Raze Pending for Clevleand Park Giant

As reported in the DC Metro Urban Diary, The Wisconsin Avenue Giant and the block immediately north are slated for demolition to make way for a new grocery store and mixed use development. This process started with community meetings in 1999.

A generation in the making.

UDC Breaks Ground

The Washington Post provides brief coverage of the groundbreaking for the UDC student center in Van Ness.

Friendship Heights Identity

Note this Washington Post article addressing the retail identity in Friendship Heights, DC versus Maryland.

The latest on the Tenleytown Safeway

About this time last year, Safeway proposed a 1950's style replacement for its Tenleytown store. Because they parking garage overshadowed the backyards of the immediate neighbors, and because of the property location between the Friendship Heights and Tenleytown metro stations, the DC Office of Planning suggested that this may be an opportunity for a good mixed-use development instead of an auto-centric store in upper Northwest. Several months passed but in the fall, there was new movement.

After consultation and a public meeting for input, the design team, Clark Construction and Torti Gallas have provided some new information (PDF).

According to the project website, there will be additional opportunity for feedback on January 18th and February 2.

Babe's- Another Update

Here is a nice Greater Greater Washington piece on the Babe's site in Tenleytown.

Wisconsin Avenue Giant Affirmed

The appeal (PDF) for the Wisconsin Avenue Giant has been issued. From the order:


Petitioners, Wisconsin-Newark Neighborhood Coalition, the Ordway Street Neighbors Association, and 3300 Idaho Neighbors, challenge a July 13, 2009 order issued by the District of Columbia Zoning Commission (“Commission”), which approved a Planned Unit Development (“PUD”) and related Zoning Map amendment application submitted by Intervenor Friendship-Macomb SC, Inc. (“Giant”) for a project on property that Giant owns. The project encompasses a 178,236 square foot area bounded by 1) Wisconsin Avenue, N.W. and Idaho Avenue, N.W., and fronting Macomb Street, N.W. Petitioners argue that the Commission erred in

(1) failing to refer the project to the Board of Zoning Adjustment (“BZA” or “Board”);

(2) failing to enforce the Macomb-Wisconsin Neighborhood Commercial Overlay District’s (“MW Overlay”) height and density restrictions to the project;

(3) approving a project that allegedly conflicted with the Comprehensive Plan for the District of Columbia; and

(4) concluding that there was substantial evidence supporting Giant’s claim that its truck-loading plan was feasible.

We disagree and affirm the Commission’s order.


This project can now move forward towards the planned Spring 2012 groundbreaking.

Wisconsin Avenue Giant - another update

According to this Washington Post coverage the neighbor appeal is still pending, but the developers hope to break ground in the Spring of 2012.

Anyone else holding their breath?

More on PEPCO

Rachel Baye of the Examiner updates the previously reported news that PEPCO has purchased the 5220 Wisconsin Avenue lot. Of interest are the comments in the article, particularly this one:


A high-rise would have been too large, creating an "oppressiveness to the walkability of the area with the tall buildings looming over the sidewalk," said Marilyn Simon, a board member of the Friendship Neighborhood Association.


So which is better, a 5-7 story building with street front retail, or a substation?

Is Ward 4 "land grabbing" Ward 3?

In "The Mail" from DC Watch, one commented noted an anomaly in the language from the Ward 4 redistricting task force:


The ANC redistricting task force reports are in. Here’s an oddity: the Ward Four task force has defined an ANC 4A that extends south of the Ward Four boundary, incorporating a quarter-mile strip of Ward One. Why? It’s that dreadful, interminable Klingle Road dispute again, rising from the dead, perhaps to plague us anew.

I won’t bore readers with the details. Suffice it to note that the Ward Four boundary at the southeast corner, adjacent to Wards One and Three, is where Piney Branch Parkway intersects (almost) Rock Creek. From that point, “southwest along Rock Creek to the centerline of Klingle Road,” is the boundary line between Wards One and Three. It’s not part of Ward Four, which ended up there at Piney Branch, a quarter mile to the north.

But tell that to the Ward Four ANC redistricting folks, who have defined an ANC 4A that extends “south on Rock Creek to Klingle Road; east on Klingle Road to Beach Drive; northeast on Beach Drive to Piney Branch Parkway.” What’s this funny little extension south of Piney Branch, a narrow and unoccupied piece of Rock Creek Park, to Klingle Road, about? Essentially, one ANC 4A commissioner wants to have a physical connection to Klingle Road, believing that will give that ANC standing to continue to fight to reopen Klingle Road. In 2008, the District Council put this in legislation: the closed portion of Klingle Road “shall not be reopened to the public for motor vehicle traffic.” Not everyone is ready to accept that, apparently. Happily, the Office of Planning has spotted this little ploy, and presumably will compel ANC 4A to limit its dimensions to Ward Four.



Mary Cheh, will you stand for this? A new border war has commenced!

4P's, er 4 Fields Extended

DCist (and PoP) have been covering the saga in Cleveland Park. Here is the latest.

Westover and AU: The hypocisy documented

There is a little history documented in a piece that appeared in the NW Current as well.

5220 Wisconsin Ave: An Update

According to Michael Neibauer of the Washington Business Journal, the former Akridge project at 5220 Wisconsin Avenue has been sold to PEPCO.

The PUD application for this site was highly contentious as nearby neighborhood residents feared the additional floor of apartments and mixed-use retail afforded to the approved application. Now, residents will have to contend with the possibility of an expanded power substation and minimal street activity within a stone's throw of the south entrance of the Friendship Heights metro station.

