Author Archives: ljjanezich

North Facade of Proposed 49 Unit Condo Building at 1215 K Street, NE.

Developer Habte Sequar To Build 49 Unit Condo Building Near Atlas District

by Larry Janezich

Last night, Washington developer Habte Sequar of Pierce Investments told ANC6A’s Economic Development Committee of his plans to build a 49 unit, five floor residential building at 1215 K Street, NE, in the space now occupied by Jimmy’s Tire shop.  The site lies just outside of the Atlas District, three blocks north of H Street, and two blocks east of Gallaudet, at the intersection of Florida Avenue, K Street, and 12^th Street, NE.

When questioned about how the units will be marketed, Sequar said, “they will definitely be condos.”  The 50 foot matter of right building will provide 30 underground parking spaces.  The plans call for 16 two-bedroom units and 33 one bedroom units, ranging from 600 square feet to 950 square feet.  Inclusionary zoning requirements will provide five or six affordable housing units, maintaining the 2-1 ratio regarding unit size.  Sequar expects to break ground in 30 days  and complete the project 15 months later.

Sequar is the developer behind The Cardozo, a 28-unit apartment building at 11th and V Streets, NW; The Aston, in Logan Circle; The Renaissance at Logan; and Josephine Condos at 440 Rhode Island Ave., NW.

The Week Ahead…..

by Larry Janezich

Monday, April 21

ANC 6A Transportation & Public Space Committee meets at 7:00pm, Maury Elementary School (1250 Constitution Avenue, NE) PLEASE NOTE LOCATION CHANGE:  Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith Annex (1230 C Street NE)  

Among items on the agenda:

Consideration of safety improvements at 10th Street NE and Maryland Avenue NE while Florida Avenue NE transportation project is pending.

Consideration of new Capital Bikeshare station location originally planned for 12th Street NE and H Street NE in the proximity of the streetcar electrical substation.

Review of fence application before the Historic Preservation Office concerning lot adjacent to 147 Tennessee Avenue NE (at the intersection of 13th Street NE and Tennessee Avenue NE)

Monday, April 21

ANC 6A Community Outreach Committee meets at 7:00pm at Maury Elementary School,

1250 Constitution Ave NE (enter from 13th St.)

Review of grant requests for recess/sports equipment for Miner Elementary School (pending receipt of application) and for picnic tables for outdoor classroom for Eliot Hine Middle School.

Wednesday, April 23

ANC6B Outreach & Constituent Services (O&CS) Task Force meets at 7:00pm, in Hill Center.

Wednesday, April 23

ANC6A Economic Development & Zoning Committee meets at 7:00pm in Sherwood Recreation Center.

Among items on the agenda:

819 D Street, NE (HPA 14-180) – Applicant seeks Historic Preservation Board approval for redesigned plans for renovation of existing church and two adjoining rowhouses into proposed 30-unit development.

1511 A Street, NE – Committee will review most recent drawings provided by developer and consider providing further comments to the Zoning Administrator.

Remington’s née Equus , 1980 – 2014

The Week Ahead….Remington’s Last Stand

By Larry Janezich

Monday, April 14

Remington’s Last Stand.  Remington’s closes today.  Expect a crowd this evening to celebrate the end of a 30/34 year run for the Capitol Hill institution.  The building (actually two adjacent buildings) was reportedly sold a year ago for $3 million to Mountain View Burleson, LLC.   Equus, the city’s original gay country-western bar which occupied half the building, took over the adjacent Gallagher’s and became Remington’s in the mid 1980’s.  Word on the street is that the building(s) will be gutted and divided.  Half will be occupied by a Sprint outlet; the new owners hope to open a food and beverage venue in the other half – the latter being uncertain.  Mountain View Burleson is a Texas LLC which lists its principle operation as Mountain View Development Company, Virginia Beach, VA.

