The X2

T he Maine Avenue Fish Market has been operating in some form since 1805. That makes it the longest continually operating open air fish market in the United States. For 200 years, this waterfront market in DC's Southwest quadrant has been a main feature of Washington Channel, just off of the Potomac River. The fish market was one of the defining river features for 19th century Washington along with Washington Navy Yard on the Anacostia, and the port at Georgetown on the Potomac. The municipal market has seen plenty of changes over the years, but the latest change is the most significant. The area adjacent to the market is being transformed into Washington, DC's newest entertainment district, called "The District Wharf." The Wharf is a mixed-use development with commercial, residential, and industrial uses, with some open/public space. It consists largely of new construction, but incorporates existing structures including the Maine Avenue market itself. New...

A Paris-based boulangerie is planned for the old Blackboard building in Penn Quarter.  Maison Kayser looks to open a shop inside of 640 Massachusetts Ave NW, specifically on the high traffic corner spot fronting both 7th Street and Mass Ave. Maison Kayser opened in Paris in the late 90s and has 100+ locations worldwide including 12 in New York City, the only U.S. outposts. They have proper breakfast  (PDF), brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. And of course they offer plenty of breads, pastries, and baked goods. Not much in the vegan friendly category, at first glance. 640 Massachusetts Ave undergone a major overhaul over the past few years. The new main tenant is now Georgetown's School of Continuing Studies. The circa 1990 building had a major renovation in 2013 and is quite large at 419,000 square feet, including 25,000 sq feet or retail. Maison Kayser should add even more activity to this corner, which is in the line of sight of the Convention Center and adjacent ...

315 H under construction a few weeks ago. MRP Realty is working to bring 115 new living units to 315 H Street NE. This 8 storey, 90,000 square foot structure is across the street from Giant grocery and only a few blocks downhill from Union Station. An eastbound DC Streetcar station (currently out of service) is located on the same block. Capital Bikeshare is less than a block away as well.  There will be ~6,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor, which MRP expects to attract, at least, one restaurant tenant. The residential units will be a mix of studio, JR 1BR, 1BR, and 2BR. Eight per cent of the residential gross floor area is dedicated to inclusionary units. In this case that will equate to 12 affordable units including 4 studios (337 sq ft!), 3 junior one bedroom units, 3 one bedroom units, and 2 two bedroom units. The  affordable units are dedicated to households with an annual income of 80%, 60%, and 50% of the area median income and will exist as lon...

Just a few months ago I applauded Metro's decision to extend service hours of the X2 bus to 24/7 by adding overnight service. We may be in line for weekday midday service upgrades as well. Under a new proposal for the X2 route, WMATA would: reduce weekday midday bus frequency from every 8 minutes to every 10-12 minutes send all downtown bound buses all the way to Lafayette Park (eliminating Gallery Place as a terminal) OK, so how is reducing service on the X2 helpful? Well, that reduction would make room for the new X9 midday service. The X9 bus currently operates limited stop service between Capital Heights and Metro Center. It operates during rush hours only. The new proposal would add X9 midday service at 20 minute intervals. Buses would still run existing intervals during morning and evening rush.  If approved, all adjustments would take place in June 2018. Other proposed DC Metrobus changes include: extending the 50s buses to the new Wharf development in SW...

The best District street festival is happening this Saturday, September 16.  H Street Festival, which organizers say is now attracting 150,000 people yearly, is back; once again running about 10 blocks long in our little slice of Northeast. Last year was so packed at the end of the day, but comfortable. The weather was A+ and it looks like we'll have a repeat for 2017. Details WHEN: 12 PM to 7 PM WHERE: H Street NE, 4th St to 14th St WHAT: Artists creating art, fashion shows featuring local designers, music stages with dope sounds, patio eating, patio drinking, local politicians (probably), street food, vendors of all types, seeing doggos, seeing friends, seeing more puppers, walking in the street with no cars, dogs See you there! 

A shared bike parked at a tree box in Seattle's Capitol Hill. This fall and winter, we will have a new way to experience bike sharing in the District. With 440 stations, Capital Bikeshare is the third largest system in the United States, behind New York (600) and Chicago (580). For comparisons' sake, New York's Citi Bike has 10,000 bikes, Chicago's Divvy has 5,800 bikes, and DC's Capital Bikeshare has 3,700. Measuring by number of stations may be a thing of the past, however.  WTOP  and others are reporting that the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will institute a pilot program this fall featuring dockless (station-less) bike sharing. The program will start September 20 (!) and run through April 2018. These systems allow riders to find bicycles near their location, unlock the bike, ride it, and with some restrictions, lock and leave the bike in any public space within the service area. I recently visited Seattle where the city works wi...

The former R.L. Christian Library; 1300 H Street NE. The little R.L Christian library building --at 1300 H St NE-- hasn't operated as a library since 2009; and now its days of just existing are about to come to an end. A raze notice was recently posted to the site and a new mixed-use (residential & commercial) building will take its place. The "temporary" library kiosk was one of many set up by the District in the 1970s and 1980s to increase access to the library system  for neighborhoods without a dedicated, permanent library. The kiosks were thought to have an initial life span of about seven years. After shuttering the R.L Christian in '09 , the District  sold the property in 2014 . The site is 10,800 square feet and adjacent to a DC Streetcar stop. 1300 H St NE. Source: Maurice Walters Architect A trio of developers including Insight Property Group will convert the parcel into 55 foot tall, 4 story, 33 unit residential building with 5,900 sq...