Last night, several of the DC Main Streets came together to celebrate DC Holiday Lights, a citywide intiative to encourage residents and visitors to shop small this holiday season. Participating small and local businesses adorned their storefronts with holiday displays, earning a chance for recognition in several award categories. I was a judge for businesses in The Parks Main Street (TPMS) corridors in Riggs Park and Manor Park, along with four other judges: Joseph Gibbs, Lamond-Riggs resident and chair of the TPMS design committee; Ray Crawford, Manor Park resident and member of the TPMS design committee; Cam, Ray’s son and a student at Shepherd Elementary School; and Zara, Riggs Park resident and student at LaSalle-Backus Education Campus.
The virtual awards ceremony was a fun, festive affair. Local musician Carley Harvey provided entertainment prior to the start of the official ceremony. Kristi Whitfield, Director of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, and Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, Chair of the Committee on Business and Economic Development, gave short remarks. Then each participating Main Street took turns announcing their award winners. The Parks Main Street Executive Director Edwin Washington introduced our two youth judges, Zara and Cam, who did a great job enthusiastically presenting the TPMS winners. Zara and Cam received lots of kudos from the other Main Street directors and attendees.
The Parks Main Street Holiday Lights winners are listed below.
Hellbender located at 5788 2nd Street NE. Photo credit: Edwin Washington
Best of Show – Judges’ Choice & Also People’s Choice:The Davis Center
Judges Ray Crawford and his son Cam in front of The Davis Center located at 6218 3rd Street NW. Photo credit: Ray Crawford
Culture Coffee Too also had one of my favorite displays. All of the windows are beautifully and elegantly lit and adorned with holiday bows, and a coffee-drinking Santa Claus door display greets visitors.
Culture Coffee Too located at 300 Riggs Road NE
There is still time to safely check out the holiday lights in each of the participating Main Streets and to participate in the citywide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes. There are a couple of clues right here in the neighborhood. The scavenger hunt ends on December 31.
Thanks to all of the participating businesses for brightening the final weeks of 2020.
Giving Tuesday is tomorrow December 1. There are many organizations that can use support this year. I encourage readers to support The Parks Main Street, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports small and local businesses in Riggs Park and Manor Park. Donations may be made at https://theparksmainstreet.org/support/donate.
The Parks Main Street is also inviting residents to attend a community meeting tomorrow December 1 at 7:00 pm for review of fiscal year 2020 activities, plans for fiscal year 2021, and an opportunity to support small businesses. To register to see what the Main Street has been up to, click Giving Tuesday Meeting Registration.
Whether you’re a local resident or just visiting for a few days—stop by The Parks Main Street Holiday Lights to explore, shop, and dine this holiday season.
The businesses of The Parks Main Street will be decked out with holiday lights from December 1 to December 31. Wander the corridor with neighbors and visitors to enjoy amazing holiday events, activities, and promotions throughout the month. Don’t forget to VOTE for your favorite light displays between December 1st and 14th.
The Parks Main Street Holiday Lights is part of a broader, citywide DC Holiday Lights effort encouraging residents and visitors to shop small and explore the District this holiday season. Starting December 1st, you can participate in our citywide Holiday Lights Scavenger Hunt for a chance to win great prizes from local DC businesses! Check back for more details.
Congratulations goes out to Ms. V and Culture Coffee Too! Our local Riggs Park coffee shop located at 300 Riggs Road NE received a grant from the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture to winterize their outdoor dining setup. As reported on DCist yesterday, “each restaurant could get up to $6,000 for tents, heaters, propane, lighting, furniture and advertising” through the District’s Streatery Winter Ready Grant program.
Culture Coffee Too will use their funds to purchase a tent and heaters. Ms. V wanted me to share the following with the community, “Y’all come down and enjoy the tent when it goes up…around November 20.” I personally cannot wait to have one of their black bean burgers with a peanut butter and banana smoothie under that tent! But, don’t wait until the 20th, go in as soon as you can to share the good vibes. Tomorrow, November 7, beginning at 11:00 am, there will be live painting and music outdoors for a modified Riggs Park art crawl.