Monday, April 14

ANC 6D meets at 7:00pm, DCRA Meeting Room, 1100 4th Street SW, 2nd Floor

Agenda items:

WMATA Presentation – Development at Navy Yard Metro

Channel Square Use Variance

Tour de Cure Race, American Diabetes Association

Monday, April 14

Quarterly RFK Community Outreach Meeting hosted by Events DC. Meeting is at 8:30pm in the RFK Stadium Media Room (South entrance, 4th Floor).

Tuesday April 15

CHRS Board of Directors meets at 6:30pm, Capitol Hill Townhomes, 750 6^th Street, SE

Wednesday, April 16

ANC6a Economic Development Committee meeting has been postponed until Wednesday, April 23.

Thursday, April 17

PSA 108 meets at 7:00pm, Liberty Baptist Church, 527 Kentucky Avenue SE.

MPD Lt. JB Dykes.

The Norwegian Rat, by James Audubon

Bobby Corrigan, Rodentologist, Featured Speaker at Today’s Rat Summit

Residents but No Restaurant Reps Attended Today’s Rat Summit

Residents Turn Out for Rat Summit – Barracks Row Restaurants, Not So Much

by Larry Janezich

Some 20 residents and a handful of ANC commissioners showed up for the Community Ward Six Rat Summit in Hill Center today.  The owners and managers of the source of many of the area’s rodent problems – the Barracks Row restaurants – appeared to be under represented, if present at all.  This was despite the efforts of the ANC commissioners Peisch and Oldenburg to encourage turnout among the restaurants in the 400 and 500 blocks of 8^th Street, SE.

Restaurants are key players in the problem, according to Bobby Corrigan, Ph.D., of Corrigan Consulting, of Richmond, the featured speaker and one of the area’s leading experts on rodents.   He noted that one 60 pound bag of restaurant trash can supply edibles for 1,000 rats for a day.

According to Corrigan restaurant and resident trash disposal is a primary contributor to sustaining a neighborhoods rodent population.  Regarding restaurants, he said the push for enforcement by residents and resistance by business can create a weak link in the eradication chain which allows rats to take advantage.  Today’s meeting provided evidence to back up this statement.

Corrigan said that rats need food, shelter, and water.  The first two of these are the factors which can be controlled – water is widely available, and a rat can survive on the water from the morning dew on grass.

Some key rat facts listed by Corrigan include:

• Doughnuts, bagels, and fried chicken are favorite rat foods, which they learn to like from the milk produced by a nursing mother who feeds on those items.
• Rats live an average of 5 – 7 months of life when on the street; in a cage, they would survive longer.
• A rat’s range can be as short as 25 feet from the nest up to 450 feet, depending on the source of food.
• Corrigan says there are no “super rats,” and he will buy dinner for anyone bringing him a two pound rat.
• Rats love alleys and other areas where residents regularly put out trash.
• Rodents can enter a building through a hole the size of a dime, or through a crack the width of a Number 2 pencil.  The oily smear surrounding a rat hole in a wall is characteristic and comes from sebum secreted by the rat’s sebaceous glands.
• Composting does not attract rats if cone correctly.
• If you garden in an area with rats, it is difficult to keep them out.
• Black box bait station poisoning is not particularly effective for rats regularly dining on a favorite food to which they have become accustomed.
• Treating burrows with poison bait can be effective if monitored and followed up on by the city. Poison Tracking powder can be effective but affects pets and other mammals, and like bait takes a week or two to kill a rat.
• Construction excavation does not necessarily produce rats – the rats have to be present.
• “Excluder Rodent Proofing” is probably the best technology available on rodent control.

Some residents participating in today’s meeting said they were there because of rodent issues attending the restaurant group at 1^st and D, SE (Tortilla Coast, Talay Thai, and Bullfeathers, and Ninella on 13^th Street, SE, on Lincoln Park.  Capitol Hill Corner has posted several articles on Capitol Hill’s rat problem pointing to the restaurant group at 13th and Pennsylvania SE, http://bit.ly/RdVSfW ,  the Starbuck’s at 3rd and Pennsylvania http://bit.ly/1hZbdJN , Barracks Row  http://bit.ly/NK8lps , and Metro Center http://bit.ly/1aHa3T8.  ANC6b has enlisted city agencies to conduct a coordinated effort to address the Metro Center problem and individual commissioners are moving to address some of the other areas.

