Zach Cutler – Funk/Soul Artist – Tonight at Eastern Market Metro Plaza 5:00p – 6:30p. Photo: Zach Cutler
Friday Night Live Jazz at Eastern Market Metro Plaza Features Zach Cutler – Funk/Soul Artist – 5:00p – 6:30p
by Larry Janezich
Zach Cutler profile: “I am a professional musician based in DC, mostly gigging on acoustic and electric guitars. I play mostly Funk/Soul/R+Bish stuff, but I’m captivated by anything with a groove, from metal to journeyman country. I’m also a devout funkateer and record collector, always out to discover new nibbletts of funk in any medium I can.
People I have worked with include:
Raheem DeVaughn, Melanie Fiona, The Impressions, Alison Carney, W. Ellington Felton, Zo!, Eastern Standard Time, Sy Smith, Kenny Wesley, Tamara Wellons, N’Dambi, Chuck Brown, Yahzarah, Ab, J.Hill, Terrence Cunningham, Green Tea, The Cornel West Theory, N’Digo Rose.”
MPD First District Commander Ralph McLean took questions about crime from ANC6C commissioners and residents on Wednesday night.
MPD 1D Commander Hears About Sex/Drug/Carjacking Crimes in ANC6C
By Larry Janezich
Wednesday night, MPD 1st District Commander Ralph McLean took questions on crime from ANC6C commissioners and residents, and offered some additional details about two recent homicides in ANC6B. McLean took command of the 1st District three months ago and has been making himself available at ANC virtual meetings such as this one on Wednesday night.
Commissioner Joel Kelty conveyed resident complaints about the increase in crime on or near H Street, NE, including prostitution and drug dealing on the 600 and 700 blocks of 7th and 8th Streets, NE. He cited a recent virtual meeting of more than 40 residents with Commander McLean and CM Charles Allen where concerns were aired and he acknowledged the gratitude of those involved for the meeting. Still, Kelty said, concern remains high and he noted that some residents were contemplating leaving the District.
There are several reasons why these crimes are difficult to control. MPD is focusing its resouces on violent crime. In addition, MPD is experiencing a shortage of officers – McLean says he has fewer officers today than he did three months ago. He said, “We will work as hard as we have to work, but I feel like I’m singing the same song.” He also pointed to the difficulty in getting repeat offenders off the street, citing two instances where individuals – one a mental health consumer – had been arrested four or five times and released before being incarcerated or referred to a mental health program.
McLean was not reassuring that MPD could do much to address the issues Kelty raised.
He had taken action with respect to another issue raised by Commissioner Christine Healey which concerned violent crime. Earlier in the meeting, she expressed concern about carjackings near the 600 blocks of East Capitol and A Streets, NE. Commander McLean said 9 carjackings have happened in the First District (three in Healey’s single member district) and two of them had been closed. He said additional units had been added to the area on Sunday, Monday, and Saturday, when most carjackings have occurred. The Community Focused Patrol Unit – the mountain bike patrol that is deployed on data based on violent crime – is working between 4th and 14th Street on and near the H Street corridor to address this problem.
McClean offered that it was the Community Focused Patrol Unit that responded within one minute to two homicides last week in nearby ANC6B. He expects the shooting which occurred on Watkins Field last Wednesday to close in the next week or two. Witnesses are not cooperating, but MPD has the roster of the teams which played that night, and a suspect was apparently on one of the teams. Detectives are going through the roster one by one. He also said that the shooting at 17th and Independence last Friday was targeted at the decedent, but police don’t know why.
Kelty’s issues were scheduled for discussion as the last item on the commission’s agenda which was after McLean left the meeting. When the ANC took the matter up at the end of the meeting, Kelty expanded his comments and stressed the need for more police support on H Street, NE, adding illegal use of ATVs and dirt bikes to the list of complaints. He said residents want something done about these quality of life issues, specifically, more visibility by MPD and data on frequency of non-violent crimes like prostitution. Commissioner Mark Eckenwiler said he had heard similar concerns from constituents on 4th and 5th Streets, NE.
Kelty asked the ANC to support a letter to Chief of Police Contee with copies to CM Allen and Commander McLean requesting more police support and noting that many neighbors are considering leaving the District. He said it is important for Contee and Allen to hear that.
Commissioner Jay Adelstein said half the problem is lack of prosecution. Kelty endorsed the need for a local prosecutor to prosecute local crime.
