Shoppers at the Columbia Heights Giant were greeted this evening with fantastic news: A flyer promising that all 19 cash registers will be open from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., and a rotisserie chicken to anyone who finds one closed (unless it's "broken or offline"). Looks like all the whining about epic lines stretching back into [...]
Margot's Chair, the latest offering from Tryst/Diner/Open City impresario Constantine Stavropoulos slated for the ground floor of refurbished condos at 11th and Monroe Street in Columbia Heights, has mostly made it through the regulatory meat grinder. The 250-seat, 7,000-square-foot hangout spot got a "voluntary agreement" with the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission that allows 24-hour operation [...]
Cardozo High School in Columbia Heights is due for a renovation, and designers aren't thinking in half-measures: Initial architectural plans propose building two new gyms (a "natatorium" and a basketball court) on what are now grassy terraces flanking the historic building.
Eric Fidler reports that the large new gyms are necessary because the school was built [...]
Back in July, I wrote about a large building on Randolph and 14th Street NW that had tried to go through a tenant purchase before the real estate crash, got in way over its head with renovations, and ended up desperately trying to get renters to qualify for the city assistance and loans they needed [...]
If you've noticed more men sleeping on the streets lately in Columbia Heights–despite the bitter cold–it's probably because the place they'd have stayed for the last couple of decades, La Casa shelter on Irving Street, has been closed for over two months now. With the help of public interest lawyer Jane Zara, a few of [...]
When you stare at buildings and streetscape designs enough, you start to notice certain architectural elements show up over and over again. Also, it must be easier to get away with repetition in different jurisdictions, which would tend to yield repeats of District projects in the suburbs. Just two examples I've noticed lately:
The small square [...]
Tuesday morning marked a starchy celebration on Irving Street NW in Columbia Heights: The grand opening of IHOP’s 1,500th location, complete with a dancing pancake, free short stacks of pancakes, and a Washington Monument shaped out of...you get the picture. Inside, IHOP execs visiting from California for the occasion congregated in the back room, while [...]
Irving Street NW in Columbia Heights has gone through some growing pains in the last decade. Buildings have mushroomed on vacant lots, but haven’t yet filled out—glassy storefronts are still covered with brown paper, even as young people with disposable income pour into the residential towers clustered around the Metrorail station.
One thing hasn’t changed at [...]
Pho 14, the fabulous Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall that set up shop on Park Road in Columbia Heights, is expanding into the space next door. A smart move–the place has a line out the door most evenings, and has a thriving take-out banh mi business. I was mildly surprised, however, to notice that the help-wanted signs in [...]
Near the corner of Sherman Avenue and Girard Street NW, there’s a narrow house with a dilapidated porch and a mailbox with a sign reading “PRAYER BOX.” Every Sunday morning, the interior resounds with a joy that belies the shabby façade.
“We thank you for the future, father!” cries a young man at the front of [...]
