The X2

Last week we looked at three new restaurants coming to H Street NE. There are other new businesses on the way outside of the food service type, so I'll be keeping up with those as well. First up is a reopening of sorts. The Pursuit Wine Bar is relocating to 1025 H Street NE after 5 years at 1421 H (now the home of Ella Grace). Pursuit was always a chill, relaxing place for a glass to me, based on the few times I visited. I haven't acquired the square footage counts, but the new space looks to be much larger and is a coveted corner spot. The renderings also indicate one of those big wall windows that would allow you to sit at the outside bar and order from the inside bartender. I love those. I have exclusively been a client of Freed Bodyworks pretty much since they opened and that won't change anytime soon. Super, high praise shout out to their staff, comfortable & inclusive setting, and yes, the therapeutic bodywork and other services. Amazing place and I'...

It's shaping up to be a busy fall season for new H Street NE retail & restaurants, after a somewhat sleepy summer. Several spots have recently been bestowed with signage for new businesses. There's more to come, but the first three we'll take a look at are here: San Francisco based Neapolitan pizza maker Mozzeria  is set for the Baldwin building at 1300 H Street NE. Mozzeria looks great with a classic & simple menu of 12 inch wood fired pizzas, --including vegan pies (yessssssssssssss)-- small plates, and the all important after-dinner coffee service. I finally caught up and read this WaPo article about the founders . So cool to get to know the story of the owners of a place before they open in the city. Just like the SF restaurant, the DC store will be fully staffed by deaf workers, making it the second business on H (Starbucks) dedicated to hiring primarily deaf and hard of hearing staff and management. The restaurant will have around 100 seats, give or ...

920 H Street NE Tear-down and constriction has recently enveloped the property at 920 H Street NE, the former site of Park's Hardware. The store closed four years ago and the property has remained vacant since. The new project will result in a 10 unit apartment building named Ashton Park . The units range from a 471 sq ft studio to a 1,220 sq ft 2BR. There will be 3,600 sq ft of retail on the ground and basement levels; apparently being designing to snag a top restaurant or bar. The owners also seem to be catering to a transient audience of renters, offering what they describe as "hotel-like" amenities, providing some fully furnished units, and offering leases as short as two-months in length. They even call the studio a "hotel suite." Interesting concept. Delivery unknown, but I'm guessing early 2020.

The Big Idea : Why Hotel, Kitchen Cray, Chase Bank, and CorePower Yoga area coming to H Street NE. The Lucille and 501 H, two new-ish residential buildings, are getting their first retail tenants. The Lucille is a 9-unit condominium building located at 1301 H Street NE. Vinyl signage just went up on the first floor signaling the arrival of Kitchen Cray , a Maryland-based restaurant and catering outfit. It's known for being run by chef JR Robinson of Hell's Kitchen fame. The website describes the menu as "prepared ... for every taste." Main courses include chicken & waffles, catfish & grits, and lobster mac. Signage up for Kitchen Cray. A few blocks west is 501H, a 28-unit apartment building located at, well, 501 H Street NE. Douglas Development recently released the list of retail tenants for the space: CorePower Yoga , Why Hotel, and Chase Bank. CorePower Yoga is the only business of the three that has signage up at the moment. Why Hotel ...

Dirt is being moved at the site of Flats at Atlas Phase II in Carver Langston; at least for utility works.  The original Flats at Atlas building opened in 2012 with 257 units and 3,450 square feet of retail. The new building, Phase II, is located at 1676 Maryland Ave NE, just east of the current site. There is an empty lot there at the moment. A joint venture with Kettler & Westbrook Partners acquired the current building and the adjacent lot for $95,000,000 almost exactly three years ago. Phase II is expected to add another 325 units and be 5 stories tall, with no new retail. This second building has always been planned to accompany the original building, so many of the amenities like on-site parking deck were built to accommodate the total number of apartments. They will also share the circular drive area on Maryland Ave.  I have yet to see renderings or a site plan for Phase II, but there was an ANC meeting about two years ago outlining the outer rim la...

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 ...

Carver Langston now has a second Capital Bikeshare station. A new station opened yesterday at the corner of 17th Street and Maryland Avenue Northeast. This is the second station for Carver, with the first being a highly trafficked 14 dock station at Starburst Plaza. The new station has 19 docks and is closer to the residential center of the neighborhood. It's adjacent to Aldi Food Market and near Hechinger Mall (Safeway, Ross, Modell's, Payless, etc). Thank you Capital Bikeshare!

If you live in Atlas, Trinidad, or Carver Langston, you won't need to go far for holiday shopping. This amazing pop-up shop just opened at 417 H Street NE. This is a v cute space on the second floor above Sidamo Coffee.  The Pop-Up Collaborative  features about 20 women and minority owned brands. Products range from candles, to kid & adult clothes, shoes, body & skin care, jewelry, artwork, , handbags, and a whole bunch more. Please support this place! The pop-up is open Wednesday to Sunday, 12pm to 7pm, every week until December 24th.  In addition, one of the vendors (and the organizer of the pop-up) -- Shea Yeleen -- is hosting an ugly sweater party this Saturday at 7pm in the space. I've been waiting to debut a sweater (really a sweatshirt) I got last year, so.... yeah. It may make an appearance.  Support this pop-up! 