Commissioner Drew Courtney expressed concern that more law enforcement presence is the only solution being discussed and his belief that beefing up law enforcement against drugs is not a smart policy. He said that the government needs a coordinated solution with many facets.
A resident who lives near the center of the activity supported Kelty’s proposal to send a letter and said that the prostitution is very well organized with 4 to 6 prostitutes, two male “security guards” (pimps) and a look out. The resident said they are not afraid of police who drive by “and just ignore them,” adding, “I am one who has a desire to move. This has ruined my life for the past five months. I was assaulted in my own back yard [with pepper spray)] when I confronted one of the prostitutes.”
The consensus of the Commission was that Kelty would circulate a proposed letter among commissioners for editing prior to further consideration.
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CM Silverman told ANC6B tht her Subcommittee on Redistricting would likely release 1 to 3 possible Ward 6 redistricting maps for comment prior to the Subcommittee’s final hearing on November 5.
Redistricting Schedule
November 3, 2021: Subcommittee will hold hearing on Ward 6 redistricting
November 5, 2021: Final hearing on redistricting
Mid-November 2021: Subcommittee mark-up of the ward redistricting bill
December 7, 2021: First vote by the full Council on the ward redistricting bill
December 21, 2021: Second vote on the ward redistricting bill
December 2021: Ward Task Forces (which provide recommendations on ANC redistricting) start meeting
February 2022: Ward Task Forces report out recommendations
May 2022: Subcommittee mark-up of the ANC redistricting bill
June 2022: Council votes on the ANC redistricting bill
Ward 6 Will See Its Redistricting Options by November 5 – Maybe Sooner
by Larry Janezich
Posted October 13, 2021
CM Elissa Silverman came to ANC6B Tuesday night to have an “informed and enlightened” discussion on redistricting. She chairs the City Council’s Redistricting Subcommittee comprised of herself and fellow Councilmembers-at-Large Henderson and Bonds.
The unmistakable message was that Ward 6 must shrink and Wards 7 and 8 need to grow. Since the last census in 2010, Ward 6 has grown from 76,238 to 108,202 – 41%. Rebalancing so every Ward has the required 86,193 plus or minus 5% means Ward 6 has to give up 17,699 residents to other wards.
The Subcommittee will hold a virtual Ward 6 Redistricting hearing to hear input from residents on November 3*, a date picked after consultation with Ward 6 CM Charles Allen. That will be followed on November 5**, by a final Subcommittee hearing on redistricting followed by a mid-November Subcommittee mark-up of the ward redistricting bill.
Silverman said the Subcommittee would likely release 1 to 3 possible redistricting maps for comment prior to the Redistricting Subcommittee’s final hearing on November 5.
Commissioner Corey Holman expressed concern that Ward 6 residents might be faced with the prospect of testifying on November 5 only two days after the Ward 6 hearing and encouraged Silverman to release the proposed Ward 6 maps before November 5.
Commissioner Krepp was less retrained, saying that her ANC single member district – ANC6B 10 – “is on the chopping block” referring to its potential for being used to increase the size of Ward 7. “If so,” she added, “the Subcommittee needs to share the maps…not releasing the maps by November 5 would be idiotic, stupid, and not transparent.”
Silverman said she wasn’t sure what the plan is now but that she hadn’t said expressly that residents won’t see the maps before November 3. In any event, she said “she tended to remember words like ‘idiotic and stupid’…and the message sent was loud and clear.”
One resident told Silverman that she couldn’t “emphasize strongly enough the desire to keep Capitol Hill together” and asked if it would be possible to create a 9th Ward to achieve the re-balancing of Ward populations.
Silverman said that in order to do so, the Home Rule Charter would have to be changed which is a much larger lift and she hadn’t discussed it, but it wouldn’t be undertaken in this redistricting. She also said she did not expect passage of CM Henderson’s bill to limit Residential Parking Permits to ANC’s rather than to the entire Ward to occur before redistricting.
She said that some 70 map proposals had been submitted for Subcommittee review, as the result of a new tool which allows members of the public to draw their own ward and ANC boundaries using the new Census data. Go here: https://dcredistricting.esriemcs.com/redistricting/
Samuel Rosen-Amy, Silverman’s Chief of Staff, will make a presentation to ANC6A on the redistricting process at their October meeting on Thursday, October 13, at 7:00pm.
Captain Tatjana Savoy, MPD First District, briefs ANC6B on last week’s homicides.
Update on Two Capitol Hill Homicides
by Larry Janezich
Last night, Captain Tatjana Savoy of the MPD 1st District, gave an update on two recent Capitol Hill homicides to ANC6B commissioners at their October virtual meeting. A few new details emerged but the meeting generally followed the script from other community safety meetings.