Support your local small businesses! The winter will be a difficult time and they will need our help. A complete list of the District’s restaurants receiving a grant can be found here.
Walmart at 310 Riggs Road NE, October 29, 2020. Photo credit: Kenny Gibbs
A neighbor passed along a photo of the Walmart on Riggs Road NE with barriers in front the building and boarded up windows. The store remains open. Some businesses have started boarding up in anticipation of potential protests leading up to and following Election Day. I happened to drive downtown yesterday to pick up some items from my office and noticed businesses downtown boarding up. The Parks Main Street communicated that District officials are not presently recommending that businesses board up but are recommending that businesses make sure their insurance is up-to-date and that employees know what to do in case of emergencies.
Business on 11th Street NW downtown being boarded up
In addition, there have been two straight nights of protests a couple of miles from the neighborhood on Kennedy Street NW and near DC police Fourth District headquarters on Georgia Avenue NW following the death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton. The police department’s initial statement of Mr. Hylton’s death stated Fourth District officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop of the young man on Friday, October 23, after observing him riding a moped on the sidewalk in the 500 block of Kennedy Street NW without a helmet. The statement went on to say he fled on the moped, drove through an alley, and collided with a passenger vehicle upon exiting the alley. Witnesses dispute this police account, contending that police pursued Mr. Hylton in contravention of a no-pursuit policy for traffic infractions. Camera footage of the interaction could possibly be released today.
Hellbender has emerged as a nice avenue to getting different food options in the neighborhood. In a typical week, one can order local oysters from Sapidus Farms for pickup from Hellbender on Thursdays (order by Tuesday night). Timber Pizza usually makes an appearance one or two days during the weekend as it will do this Friday and Saturday. And usually Dolci Gelato pops up one or two days during the weekend as well. Occasionally, different food trucks will add a little variety to the usual weekly offerings.
If you are looking for something new to try for the Labor Day weekend, check out the offerings at Hellbender, and be sure to follow them on facebook to see food and beverage options each week.
As part of its “Still at Workers” series, DCist has a great profile of Ramdass Pharmacy, our local neighborhood pharmacy. Owner Anthony Ramdass discusses what it is like serving the community and patients as well as the challenges facing the pharmacy as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis. Located in the Modern at Art Place on Ingraham Street NE, the pharmacy fills an important role during this public health delivery, offering delivery of prescriptions. Residents can also stop in to pick up prescriptions as well. Check it out.
The Parks Main Street (TPMS) was formed to help support businesses in Riggs Park and Manor Park. It took a lot of time and effort to get the Main Street up and running last year. It is now run by enthusiastic executive director Edwin Washington with the help of an all-volunteer board. Please consider supporting The Parks Main Street for Giving Tuesday to make sure the organization can continue to support and attract thriving local businesses to our neighborhood. You can easily do so online at https://theparksmainstreet.org/support/donate. See message from TPMS below.
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A neighborhood is the people who live, work, learn and play there. It is cultural institutions; And small and large businesses serving neighborhood people through good and bad times.
The COVID-19 pandemic is as bad as it gets.
Help preserve small businesses in The Parks Main Street (TPMS) business districts in Riggs Park and Manor Park by keeping them operating today, so they can be there for us tomorrow.
Our goal is to raise $15,000 to supplement the funding TPMS receives from the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) to help struggling businesses with rent and payroll shortages, marketing outreach and employee and customer safety practices during COVID-19.
Can you donate $5? $10? $20? Any amount will help sustain these small businesses Now. Shop Small and Support Small with a donation on #GivingTuesdayNow. Your tax-deductible support will make a big difference!
They are small, mostly women and family owned entrepreneurs who have served customers in the DC area for up to 50- years. They are owners of diverse ages, multicultural ethnic groups and professional backgrounds such as military service, higher education, health care, national retail and food service, and home design and improvement, to name a few industries.
