Author Archives: nextstoprp

It’s Election Day!

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized

Polling centers will be open 7:00 am – 8:00 pm. There are a number of items on the ballot besides mayor. Happy voting!

On the ballot for Wards 4 & 5:

Delegate to the US House of Representatives

Mayor of the District of Columbia

Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia

At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia (select up to 2 candidates)

Ward 5 Member of the Council of the District of Columbia (Ward 5 only)

Attorney General for the District of Columbia

United States (“Shadow”) Representative

United States (“Shadow”) Senator

Ward 5 Member of the State Board of Education (Ward 5 only)

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

Initiative 71 – “Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014”

Early voting begins October 20 at One Judiciary Square

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized

Early voting will be available at One Judiciary Square (441 4th Street NW) October 20 to November 1 (except Sunday), 8:30 am – 7:00 pm.

Additional early voting centers will be open October 25 to November 1 (except Sunday), including Turkey Thicket Recreation Center (1100 Michigan Avenue NE) and Takoma Recreation Center (300 Van Buren Street NW).

On the ballot for Wards 4 & 5:

Delegate to the US House of Representatives

Mayor of the District of Columbia

Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia

At-Large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia (select up to 2 candidates)

Ward 5 Member of the Council of the District of Columbia

Attorney General for the District of Columbia

United States (“Shadow”) Representative

United States (“Shadow”) Senator

Ward 5 Member of the State Board of Education

Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

Initiative 71 – “Legalization of Possession of Minimal Amounts of Marijuana for Personal Use Act of 2014”

October 18 & 19: Free shuttle buses replace Fort Totten red line trains

Posted by nextstoprp in Transportation

From 12:01 am Saturday to closing time Sunday, free shuttle buses replace red line trains between Rhode Island and Silver Spring. From WMATA’s website:

Stations Closed: Brookland, Fort Totten (Red Line platform) & Takoma

Last Train Time Change: The last Red Line train of the night from Glenmont to Silver Spring will depart 40 minutes earlier than normal to allow for shuttle bus connections. On Friday and Saturday nights, the last train will leave Glenmont at 1:57 a.m. On Sunday, the last train will leave Glenmont at 10:57 p.m.

Free shuttle buses will replace Red Line trains between Rhode Island Ave & Silver Spring. Shuttle buses will operate on two routes:

  • Express buses will operate between Rhode Island Avenue and Silver Spring with no intermediate stops. Please add up to 25 minutes of travel time.

  • Local buses will operate between Rhode Island Ave and Silver Spring, making intermediate stops at Brookland, Fort Totten and Takoma. Please allow 15 minutes of travel time for each station stop.

Art Place at Fort Totten gets financing

Posted by nextstoprp in Cafritz Art Place at Fort Totten and tagged with ,

Good news for the Cafritz team. The developers of Art Place at Fort Totten secured a $115.8 million construction loan from Prudential Mortgage Capital Company for the project. The first phase will bring 520 rental units (of which 121 will be below market rate) along with a fitness center, restaurants, and retail to the neighborhood. From Prudential News:

“The scale and design of this property coupled with the longstanding commitment of the borrower to serving Washington, D.C., will make this a dynamic development for the Fort Totten community,” said Alex Viorst, a principal with Prudential Mortgage Capital Company’s affordable housing business. “When this property is completed, it will bring high quality market rate and affordable housing to the community, along with new commercial and retail opportunities for neighborhood residents.”

Added Lata Reddy, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Prudential and president of The Prudential Foundation, “We are pleased to partner with Prudential Mortgage Capital Company on this important investment. For many households, transportation and housing are the two largest expenditures, and this project will lessen both burdens on its residents. Prudential is focused on helping working families provide for their basic needs, so projects like Art Place are a perfect fit.”

“The Foundation is committed to building a strong community for Washington area residents,” said Calvin Cafritz, Chairman of the Board of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. “Art Place will be an important catalyst to the Ft. Totten neighborhood creating a new vibrancy with the addition of residential apartments, shopping, restaurants and a new fitness center while providing 121 apartments as affordable with long-term income and rent restrictions.”

Green & sustainable living

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized

Green Building Symposium

A neighbor emailed about DCRA’s Green Building Symposium taking place Friday, September 26, at the Convention Center, so we thought this would be the perfect time to highlight items related to sustainability. According to DC’s Department of the Environment, a couple of workshops at the symposium may be of interest to people considering solar energy:

1:30 pm – 2:45 pm: Solar Permitting Guidelines Part I – “Streamlining Solar Permitting”

3:00 – 4:15 pm: Solar Permitting Guidelines Part II – “Supercharging Solar”

The symposium is free. Register at the link.

Riversmart Program

DDOE’s Riversmart Program is a really great program for District residents to assist in reducing stormwater runoff. Residents pay a small co-pay for rain barrels; shade trees; and bayscaping, a rain garden, or pervious pavers. There is a fairly simple application and consultation process. We used the program to have a rain barrel installed and have bayscaping done to control erosion of a slope in the backyard. We could not be more pleased with the work that was done. Check out the website to learn how you can use this program to improve your property while reducing stormwater pollution.

