New Additions: Doggo Boarding, Luxe Shoes, and a Smoke Shop

-
Happy New Year! Here's to a healthy, fun, and productive 2018.

About this blog: By keeping up with and documenting changes along the X2 bus line --the good, the bad, and the... questionable-- it helps me figure out where the city and our neighborhood are heading. It's more than a hobby and I'm the kind of person that loves to observe change over time, especially in the built environment. 

With all the bleak and disheartening news emanating from a certain NW address, it helps to focus on the local things, even stuff like restaurant openings & closings, long term transit/infrastructure projects, and far-from-reality proposals for apartment buildings with ground floor retail. All that goes to say that not every post is groundbreaking news, but it is our news. I'll keep trying to make the posts interesting and relevant. As always, for more timely news, more photos, and #hottakes, Twitter is the place I share most often.

Here are some openings and coming-soons that happened over the holidays:

ATL in DC
A few weeks ago, we learned that Atlanta's A Ma Maniére is coming to H Street. This is one of several high end sneaker and fashion boutiques operated by James Whitner. The new shop will be at 1214 H Street NE. Learn more.

In the Dog House
Atlas Dog House opened in December at 1371 H Street NE. This is a dog walking and dog boarding business, so I'm sure they will do massive business because everyone I know in the neighborhood has a pupper or two. Or three.

sNOw Smoking Allowed
When I saw the coming soon signage for New Leaf Smoke Shop, I immediately thought it was a weed dispensary or something of the sort. But, the "smoke" in the name is referencing cigars, not blunts. I mean, I don't know exactly this place will be about, but here's the Instagram page. Maybe sales in one space and smoking lounge in the other; similar to Nomad. New Leaf will be located at 416 H Street NE.

Popular posts from this blog

300 Unit Tower Proposed Near Hechinger Mall

-
Image
Rendering of 1625 Benning c/o Valor Development. Valor Development is looking to construct a 303 unit apartment building across from Hechinger Mall on Benning Road NE. PGN Architects are the architects for the project. A. Morton Thomas and Associates are acting landscape architects and civil engineers. Bozzuto will ultimately mange the property. The "Valvaere" would be located at 1625 Benning Rd NE, consolidating nine parcels including what is now Trinidad Baptist Church and attached surface parking lot. The Valvaere will actually be comprised of two buildings; a nine story, 90 foot tall building facing Benning Road, and a 3 story, 38 foot tall building facing 16th St NE. About 7,000 sq ft of ground floor retail is incorporated into the plans. 100+ on-site parking spaces would be provided in a below grade parking lot. There will be over 100 bike storage spaces as well, protected, inside the building. Bird's eye view of Benning Rd. Rendered with Google Earth©
Read more

Delta Towers Will Add New Housing & Retail

-
Image
Rendering courtesy of KGD Architecture . Delta Towers --located at the Starburst intersection of Florida Ave, H Street, Bladensburg Rd, and Benning Road, NE-- is gearing up for a major expansion. Fences are already up around the perimeter of the property, presaging a significant transformation and addition of residential units to the H Street corridor.  There are 179 new units slated for "Fortitude at Delta Towers" as part of a nearly $1 billion bond issue via DCHFA (PDF) All units in Fortitude will be for seniors and all units will be affordable as each will leased at a maximum of 30% AMI. From the DCHFA press release  (PDF): "The redevelopment of Delta Towers is $96 million project. Delta Towers is a 100 percent affordable senior community with all units leased at a maximum of 30 percent AMI. Thirty of the apartments will receive LRSP subsidy and 18 will be designated as permanent supportive housing with housing assistance payments via the DC Housing Autho
Read more

A Langston for Langston, But Not That One

-
Image
Carver Langston has a new mural! The narrative features an abstract sort of geometric nature theme, switches to a sunglasses-decked woman representing Northeast DC, transitions to a male historical figure, then to a montage of pencils, an image of hands on a typewriter, then finally returning to the geometric nature theme to cap it all off. It's lovely, bold, colorful, and we deserve more murals like this in Carver Langston. But there's just one thing about this one... As you may know, on paper, Carver Langston is really two neighborhoods. Carver is the triangular shaped part of the neighborhood north of Maryland Ave NE, going up to the Arboretum. Langston is the part of the neighborhood south of Maryland, going down to Benning Road. Carver's namesake is a person most of us learned about in elementary school, George Washington Carver . Carver was one of America's top intellectuals and inventors of the early 20th century. Langston takes its name from the
Read more