Construction Imminent at Long Vacant Ninth, Q and Rhode Island Properties

A few weeks ago I noticed permits in a window of one of the long-vacant properties at Ninth and Q Streets and Rhode Island Avenue (which, as you may recall, sold last November, and which were once known for the murals that adorned them).  Today, Mr. Q Street News sent me a photo evidencing that fencing has just gone up, so it seems construction is imminent!

Word on the street is that the properties are going to be gutted and fully restored into residential units.  I've heard the Rhode Island Avenue frontage might have ground floor retail.

JBG To Purchase, Develop WMATA's Florida Avenue Parcels

The Business Journal has the scoop, along with a brief summary of WMATA's handful of attempts to sell the lots.

Rogue 24 Opens Tonight

The much anticipated Rogue 24 officially opens its doors tonight in Blagden Alley.  The WaPo has a writeip about the groundbreaking restaurant by RJ Cooper here.  I had the privilege of getting a sneak peak of the space a few weeks ago, and it looks fantastic and the dining experience is going to be like no other.

If you are one of the lucky ones who's dining there tonight, let us know about your experience in the comments!

Rogue 24
922 N Street, NW (Rear)

SunDeVich Now Open

Back in November we learned that a new gourmet sandwich shop -- to be called SunDeVich -- would be opening on Naylor Court in the rear of 1314 Ninth Street, NW.  Finally -- after building out what was once a dog washing business, overcoming permitting issues, and getting many ducks in a row -- the exciting new casual dining option opened last Friday.

Brought to us by the amazing folks of Seasonal Pantry (with which I am obsessed), SunDeVich's sandwiches are named for the world cities that inspired them. For example, the Kingston features jerk chicken, mango chutney, and spicy slaw, the Buenos Aires features skirt steak, chimichurri, fried onion strings, aioli, and the DC is a half smoke, with mustard relish, caramelized onions). They also have some awesome sounding side dishes and desserts.

SunDeVich's hours are 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM Monday through Sunday for the rest of the month, then Monday through Saturday, 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM thereafter. I plan to stop by to grab a sandwich for dinner tonight.  And I have a feeling I'll be back this weekend for lunch...

SunDeVich
1314 Ninth Street, NW (Rear/Naylor Court)



Note - the business directory has been updated to reflect Sundevich's opening.

Long View Gallery Presents Refresh

This Thursday night (July 28) from 6:30 - 8:30pm, Long View Gallery opens its latest show.  Called Refresh, it features new works by some of Long View Gallery's best known artists. RSVP for the event here.

From the invitation:

Beat the summer heat at Long View Gallery’s newest exhibition, “Refresh,” featuring new work by some of the gallery’s favorites. You can expect to see pieces by Mike Weber, Scott Brooks, Tony Savoie, Michelle Peterson-Albandoz, Marie Ringwald, Anne Marchand, Zach Sherif, Tom Burkett, Mary Chairamonte, Paula Crawford, Ryan McCoy, Cheryl Wassenaar and many more.

Long View Gallery
1234 Ninth Street, NW
202.232.4788

Tonight: Edible Urban Garden Tour and Community Potluck

Tonight (Friday, July 15) from 5 to 8 P.M. is the first-ever Edible Garden Tour. Home base for the self-guided tour is Old City Green, where you can enjoy cocktails and community potluck.

Tickets are $10 each, with a portion of the proceeds to support Eat Local First DC. RSVP on Facebook here.

From the press release about tonight's event:

Explore city spaces and residential gardens that will open their doors and gates for the public to see what growing good food in our own backyards, front yards, rooftops, and empty lots is all about. It’s a chance to ask questions, learn from and hear what inspires some of DC’s best gardeners.

The tour will start at the beautiful, plant-filled garden shop named Old City Green and stretch through the revitalized neighborhoods of ...Shaw, Bloomingdale and Ledroit Park. Plus, see for yourself and learn more about Common Good City Farm the community garden that Prince Charles recently toured as part of his inspiring Future of Food visit to DC. A map of tour locations will be distributed on the day of the event at Old City Green. The tour is self-guided and will cover several miles so a bike or a car is recommended.

By organizing this tour, we hope to support the "grow your own" movement and create a community event designed to be a resource for so many local residents interested in finding ways to grow their own food.

Edible Urban Garden Tour
Friday July 14, 5 to 8 P.M.
Old City Green

Through Beau Thai's Summer Cocktail List, Vegetate Lives on in Spirits

If you are a relative newcomer to this blog, you might not know how obsessed I was with the restaurant Vegetate, which formerly occupied 1414 Ninth Street and closed in late 2009. I loved everything about it: from its vegetarian masterpieces (man, I miss those risotto croquettes) to its cool vibe and atmosphere. I especially loved interacting with the owners, Jennifer and Dominic Redd, who were always such gracious hosts who poured their hearts into every element of the restaurant and yet always made time to talk with the neighborhood locals like me. My most fond memories are of the everyday experiences of just walking down after work for one of their awesome, original cocktails.

