RSS Feed675 H St NW (Old CVS building) Under New Ownership
We just received news that McCaffery Interests, Inc and Douglas Development Corporation have formed a joint-venture, JMR, LLC, and have successfully acquired 675 H St NW at the corner of 7th and H St NW!
There has been a lot of drama regarding the Northeast corner of 7th & H St NW, which is arguably the busiest pedestrian intersection in Washington, DC. Many years ago, Yeni Wong from Riverdale International bought the property that, at the time, housed the highest grossing CVS store in the region. A short time later, Riverdale International sued and evicted CVS from the space so that renovation and redevelopment could commence on the building and its neighboring building. The new development was named Gallery Square. CVS resisted, but with letters from the Downtown Neighborhood Association and other neighborhood groups, ultimately yielded. That’s when things started to fall apart along with the commercial real estate market. The bank eventually foreclosed on the property and Douglas Development started to make a move to acquire the property.
Along the way, another company Douglas Development acquired the three neighboring properties along H St NW and demolished two of them. We can be assured that future redevelopment plans of 675 H St NW will also include the two neighboring lots and possibly the Vapiano space. Monument Realty bought the loan backing 627-631 H Street NW which is between the 7th and H corner and the Vapiano space.
The only insight we have into the development plans is this statement from the press release: The building and land will be redeveloped by the Venture into a state-of-the-art, urban mixed-use development.
Hours Subject To Change
In December of 2010 we wrote about three weekday-only spots in Penn Quarter, and today we noticed that one of them has since changed that practice. Sip of Seattle (1120 G ST NW), one of our favorite coffee shops in the area, is now open on Saturdays. When we asked, they told us they’d started testing the Saturday hours in January (8:30 am to noon) but so far haven’t had much business. Of course this has been a harsh winter so we hope that things pick up for Sip of Seattle on the weekends as the weather warms.
If you’ve never been able to give Sip of Seattle a try because they were not open on the weekends, here is your chance to see for yourself why we like them so much. As we stated last December, it’s more than just the coffee (which is great), it really is the way you are treated. The friendly staff make for such a pleasant experience. And of course being served espresso in a real demitasse and not a paper cup is worth the price of the coffee alone.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
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Here’s what we were reading last week about neighborhood news in DC. Have neighborhood thoughts? Leave them in the comments!
Downtown – All the U.S. Presidents can now be found in one place…Madame Tussauds (see video at top). [WaPo]
Mount Vernon Triangle – We dined at Mandu (453 K St, NW) this weekend for our sophomore visit. The appetizer delighted (Pa Jeon) and they offer Tiger beer in a bottle which contrasted nicely against the spicy squid (Ohjingu Bokum). Tom Sietsema writes up his first impressions. [WaPo]
Mount Vernon Triangle – A report from the first community meeting about the proposed Wal-Mart to be constructed at 1st and H St NW. [The Triangle]
Downtown – Blue Man Group is coming to DC. Awesome. [WUSA Channel 9]
Downtown – An update about Elisir from Chef Enzo Fargioni of ex-Teatro Goldoni (K Street NW) fame. We reported on La Prima closing last October and that’s where Elisir will go. Yet another Italian restaurant to sample once it opens…we aren’t complaining. [Washington Examiner]
The Mall – Don’t want to pay for a ticket to Venice? We checked out the Canalleto exhibit at the East Building of the National Gallery of Art and it is an excellent and thorough visual treatment of that Italian city during the 18th century. [National Gallery of Art] & [WaPo]
Penn Quarter – Since we’re on Italy, we’ll stay on that theme. Chef Fabio Trabocchio creates an Italian inspired menu for the NGA’s Garden Café and we understand that Fiola, Trabocchio’s Italian restaurant in the former Le Paradou space, is slated to open in April. [National Gallery of Art] & [PQL Intelligence Network]
Chinatown – It’s a heck of a week in music at the Verizon Center. Lady Gaga will be here on Thursday and Bon Jovi on Sunday night. Keep your eye out for Gagaware on Thursday night! [Verizon Center]
Have a Happy Presidents Day holiday!
PQ Chef Needs Your Vote In Food & Wine Contest
This is an old fashioned support your neighbor in an online contest post. Chef Nicholas Stefanelli from Bibiana restaurant (1100 New York Ave NW) is up for Food & Wine’s Best New Chef award. Please vote for Chef Stefanelli on this page. The link should take you directly to the poll located at the end of the article.
More info about the Maryland native can be found on Bibiana’s website and, just for fun, here is a pointer to the Five Bites he compiled for Metrocurean.
Voting ends on March 1st.