apartments, and historic buildings – for example, the Phone Booth can be seen directly from the U.S. Treasury building at 15th and G Street NW, almost one mile away. We’re not the only ones thinking that legislation coming before the D.C. Council [PDF] next Monday, January 23, allowing for large lit displays spells trouble for the character of the neighborhood.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) released this e-mail summarizing the situation.
Councilmember Yvette Alexander has introduced a bill that will allow the Verizon Center to install up to nine lighted and animated exterior jumbotron billboards of any size and at any location on the Verizon Center, and exempt these billboards from the regulations that apply to all other billboards in the city.
The struggle to regulate and control billboards in the District has been going on since 1931, and most recently last year. There’s an ongoing effort to see that we have a reasonable, consistent, equitable, comprehensive, and citywide policy. There are also some who continue to look for (or create) loopholes to meet their specific, personal needs, regardless of the concerns of the community.
The District’s billboard policy must reflect the city’s unique status and character, and properly balance our historic and contemporary elements. It needs to be addressed by all of the stakeholders, not established unilaterally by the Verizon Center for its profit.
A growing number of organizations and individuals are concerned that this is bad legislation and a frightening precedent. Under this legislation, signs of any size and in any location (now and in the future) would only need a DCRA permit, and DCRA has a documented track record of not always properly handling such reviews and issuing of permits. A proper process must be followed to establish a sane and sensible citywide policy, and see it enforced.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Follow PQ Living via Facebook here and Twitter here. Our Flickr tag is pqliving.
Here’s what we were reading recently about neighborhood news in DC. Have something to add? Leave it in the comments!
Penn Quarter – It’s confirmed! Formerly a Kemp Mill Records, Funxion a cafe/nightclub at 1309 F St NW, will be replaced by District Taco in the Spring of 2012. District Taco started as a food truck and its success then spawned a bricks and mortar outlet in Arlington. [District Taco website]
NoMa – Fur Nightclub near North Capitol and M St NE gets sold to Skanska Development, the same company that developed the 10th and G St NW property in Penn Quarter. The plan is to replace it with apartments. Clubs tend to be in fringe areas where the rents are low because they need lots of space for you to shake your booty. This is what happened to Penn Quarter and it’s now happening to NoMa. NoMa is now on notice that rents are going up. [WaPo]
Penn Quarter – The Art of Spyn, a yoga and cycle studio, is coming to 950 F St NW in March of 2012. This will fill in one of the now vacant retail bays in the Atlantic Building. [The Art of Spyn website]
Shaw – The car show is coming…the car show is coming! We’ve been attending this since it was held at the now leveled Old Convention Center since the 1990s. (Technically, it’s called the Washington Auto Show.) [Washington Auto Show website]
Mount Vernon Triangle – Vida Fitness will open in CityVista at 445 K St NW later this month. [The Triangle]
Adams Morgan – The Tom Tom Club on 18th Street NW is closed and turning into a new concept. We spent some late nights here and some may remember it as one of the hottest spots that ushered Adams Morgan into the 1990s era of DC’s nightlife. [Prince of Petworth]
CityCenterDC Construction Update
CityCenterDC, the huge project at the northwest corner of 9th & H St NW, seems to be coming along nicely. Workers continue building the various floors of the underground parking garage that will hold 1,555 cars!
Battle Of The (Weekend) Baguettes
Where once Penn Quarter residents had to scrounge around for bread, our cup now overfloweth with fun baked options. While man cannot live on bread alone, we find that we’re living a lot better thanks to three of our local shops; Cowgirl Creamery, Paul, and Le Pan Quotieden. Each of these shops sells a decent baguette and they each have their pluses and minuses. We did not consider Firehook for this post since their offerings are not available on the weekends at the F street location.
- Cowgirl Creamery: (919 F ST NW, $2.95) The first of the three to open, we’ve bought more baguettes from Cowgirl than we care to admit. They’ve received their bread from different bakeries over the years, currently Cowgirl receives there loaves from Panorama (which we’re guessing is this place). The biggest of the loaves by far, the crust is a thin and the inside is slightly spongy. This is Mrs Columbo’s favorite of the three, but we find it tastes much better after toasting. This one is almost always better the next morning as toast points with your soft boiled eggs. The biggest downside to Cowgirl’s loaf is availability, once they run out of stock for the day (which happens often on Fridays, Saturdays, and beautiful sunny days) you’re out of luck. Cowgirls is also closed on Sundays so you have to plan ahead for your weekend.
- PAUL: (801 Penn Ave NW, $2.75) Paul opened to much fanfare last year but hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. A confusing ordering system (we wish they’d adopt the old fashioned number system used with great success at The Italian Store) and looks-better-than-they-taste pastries have mostly kept us away from Paul for everything but the baguette. The slimmest (and cheapest) of the three we’re reviewing, Paul’s baguette has a great crust with just a little bit of chew in the middle. You have to eat this one the day you buy it as it practically turns to stone overnight, but it still makes great breadcrumbs for use later. Paul generally has these on hand, although sometimes we’ve had to take a poppy or sesame coated loaf instead.
- Le Pan Quotidien: (979 F ST NW, $3.15) By the time Le Pan opened bakeries were old hat, so this one didn’t create much of a stir. The price point at Le Pan is just a bit too high for most of their offerings, but the quality is there and the staff has been extremely outgoing and pleasant. When we leave we often comment on how nice everyone was and how much we enjoyed ourselves, but we can’t believe we just spend $60 on lunch for two with no alcohol. The most expensive of the baguettes on our list, Le Pan’s also has the most unique shape, in fact the shape may turn off some customers. Being a fan of crust we love this loaf, but the elongated, pointed ends mean you end up with significantly more crust than from either Paul or Cowgirl. This is another loaf that can be used as a deadly weapon the next day, but we rarely have any left over. The biggest plus for Le Pan is quantity, we’ve never seen them run out of baguettes and we’re in there often (and on high-traffic days) to pick them up.
Which baguette do you think is worth fighting for?
History on Foot: DC Children’s Hospital
While walking home the other day, I noticed this plaque at the corner of 13th and G Streets, NW. According to the plaque and the Children’s National Medical Center web site, the original Children’s Hospital of the District of Columbia was founded in a row house here in 1870.
Original Children's Hospital of DC, via CNMC
