Yet another hole appears in the Brightwood Car Barn wall

I took the above photo this morning. Work is clearly continuing, despite the fact that the building is pending historic landmark status and no raze work is supposed to be done before the October 27 hearing with the Historic Preservation Review Board.

Walmart assured me via Twitter that work had, in fact, stopped. I replied that that's not the case. The rep has yet to respond:

Work seems to be continuing on Brightwood Car Barn, despite pending landmark status

I noticed late last week that a garage door and part of a wall have been removed from the Brightwood Car Barn, despite the fact that the structure is pending historic landmark status and therefore is not supposed to be razed prior to the Historic Preservation Review Board's hearing on October 27. For comparison, this is what the wall looked like before last week:

Walter Reed has closed. Now is the time for residents to patronize Georgia Avenue businesses.

The following note was posted to the Shepherd Park listserv yesterday; it expresses much of what I've been feeling lately. There are a lot of cool businesses in Ward 4 that are well worth your patronage.

Since the decomissioning of Walter Reed Sept. 15, business at many of
the retail and restaurant establishments on Geogia Avenue going north
to the Maryland-D.C. line has dropped 20 percent, and more in some
cases. I have been told of layoffs, curtailed hours, and lack of
customer traffic in the past week and a half -- and this is down from
the reduced level of business activity as Walter Reed started winding
down earlier this year.
 
This, I believe, is the time for us as citizens, residents and
neighbors to make a conscious effort to redirect our dollars toward our
businesses along Georgia Avenue. This could challenge our
long-established spending habits. Would you otherwise think about
switching beauty or nail salons? Or where you get your medicines? Where
you go out to dinner or get some takeout or delivery? What about where
you buy gasoline? (For me, megaspills in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico
ordinarily deter me from going to Exxon or BP, although my head tells
me the guy at the cash register had nothing to do with it.)
 
But to look at it differently, reduced revenues at the Georgia Avenue
businesses give our own money more relative clout. This is our chance
to make the kind of Georgia Avenue that we want to see. And I would
rather see business succeedeing (even if it requires struggle) than
businesses collapsing. Let's be friends of, and friends to, Georgia
Avenue; it will benefit them, and us, both short term and long term.


Rhode Island Avenue NE faces a lot of the same issues as Georgia Avenue. See this post from the Rhode Island Avenue Insider blog: The key to redevelopment is supporting our local businesses:

A local developer/property owner recently told me that the communities around RIA have a reputation among the small business/developer community as not supporting the local businesses on RIA. Whether or not this is true, perception is reality. Small businesses like to take chances with other small businesses, so if the ones that are among the first to come to RIA to take a chance are not supported and fail, we can nearly guarantee that others will see this area as not worth their investment. We, as a community, need to change this perception.

Support Ward 4 businesses.

City Gear banner goes up at 6233 Georgia Avenue

A follow-up to my report on the old Arrow Cleaners space becoming a sporting goods store: with the recent display of the pictured banner, the store revealed itself to be a City Gear. This will be City Gear's second location; their first store is located at 1538 North Capitol Street NW, just south of the Florida Avenue intersection. Their wares consist mainly of sneakers and athletic apparel.

Attempted robbery of armored vehicle outside CVS at 6514 Georgia Avenue NW

Two people tried to rob an armored car parked outside the CVS at 6514 Georgia Avenue late this morning.

New series of public forums on Walter Reed redevelopment begins October 5

From an email:

The historic closing of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in August signaled new changes not only for the 120 year old medical campus but also for the city and Ward 4 residents. Last year, several hundred people who live near Walter Reed came to community forums and gave their views about what should be done with the campus. Community input provided a strong foundation for the reuse plan and continues to influence the process.

The District of Columbia’s Local Redevelopment Authority (“LRA”) completed the Draft Reuse Plan in October of 2010. However, due to changes in the assignment of Federal property, the LRA, the Army and the Department of State have redrawn the boundaries of the WRAMC campus.

RSVP Today!
Much of what was decided last year will still be included in the plan that goes forward. The LRA needs additional input from the community and is hosting three forums to discuss the revised reuse plan. The meetings will be held 7:00pm – 9:00pm at a convenient location in Ward 4 that will be announced later.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011 – Community Meeting

Thursday, November 17, 2011 – Community Meeting

Thursday, February 2, 2012 – Final Reuse Plan Presentation

Visit America Speaks' website for updated information

Ruff N Ready to relocate to 4722 14th Street NW

The beloved Ruff N Ready Furnishings closed shop at its location at 14th and T Streets over the summer, and word is that the owner has leased the space at 4722 14th Street, between Crittenden and Decatur, which is absolutely outstanding news for the Upper 14th Street business corridor!

UPDATE: Owner Bill Troy tells me that his projected opening date is October 1, barring any unforeseen complications (fingers crossed!).

Proposed redistricting of ANC4B

These are the recommendations that ANC4B will send to the Ward 4 Redistricting Task Force, which will meet on Wednesday, September 21. The redistricting would alter the boundaries of five Single Member Districts (4B01, 4B02, 4B03, 4B04, and 4B07) and would go into effect after the 2012 election.

ProposedANC4B_redistricting

Historic Preservation Review Board files application to designate Brightwood Car Barn as historic landmark

From an email from Tim Dennee of the Historic Preservation Office:

This is to inform you that today the Historic Preservation Review Board has received and filed an application to designate the following property
as a historic landmark pursuant to the Historic Landmark and Historic
District Protection Act of 1978 (D.C. Official Code § 6-1101 et seq.):

Brightwood Street Railroad Company Car Barn
5917-5929 Georgia Avenue, NW
Square 2986, Lot 38

Pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 6-1102(6)(B), the properties are
considered historic landmarks temporarily, effective the date of filing
(i.e., immediately).

Permit applications related to these properties cannot be issued without
historic preservation review pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 6-1104
through 6-1108. ...

We are aware there is a pending application to raze this property. It
cannot be issued without the necessary review and clearances as stated
above. Please notify your staff of this matter.

We are scheduling a hearing on the matter for Thursday, October 27, 2011.

Thanks to Richard for the tip.


Brightwood Car Barn HPRB app

The state of Brightwood real estate - September 2011

Realtor Eric Brooks, who wrote up an overview of Brightwood real estate for us back in May, is going to provide us with monthly snapshots of active, sold, and under-contract properties in the neighborhood. Here's the first installment, covering August 2011. I'll post them during the first week of each month (I'm a little late this first time around, due to the fact that I was out of town at the beginning of September). I hope this feature will be useful for current and future Brightwoodians!

August Active properties on the market:
39 homes were for sale as of September 1, 2011
Ranging from $62,000 to $619,900
3 of these are foreclosed homes and 4 are short sales

August Active Properties

August Under-Contract properties:
18 homes were under contract as of September 1
These homes should settle by the end of this month
Ranging from $150,000 to $519,900
3 of these were foreclosed homes and 6 are short sales

August 2011 Under Contract

August Sold numbers:
13 homes were sold in the month of August
Ranging from $160,000 to $610,000
Zero of these were foreclosed homes and 3 were short sales

August 2011 Sold

Info provided by Eric Brooks, a Long and Foster Real Estate agent who works to deliver exceptional results for his clients in Brightwood and beyond.
Contact to set up an appointment at 301-986-6476 or
ewbrooks@gmail.com.