October 19, 2015

Park View follow-up on parking issue at 3701 New Hampshire

October 19, 2015/ Drew

ANC 1A Chair and Park View blogger Kent Boese wrote a follow-up article about the parking issues around 3701 New Hampshire Avenue. I think it's a good explanation of the current parking situation. Kent walked around the area looking at where people are parking and what options were available.

The article is a good in-depth look at the issue. Ultimately, residents along 7th, Quincy, Rock Creek Church and other nearby streets will feel the stress from any new development, be it a restaurant or an apartment building.

Read more >

October 18, 2015

Quick update on plans for Ruta del Vino

October 18, 2015/ Drew

The Riyad is set to close in a month, and coming up is a wine bar to replace it. I sat down with Justin Logan for coffee the other day to chat about Ruta del Vino, the wine bar coming to 800 Upshur St NW.

Read more about the new restaurant >

October 11, 2015

DC Treasure preview party & gumbo contest

October 11, 2015/ Drew

DC Treasure store owner Noah David is having an early "preview" party for the store on Monday, Oct 12th. The new antique store at 205 Upshur St NW is next to the Slash Run restaurant and was previously the Louisiana Gumbo Express restaurant

Read more about the preview party >

October 09, 2015

Fighting to clean up vacant properties, one house at a time

October 09, 2015/ Drew

Walk around Petworth and you'll see houses being renovated on block after block, dumpsters parked on the street with duct-taped "no parking" signs on the trees. Inside you'll hear tools and men's voices as walls go up, floors are redone, new landscaping put in.

Walk around Petworth, and you'll see many examples of houses that are sitting untouched and empty, slowly falling apart with trash strewn yards and a construction permit on the window -- with no signs of construction.

Neighbors are fed up with developers buying properties and leaving them to rot while waiting for housing prices to rise. The city loses out on taxes, and everyone loses out when those properties attract rats and illegal activity.

But KSDA and ANC 4D Commissioner David Sheon are working to fix it.

September 29, 2015

Goodbye Riyad, hello Ruta del Vino

September 29, 2015/ Drew

Riyad Market, the inconvenience store at 800 Upshur St busted for selling synthetic drugs, is supposed to close by November 13th, according to the Office of the Attorney General. To replace it? A new Latin-inspired wine bar and restaurant

Read more about the new wine bar after the break:

September 21, 2015

KSDA keeps up the pressure on vacant properties (updated)

September 21, 2015/ Drew

Here's some good investigative work by neighbors in the Kennedy Street Development Association on vacant and blighted property in the area. It's bad enough that good homes are sitting vacant and are unsafe (or being used by squatters or for other uses), but the city is losing millions in taxable revenue that could be used for good purposes, like homelessness and affordable housing, perhaps? Good job to the KSDA folks for their tenacity on this issue... Read more >

September 20, 2015

Renovation Tips: Eat, bathe and relax in style

September 20, 2015/ Guest Contributor

Are you considering updates and renovations at your house? This is the second in a short series written with my friend and local real estate agent Ryan DaSilva about renovation ideas that are “worth it.” Obviously, “worthiness” is always up to the homeowner. Whether you’re planning on moving in a year or living in your house for the next 50 years, there’s always something to update and improve the house to make it more enjoyable for you.

September 14, 2015

Meeting about 3701 Georgia Ave redevelopment (Sweet Mango Cafe)

September 14, 2015/ Drew

ANC 4C Commissioner Timothy Jones is holding a Single Member District meeting (SMD) tonight at 801 Shepherd St NW at 7pm along with Rooney Properties, the new owner and developer of 3701 Georgia Avenue, which used to be Sweet Mango Cafe.

Read more about the meeting and links to the backstory, after the break:

September 13, 2015

The opposite of a Slim chance: an interview with Paul Ruppert

September 13, 2015/ Drew

You can’t talk about the recent resurgence along Upshur Street in Petworth without mentioning Paul Ruppert. The Ruppert family has lived and owned businesses in DC since the 1890s when his great-grandfather opened up a hardware store. An entrepreneur at heart, Paul has run several successful restaurants in DC since he opened his first one on 7th Street with his mother in 1992. Paul has made a career of opening businesses in areas of DC that are on the cusp of change, and then lending support to those communities. It’s no different with Petworth. Read more about Slim's Diner and Paul Ruppert, after the break...

September 10, 2015

Thai restaurant at 845 Upshur Street gets a name

September 10, 2015/ Drew

The southeast Asian / Thai-inspired restaurant coming to 845 Upshur Street NW is going to be named after a friend of Chef Alex McCoy (well, a friend's nickname, really). It's going to be called Alfie's.

September 03, 2015

A new store for Upshur: DC Treasure antiques & collectibles

September 03, 2015/ Drew

Upshur Street is getting another new business, this time on the 200 block next door to Slash Run. Noah David is opening DC Treasure, an antiques and collectibles store in the old Louisiana Gumbo Express at 205 Upshur St NW. Read more about the new store coming to Upshur:

August 31, 2015

Community meeting with owners of new Upshur restaurant

August 31, 2015/ Drew

ANC 4C07 Commissioner John-Paul Hayworth held a public meeting this evening with the three owners of the new southeast Asian restaurant coming to 845 Upshur Street, Marc Dosik, Alex McCoy and Hunter Thompson. The meeting was an opportunity to get resident input on a Community Agreement between the three owners and ANC 4C. Read more about the meeting after the break:

August 30, 2015

Park Place apartments retail rumor

August 30, 2015/ Drew

By the way... I heard a rumor that 7-Eleven has either backed out or is no longer being offered a lease at the Park Place apartments (on Georgia Ave over the metro stop). I believe the Wells Fargo bank is still slated to open, but no word on the other empty retail space.

I understand that the sale of the building last year by Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund (for $64 million) to TA Realty (paywall link) was predicated upon having long-term leases (hence national chains like 7-Eleven, Dunkin Donuts and Wells Fargo who can afford a long-term lease), so I wonder if another national chain is going to take that spot. Be nice to see local-owned businesses come into those long-empty spots. Kids' clothing store maybe?

We'll see what happens.