The key to rodent control is a joint effort by the community and city to make the environment unfriendly.  Restaurants must clean up and power wash alleys, clean disposal bins, and control trash disposal by keeping it inside until hauled away or disposing of it in a rodent proof trash compacter.

Things which community can do are the following.

Dispose of dog waste in residential trash bins with lids (your own, not those of other residents) or in public disposals which are impervious to access by rats.

Dispose of household trash in bins with lids – never in plastic bags.

Use landscaping which is unfriendly to rodents – bush and shrub choice (conical) are critical.

Corrigan stressed that “the rat is not forgiving of our mistakes,” and offered to answer questions which are emailed to him at: cityrats@icloud.com.

Today’s event was sponsored by CM Tommy Wells, DC DOH, and ANC6b.

Khaliyl Nubian plays guitar weekends, 9:00am – 6:00pm at Baked and Wired in Georgetown. http://bakedandwired.com/ Last week found him at Eastern Market, 7th and C Streets. His card reads, “Have Guitar, Will Travel.” I Want 2 Play 4 U. Khaliyl999@hotmail.com

The Week Ahead……The ANCs Are Busy

Monday, April 7

CHRS Historic Preservation Committee meets at 6:30pm, at Kirby House, 420 10th Street, SE.

Tuesday, April 8

ANC6B meets at 7:00pm, Hill Center.

Among the items on the agenda:

Presentation on 11th Street Bridge Park Project: Scott Kratz, Director

Presenttion on The Homeless Children’s Playtime Project: Joel Schwarz, Development Manager

Vacant Building at 531 8th Street SE, concept/storefront alterations/rooftop addition

Tandoor Grill 419 8th Street SE, second story addition

Letter to Office of Planning regarding Barney Circle/Southeast Boulevard Planning Scope of Work

Wednesday, April 9

ANC 6B Hill East Task Force Meeting at 6:30pm at St. Coletta’s, the first of two community meetings this month (the second, on April 30) to determine community priorities for the development of the Eastern Branch Building.  The now vacant building at 261 17th Street, SE, was formerly the Boys and Girls Club.  The city owns the building and is prepared to lease it to a developer.  A special task for chaired by Chuck Burger recommended uses for the building related to community needs, including daycare, aging and senior services, wellness and fitness and recreation.

Wednesday, April 9

ANC 6C meets at 7:00pm at the Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE.  Among items on the agenda:

Update on the Insight Properties Group Apollo Project – the planned high-end mixed-use community that would include approximately 321 residential units and 23,000 square feet of retail space in the 600 block of H Street, NE.

Presentation on a new establishment at 400 H Street, NE, the site of the former TruOrleans, shut down by DC Department of Revenue last year for failure to pay taxes.

Thursday, April 10

ANC6A meets at 7:00pm, Miner Elementary School, 601 15th Street, NE.

Among items on the agenda:

Community Presentation: Commander Dierdre Porter, MPD Fifth (5th) District

Conditional support of a bike rack in public space outside of Chupacabra, 822 H Street, NE

Conditional withdrawal of opposition to sidewalk café application by Nomad Hookah Bar, 1200 H Street, NE

Request that the Zoning Administrator investigate density and parking issues surrounding a proposed 18 unit condo project at 1511 A Street, NE.  (The height and mass of the project has neighbors livid over what they see as a violation of the spirit of what the Zoning Regulations intend and the developer and real estate broker taking advantage of an anomaly in the regulations which would give the developer the right to proceed  as a matter of right.)