In Manor Park maybe you’ve held a birthday or anniversary party at The VIP Room. Got your child’s first haircut at Manor Park Barber Shop. Purchased a hat at Bene Millinery & Bridal Shop still run by its 100-year old founder, Vanilla Beane, or eaten at Peaches’ Kitchen or Senbeb Café & Natural Foods.
In Riggs Park you may have experienced a wine tasting at Riggs Liquors. Or a free art exhibition and workshop at Culture Coffee Too. Or had the pharmacist-owner of Ramdass Pharmacy come to your home to administer vaccinations to a senior loved one during the COVID-19 pandemic.
These are the business legacies The Parks Main Street is working to preserve. Please help us by frequenting these businesses as often as you can and giving what you can. And ask your friends, family members, co-workers, and those in your professional and social circles to Shop Small and Support Small with a donation on #GivingTuesdayNow. Your tax-deductible support will make a big difference!
The Parks Main Street awarded $34,000 in funding to support small businesses in Riggs Park and Manor Park. The funding is especially useful during the public health emergency. See message from The Parks Main Street below. —
The Parks Main Street (TPMS) Congratulates FY2020 TPMS Small Business Grant Recipients!
The grants provide relief for rent, payroll, utilities and insurance during this COVID-19 pandemic.
The small businesses grant recipients proudly serve you in Riggs Park and Manor Park:
This video was coordinated by the TPMS Promotions Committee with filming by TPMS Board Member and Promotions Committee co-chair Joann Stevens and committee member Roger Glass. Production and graphics by Kelcie Glass through Arts for Our Children, Inc.
For the latest information on the District Government’s response to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), please visit coronavirus.dc.gov.
Edwin D. Washington | Executive Director The Parks Main Street A Program of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement Direct (202) 774-5542 info@theparksmainstreet.org As a Main Street America™ Accredited program, The Parks Main Street is a recognizedleading program among the national network of more than 1,200 neighborhoods and communities who share both a commitment to creating high-quality places and to buildingstronger communities through preservation-based economic development.
Come join Culture Coffee Too located at 300 Riggs Road NE for a “Grab & Go” promotion on Thursday April 23 and Friday April 24, 2020 from 12:00 noon to 6:00 pm.
Prepackaged Afro-Fusion meals will be available from District Chop Bar. Be sure to text COFFEE to (202) 410-5669 to join the VIP Loyalty Program
As we continue to address the toll the COVID-19 public health emergency has on our day-to-day lives, our community small businesses are also doing their part. In this installment of Next Stop Neighbors, Mr. Edwin Washington, Executive Director of The Parks Main Street (TPMS), joins us to tell their stories. For disclosure, I serve on the Board of Directors for TPMS. We will hear which small businesses are still open, what TPMS is doing to support them during this time, and how we as a community can help. We hope you find this information helpful and encourage you to share this with others….from an appropriate social distance of course.
Click here to listen to the conversation (running time: 24 minutes)
The following community small businesses are open and available for delivery or pickup. Please call to verify store hours.
Welcome to Next Stop Neighbors where we get an opportunity to hear the voices behind the faces and places in Lamond-Riggs and the surrounding communities. Through this podcast series, you will meet some friendly neighbors and hear their perspectives on the community through civil, casual conversations. From the small business owner who just opened up, to the non-profit organization trying to make a difference, to the community leader describing their vision for the neighborhood, and the resident around the corner who has lived here for 50 years, we all have a story to tell. We welcome recommendations and, better yet, your own 10-minute interviews too!
Can’t get enough Next Stop Neighbors? Check out these past conversations for more:
The Parks Main Street (TPMS) is proud to share that your very own local small business Riggs Liquor is a nominee for the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) Small Business Retailer of The Year!
Riggs Liquor, located at 5581 South Dakota Avenue NE (across from Walmart), has been serving Riggs Park and the surrounding communities since 2002.
Owner John Yoo is excited to serve you and our community with a fine selection of quality beers, wines and spirits.