So fast forward, I’m now an owner of the restaurant Beau Thai at New Jersey and R (which, by the way, gets a fantastic review by Tom Sietsema in the upcoming Sunday Washington Post!) and am also one of the many Washingtonians who have longed for the return of Jennifer and Dominic to the restaurant scene.

When we embarked on creating a specialty cocktail list for Beau Thai, tapping Jennifer and Dominic for help was a logical choice: we wanted our list to be unique, to incorporate fresh ingredients like our food, and to feature a delicious concoctions, just like Vegetate’s cocktails. Fortunately for us, they were up for the challenge and more. They designed a summer drink list for us, which will officially unveil this Saturday night (with Jennifer and Dominic working the bar for us!).

All of the featured drinks are really fantastic. Ingredients found in the recipes include house-infused Thai chili vodka, homemade limoncello, ginger-lime puree, and house-grown kaffir lime leaves.  One drink that graced Vegetate’s menu and that is reincarnated is Beau Thai’s Thai Basil Gimlet. The bright green cocktail is made from muddled, house-grown Thai basil, fresh squeezed lime juice, brown sugar, and small batch vodka. The homemade ginger beer is refreshing, tasty and light.

Be sure to stop by Saturday night to say hello to old friends Jennifer and Dominic and anytime thereafter to taste the amazing summer cocktails they designed for Beau Thai!

Beau Thai
1700 New Jersey Avenue, NW
202.536.5636

Rogue 24 to Open July 27

I got a sneak peak at the interior of this much-anticipated restaurant this past weekend; it is absolutely stunning. I can't wait to experience it as a patron.

Check out the press release (PDF) here.

625 Rhode Island Avenue Development Underway

This weekend I noticed that work on the United House of Prayer's condominium development at 625 Rhode Island Avenue, NW is underway.  Notably, the site has been cleared of four row houses (which can be seen prior to demolition here) and fenced off. 

According to Urban Turf, the project will include sixteen two and three-bedroom units, and half of the units will be affordable to households earning 60 to 80 percent of the area median income. The Reatig-designed development will have eleven parking spaces, open green space at ground level, a green roof, and a small rooftop deck

Here's a look at how things look now:

And here's a rendering of what's in store for the site:

The Development tab above has been updated to reflect the status of this project.

Touchstone Opening Reception Tonight: Art Deck-O

Tonight (July 8), Touchstone celebrates its current show with an opening reception from 6–8:30 pm. The show, entitled Art Deck-O: DC Playing Card Originals, runs through July 29.

From the press release:

This past winter 54 of Washington DC's finest artists came together to produce wildly creative designs that form a playing card deck unique to our area. The culmination of these efforts was then published in a deck of fully functional playing cards with traditional suites of diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs. Although decks of cards--designed by artists or created in a particular theme--have been around for centuries, this latest variation on the concept has given DC area artists a fun way to showcase their individual expressions in card form. Both the originals and the decks of cards will be on exhibit at Touchstone Gallery during the month of July as Touchstone partners with Art In Hand TM to promote the work of artists here in DC. Each deck is composed of a fantastic array of genres and mediums which are a big hit with artists, school teachers, magicians, game players and art lovers everywhere. Each deck is like holding an Art Gallery right in your own hands.

Washington is the third city in a series of art decks created by Art In Hand TM , an arts publisher out of Charlotte, NC. Founded by Dione Goyette in 2009, the first project united artists in the Charlotte area and then inspired a deck in Portland, Oregon. This imaginative and collaborative project isn't just fun and games. So far, participating artists in Charlotte and Portland can boast that their work is in the homes of over 3,000 and 5,000 people respectively. Decks in both cities will go back for second printings this year.

Artists: Steve Alderton, Erin Antognoli, Michael J. Auger, Jennifer Beinhacker, Chris Bishop, Jennifer Bishop, Liliane Blom, Adam Bradley, Tory Cowles, Karen Deans, Cheryl Patrice Derricotte, Devbo, Dana Ellyn, Theresa Esterlund, Susan Feller, Beth Hannon Fuller, Jenne Glover, Emily Greene Liddle, Rosemary Luckett, Sue Lynch, Susan Makara, Angela Maray, Joyce McCarten, Newton More, Jennifer O'Connell, Eileen Olson, Maggie O'Neill, Kristy Orr, Cindy Packard Richmond, Judith Peck, Pam Rogers, Daniel Francisco Roncesvalles, Lisa K. Rosenstein, Matt Sesow, Pauline A. Siple, Isabelle Spicer, Charles St. Charles, Mary Gallagher Stout, Dan Tulk, Pamela H. Viola, Gail Vollrath, Andrew Wodzianski, Emma Sky Wolf, Sharon Wolpoff and Jason Zampol.