On Wednesday night of last week, there was a homicide at Watkins School Playing Field. The suspect and victim were playing football, an argument developed over the game; the suspect brandished a handgun and shot the victim – Aaron Wiggins, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Savoy said police were making progress in moving toward making an arrest.
Last Friday, near 17th and Independence, SE, four victims were shot one of whom died near the scene. He was later identified as Giovanni Lovelace. Savoy did not indicate whether the police had suspects or the current state of the investigation.
The incidents were not related but had common elements. In both instances, MPD Shot Spotters detected gunfire, MPD units were nearby and responded quickly, and handguns were recovered at both scenes.
Savoy expressed particular frustration at the second shooting, saying police work hard to get guns off the street “and then something comes and smacks you in the face.”
She said the 17th and Independence site has been made a “hot spot area” accorded extra surveillance. Savoy said she would keep police there as long as she could but acknowledged this was a short term approach.
Commissioner Jennifer Samolyk, 6B01, who said her single member district is “in the shadow of the Capitol,” lamented that residents no longer feel safe there and that hearing gunfire is a normal occurrence. She said, “I don’t want to move, but I don’t feel safe anymore.” She cited the 300 police officers who retired in the past year saying, “we need more boots on the ground” and asked Savoy what the ANC can do to help MPD.
The standard MPD response to this question in community safety meetings is to turn it back on the community: Savoy urged the community to be more mindful of what’s going on … more mindful of their surroundings, and urged residents to call 911, saying police will respond to any call for service.
Residents near 17th and Independence took issue with this assertion; citing calls to MPD regarding illegal drug activity at that location which they say elicited no response from police. Residents also complained about the nightly congregation of men smoking weed into the late hours on the 17th and 18th blocks of Independence and on-going illegal drug sales. They asked Savoy what could be done to address those concerns.
Savoy repeated what is so often heard at these meetings: loitering is not a crime. Smoking weed crosses the line, she said, but “we don’t arrest people for smoking weed.” The narcotics unit, the gun recovery unit and the Community Focus Patrol Unit (mountain bikes) are working the area.
During crime spikes, residents pressure police to do something. Community meetings are held. The police don’t have answers except to increase police presence temporarily in the affected area before moving to the next hot spot. Things go back to the way they were before until the next incident. The stretch of Independence Avenue between 16th and 18th Street has been a trouble spot for years.
Community activist and Serve Your City founder Maurice Cook pressed for a solution that addresses systemic crime problems. He said he had grown up in Hill East and had never felt safe walking around … some privileged communities have an illusion of safety which he said he has never experienced. He criticized over-policing and over-surveillance and urged turning the conversation to MPD outreach, the Violence Interrupters Program, and addressing mental health issues, work force opportunities, and substance abuse issues. He noted that some residents feel less safe with more policing. He has, he said, lived through surges in crime in the community and the city and decried that the offered solutions always come back to the same thing: the use of what has not worked before instead of addressing structural changes and issues of inequities. He advised not being so quick to put some people in jeopardy by increasing police presence.
The problem is, of course, that such an approach takes time, and the perceived danger to those who had their homes struck by bullets at 17th and Independence last Friday is now.
Savoy told Cook, “I totally hear you,” and said she is constantly in the community doing outreach and is trying her best to engage the community. “My take,” she said, “is we are not here to just arrest, arrest, arrest – we try to educate before arrest. Multiple resources are available…..You have to ask, do they really want the resources to change their lives?” She pledged to personally engage to help at-risk members of the community move forward in a positive direction. She also said she would continue a dialogue with Cook.
ANC6B Chair Brian Ready said that he is coordinating a larger a community safety meeting featuring CM Charles Allen, MPD, and Home Land Security Director Chris Gephardt, to occur within the next two weeks.
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The Citywide Caucus of ANC Commissioners met last Monday, October 4. After spending most of the meeting on the sudden retirement of Office of ANC Executive Director Gottlieb Simon, the Caucus took up the general unhappiness with DDOT’s lack of responsiveness and how to get more accountability from the Interim DDOT Director Everett Lott. Some commissioners want to delay Lott’s confirmation as Director so ANCs can weigh in on the nomination.
The build out for the relocation of Chef Spike Mendelsohn’s restaurant Santa Rosa Taqueria is moving forward. The restaurant closed its former location at 315 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, last year and is relocating to the corner of 3rd and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Here’s a peek at part of the décor at the new location.
