RSS FeedAn Update On Gallery Square (7th and H St NW)
The distressed commercial real estate financing situation has hit squarely at the intersection of 7th and H Streets NW as the Washington Business Journal broke the news that Gallery Square, the project on the northeast corner of 7th and H Streets NW owned by Gallery Tower LLC, filed for bankruptcy. PQ Living’s ears and eyes have heard no word about the property nor seen any on-site activity for a while now – our last update was just over one year ago – and the tale is a little more convoluted than it seems as the loan on the property was sold to Douglas Development prior to the bankruptcy filing. Of great interest to retail watchers is the spectrum of retailers who signed deals…CVS (the pharmacy would return to their originally occupied space, Eagle Bank (a regional bank based in Bethesda, MD) and J. Pauls (part of the Capital Restaurants group with a notable presence in Georgetown).
We’ve always thought of this main intersection as our Wisconsin Avenue and M Street…it looks like it’s going to take a little longer for that idea to fully blossom. But blossom it will.
DC Link Roundup: Heard In The ‘Hood
Here’s what we were reading last week about neighborhood news in DC.
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Shaw – Vegetate, the veggie restaurant on 9th Street NW, is closing. [Convention Center Community Association]
Downtown – The Franklin School at 13th and K Streets NW will be redeveloped at some point in the future. The question is what is the highest and best use for the building? [The Other 35 Percent]
Dupont/Logan Circle – Clown car finds parking…film at 11. [Borderstan]
Dupont – The Real World DC trailer is up on MTV’s website and the show airs December 30. [DCist]
Verizon Center – A New York Time goodbye to Abe Pollin who brought the Caps and Wizards to the heart of Washington. [NY Times]
Washingtonian Profiles The Penn Quarter
The December 2009 Washingtonian magazine has a “Neighborhood Best Of” piece on the Penn Quarter in print and they also put together an accompanying video (shown below). Although the video stayed west of 7th Street NW and south of H Street NW, it was nice to see the print article mention one of the handful of newer, less flashy, good value restaurants east of 7th Street NW such as Absolute Thai (6th and G St NW). It also begs the eternal question…are Penn Quarter, Gallery Place, Chinatown, Mount Vernon Triangle or the overlaying names Downtown or East End the best monikers for the area?
Who Needs Black Friday?
While we know there will be a variety of restaurants open in DC on Thanksgiving Day, we were surprised to see that Banana Republic will be open as well. For six hours this Thursday, Banana Republic (601 13th ST NW) will open to let you try on clothes before the big meal (they open at 11 am) or to walk off some of the feast (they close at 5 pm).
Do you know of any other retail establishments that will be open on Thanksgiving Day in Penn Quarter?