Author Archive
David Franco on the $5.7 Million Question…
View 14–located at the corner of 14th St. and Florida Ave. NW–earlier this year during construction.
When I interviewed View 14 developer David Franco last week, I figured that—whatever I ended up writing—some commenter would eventually bring up the $5.7 million tax abatement that the project received earlier this year. (And which I already wrote about.)
Right, I was!
Inaugural Edition: ASK HOUSING COMPLEX!
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Ask Housing Complex, in which we answer your questions about rental contracts, rotten roommates, city rules and regs, and everything else that’s on your mind. Send future complaints to rsamuelson@washingtoncitypaper.com.
Over the summer, I moved into a new apartment building, and less than four months later, I discovered an inch worth of bedbugs nesting in the joints of my bedframe. I told my building’s manager about the problem and after suggesting some “home remedies,” she informed me a full fumigation would cost $250—which wasn’t even correct; later on, I ended up paying $350. Anyway, I threw myself into prepping for this fumigation: bagging up all my books, washing and dry-cleaning all my clothes and linens, cleaning my shoes, etc. I went through the entire process before realizing that it was basically futile, and I shouldn’t have paid for it in the first place: My building manager knew that multiple people on my hall had previous experiences with bedbugs, and yet my unit was the only one purged at the time. The fumigators never touched the carpeted common areas. The bedbugs were pretty much destined to come back. All told, between the cost of fumigation, throwing away my bedframe, ruining a few items of clothing and killing a pair of sneakers, I ended up spending around $950. I want out. How do I get my landlord to officially terminate the lease? And how can I recoup my $500 security deposit—oh, and all the money I uselessly spent on the fumigation?
—Bugged Out in Mount Pleasant
You may have to just eat the ruined sneakers, but there are actually two legal ways out of the lease…
Towering Accomplishment: Developers Battle Comcast, Actually Win
Fight the Tower: Blum and Franco convinced Comcast to remove an eyesore.
Towering Accomplishment: Battling Comcast and Winning
If there were a list entitled “Corporate Behemoths You Don’t Want to Mess With,” Comcast might claim the top spot.
Type “Comcast and hate” into Google and 2.15 million results pop up. The first offers “A new reason to hate Comcast.” Another has a six-minute video called “Screw you COMCAST! I hate you!” There’s also an official “I hate Comcast” Facebook page.
Of course, many of these angry people are just battling for the Internet and cable service they’ve already paid for. Developers David Franco and Jeff Blum are among the few and the brave who purposely picked a fight with Comcast when they weren’t owed anything. And, foolhardy as it sounds, they actually won.
Read More “Towering Accomplishment: Developers Battle Comcast, Actually Win” »
Punches Thrown When “Metropolitan Money Store” Heads Appear in Court!
Why anyone would ever trust a “money store” with their house is beyond me. But the Metropolitan Money Store, based in Lanham, was actually a real business, and brought in millions promising homeowners with foreclosure assistance.
I first heard of the company when writing a story about a foreclosure rescue scam on Capitol Hill. The alleged perps in my story were small-timers in comparison to the managers of the Metropolitan Money Store. But they had the same idea.
Read More “Punches Thrown When “Metropolitan Money Store” Heads Appear in Court!” »
Top Blog Posts of the Past Week
After a week of Real World DC madness, the blog has transitioned back to its usual housing and development-related content. This week, we welcomed both “Proud Satanist” and “Proud Catholic” as commenters to the blog. Both of them were, of course, posting about Catholic Charities’ recent threat to stop running city-contracted social service programs if forced to extend employee benefits to married gay couples. Look for more on the same-sex marriage legislation from my colleague The Sexist Amanda Hess this week. As for me, well Ask Housing Complex! is launching in the next few days—should be fun, and by “fun” I mean “full of misery, which will hopefully lessened with sound advice.”