John offers a variety of wine, beer and spirit tastings. John has consistently been a friend to our community by:
Providing turkeys and other food fixings for the 2019 Homeless Thanksgiving Dinner held by Culture Coffee Too
Being supportive of local artists through the Riggs Park Art Crawl
Working side-by-side with DSLBD and TPMS to recognize the historic Riggs Park community with the mural proudly proclaiming “We Are RIGGS PARK”
Take a moment to vote for Riggs Liquor.Click theVOTE NOW link. Tell your family, neighbors and friends to vote. Last day to vote is Friday March 6, 2020.
*Edwin Washington is the executive director of The Parks Main Street, a program of the Center for Nonprofit Advancement.
Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie submitted a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser with his Ward 5 budget priorities. The letter incorporates feedback from residents in response to his budget engagement survey. I hope you had a chance to fill it out.
There are generally applicable items that would benefit large areas of the ward, such as around housing, public safety, and support for small businesses. One item in the letter specific to the neighborhood is a request for funding to assess the environmental impact of a paved trail around Fort Circle Park (formally known as the Civil War Defenses of Washington) at South Dakota Avenue and Galloway Street NE.
Based on feedback from residents, we can accomplish this through additional funds to activate a historic trail for the Trinidad community, and for an environmental impact assessment to examine the possibility of a paved park around Fort Circle Park at South Dakota Ave & Galloway Street, NE, and invest funds for upgrades to play surfaces for all Ward 5 playgrounds. I am also requesting funds to preserve green space and pocket parks in neighborhoods with limited green space such as the Brookland Green.
A trail and play areas around the perimeter of the park is an item in the neighborhood’s area development plan, which was approved by the DC Council in March 2009. In 2016, a nine-year-old Riggs Park resident named Lucas collected signatures for a petition to National Park Service (NPS) and testified at NPS townhalls in support of a playground and trail at Fort Circle Park. Blog contributor David Kosub has beenwriting about efforts to consolidate community action in support of amenities at the park. The Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association has a community benefits agreement with developer EYA to assist with visioning for activation of Fort Circle Park (as well as the District-owned green space in front of Food & Friends). So there is widespread support for a trail at the park, at a bare minimum. I think a two-phase approach might make sense: (1) get a trail; (2) get other stuff. We know anything involving NPS takes time. Funding for an environmental impact assessment would be a really good start and it is something we as a community should actively support.
Chick-fil-A (CFA) presented its preliminary traffic analysis at ANC 4B’s public meeting on February 24, 2020. You can find the presentation here and the draft comprehensive transportation review (CTR) here.
As previously reported, Chick-fil-A plans to demolish the existing Taco Bell/KFC building located at 220 Riggs Road NE and the vacant Dakota Liquor building next door and build a new building. Because this will be a new build, they must comply with the District’s Green Area Ratio regulation. Accordingly, they plan to have bioretention on site.
They scrapped their plan to have only drive-thru at the location. The new plan is for a 3,900 square foot building with 42 interior seats and 20 exterior seats. There will be 9 vehicle parking spaces and 6 bicycle spaces. There will be a dual drive-thru lane for ordering. They anticipate having space for 10 vehicles to queue in the drive-thru order lanes (5 vehicles per lane), space for 9 vehicles to queue for the payment and pickup window, and space for approximately 6 vehicles to circulate and queue on site if the drive-thru lanes are full. Commercial deliveries will be made outside of business hours.
The project is a matter-of-right project, but they will have to go through DDOT’s public space permit process because they plan to eliminate two curb cuts–the curb cut closest to the 3rd Street/Riggs Road intersection and one of the two curb cuts by Dakota Liquor. That will leave one curb cut on Riggs Road, which they will realign, and one curb cut on 3rd Street.
Proposed site plan
Site access and circulation
Turning to the details of the CTR, they anticipate that most drivers will approach the site from either South Dakota Avenue or Riggs Road. The biggest issue I see in the CTR is that CFA and DDOT know that for inbound trips, drivers will be making U-turns all over the place and apparently DDOT is fine with that.
