Two Pics From The Neighborhood

It looks like the steel structure is holding up the building’s facade. They only kept the structure of the front of the building–the back half was completely removed with only the facade remaining.

Thanks for the info! We noticed that several weeks ago there was a small fire in the Victorian (towards the front on the third floor). This was before the office building part grew taller than the Victorian. Here is a link to the DCFD incident report.

in contrast to this construction, did you notice the new trees they planted yesterday along the north side of 600 block of H Street?

i would say they look great, but others might suggest I should move to Fairfax if I like them so much!

dave: no, we didn’t – got to check that out tonight.

Also, I’ve always wondered why there’s no love for Maryland in those “you should move to” remarks?

It’s always Northern Virginia and it’s a different NoVa city/county each time: Reston, Leesburg, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon..

Thats not the Sonata…its the Madrigal Lofts. At least according to the sign that was on the fence when they started construction. I think its a horrendous building with little aesthetic value whatsoever.

Well let’s just hope the businesses that line the 600 block of H Street are willing to keep the trees looking good since after all it’s outside their door so they are responsible. DC has the money to spend on planting trees but can’t afford to keep loiterers and drug dealers out of the neighborhood.

Okay, yeah that is the Sonata I guess…though when they started the fence said Madrigal Lofts, which I now see are supposed to be behind that building. What is weird is that if you go to http://www.madrigallofts.com, the building they have drawn looks just like the one they call the Sonata. Weird. Either way, I think it’s ugly and boring.

lol

Well, there was an article in in the Washington Business Journal today that stated the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is completing a purchase of 251 Massachusetts Ave. from Quandrangle Development and the Wilkes Co. The site was originally slated to become a residential building. Let us hope the new owners will redesign this space better that what it was shaping up to be.

We better hope other corporations, associations, etc. will want to purchase land from Quandrangle and Wilkes Co because if they don’t, the buildings in the southeastern portion of the Mount Vernon Triangle will end up looking uninspired and for the lack of a better word – ugly.

I know that this will probably reduce the amount of residential slightly, but I think it is worth it.

400 Mass Avenue, so far, represents the best residential architecture in the neighborhood. The Dumont Condos should give us another architectural gem when completed. The architecture firm which designed 400 Mass Avenue, Esocoff & Associates, is among the best in the city for design innovation.

Whoever is designing Mount Vernon Place should be embarrased.

Not drugdealers, but…Actually, I was surprised on my way home yesterday to see 2 DC cops removing one of the evening shift homeless guys from between the Chophouse and Mr Valdez. It appears that it was such a nice evening, he decided to take a nap. That was the first time I had seen someone removed.

I like the design of the Sonata- it would just be nice if someone would fix up the older adjacent buildings. It could be a nice little strip for shopping/ dining. Especially since the architecture of the Sonata fits in with the other buildings.

haha, nice one GPL and CM.

i think all Greater PQ architecture looks fine. that said, i do think the 400 Mass Ave building looks more like a “Sonata”, and vice versa.

speaking of architecture, i had the pleasure to interview the 6th Street Flats architect last month. i haven’t finished writing up the interview for our newsletter yet. but these sort of concept-design inquiries always fascinate me. it would be cool to get a collection of such interviews for the neighborhood, IMHO.

I’m not super keen on 400 Mass myself but I think they were pretty innovative with the space they had to use. The apartments are quite nice in the building as well. 300 Mass is a bit boring, but even that is nicer than the structure across the street that is either the Sonata or Madrigal Lofts. Either way, I’ve watched it go up and kept waiting for it to become nicer, but it looks like something that belongs in Reston, VA, not in downtown DC. It’s absolutely boring beyond words. And that whole round thing in the corner on the roof that every single architect in DC insists on using is getting boring and overdone. Ten Ten Mass looks like it will have similar design to 400 Mass.

Where’s the AIPAC building going to go? Will it replace the park on the north side of Mass between 2nd and 3rd? Will it take up the whole block?

I’m just having trouble imagining where it will go, so any assistance would be appreciated.