RSS FeedArt on Foot: Van Gogh
One of the many benefits of living in the Penn Quarter neighborhood is that we have regular, easy access to some of the best museums in the World. Currently, DC is overrun by tourists, so the idea of going anywhere near museums and monuments probably doesn’t appeal. But, since we have all of this at our fingertips all the time, we can easily go for a quick visit to our favorite painting or exhibit. In and out. The National Gallery of Art (6th St and Constitution Ave NW) has recently acquired a new Vincent van Gogh painting. Situated amongst the other impressionist and post-impressionist favorites like Renoir, Monet, and Cezanne, a simple stroll through this gallery after a long day will be a great escape.
2014 State Of Downtown Public Forum On Friday, April 25
The Downtown DC BID will be hosting its annual State of Downtown forum for 2014 this Friday, April 25 from 8 am to 10 am at the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave NW). A panel of distinguished guests will discuss the 2013 State of Downtown report and this is a great event for all downtown stakeholders to attend.
For more details, check out this link to the forum page on the Downtown BID website; the registration link is here (there is no charge). We’ll see you there!
Downtown DC/Penn Quarter News Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Happy Monday all! Here’s what we’re reading recently about neighborhood news in DC. Have something to add? Leave it in the comments.
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Development
Shaw - The Marriott Marquis hotel is slated to open May 1 at the corner of Massachusetts Ave and 9th St NW opposite the Washington Convention Center. The hotel has 1,175 rooms…that’s a huge hotel for DC. [Wikipedia]
East Penn Quarter – The Capitol Crossing project is starting in earnest with utilities and street grid right-of-way relocations at 3rd and Massachusetts Ave NW. A project website with some interesting 3D renderings is available to peruse. [3rd Street Tunnel Project Website] & [Washington Business Journal]
Downtown – The Hotel Harrington (1100 block of E St NW) recently celebrated its 100th anniversary of being in business making it DC’s oldest continuously operating hotel. [WaPo]
Penn Quarter – Architect magazine reviews the decision and design process that went into building the MLK Central Library at 9th and G St NW. [Architect Magazine] (h/t: Streets of Washington tweet)
Restaurants
Penn Quarter – Tom Seitsema reviews Menu MBK (405 8th St NW) and likes it. We do too although we haven’t tried the Kitchen portion yet. [WaPo] & [PQ Living coverage of Menu]
Penn Quarter/Chinatown - Tom Seitsema also provides a first bite look at Flight Wine Bar (777 6th St NW). [WaPo] & [PQ Living coverage of Flight Wine Bar]
Downtown – The Park at 14th (920 14th St NW) recently started serving lunch Mondays through Fridays; lunch service begins at 11:30 am and finishes at 3 pm. We need to check this out in person. [Capitol Cooking] & [Park at 14th Lunch Menu]
Penn Quarter – Poste’s chef, Dennis Marron, will be decamping from Poste Brasserie (555 8th St NW) for Pittsburgh. [Eater - DC]
Real Estate/Crib of the Week
Downtown - Senator Claire MacCaskill and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder each purchase condos at CityCenter. [Washington Business Journal - MacCaskill] & [Washington Business Journal - Holder]
Crib of the Week - Yes cribsters, this week’s pad is a doozy! We profiled its sister unit way back in December of 2007 (!) in the 400 Mass Ave condo building. Today’s crib is Unit 207 which is one floor below Mammoth on Mass and it is undoubtedly one of the largest condos you can buy in the downtown area coming in at a whopping 2900 square feet and a list price of $1,049,000. It has 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths with massive entertaining space and garage parking too. The condo fee comes in at $697 per month which is the lowest per square footage condo fee in the area owing to its massive size. We’ll call this one Son of Mammoth on Mass! [Redfin - 400 Massachusetts Ave NW - Unit 207 - MLS #DC8285134]
New Retail Coming To Downtown DC: Gap, Peets Coffee & Tea (opening date update), Walgreens
Above: Shuttered Guess store at 12th and F St NW
Our ever eagle eyed PQ Living readers alerted us to a few new retailers bringing their names to downtown DC. We’ll go in alphabetical order:
1) Gap (664 11th St NW) – The Gap will open in the 600 block of 11th St NW next to Crumbs Bake Shop and across the street from H&M. This ground floor space has been vacant since the building was renovated. The store will be two levels and clock in at 14,000 square feet, according to the Washington Post. To see the shambles the building was in as it was being renovated, visit this PQ Living post from 2007. The 42 Bus website has a great photo of what it looks like now.
2) Peets Coffee & Tea (435 11th St NW) – The Washingtonian published an opening date for the Peets Coffee & Tea at the corner of 11th and E St NW [photo]. It is…drum roll please…Monday, April 28.
3) Walgreens (1155 11th F St NW) – The now closed Guess store at the corner of 12th and F St NW (see photo at top) folded up shop recently without much fanfare. It will become a two story, 19,000 square foot Walgreens after it’s combined with another retail space reports the Washington Business Journal. Frankly, we never saw more than five people at once in that Guess store including sales and security staff so this news is not surprising. We hope the same outcome doesn’t befall the retailers at CityCenter a year or two into their leases; we’ll be keeping an eye out.
Muffin Top
Just up the street in Shaw, a brand new bakery and lunch spot has recently opened. Uprising (1817 7th ST., NW) promises a delicious selection of homemade muffins, locally roasted, small-batch coffee and lunch bites made from fresh, local ingredients.
Potomac River Running Store Taking Old Cowgirl Creamery Space (919 F St NW)
Above: New signage at 919 F St NW (hat tip: Anon PQ Living reader)
We now know the business replacing the former Cowgirl Creamery at 919 F St NW. It’s the Potomac River Running Store, a shop focused on providing shoes and accessories associated with the very healthy practice of running. Potomac River is a DC regional chain with nine outlets spread across DC, Maryland, and Virginia; currently, their only DC store is in Cleveland Park.
We reported the sad news that Cowgirl Creamery was closing at the end of 2013 and now we know what the next chapter brings to this block of retail on F Street.
Smithsonian Craft Show Ends Sunday April 13
One of our favorite annual events in the neighborhood is visiting the Smithsonian Craft Show where juried artists exhibit and sell the fruits of their labor. Here’s just one example, James Borden, who doesn’t make clocks but rather sculptures uniquely artistic clocks out of wood where learning the time seems like it’s just a byproduct of looking at the timepiece.
A notice from the Penn Quarter Neighborhood Association reminded us that this event ends Sunday, April 13 at the National Building Museum. On to the e-mail:
Smithsonian Craft Show
www.SmithsonianCraftShow.orgThursday – Sunday, April 10th – 13th
At the National Building Museum401 F Street, NW
Metro: Judiciary Square, museum exit122 Artists
12 Craft CategoriesThursday & Friday 10:30am – 8:30pm
Saturday 10:30am – 5:30pm
Sunday 11:00am – 5:00pmTickets
One Day at the Door $15
Two-Day Ticket $25
Children under 12 no charge
