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Thursday, September 20, 2007

Thursday Crumbs

Sorry for the infrequent and non-substantive posts of late; work is keeping me pinned to my chair. That said, two things of note if you haven't seen/heard about them yet:

First, an attractive plan for the redevelopment of Kelsey Gardens was presented at the ECCA's September meeting. The main post on the subject at Kevin Chapple's forum states that the anticipated delivery date is 2010, which Mari posits is a little ambitious given the realities of the proposed development plan. Check out more renderings at Metropolitan Development's website here. I personally cannot wait for the current Kelsey Gardens, a long-time crime have, to be demolished, and I think this development plan looks great (of course, I'm not an immediate neighbor and, accordingly, have no concerns re: building height, construction, traffic, etc.). The new development will have 182 units, 54 of which will be affordable housing, ground level retail, a courtyard with a pool, a fitness center, a cyber cafe, and two levels of underground parking. This would undoubtedly be another great catalyst project to 7th Street.

Second, Queen of Sheba's hearing for a liquor license is going on as I type. Fingers crossed that this struggle will finally be over today and that the Queen can finally serve alcohol with her delicious food. That the ABRA has allowed this to be such a drawn out fight speaks volumes about their ineffectiveness.

18 comments:

Clara Barton Dweller said...

My fingers are crossed!!! Even though I'm typing! I love Queen of Sheba.

Anonymous said...

Queen of Sheba's hearing for a liquor license is going on as I type. Fingers crossed that this struggle will finally be over today and that the Queen can finally serve alcohol with her delicious food.

Amen. I sent a letter in support, as I know many others did. Let's hope the whole ridiculous charade is over soon. QoS is great, and we want to encourage others like them to come to Shaw!

Anonymous said...

I love the Queen (God save her!), but the larger issue here is the signal to prospective businesses thinking about coming to our area...We want to be able to send a strong message that businesses can thrive here...

Anonymous said...

The Kelsey Gardens project looks beautiful --- wow, never thought I'd say that!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update on Kelsey Gardens! The faster that happens the better!! Hopefully the neighborhood won't bog it down in numerous "design" consensus meetings...

Anonymous said...

You can count on the design consensus meetings... as no one living around will consent to the headache of the construction... to me, it's a small price to pay for the increase in safety and property value

David Garber said...

check this out:
http://popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/vacantproperties0919.aspx

someone should go!

David Garber said...

http://popcitymedia.com
/developmentnews
/vacantproperties0919.aspx

Shaw Rez said...

The height of the KG proposal at 9 stories will likely be the main subject of concern. While just about anything's better than the current KG, I don't know what it'd be like to step out my back door and face a 9 story building.

The O Street project will feature 11 story high structures on 8th between O and P, but those buildings won't be in anyone's backyard.

Can you imagine how different our area will feel if these high density developments go forward??!! I think the prospect is very exciting and would do wonders for our commercial corridors on 7th and 9th!

Anonymous said...

I agree the nine story building in the backyard might be difficult to take but is it that big of a difference from a six or seven story building?? Either way you're going to have a high-rise building in your backyard...but its what you'd expect along a high traffic corridor near a metro in the city, isn't it? As long as there's enough underground parking, let's get it done...

Anonymous said...

Has anyone heard the results of the Queen's hearing today?

Anonymous said...

GET IT DONE, GET IT DONE!!!!!!!!!

Shaw Rez said...

Fifth and Oh has an update on the QoS hearing, but no official word on the outcome.

I definitely am routing for the KG proposal to go forward and find it a very attractive proposal (I love the different building heights, architectural styles, material types, courtyard in the back, etc.). That said, I don't live right behind it on 8th Street, and recognize that owners of 2 or 3 story row homes may not be too enthused about, and may never have predicted, this scale of development right behind them.

Anonymous said...

The ABRA Protest Hearing on Queen of Sheba's liquor license ended at 4:45 PM today. There will be no more hearings, althought the record remains open for 15 days if folks want to get in letters or emails for the record. A written decision should be issued in about two months, but no later than 120 days.

Re: Kelsey Gardens, if folks want to see a presentation on the project, they can come to the Shaw Main Streets Annual Community Forum on Thursday, September 27, 2007, at 6:30 PM at Shaw Middle School, 925 Rhode Island Avenue, NW, along with presentations on a number of other major developments in the area, including the latest renderings of the O Street Market project.

--Hon. Alexander M. Padro
Commissioner, ANC 2C01

Unknown said...

So now they have to wait 2 more months for a ruling!? Absurd...

Clara Barton Dweller said...

That's a crazy amount of time to have to wait - after all this time has gone by already!! Justice delayed is justice denied. :(

Mr. Other Upper NW said...

Lame. What a frustrating, aggravating process this has been. I do not get the 2 month wait at all.

si said...

queen of sheba would have been able to serve during this process if ANC 2C had supported granting them a provisional license. But they deadlocked on the vote despite very vocal support for QoS at that ANC meeting. C. Padro & C. Chapple voted in support, C. Curtis & C. Brooks voted against.