RSS FeedDowntown Neighborhood Association President Miles Groves Passes Away
A tireless advocate for residents downtown and a community leader, Miles Groves, Downtown Neighborhood Association President, passed away the afternoon of Sunday, March 7 according to a statement on the DNA website. Miles was instrumental in bringing the DNA into being and forming an association that was effective in bonding together downtown residents on key issues that affected the neighborhood as a whole. From assisting with voluntary ABRA agreements to addressing the temporary influx of teens in Chinatown to getting residents acquainted with local business owners to ensuring Councilmember, Mayoral and city official appearances before downtown constituents, Miles continuously worked for the betterment of the neighborhood and a residential quality of life. His civic accomplishments were many and he will be missed.
The monthly DNA meeting will not be held tonight at the Calvary Baptist Church as it normally would. Instead, a special DNA meeting will be held in honor of Miles on March 24 and more details on that meeting will be forthcoming. The (Mount Vernon) Triangle web site also has a short story on Miles.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
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Here’s what we were reading last week about neighborhood news in DC.
Penn Quarter – How has 7th Street changed over the last 100 years? [Streets of Washington]
Mount Vernon Triangle – Kushi, a new sushi izakaya restaurant in CityVista, is open! [The Triangle]
Shaw – An update from Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans on various Shaw and downtown development projects. The only one with decent traction is the Convention Center hotel and that will happen when the currently pending litigation gets resolved. Video of Evans included. [Convention Center Community Association]
Mount Vernon Triangle/Penn Quarter – An ANC 6C planning and zoning meeting readout with some news about what’s planned for the 400 and 500 blocks of New York Avenue. Do we see more residents moving in? We hope so! [Life In Mount Vernon Square]
Missing The Point?
Bluepoint restaurant (1299 Penn Ave NW) was never really on our radar, although we did write about their opening. We used to hit that location for a beer or two back when it was John Harvard’s, but never visited it as Bluepoint. Still it was a surprise to us this past Friday morning as we ran by and noticed that the restaurant was gone and the space is now papered by Vornado as being available for rent.
Internet searches didn’t produce any info on when this restaurant closed; the Post’s Going Out Guide still has their fairly positive review on Bluepoint up on their site. Did any of our readers frequent Bluepoint? Does anyone even know when it closed?
How Many Gallery Place Billboards Does It Take …
As illustrated in Orange Barrel Media’s video presentation, one proposed Gallery Place billboard will protrude 8 feet from the building, obstructing condo owners’ views and negatively affecting their quality of life.
A second illustration from the Orange Barrel Media video marketing presentation. One can see how much larger and out of character the billboard is when compared with the Verizon Center sign in the background.
A new grassroots movement, called stopthebillboard.org, has begun to oppose the latest barrage of billboard proposals for the Gallery Place building (pictured above). This time, the movement is being spearheaded by Gallery Place condo residents who would have views blocked by the newly proposed billboards.
As we reported a couple of years ago, the City permitted 3 electronic billboards to be installed on the SE corner of 7th & H St NW despite objections from PQ residents and the fact that the billboard placement is illegal. The newly proposed billboards are also illegal – they are proposed to protrude 8 feet from the building, whereas DC legislation only allows for it to protrude 12 inches.
How many PQ attorneys would jump at the chance to litigate a dispute that seems so cut and dry? We can only hope that the affected residents will take a legal stand since the public outcry route realized little results the last time around.
More info is available at the stopthebillboard.org site, including the full-length Orange Barrel Media video (that was later edited to remove offending material after the opposition website was launched). Also illustrated are sidewalk billboards and an additional video billboard over the G Street alley.
YWCA Building Will Change Owners (624 9th St NW)
The Washington Business Journal reports that the YWCA building on the corner of 9th and G Streets NW is in the process of being sold to MRP Realty. Although the pool had a close brush with closing in the fall spring of 2006 2008, it remained open. We suppose this is more evidence of the value of downtown DC’s land and edifices, at least for investment purposes.
Lobster & Waffles Anyone?
We received a tip from J pointing us to this update on the Downtown BID website, stating that Tackle Box will be coming to the old Waffle Shop space (522 10th St NW). That sounds like a great location for Tackle Box and also further supports the notion that Jemal’s plans for a big new building on this corner are delayed indefinitely.
In fact we noticed that the top floor of that 10th & F corner (where there was a fire last year) is now being offered as an office rental. Maybe PQ Living Enterprises will take over that location.
Dining Out For Life
A number of Penn Quarter and downtown restaurants are participating in Dining Out for Life on Thursday, March 11th benefiting Food & Friends, a local DC non-profit that provides specialized meals and nutrition services to men, women and children facing HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses. On that day, participating restaurants will donate a significant portion of the proceeds (25% to 100%) from meals to Food and Friends. A few participating downtown/PQ restaurants include Proof, Tosca and Tuscana West.
For more on participating restaurants, click here.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Photo Credit: Christina
Follow PQ Living via Facebook here and Twitter here. Our Flickr tag is pqliving.
Here’s what we were reading last week about neighborhood news in DC.
Downtown - The restaurant/dinner club Posh closed. [WaBizJo: Top Shelf]
Shaw – More Convention Center hotel legal madness going on. [Renew Shaw]
Mount Vernon Triangle – An inside look at Kushi, the new sushi spot in CityVista. [The Triangle]
Trinidad – The Capital City Diner opens up. Look kids…it’s a real rail diner car! [Frozen Tropics] & [The Hill Is Home]
Chinatown – Mass Court apartment building at 3rd St and Massachusetts Ave NW sells for $105.5 million. [WaBizJo: Breaking Ground]
Shaw – Boutique coming to 9th Street NW. [Renew Shaw]
Downtown – Public art coming to New York Avenue…check out the rendering! [French Twist DC]
Mass Court Apartment Building Sold To CBRE (300 Mass Ave NW)
Thanks to Cheryl and the MV Triangle blog for pointing us to this WaBizJo article stating that CBRE bought the Mass Court apartment building (300 Mass Ave NW) from Prudential Real Estate Investors. The sale price was a respectable $105.5 million.
In related news, anchor tenant Radio One has pulled out of the Broadcast Center One project which is to be built just up the street at 7th & S St NW atop the Shaw metro station. While developers say that the project is still moving forward, it will surely be delayed by this news.
Savor Returns To The Building Museum In June *Updated*
- UPDATE: As noted in the comments section, this event is sold out. Our friend Drew at DC Foodies tells us the event sold out in the first hour.
General admission tickets go on sale today for Savor, the American craft beer & food event, which will be held at the Building Museum on June 5th. This is the 3rd year in a row that Savor comes to town, and the second that it is being held at the Building Museum. General admission tickets are $95 with the educational salons going for $30 on top of that.
We love that the Brewers Association keeps bringing this event back to DC, although the list of participating brewers appears to be about the same as the last two years (with a few notable exceptions). But for those of us who really like American microbrews, it’s a great opportunity to both try beers from around the U.S. and speak to the brewers themselves about their offerings. And who knows, maybe this will finally be the year that we don’t complain about the food.