Inbound trips
Drivers approaching from South Dakota Avenue will either decide to turn left on Riggs to enter the access point there or continue straight onto 3rd Street only to have to make a U-turn because of the median on 3rd Street to access the site from 3rd Street. DDOT does not want to remove the median. Drivers traveling eastbound on Riggs will either make a U-turn to access the site off Riggs or turn left onto 3rd Street to then have to make a U-turn to access the site from 3rd Street. Drivers traveling west on Riggs would be able to access the site from Riggs without making a U-turn. CFA stated DDOT anticipates only 5% of vehicles will approach the site from the 3rd Street/2nd Street NE intersection, which would require no U-turns at all.
The CTR states the site will be able to accommodate all queueing on the site without spillover onto public streets. In the case that there is spillover, they plan to have additional staff to assist with order taking, delivering orders, and directing vehicles to move to the overflow queue lane.
Queue operations
Overflow queue operations
They used data from a CFA location in Olney to support the assumptions in the traffic analysis. The CTR identified afternoon peak and Saturday peak as two periods in which vehicular travel around the site at the South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road intersection could be impacted. The CTR states adjustment to traffic signal timing should mitigate the issue a bit. They are aware that other projects will come online in the next couple of years that will affect travel around the site, including the second phase of Art Place at Fort Totten and EYA’s Riggs Park Place townhome project. Also, the owner of the properties at 5642-5650 3rd Street NE has applied for a map amendment, so those properties will be redeveloped as well (though the owner has previously stated he has not identified an intended use yet). Once built out, more signal timing changes may be necessary.
I asked about the 3rd Street/2nd Street intersection because I did not see any reference to it in the presentation. Because of the assumption that only 5% of vehicles will approach the site from that intersection, I guess DDOT will not worry about it even though something clearly needs to be done about that intersection. Plenty of motorists use 3rd Street to avoid Riggs and so while they might not be going to CFA, there will be plenty of action happening between vehicles exiting the Walmart parking lot, vehicles making a U-turn on 3rd Street to enter the CFA, and vehicles traveling along 3rd to other destinations.
Interestingly, in the CTR, CFA identified three intersections that have higher than expected crash rates and anyone who lives in the neighborhood would not be surprised by the results: (1) South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road/3rd Street; (2) Riggs Road and 1st Place NE; and (3) 3rd Street/2nd Street NE.
Chick-fil-A’s recommendations
CFA identified several recommended safety improvements primarily to address the South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road intersection. DDOT does not have to undertake these improvements, but doing so would help to improve travel around the site. They include restriping, removal of two parking spaces next to the Walmart driveway on 3rd Street to improve sightlines, enforcement of no parking zones near intersection, better signage, and adjustments to signal timing.
Potential safety improvements
The South Dakota Avenue/Riggs Road intersection was reconfigured in 2011 to remove the slip lanes. Even reconfigured, it is poorly designed and really does need to be fixed. The one good thing that may come out of the CFA project is that residents have previously requested a traffic study of the corridor (which has not been done). Many of CFA’s recommended safety improvements are things that residents have requested for a long time so now that a business is recommending these safety improvements, maybe they will get done. Notably the CTR identifies that existing pedestrian facilities around the site are sorely lacking, again something for which residents have previously requested action. Perhaps those missing and deficient sidewalks and missing crosswalks will be addressed.
Existing pedestrian facilities around site
After looking at the traffic analysis, I am a bit skeptical about how all of this will work. Of course my big wish to get rid of the drive-thru entirely is likely not an option. This project is still about a year out so there is still time for CFA to make refinements. The project is located in ANC 4B, so if you have any thoughts, please share them with ANC Commissioner Alison Brooks (4B08) at 4B08@anc.dc.gov.
