The former Clark Elementary on Kansas Avenue, which closed along with 22 other D.C. public schools in 2008, opened again this week under new management: E.L. Haynes public charter school, which was granted a 25-year-lease on the property and will put $15 million into renovating it. Fresh off Tuesday's ribbon-cutting at Stoddert elementary, Mayor Adrian [...]

On Monday, Jonathan O'Connell drilled down into the economic development platforms of Mayor Adrian Fenty and would-be mayor Vince Gray. In a nutshell, he concludes that while Fenty has gone for big developments–many of which haven't yet been built–Gray would focus on fewer projects, and emphasize the steady-job-generating tourism industry. We also get a bit [...]

If the Fenty Administration doesn't make a decision on who'll get to develop the Franklin School on 13th and K Streets NW soon, it may be up to a Vince Gray administration. If so, we know what the chairman would prefer: At a meet-and-greet in Cleveland Park on Tuesday, he said that the University of [...]

The Washington D.C. Association of REALTORs–yes, they capitalize the term–just announced their endorsement of Council Chairman Vince Gray for Mayor and Councilmember Kwame Brown for Chairman. The organization also backed incumbent Councilmembers Phil Mendelson, David Catania, Tommy Wells, and Harry Thomas.
The release reads: "WDCAR PAC endorsed after face-to-face interviews with candidates, a review of candidate's [...]

Dantes Partners is doing well with District properties lately. The seven-year-old developer–which appears to have no website–has a piece of the Hine School redevelopment, Vida Senior Center in Brightwood, the West End properties, and a 44-unit residential bulding on Chapin Street. They even served as development consultant on the Peaceoholics' ill-starred project at 1300 Congress [...]

A couple weeks ago, I previewed the campaign that D.C. affordable housing advocates were launching to push for better funding and administration of the District's housing programs. Now, they've got the materials online: A campaign video, plus a dense report on the need for a "continuum of affordable housing," or options from homelessness relief to [...]

For any Ward 1 voters who may have forgotten that lots of government help went into the building of the DCUSA complex–$40 million worth–the politicians responsible were honored today with a plastic panel that will eventually be replaced by an honest-to-god metal one.
Apropos of no particular event, other than perhaps the imminent completion of the [...]

As expected, Council Chairman Vince Gray allowed only one of the two developers nominated to the Zoning Commission by Mayor Adrian Fenty to move forward in the Council's last legislative meeting before their summer recess. Calling Fenty's nominations an "unprecedented attempt to stack the Zoning Commission" with people in the real estate industry, he recommended [...]

Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh has no declared opponent in her race for reelection. But the building industry has her back anyway: Next Thursday, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Metro Washington PAC, the DC Building Industry Association PAC, and the Apartment and Office Building Owners PAC will host a joint cocktail reception and fundraiser [...]

As our dearly departed DeBonis reports, the Greater Washington Board of Trade has endorsed Mayor Adrian Fenty over Council Chairman Vince Gray, with the reasoning: Things have been ok from our perspective, so why change horses mid-stream?
"It simply comes down to the fact that we recognize the progress that's being made over the past four [...]