(1) Councilmembers Dig in Heels on Catholic Threat
(2) Catholic Church Threatens to Withhold Social Services if City Passes Same-Sex Marriage Law
(3) Second Chance for First-Time Buyers
(4) Worst Cities for Pedestrians
(5) Meet Real World DC Cast Member Ashley
(6) Second Chance for First-Time Buyers, Part 2
(7) An Explanation for the Boutique Hotel Boom
(8) Here They Are D.C., Your Seven (Eight, Actually) Strangers!
Image by TheChristianAlert.org, Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License.
Two Proposals Offered for West End Library Site
The Washington Business Journal is reporting that two bidders have offered proposals to redevelop the West End library and a nearby fire station. One is EastBanc Inc., which set its sights on this piece of land a while ago.
As I wrote back in July, the development of the West End library is a storied project. Back in 2007, the library’s land was almost sold off to Eastbanc as part of emergency legislation. When the company’s president earnestly discussed his plans with neighborhood folks, they responded with “derisive laughter,” as we reported back then. The proposal, which included condos and retail, went nowhere.
Read More “Two Proposals Offered for West End Library Site” »
Is the Tax Credit Turning D.C. Into a Seller’s Market?
I’ve spent a lot of time blogging about the first-time homebuyer tax credit recently, and last week, even devoted an entire column to the subject. My feeling is, it’s out there—I might as well inform people how to take advantage. I don’t know if the posts came off sounding too cheerleader-ish. But, in case they did, here’s the flip side of the credit: A lot of people consider it unnecessary, believing the recent drop in home values would have pushed many buyers back out into the market without the extra tax incentive. The credit, essentially, was an extra dollop of whipped cream on top of the cocoa. Lovely. But not necessary.
In Sunday’s Washington Post, professor Joseph Gyourko of University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, made another valuable point about the ill effects of the credit in his piece “5 myths about home sweet homeownership.” He argues that the credit is creating competition in areas where the market should still be settling—like here:
Read More “Is the Tax Credit Turning D.C. Into a Seller’s Market?” »
Capitol Hill Bikes Closing, Selling Everything
At a time when many of us recreational, not diehard cyclists are storing away our bikes and helmets, one D.C. bike store is in serious need of attention. DCist circulated the bad news this morning, Capitol Hill Bikes has lost its lease. There are more details on the store’s website:
Everything must go! Save up to 75 % off! Everything is on sale! Come early for best selection. When it’s gone, it’s gone. All sales are final.
Read More “Capitol Hill Bikes Closing, Selling Everything” »
Councilmembers Dig in Heels on Catholic Threat
Council Chair Vincent Gray, and Council Members Mendelson and Evans
It doesn’t look like the Catholic Archdiocese is going to be winning this battle.
Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the Catholic Archdiocese had issued an ultimatum to the D.C. Council: If you require us to extend same-sex marriage benefits to gay couples, we’ll stop running city-contracted social service programs. These programs include many homeless shelters, in addition to adoption and health care support. (This entire issue is, of course, contingent on the District’s same-sex marriage bill passing, which it is expected to next month.)
In the last two days (day 1, day 2), the Post has gathered a number of reactions from D.C. Councilmembers suggesting they’re not ready to give in and allow city money to be used to discriminate against gay couples.
- Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham had originally hoped to reach a compromise with the church, but has since altered his stance after “reviewing same-sex marriage laws in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont,” where the Church has not abandoned social services.
Read More “Councilmembers Dig in Heels on Catholic Threat” »
Groundbreaking for CVS in Petworth
The transformation of the intersection of Georgia Ave. and New Hampshire Ave. is almost complete.
On the northeast corner sits the Petworth Metro Station, opened in 1999. The well-regarded Sweet Mango Cafe is directly south (”I want to bathe in this chicken” is a direct quote from Yelp.) Directly to the west, there are the fancy Park Place apartments, which opened this Spring.
And then just below that, there is, well, a long-empty lot—apparently the former site of a gas station, which closed up in the early 1990s, according to DCmud.
