RSS FeedWaPo Releases The Local Explorer
Our friends over at WaPo unveiled the LocalExplorer, an online feature that provides a map based way to view information about any community in DC. One can select a county, a neighborhood or a zip code and get information about the area of interest including crime statistics, home sales, schools and neighborhood resources (such as post offices, museuems and yes, even grocery stores). A quick survey revealed that a few of the restaurants listed don’t exist anymore (such as Coyote Ugly and Ginger Cove) or were spelled incorrectly (Indy Blue) but the lion’s share of the information appears to be accurate for the Penn Quarter.
Fenty Expands District Presence At Retail Convention
Following in Williams’ footsteps, Fenty attended his first International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual convention — the largest gathering of retail-related professionals in the country and a place to make deals. The District’s booth increased in size this year from 600 to 2,000 square feet.
It seems that grocery stores are still an issue, with the DC Economic Partnership focusing on placing grocery stores at:
- Old convention center site (approx 9th & H St NW) – future site of hundreds of residential units
- Near SE area around the new baseball stadium – where several residential buildings are being constructed
- NoMa area – another future site of residential buildings
- East of the Anacostia
The only retail outlet mentioned by name is Target. Although, we’ve discussed rumors that Bloomingdale’s wants to open up in the District.
PEPCO To Start Residential Smart Metering Pilot Program
With gas prices recently blowing right through $3/gallon, almost breaking the March 1981 inflation adjusted high record of $3.29/gallon, and contributing to a greater public awareness about energy conservation, we’re glad to see PEPCO start a smart metering electricity trial program in DC. Prices for electricity will be set to different rates during different times of the day with participating households being notified by e-mail, text message, telephone or pager when the prices change. Metering of this kind is common in industrial and commercial settings that consume vast amounts of electricity every day but this is the first residential real time metering program trial in the US. Current pricing for most residential customers is not time sensitive (PDF).
Trial customers will get a smart meter installed in their home and receive detailed monthly usage reports so they can see where they are spending their money on power. The idea is to have a customer change their usage to suit their budget and needs depending on the cost at a given time during the day. Participation is by invitation only but you can read all about the program at the PowerCentsDC website.
We have to offer major kudos to PEPCO on this one !
918 F St Office Building Under Contract (Deal Closes In Jan 2008)
Many of us have seen the For Sale signs on the 918 F St NW windows (National Union Building). It is a 30,977 square feet office building with 7 floors and it’s located next to the new Ventana condominium.
A bit of searching has led us to discover that the building has found a buyer and is currently under contract.
The sales flyer (pdf) notes that Owner vacating January, 2008, so that’s when we expect the deal to close.