Going, going, gone. Metro's current HQ building. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority is moving. The iconic(?) Jackson Graham Building in Judiciary Square has been the Metro HQ since 1974. However, the agency has been looking to move into a space that better fits its future: the consolidation of office spaces. They decided to sell the Judiciary Square building, a process that should begin early next year. The new HQ will be in a currently empty, c.1965 office building at 300 7th St SW in L'Enfant Plaza. This is across the street from a Metro rail entrance, near several Metro bus lines, and across the train tracks from a VRE station. The building was previously the longtime home of the USDA. It will eventually become the work home for 1,300 WMATA employees & contractors when renovations are completed, likely sometime in late 2020 or early 2021. Renderings of 300 7th St SW post-renovation. Source: WMATA. The Jackson Graham Building is in a **prime** s...

Hempburger / 408 H St NE Hempburger has signage up at 408 H Street NE. The restaurant looks to be a derivative of Khepra's Raw Food Juice Bar which is currently just a few doors down at 402 H Street NE. About a year ago, we noted signage at this address indicating Khepra's was actually relocating (link) . So, it's not exactly clear if Khepra's is moving or if they are just opening the Hempburger location and keeping the current resto open. We'll see.  Here's the menu for Khepra's . They're all raw, all vegan, all the time. And yes, they serve a hempburger! Updates as they come. 1350-1352 H Street NE ABRA placards (111354) are up for 1350-1352 H Street NE. They're requesting a Class C Tavern licence under the trade name O2. The request is specifically for: "A tavern that will be open for private events for specific occasions such as weddings, art exhibits, banquets, and other events. The tavern is requesting an Entertainment En...

The first retail tenant for the Constellation on H condo building will be a liquor store. ABRA placards (111599) are up for a Class A liquor store that is listed under the trade name "Cheers DC!." Constellation on H is a triangular shaped, 28 unit condo building bordered by H Street NE, Florida Ave, and 14th Street. The address is 1402 H Street NE. It's not clear if the liquor store will comprise the entire retail space which, at 4,900 sq ft, takes up most of the first floor. The builders of Constellation took care to add concrete pads to the north side of the building and the retail pitch materials showed outdoor seating as an option, so you have to wonder if they were looking to score a restaurant or cafe. As long as they carry Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum, I'm good! Good luck Cheers DC.

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...

A lot has happened this summer! Here's some of what I took notice of in July and August. Follow TheX2BusDC on Twitter for real time neighborhood observations and photos. Carver is a bit safer for pedestrians. DDOT has made quite a few upgrades to 19th St NE in Carver this summer. Earlier this year, they added ADA accessible curb ramps to each intersection from Benning Road to M Street. And just in the last few weeks, they've added new pedestrian-crossing stripes as well as a new road surface to the block of 19th between I Street and Maryland Ave.  Damaged Streetcar station reopens The eastbound 3rd Street NE DC Streetcar station sat closed for nearly 15 months. A Megabus destroyed it in an April 2017 collision and the station remained closed during the construction of an adjacent apartment building. It finally reopened on August 7th, 2018. New music venue, same pies Dangerously Delicious Pies added a second floor to their shop, in the form of a new ...

Rendering courtesy of Bennett Frank McCarthy Architects . S2 Development is building an art deco(-ish) styled residential building at 21st and Benning Road NE. 633 21st Street NE is expected to have 31 units and is planned to deliver by late next year. Construction appears eminent.  The site is currently in the process of being cleared to prepare for the construction. Million Man Tires was the previous occupant of this site --then addressed as 2101 Benning Rd NE-- and they appear to have moved to 3401 Benning Rd NE. The project (unsure if there is a clever name awaiting) is currently planned as for sale condominiums. It would be 5 stories tall on the Benning Road side, although it is unclear to me if the developers won a variance to include a significantly set back penthouse level. The 31 total units would range from 0BR efficiencies to 2 BRs. The rendering reminds me a little bit of the Majestic  in Mount Pleasant or Highland Park in Columbia Heights. I will up...

This Sunday, June 24th will bring significant service changes for Metrobus and Circulator. Close to home here in Carver, the X2 and X9 buses are making midday adjustments, and for the better. From WMATA: X2 Benning Road-H Street : All weekday midday trips will operate between Minnesota Avenue Metrorail Station and Lafayette Square. To improve reliability, the time between weekday midday buses will increase from 10 minutes to 12 minutes. X9 Benning Road-H Street Limited : New weekday midday limited-stop Route X9 MetroExtra service will operate every 15 minutes between the Metro Center and Minnesota Avenue Metrorail stations. What it means: Since the X9 previously ran as a rush hour only bus, we're getting more trips downtown during the midday and lunchtime hours. This is awesome. The X9 does make several clustered stops from 19th St NE to 14th St NE, but as a limited stop bus, I generally find it much, much faster than the X2 for trips between Carver Langsto...