It was the kind of deal nobody in her right mind would refuse: It’s 2005, and the owner of an apartment building in Columbia Heights wants to sell. But instead of dealing with a new landlord, the District of Columbia government offers residents an alternative. Waiving its normal credit standards and contribution requirements, the city [...]
We heard a couple of weeks ago that the new Columbia Heights IHOP would be "owned and staffed by police officers," which was supposed to lay to rest fears of the 24-hour diner disrupting sleepy neighbors. Turns out that's only half of the truth. The folks bringing pancakes to Ward 1 are the same as [...]
Ellwood Thompson's, the elusive organic grocer that's had a sign in a window on Irving Street off 14th for at least a year now–having put plans on ice last April–is in final lease negotiations and expects to begin construction in July and finally open in January 2011, according to a company spokesman.
It's the second location [...]
Bob Moore, leader of the Development Corporation of Columbia Heights, said this morning at an affordable housing advocacy day at the Wilson Building that IHOP will be moving into digs on the 1400 block of Irving Street this August, bringing with it 110 jobs.
The pancake chain said it would be coming last October, but nothing [...]
As of ten minutes ago, there was one more condo left at the 153-unit Kenyon Square development in Columbia Heights: A two-bedroom, two-bathroom spot priced at $549,000. In an effort to get the last few units off the books, the property's management had been discounting by as much as $50,000. And so ends a two-year [...]
The predictable bag fee backlash is underway.
As of Friday, it now costs five cents for most plastic grocery bags (exceptions listed here). One District man says he's not going to take it–at least that's what he recently wrote on a Columbia Heights listserv.
He's vowing to drive to Maryland for his groceries, or only buy things [...]
Raw Deal: Norris is working through four seasons to open new Japanese restaurant.
Every once in a while, a restaurant that’s “Coming Soon!” just never comes. You see the sign for months, maybe even a year or more. You hear occasional reports about building permit holdups or problems with the city’s final inspection. And then, bang: [...]
For all the new jobs, ribbon-cuttings, and phone calls from amazed, returning locals first glimpsing the Target—"You wouldn't believe where I just went shopping!"—the gentrification of 14th Street NW has encountered some persistent, nagging problems.
And I'm not talking about the ongoing, well-documented crime issues.
Several notable residential developers in the area have struggled to stay afloat [...]
Soap Opera: Swann Cleaners has folded.
My boyfriend and I live on the top floor of a row house on 16th Street, in one of those gorgeous old mansions that was converted into separate units. We don’t have a laundry machine or dryer, but this wasn’t a problem when we first moved in six months [...]
100 Bryant St. N.W. in Bloomingdale, which was bid up to
$380,000 in a January Auction.
Back in January, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) held an auction for some 30 vacant homes and properties around D.C.
Sure, most were slummy—boarded up windows, austere yards, watermarked brick—but buyers recognized the few jewels, and in [...]