New Green Homes in the Neighborhood

We recently had the opportunity to tour two sustainable townhomes being built right here in the neighborhood (4th and Kennedy Street NE), courtesy of True Turtle. This project is the first new construction project for the development team, which is shooting for LEED Platinum certification of the homes. They have completed renovations of several  homes in the Petworth neighborhood, including one net zero home.  They anticipate having a community open house, so we will share that information when the date is set.

 

New construction green housing

New construction green housing

 

September 20: WABA Walking Tour of Northern Phase of MBT

Posted by nextstoprp in Transportation and tagged with , ,

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is hosting a 2.2 mile walking tour of the planned northern phase of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) on Saturday, September 20, 2014.  The tour starts at Fort Totten metro station at 1:00pm and will end at Takoma metro station around 3:30 pm. Click here for more information and to register.

Detours: Northbound South Dakota Avenue closed between Hamilton & Ingraham next 5 weeks

Posted by nextstoprp in Cafritz Art Place at Fort Totten and tagged with , ,

For the next 5 weeks, South Dakota Avenue northbound lanes will be closed between Hamilton Street and Ingraham Street. On weekdays, the northbound lanes will be closed from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm and on the weekend from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm. The righthand southbound lane will remain open.

Drivers traveling northbound South Dakota will detour east onto Hamilton one block to come down Ingraham and back north onto South Dakota. Drivers traveling west on Hamilton cannot turn north onto South Dakota. Drivers traveling west on Ingraham cannot turn south onto South Dakota. And drivers traveling south on South Dakota cannot turn east onto Ingraham.

Construction workers for Art Place at Fort Totten are installing a junction box on Ingraham so that the street can be extended west of South Dakota. Utility lines under Hamilton will be moved to Ingraham.

Unfortunately, this means people living in the 500 and 600 blocks of Hamilton and Ingraham will see a lot more vehicle traffic. Pedestrians should also be aware that drivers are also using the alleys to get around the detour, so exercise caution. Construction trucks are also currently detouring onto Hamilton and using neighborhood streets.

Fort Totten Square: Wing Stop & 2nd Phase Rendering

Posted by nextstoprp in Fort Totten Square, Uncategorized and tagged with

JBGR, the retail arm of developer JBG, has updated the marketing brochure for Fort Totten Square showing the addition of Wing Stop to the development on the corner of Chillum Place and Riggs Road NE. That leaves one more retail slot available for that corner and one slot still available on the corner of 3rd Street and Riggs Road. Usual caveat: This is just a marketing brochure, not any declaration of binding leases.

The brochure also includes a site plan and rendering for the second phase of the development. Recall that the developers own property south of Phase I on South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road. They are in negotiation with the District to purchase an adjacent District-owned parcel to build a second phase (see our post on that process here). The site plan depicts retail fronting Riggs Road and a portion of South Dakota Avenue with residences above the retail. A separate entirely residential building sits on South Dakota Avenue. The buildings surround an above-grade parking structure.

A bit of commentary: The retail offerings for Phase I are a big disappointment. I suppose we should not be too surprised once a 120,000 square foot Walmart was signed on as the ground floor anchor. And once Carolina Kitchen pulled out, it was just a matter of time for the developers to line up other retail tenants for a 2015 opening. The developers have said they already have more (and presumably better) interest in the second phase from retailers, as that location offers better visibility. We’ll see what that means.

September 11: Community hearing on leasing of Mamie D. Lee school building

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized

On September 11, 2014, DC government officials will hold a public hearing before officially making the Mamie D. Lee school building, located at 100 Gallatin Street NE, available for lease by public charter schools through a request for offers (RFO). The purpose of the hearing is to better align community needs with requests of the charter schools. Currently, the school serves students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The District plans to consolidate Mamie D. Lee and Sharpe Health School in one building at River Terrace Elementary School in Ward 7 by fall 2015. The hearing takes place at 6:30 pm at Lamond Riggs Library (5401 South Dakota Avenue NE)

Comment on Changes to the Visitor Parking Permit Program

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized

The District Department of Transportation is soliciting comments on changes it is proposing to the way it administers the visitor parking program.  Currently, a visitor parking permit is mailed to every residence located on a residential permit parking (RPP) block in the neighborhood.  Under the proposal, residents living on RPP blocks will have to apply online or over the phone for an annual visitor parking permit.

To view the proposal and comment, click here.  The agency prefers online comments, but written comments may be addressed to  Samuel D. Zimbabwe, Associate Director, District Department of Transportation, 55 M Street, S.E., 5th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20003

The comment period is open until September 20, 2014.  The current permits will expire December 31, 2014 (disregard the September 2014 expiration date printed on the permits).

September 9: Final Community Hearing on PEPCO Undergrounding Plan

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized

From the hearing notice:

The Commission will convene a final community hearing at the following location on the specified date to receive comments from the public:

September 9, 2014 – 6 p.m.

D.C. Public Service Commission

Hearing Room

1333 H Street, NW, 7th Floor East Tower

Washington, DC 20005

Those who wish to testify at the community hearing should contact the Commission Secretary by the close of business on September 4, 2014, by calling (202) 626-5150. Representatives of organizations shall be permitted a maximum of five minutes for oral presentations. Individuals shall be permitted a maximum of three minutes for oral presentations. If an organization or an individual is unable to offer comments at the community hearings, written statements may be submitted by September 15, 2014 to the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia, 1333 H Street, NW, Suite 200, West Tower, Washington, DC 20005.