If this comes to pass in a worse-case scenario, I wonder if those who opposed this project might, in hindsight, reconsider?

Rethinking Ward Circle

GreaterGreater Washington has an interesting blog entry that analyzes Ward Circle in its current condition and suggests alternatives.

Kick-Off for Tenleytown Safeway

Here is City Paper coverage of the Clark Construction kick-off neighborhood meeting for the Tenleytown Safeway.

Safeway Community Meeting

From the Tenleytown Yahoo Group:

Clark Realty Capital is working with Safeway to design and deliver an exciting new mixed-use development at the location of the existing Safeway store in the Tenleytown neighborhood. The development will include rental apartments atop a new and improved Safeway grocery store. As we begin the planning process, we invite you to join us for a brief discussion to meet our team, learn about the development issues, and share your thoughts and concerns.

Tenleytown Safeway Development
Community Workshop
Thursday October 27, 2011
7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
St. Mary's Church Community Hall
42nd and Fessenden Streets, NW

Housing Complex: YIMBYs Are Back

A write-up in the City Paper about one organization trying to make a difference in the Ward.

Ward 3 Redistricting Questions

In a recent issue of The Mail from DC Watch, one resident aired some issues related to the recent Ward 3 redistricting effort:


Ward 3 ANC Redistricting has been a distressing affair. I was horrified by the lack of democracy and the lack of concern for Ward 3 citizens, as ANC lines were redrawn with little or no consideration for residents. A coup by ANC 3E, which retained its small five-person commission, resulted in the ANC’s taking over all the issues in Tenleytown, leaving more than half of Tenleytown’s citizens in ANC 3F.

The five commissioners of ANC 3E now have jurisdiction over every business and institution in Tenleytown (including DC Public Schools Janney, Wilson, and Deal and countless private schools) and all businesses on Wisconsin Avenue between the District line and Veazey Street, while being accountable mostly to citizens in American University Park and Friendship Heights. Yes, there are a few of us in Tenleytown east of Wisconsin who are now in ANC 3E, but not enough of us to be a political force or to have our own SMD. My new single member district will be populated mostly by people who live on the opposite side of Wisconsin Avenue, mostly residents of AU Park. Unlike most of my neighbors, my home was pulled into ANC 3E because of a last minute deal that puts local ANC boundaries on small, non-arterial residential streets. Most of my neighbors, whose lives are centered on Wisconsin Avenue and Tenleytown institutions, will be represented by ANC 3F (whose commissioners resisted the coup) that must now focus on Connecticut Avenue issues, far to the west of where they live.

It was a situation where the majority of the Task Force representatives were responsible to no one but themselves and/or their employers. Most who voted against the residents did not feel compelled to answer our letters and still fewer gave reasons for their votes. But there was code: “the reunification of Tenleytown” was how several ANC 3E commissioners repeatedly characterized their stick of dynamite.

Safeway Un-Postponed

Nearby residents to the Tenleytown Safeway have received notice of a "community workshop" at St. Mary's Armenian Church on Thursday Oct. 27 at 7:30 PM. This after the project was put on hold after complaints about the original design of the space.

Clark Construction appears to be the redevelopment partner for Safeway.

Tenleytown Redevelopment - The Discussion Continues

In light of the Babe's site at Wisconsin and Brandywine being revisited, discussion on the Tenleytown Listserv has intensified. This post by former ANC Commissioner Beth Kravitz, in response to a question regarding the most sensible place to house some of the expected 2 Million new residents in the region, is self-explanatory:

How about putting them in OTHER parts of the city that are also near the subway and public transportation and are desperately looking for quality development that new residents would bring, such as east of the Anacostia and the new North of Union Station? Not all development and high density residential has to be in Tenley. Many of us worked very hard to keep Tenleytown from becoming like Cleveland Park and Friendship Heights. Growth, even "smart growth" (whatever THAT is) is not necessarily a good thing. Sometimes status quo is actually best. For those who want a Manhattan/Ballston/Friendship Heights style of living, I say, go there. Leave Tenleytown the small town oasis that it is.

I think the idea is to fully realize the regional investment in Metro. It shouldn't be an 'either/or' proposition. There should be new, transit oriented development in other parts of the city, and, there should be new transit oriented development in Friendship Heights and Tenleytown. One can see the walkability, sustainability and tax benefits realized by Montgomery County (Bethesda and Friendship Heights) and Arlington (the Orange Line corridor). These are models (if not necessarily the scale) for the kinds of positive changes that can take place along a transit corridor without negatively impacting the existing residential experience.

A close examination of the parking and traffic impacts to these close-in neighborhoods demonstrate that new residents can be introduced into existing neighborhoods without the negative impacts often claimed by those opposed to new development.

Ward 3 Redistricting Complete

According to accounts on Twitter, the Ward 3 Redistricting Task Force has generally concluded its business. Sources indicate few substantial changes from the 2001 effort.

Among them are

-the consolidation of students into Single Member Districts in ANC 3D, and the expansion of 3D to 10 Commissioners, to include the Department of Homeland Security; and

-the consolidation of ANC 3E around Wisconsin Avenue from Van Ness Street to Western Avenue.

Other changes generally moved Single Member District lines to conform to the 2000 population (+/-5%).

ANC 3/4 G remains split between the two Wards.