Request that the Office of Planning upzone the remainder of the block containing the above project to R-4, with the exception of those properties on the south side of the block that front on East Capitol Street.

Thursday, April 10

CHRS Zoning Committee meets at 7:30pm, at Kirby House, 420 10th Street, SE

The Entrance to Eastern Market Pottery is Down the Stairs at the 7th and C Streets Corner of Eastern Market

Enter

Eastern Market Pottery’s 1100 Square Foot Studio and Display Space

For Sale

For Sale

For Sale

For Sale

One of the Studio’s Two Electric Kilns

Instructor Lynn Murphy at the Potter’s Wheel Last Sunday

Eastern Market Pottery – Photo Essay

by Larry Janezich

Eastern Market Pottery has been a fixture of Eastern Market since 1968.  After the April 2007 fire, the studio was relocated from the tower at the rear of the market to market’s south end lower level, entrance at 7^th and C Streets.

In addition to selling pottery inside the studio, Eastern Market Pottery offers classes in pottery making four nights a week and on Thursday mornings.  Classes are taught by skilled potters and instruction is individualized to meet the needs of students at all skill levels.

Eastern Market Pottery was established in 1968 by Harold Guilland in Eastern Market to help cover living expenses while he finished writing Early American Folk Pottery, published in 1971.  Current owner Chuck Brome purchased the business in 1974 after working as an instructor and studio manager.

The staff includes owner, Chuck Brome; studio manager and instructor, Susan Jacobs, and instructors Ellen Jaffe, Audrey Jones, and Lynn Murphy.

For more information see here:  http://www.easternmarketpottery.com/ or call (202)544-6669.

View to the East of Phase 1, 1333 M Street

Cohen Companies Rep Leila Batties Briefs ANC6B on Phase 1 of the Proposed M Street Project

“We regard this as the beginning of the discussion with the ANC.”

ANC6B Considers Major Residential/Retail Project on M Street, SE

Ten Story 673 Residential Unit To Front On Anacostia River

by Larry Janezich

Last night, ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee heard a presentation from representatives of Cohen Companies, the developers of a proposed three building ten story mixed use project at 1333 M Street, SE.

Because of its scale and importance to the neighborhood, ANC Commissioner Francis Campbell’s Planning and Zoning Committee has authorized the creation of a subcommittee chaired by ANC6b06 Commissioner Nichole Opkins, to oversee the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process before the DC Zoning Commission.  The subcommittee has not been formed yet, but according to Campbell, will comprise both commissioners, residents and other community stakeholders – much as the subcommittee that considered the PUD for the Hine project.

When first proposed in 2010, the project was envisioned as office, hotel, retail and commercial, but the glut of office space in DC resulted in conversion of the project to mostly residential with some ground floor retail

The project will be built in four phases, resulting in three buildings – it will appear to be four structures, but two of them will be connected.   Cohen Companies explained the first phase – a ten story 218 residential unit building – last night.

When finished, the project will include 673 units – including affordable housing units, seven retail spaces totaling about 10,000 square feet, and 214 below grade parking spaces.

The project has not been without controversy; the National Capital Planning Commission expressed concern over the required closure of streets which existed as part of the L’Enfant Plan but which were currently unused.  The City Council eventually agreed to the closing of the streets in 2010.

Cohen Companies says that the project will provide $7.9 million in revenues to the city.  The company hopes for an initial hearing before the Zoning Commission (ZC) in June or July of this year.  The company will bring three requests before the ZC – rezoning for the entire property, preliminary approval of the project including use of property and density, and approval of Phase 1.  ANC6B will represent the community at each stage of the process.

Cohen Companies is one of the major players among District developers, and was named in the NPR/WAMU Series “Deals for Developers” in May of last year (see here: http://apps.npr.org/deals-for-developers-wamu/).  In that series, NPR/WAMU stated that Cohen Companies had received at $8,800,000 subsidy in the form of an LDA on this project, and had contributed $62,250 to District politicians over the past ten years.