The Mobile Artist who calls himself Sketch4033 hangs out in front of the former print shop on the 600 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, and on Barracks Row. Says he’s in the Veteran’s Housing Program and depends on vouchers which don’t cover everything so he supplements his income by sketching passersby for a donation. “Breaths everything comics. Sci-Fi Fantasy.” Also does sidewalk sketches. https://www.instagram.com/sketch4033/?hl=en
ANC6B’s Transportation Committee met last Wednesday and heard from representatives of the popular beer garden – The Brig – at 8th and L Streets, SE, who plan to build an elevated deck over the tables in the front of the bar. Here’s a rendition of the plan.
The 6B Transportation Committee also heard from the DDOT Project Manager for the Pennsylvania/Potomac Avenue traffic ellipse on the redesign for that project. The plan is to simplify and lower the profile of the project in accordance with suggestions of the National Capitol Planning Commission and the Commission on Fine Arts. Here’s an aerial view.
Here’s an Indigenous Peoples Day photo from Monday afternoon – the Museum of the Native American seen from the National Native American Veterans Memorial. The memorial features speakers in the landscaping which provide background ceremonial Native American music.
The Week Ahead…ANC Highlights…Some Photos from the Past Week
by Larry Janezich
ANC Highlights:
Tuesday at ANC6B
Councilmember Elissa Silverman on redistricting
Wednesday at ANC6C
Commander Ralph McLean, new MPD commander, First District
Update on L and M Street encampments
Bike Network updates: 1st Street NE cycle track and K Street NE underpass
H Street situation, need for additional police support
Thursday at ANC6A
Everett Lott, Acting Director, District Department of Transportation.
DC Redistricting Process – Samuel Rosen-Amy, Chief of Staff, Councilmember-at-Large Elissa Silverman
Anthony Diallo, DCRA and Kelsey Coleman, BBB – DCRA Contractor Rating System Partners with Better Business Bureau.
Councilmember Elissa Silverman – Redistricting. (more info here: https://bit.ly/3iT9Nap)
Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee
Association for the Preservation of Historic Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E Street, SE: Application for Retailer’s Class “CX” Multipurpose Facility liquor license
Tortuga Caribbean Bar & Grille, 514 8th Street, SE: Request to expand existing Entertainment Endorsement to the rooftop Summer Garden; Retailer’s Class “C” Restaurant liquor license.
Harvest Tide Steak House: 212 7th Street, SE: Retailer’s Class “C” Restaurant liquor license. Discussion on Settlement Agreement
Planning and Zoning Committee
2021 Rock N Roll Half Marathon.
152 11th Street SE; Bureau of Zoning Adjustment Application. Special Exception to construct a two-story garage with accessory apartment to an existing, attached, three-story principal dwelling unit.
1227 E Street SE; Zoning Adjustment Application. Special Exception to construct a rear, two-story addition to an existing, attached, two-story unit.
1713 D Street SE; Zoning Adjustment Application. Special Exception to construct a third story addition and a three-story rear addition to an existing, attached, two-story, principal dwelling unit.
1241 Independence Ave SE; Zoning Adjustment Application. Special Exception to construct a roof deck addition to an existing, detached, accessory.
1007 8th Street SE; Historic Preservation Application. Permit Review for deck addition in existing yard at The Brig.
Everett Lott, Acting Director, District Department of Transportation.
DC Redistricting Process – Samuel Rosen-Amy, Chief of Staff, Councilmember-at-Large Elissa Silverman
Proposed ANC6A letter to DDOT stating that the ANC preferred rank ordered options of the DDOT bike lane designs for the 1300 block of North Carolina Avenue, NE, are Alternatives B, E and then C. Concept 1 for the intersection at 14th St NE is the preferred initial design option.
Community Outreach Committee
ANC6A send a letter to Mayor Bowser supporting the DC Universal Basic Income Coalition’s request that the Mayor join Mayors for a Guaranteed Income as demonstration of support for a guaranteed income or the residents of the District of Columbia.
Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Committee
ANC6A protest of the application of Daru at 1451 Maryland Avenue, NE, renewal of its Class C Tavern License unless a Settlement Agreement is finalized prior to the protest deadline.
ANC 6A protest of the application of Lydia Restaurant & Lounge at 1427 H Street, NE, for a Class C Restaurant liquor license unless a Settlement Agreement is finalized prior to the protest deadline.