At the November 2019 Lamond-Riggs Citizens Asociation meeting, I asked Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie’s staff if the boundaries of the District’s Great Streets program can be expanded so that our small and local businesses in Riggs Park could apply for the resources. After a few follow-up discussions with his staff, they invited me to provide testimony at an upcoming oversight hearing on the topic. Below is what I submitted in writing in my capacity as a resident of Riggs Park.
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From: David Kosub Resident, Riggs Park, Ward 5
To: D. Justin Roberts Committee Director Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie, Ward 5
Dear Mr. Roberts,
Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to share written testimony for consideration at the Committee on Business and Economic Development performance oversight hearing of Destination DC and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), scheduled for February 24, 2020.
I am submitting this testimony in my capacity as a resident of Riggs Park and as a passionate advocate for our small and local businesses. I believe they all, and especially the people behind the storefronts, deserve the same support as others receive from the district whenever and wherever possible.
DMPED’s Great Streets program represents one such opportunity for equity. This program, as the website explains, is the “District’s commercial revitalization initiative designed to support existing small businesses, attract new businesses, increase the District’s tax base, create new job opportunities for District Residents, and transform emerging corridors into thriving and inviting neighborhood centers.”
Unfortunately, as we are located in upper northeast Washington D.C., our neighborhood businesses currently fall outside the existing program boundaries and are ineligible to apply for Great Streets resources (see the map generated from the Great Streets Look-up page). For reference, Riggs Park businesses are principally located along:
Riggs Road NE from the CSX/metro tracks to Chillum Place NE
South Dakota Avenue NE from Riggs Road NE to Galloway Street NE
3rd St NE/2nd Street NE, from Riggs Road NE to New Hampshire Avenue NE, along the CSX/metro tracks
“The character of the area,” as described in the 2009 Area Development plan, is “primarily residential, anchored by the Fort Totten Metro and supported by small scale commercial and retail shops.” I appreciate the role our small and local businesses have played in supporting our community and want to return the favor. Let me take a few moments to introduce some of them to you.
The Phillips family started Troka Insurance in 2007, providing various insurance products and services, in both English and Spanish, and training for neighbors to become future agents. When not organizing the next Riggs Park Art Crawl or asking how my daughter is doing, Ms. V serves up a tasty black bean burger and peanut butter/banana smoothie at Culture Coffee Too. Hellbender Brewery is our neighborhood watering hole. Our pharmacist, Dr. Ramdass, will bring prescriptions right to a senior’s door. Shining stars makes going to the dentist for our kids welcoming and pleasant. Riggs Wine and Liquors proudly show their neighborhood pride with a beautiful mural on the side of their building. The CHILD Center, a legacy business here for nearly two decades, received a city-wide Robust Retail grant in 2019. And, I could go on and on with these stories, especially as new businesses like Meow Wolf open in coming years and are excited to be woven into the fabric of the community.
These businesses help keep Riggs Park thriving and economically viable. They need our support in return. Allowing them the opportunity to apply for Great Streets funding could lower the hurdle faced when trying to expand their business, create jobs, experiment with new services, redesign their facades, or enhance their online presence. After all, when their business succeeds, Riggs Park succeeds.
Furthermore, in a 2019 Retail Market analysis, The Parks Main Street (TPMS) was encouraged to help attract potential small and local businesses to help enliven the neighborhood. By having the District’s Great Streets corridor boundaries expanded, I feel this strengthens TPMS’ ability to demonstrate growth potential in retail viability in Riggs Park, while also aiding “existing businesses accommodate rapid change in the area.” For disclosure, I serve as a community member on the Board of Directors for TPMS. However, the views represented in this testimony, as noted earlier, reflect my own as a Riggs Park resident.
Finally, the Upper Northeast element of the District’s Comprehensive Plan also recognized the value of expanding the Great Streets program to benefit business corridors currently residing outside the existing boundaries. As noted in action UNE-1.2.C, it recommends that businesses along Rhode Island Ave NE be considered for Great Streets funding. I requested the Office of Planning, as part of my family’s comments on the plan submitted in December 2019, to consider Riggs Park businesses within TPMS’ area to be eligible as well to have funding for transportation, streetscape, and façade improvements. ANC 5A heard this recommendation too and agreed to support the idea earlier this month.