Touchstone Gallery
901 New York Avenue, NW
202.347.2787

Rogue 24 Opening Nears

Chef RJ Cooper posted a status on Facebook today indicating that his much-anticipated restaurant Rogue 24 received its certificate of occupancy today. And I found the following video teaser showing the interior nearing completion.

Very exciting!!!

Yelp's Neighborhood Spotlight on Shaw

Check out Yelp's Neighborhood Spotlight on Shaw!  Several area businesses get great press from the feature; congrats to all!

ANC2C Newsletter, July Agenda

Advisory Neighborhood Commission ("ANC") 2C's new Communications Committee recently published its first newsletter.  It is available online here and is being distributed in hard copy throughout the ANC.  Congrats, ANC2Cers!

ANC2C's July meeting is tomorrow night (July 6, 2011) at 6:30 PM at the Watha T. Daniel Shaw Neighborhood Library (1630 7th Street, NW). The agenda is available on the ANC's website, but I've copied and pasted it below too.

Agenda

1.  Call to Order and Roll Call
3.  Approval of Agenda
3.  PSA 308 Report: Lt. Jeffrey Carroll, Metropolitan Police Department
4.  DC Statehood: Request for Support for Resolution Endorsing Statehood for the District of Columbia
5.  DC Statehood: Request for Co-sponsorship of DC Statehood Teach In at Shaw Library (Stand Up! For Democracy in DC)
6.  KIPP WILL Academy, 421 P Street, NW: Proposed Disposition of Montgomery Elementary and New Curb Cut on 5th Street, NW
7.  Bundy Field (400 block of P Street, NW): Proposed Transfer from Department of Parks and Recreation to Department of Real Estate Services to Accommodate Private Sector Restoration of Field and Use by KIPP WILL Academy
8.  509 Q Street, NW: Request for Support for Special Exception to allow Construction of an Addition (Raymundo Madrid)
9.  Squares 450 and 451 (Bounded by K, L, 6th and 7th Streets, NW): Request for Support for Raze Permits for Demolition and Moving of Buildings to Facilitate Construction of American Association of Medical Colleges Building (Douglas Development)
10.  1225 5th Street, NW (HPA #11-375): Request for Support for Subdivision of Adjacent Corner Lot and Construction of an Addition
11.  1200 Block of 9th Street, NW: Proposal for ANC 2C to Request Diagonal Parking on Sundays
12.  Parcel 42 (NE Corner, 7th and R Streets, NW): Request for Support for Temporary Art Installation (Washington Project for the Arts)
13.  901 Restaurant, 901 9th Street, NW: Request for Support for Valet Parking Application (U Street Parking)
14.  SOME’s Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger, November 24, 2011: Request for Support for Street Closures (So Others Might Eat)
15.  Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC, September 24, 2011: Request for Support for Street Closures (Shaw Main Streets)
16.  Audi Best Buddies Challenge, 10/22/11: Request for Support for Street Closures (Special Olympics)
17.  DOES Job and Opportunity Fair, 07/07/11: Employment and Training Event Scheduled for Kennedy Recreation Center, 11 AM to 3 PM (CCCA)
18.  Request for Proposals for ANC 2C Website, Branding, and Newsletter: Presentation by Insomniac Design Vendors
19.  Other New Business
20.  Old Business
21.  Approval of Minutes of 06/01/11 Meeting and FY 2011 3rd Quarter Report
22.  Approval of Expenses
23.  Announcements
24.  Adjournment

To receive ANC 2C notices via email, send your request to ANC2Clist@gmail.com

There are certainly some interesting items up for discussion. I'm particularly interested in the angled parking proposal for the 1200 block of Ninth Street on Sunday mornings (I'd be curious to hear neighborhood businesses weigh in on the proposal in addition to churches), the temporary art project proposal at Parcel 42 (Seventh and R Streets, NW) and the various development-related topics.

Week's End Look Back

On Wednesday night, I had dinner at Little Ethiopia Restaurant for the first time ever.  Everything was delicious -- I particularly loved the beef sambusa appetizer.  We also got the meat sampler and the vegetable sample (pictured below).   I look forward to going back!

Happy Fourth!

Seaton Elementary Modernization Underway

I recently noticed a modernization project underway at Seaton Elementary School in Shaw this summer.  A little internet digging revealed that the project is going to bring many great changes to the school's classrooms, hallways, lobby and entrance.  Check out some of the presentations about Phase 1 of the project here.  Below are a few screen grabs.

Looks great, right?  I've long thought the school needed a more inviting entrance.

In future phases, the school will receive other improvements, such as new windows, adding elevators, and upgrading systems.