Transportation and Public Space
Proposed ANC6A letter to DDOT stating that the ANC preferred rank ordered options of the DDOT bike lane designs for the 1300 block of North Carolina Avenue, NE, are Alternatives B, E and then C. Concept 1 for the intersection at 14th St NE is the preferred initial design option.
Proposed ANC6A letter of support to DDOT for TSA [insert number requesting all-way stop signs at 16th Street NE and Constitution Avenue NE, including the consideration of raised crosswalks if the all-way stop request is denied.
Proposed ANC6A letter of support to DDOT for the 2021 Rock ‘n Roll Marathon street closures for the race taking place on November 13, 2021.
Economic Development and Zoning Committee
Proposed ANC 6A letter of support to BZA for a special exception from the rear yard requirements to construct a two-story rear addition to an existing, attached, principal dwelling unit at 248 10th Street, NE.
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Elijah Balbed Performs Tonight at Eastern Market Metro Plaza. Photo: Elijah Balbed
Friday Night Live Jazz at Eastern Market Metro Plaza Features Elijah Balbed – Jazz/Go-Go Artist – 5:00p – 6:30p
by Larry Janezich
Posted: October 8, 2021
Elijah Balbed, who performs tonight at Eastern Market Metro Plaza, has been named Best Tenor Saxophonist and Best New Jazz Musician by the Washington City Paper, and has had several media features including Capital Bop, Smithsonian Magazine, OnTap Magazine (now District Fray), and The Washington Post.
Elijah and his band the EJB Quartet were the winners of the 2020 DC Jazz Prix for their performance of Elijah’s “The Karma Suite”.
In addition to Jazz, Balbed has a deep roots in DC’s indigenous Go-G0 music. In 2014, he founded The JoGo Project – a Jazz / Go-Go fusion band dedicated to promoting and preserving the legacy of DC’s unique art form. Since then, the band has become one of the only Go-Go bands today consistently writing and producing original music.
The schedule for the rest of the month includes performances by Zach Cutler, October 15; Amy Bormet, October 22; and Imani Grace-Cooper, October 29.
CM Charles Allen provided $150,000 in the current FY’s budget for programming for the Plaza for the next 12 months.
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Additional details on the homicide which occurred about 9:45pm Tuesday night on Watkins football field are now available. Some of these come from an email CM Charles Allen sent out last night:
“Wanted to share a quick update on a tragic event tonight. There was a shooting and homicide on the Watkins football field tonight. From what I’m being told, two people in the flag football league were having an argument throughout their game and when it ended, the argument continued. It seems one individual pulled a handgun out of his bag and shot the other individual while still on the field. That individual then fled the scene. However, MPD has already recovered the handgun and has very strong leads and details on a suspect. MPD leadership expects they’ll be on the field a good part of tonight to make sure they canvas and recover all shell casings and do the forensics work necessary. Their goal is to be done by the morning and have the entire site clear in time for staff arriving at the school. It’s possible however that they may need to come back and do a daytime canvass of the field to ensure they have all evidence and shell casings.
“This violence is absolutely inexcusable and all indications appear it was between two known people that escalated a conflict quickly, but I’m glad to see that MPD has recovered a handgun and has solid leads to close this case quickly with an arrest hopefully.”
Allen, Ward 6 Councilmember, is Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety.
Additional details – which CHC cannot confirm – came in response to CHC’s posting to community listservs of a link to a story on the shooting published by The Hill Rag this morning.
In response to that posting, CHC received an email from a Capitol Hill resident which stated that “the victim’s 2-year-old child was at the scene when the shooting occurred, according to the police scanner last night.”
ANC6B Chair Brian Ready told CHC that the ANC will ask MPD to update the community on the homicide next Tuesday, October 12, at the full ANC virtual meeting. Details on how to join the meeting will be posted Sunday night in the CHC feature, “The Week Ahead”. In addition, Ready said that he is planning to have a longer meeting with MPD on crime on Capitol Hill in mid-October. Details will be posted here and on the ANC website.
Gottlieb Simon, Executive Director of the DC Office of ANCs (OANC), abruptly announced his retirement at an on-line meeting of ANC Chairs last Thursday night.
That was followed by an email to all 300 ANC commissioners from CM Robert White, Chair of the DC Committee on Government Operations which oversees the OANC on Friday, October 1.
White announced that Simon was leaving the role of Executive Director after more than 20 years and commended him for his service. He said that on Tuesday, October 5, the Council would vote on appointment of Schannette Grant as Interim Executive Director. Grant was chief of staff to former CM Jack Evans.