I appreciate your time and consideration of this request to expand the Great Streets boundaries, so our businesses have an equal opportunity to apply for these resources.
Culture Coffee Too and Fearless Threads are teaming up to give away a few custom made prom dresses to students in need. If you are interested in donating to the effort, visit this link.
For students in need, please visit the online application link. The application is simple: must be a student at a DC high school, have a minimum 2.5 GPA, and submit a 50 word statement about why the student deserves a free prom dress.
First Fridays at Culture Coffee Too February 7, 2020 6:00 pm-8:00 pm 300 Riggs Road NE Artwork of James Terrell & Zsudayka Nzinga Terrell “Meditions” Opening Reception
Artist Jay Hudson brings us another neighborhood mural – this one a “We are Riggs Park” statement on the side of Riggs Wine & Liquor. Funding for the mural was provided by The Parks Main Street, District Department of Small and Local Business Development, and Riggs Wine & Liquor owner John Yoo. Next up is restoration of the sign.
“We are Riggs Park” mural by Jay Hudson. Photo credit: Jay Hudson
Jay is well-known around the neighborhood. He installed a mural on the other side of the liquor store during the inaugural 2018 Riggs Park Art Crawl.
Mural at Riggs Wine & Liquor by Jay Hudson. Photo credit: Jay Hudson
He brought us this cool mural on the side of Hellbender Brewing Company’s building (though unfortunately that mural is no longer with us).
Mural at Hellbender by Jay Hudson. Photo credit: Jay Hudson
And he is the creator of the large mural inside of Culture Coffee Too.
A version of this post was first published on linkedinon September 25, 2019.
On September 19, about 25 residents, board members, and business owners representing Riggs Park and Manor Park under The Parks Main Street organization met at the Lamond-Riggs Library in Washington, DC to discuss retail findings from the two communities.
Manor Park
Goods and Services such as dry cleaners, fresh convenience stores, and more, and Food and Beverage businesses are moderately viable.
Manor Park’s long-standing retailers and history of low vacancy demonstrate that all types of retail can thrive in the neighborhood.
With longtime loyal customer bases, between 70% and 80% of Manor Park patrons come from outside the immediate area to shop at these unique longstanding businesses.
The area is characterized by mostly neighborhood Goods and Services with only two food and beverage establishments.
As the retail environment in the city continues to evolve, the primary task is to keep this neighborhood’s vital retail resources by working with Manor Park businesses to ensure that each thrives in this environment and continues to appeal to a broad geographic base of people, thereby maintaining low vacancy while preserving the character and vibrancy of the nod.
Riggs Park
Goods and Services businesses are extremely viable, and Food and Beverage businesses are moderately viable.
Retail in Riggs Park has rapidly expanded over the past 10 years, with new development bringing in 220,000 square feet of retail space. The area now features a mix of auto-oriented retail that preexisted 2010 and newer retail spaces in mixed-use projects.
Riggs Park benefits from its location along two highly trafficked corridors with nearly 25% of all customers resulting from drive-by traffic.
The retail offerings are growing and are expected to continue to grow as several major developments come online.
The addition of cultural attractions such as Meow Wolf and Explore! Children’s Museum also will create further regional draw, boost daytime population and increase pedestrian traffic.
As the spaces available for retail continue to grow and additional multifamily projects are in development, the primary task is to keep the market in balance by aggressively combatting vacancy and ensuring that older, more established businesses continue to thrive as newer retail and cultural offerings come online.
Joe Carrol, Economic Development Committee chair for TPMS, led presentation and follow-up discussion about theRiggs Park and Manor Park Retail Market Analysis and Enhancement Strategyconducted by John Stover & Associates earlier this year. Follow-up questions and discussion focused on issues such as neighborhood security, rising rents affecting small businesses, foot and motor traffic patterns, and attracting consumers via enhanced streetscapes and placemaking promotions.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 