Monday night, a citywide caucus of ANC commissioners, organized and coordinated by former ANC6B Chair Chander Jayaraman, discussed Simon’s departure during a virtual caucus.
Some commissioners suggested Simon had been forced to resign because Councilmembers lacked confidence in the office after failure to meet a fiscal year-end deadline for policy changes – including a plan for resuming hybrid/in person ANC meetings next February and a plan to increase communication with ANCs.
Commissioners expressed appreciation for Simon’s institutional memory but some expressed frustration that the Office of ANC was not being more supportive of the ANCs.
In August, the caucus of ANCs through ACTOS – its committee to advise the Office of ANC – sent a detailed letter to Simon with a wish list of things OANC could do to help the ANCs – but as one commissioner put it Monday night, “nothing was done that we can see.” That letter requested :
Procurement of software to assist commissioners with outreach and engagement with their constituents
Language accessibility for those whose first language is not English and supplemental communication access services for those with disabilities
Funding to support remote meeting technologies, audio-visual technology and services, printing services and website assistance
There was a consensus of the group in Monday night’s meeting that the ANC’s should have a voice in the selection of the new Director, and there are indications CM Robert White is amenable. It’s unclear what role the ANCs would play in the process, but a letter to White is being circulated within the caucus regarding a advice to the CC about the direction the OANC should go in the future. That letter will be circulated to all ANC commissioners in the city with a request to sign on to the recommendations.
A rendition of proposed redevelopment of The Eastern Branch Boys and Girls Club looking northwest.
Update on Hill East Boys and Girls Club – A New Developer with a New Plan
by Larry Janezich
Posted October 6, 2021
Tuesday night, DMPED Development Manager Chris Todd introduced Morningstar Community Development as the new developer of the Hill East Boys and Girls Club. The occasion was the virtual meeting of ANC6B’s Planning and Zoning Committee, chaired by Commissioner Corey Holman.
Morningstar succeeds Century Associates who was first awarded the contract but who was not able to find a way to make its proposal economically viable before the City Council-imposed time limit ran out. When that happened, DMPED turned to the second responder to their 2017 RFP.
The new plan anticipates redevelopment of the site as condos for multi-generational families. Morningstar is proposing 32 to 35 units (11 affordable at 50% and 80% AMI), 2000 plus s.f. of commercial space for community use, and 11 below grade parking spaces. The developer calls the entire project workforce housing; the balance of the units will and top out at 120% AMI, a price range which Morningstar says is typically below market value.
The breakdown of all the units is as follows:
8 – One bedroom
14 – One bedroom with den
11 – Two bedroom
2 – Three bedroom
Pricing of the 30% – 50% affordable housing breaks down as follows:
Commissioner Alison Horn Horn questioned the developer about the lack of 0% – 30% AMI affordable units. The architect for the project said that they had found homeownership very challenging for units under 50% AMI; that expenses related to maintenance and repair tend to exceed family budgets below 50% AMI – especially from 0% – 30% AMI.
Since the disposition authority for the city-owned land has expired, the project will have to go back before the City Council to renew that authority – DMPED says they hope to do that by year’s end. After that, the project will require a change in zoning, since the current RF-1 zoning limits conversion to apartment use.
Other projects which Morningstar developed include Stanton Tower Condos (the converted church overlooking Stanton Park), Parkway Overlook Apartments in Congress Heights, and Chapman Stables in NOMA.
Coming to Barracks Row: Han Palace – Dim Sum & Cantonese Restaurant
by Larry Janezich
Han Palace, a new dim sum & Cantonese restaurant will open on Barracks Row this fall in space formerly occupied by Frame of Mine at 522 8th Street, SE. The venture belongs to restaurateur Chris Zhu who has sister restaurants in Rockville and Tysons. The opening comes in conjunction with a second new restaurant opening in Woodley Park at 2649 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Han Palace will reportedly offer 60 seats indoors and out. Zhu hopes to open in December, but odds are the permitting will take longer than expected.
According to ANC6B Commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg, a liquor license has been applied for, but it is not yet on the ANC’s agenda.
The Quillian family, (update: former) owners of 522 8th Street, did not renew Frame of Mine’s lease on its space when it expired in 2015. At the time, the owners were reported to be seeking a restaurant to occupy the space. The frame shop has since relocated across the street to 545 8th Street, SE.
The building next door – Extreme Pizza, space also owned by the Quillians – has been in limbo since shortly after it opened. Word is that it awaits new management.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 