Art Place Construction Notice 6/15/2020

24 Hour Fitness has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking restructuring with plans to close approximately 130 locations. This move was not unexpected. The CEO released a statement to members in April acknowledging the financial impact of COVID-19 on operations, in response to media reports that the company was considering seeking bankruptcy relief. At that time, I reached out to the developer of Art Place at Fort Totten to find out if they expected any impact on the opening of 24 Hour Fitness at Art Place. The developer stated that to their knowledge, plans for the 24 Hour Fitness at Art Place had not changed. The thinking was that the gym would seek reorganization and close some gyms, but newer facilities under construction would not be impacted.

The gym is supposed to anchor the first phase of Art Place in Building A. Residents know it has been a long slog to get the first phase of retail off the ground. X-Sport Fitness was originally slated to anchor the first phase, but that company had its own problems and could not make adequate progress towards opening, so the developer struck a deal with 24 Hour Fitness. Just when it looked like interior buildout for 24 Hour Fitness was finally making progress, the COVID-19 public health emergency hit.

I have reached out again now that the company has officially filed for bankruptcy relief to find out if there will be any impact to Art Place.

Check out Explore! Children’s Museum new Sandbox portal. The site contains free hands-on activities and resources for children nine years old and younger.

Welcome to the Explore! Sandbox, our curated list of online, at-home, and hands-on activities and resources. Find “your” inner artist, performer, scientist, musician, chef, and storyteller in this exciting collection of hands-on art activities, science experiments, cooking lessons, storytelling, creative movement, theatrical, and musical performances. Travel around the globe for virtual tours of museums, aquariums, botanical gardens, zoos, concert halls, theaters, and cultural centers that highlight special experiences for children, ages 0-9, and their families.

At its public meeting on June 8, 2020, the DC Zoning Commission voted 5-0-0 to approve slight changes requested for Block B of Art Place at Fort Totten (case number 06-10E). We described that Modification of Consequence application in this post.

ANC 5A supported the request; the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association offered no objection; and ANC 4B did not participate (as they did not in the underlying case). Zoning Commission member Peter May noted that this project is a complicated one that always felt unsettled so it was not surprising that the developer was returning with changes. At least there is agreement that these are changes for the better.

Art Place Construction Notice 6/1/2020

Art Place Construction Notice 5/18/2020

Art Place Construction Notice 5/4/2020 (pdf)

Art Place Construction Notice 4/20/2020 (pdf)

The DC Zoning Commission has finally issued a written order approving the second phase (Block B) of Art Place at Fort Totten. The conditions of the approval are outlined in the order beginning on page 28. The order will become effective upon publication in the DC Register on March 20, 2020. (Disclosure: I served as president of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA) during the Zoning Commission’s review of Block B and represented the LRCA before the commission. I no longer serve on the board of the LRCA).

The commission voted to approve the project at a commission meeting way back in June 2019. The DC Council and mayor have approved the closure of 4th Street NE between Ingraham Street and Kennedy Street for the project. As noted in this pre-pandemic post, residents should expect to see a uptick in activity around the site in the next several weeks. Fencing has already gone up around some of the legacy Riggs Plaza Apartment buildings. ANC Commissioner Gordon Fletcher (5A08) will be the point of contact responsible for distributing construction information to the community.

We reported on ramp-up of activity on the second phase of Art Place at Fort Totten in this post on ANC Commissioner Gordon Fletcher’s (5A08) February 2020 SMD meeting. Since then, the Washington Business Journal has run a couple of reports on the second phase. The first article (subscription required) is a feature on Sean Cahill, the development manager hired for the second phase. Mr. Cahill attended Commissioner Fletcher’s SMD meeting.

The second report (subscription required) notes that construction on the second phase is gearing up while the developer continues to lease up the first phase.

Phase one retailers include T-Mobile, ShiningStars Pediatric Dentistry and Ramdass Pharmacy, all of which opened in 2018. Still to open are a Love & Care Daycare, which is expected to open in the fall of 2020, and Rocketship Public School charter school, which will open in August for the 2020-2021 school year.

Another anchor, a 40,000-square-foot 24 Hour Fitness gym, is projected to open in The Modern by the end of the year. 24 Hour Fitness replaces the previously announced XSport Fitness, which fell through for the development.

While Cafritz declined to comment on why retail leasing has been such slow-going for phase one, the spokesperson said that the retail in phase two is already 40% pre-leased, mostly with entertainment tenants. That number doesn’t include a planned 25,000-square-foot Aldi grocer store at the development.

Phase two will consist of three multi-story, mixed-use residential buildings with 272 units, 30 of which will be accessory dwelling units, and the FEZ (family entertainment zone), which will house a food hall, the 30,000 square foot Explore! Children’s Museum and the 80,000-square-foot Meow Wolf multimedia museum. Phase two is projected to deliver by late 2021 or early 2022.

The Foundation says it intentionally sought to incorporate more experiential retail in phase two, which will also include flexible event space, studio space and maker spaces intended for community rental and to support local arts and culture programming.

By David Kosub (Contributor)

Weird. Yes. Sci-Fi novel come to life. Check. DIY. Thumps up. Space and time traveling. Naturally. Coming to Riggs Park. Woot woot. That’s right, the immersive art collective Meow Wolf is revving up and getting ready to meet us. In this edition of Next Stop Neighbors, we’ll get to know the man who is tasked with the job.

Jamal Gray is Meow Wolf’s liaison with the artists in DC and the community here. Our conversation weaves in and out from his Aquatic Gardening Roots in the District, the history of Meow Wolf, his philosophy to be “neighborhoodly,” social impacts, his artistic flare, and a full body slam for good measure. LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!

Click here to listen to the conversation (running time: 19 minutes – we just kept going and going)

Jamal Gray with David Kosub

Background on Next Stop Neighbors:

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:

Robert “The Library Guy” Oliver (October 2019)
Soon-to-Be Moms and Soon-to-Be Dads (September 2019)
Explore! Children’s Museum (August 2019)
Troka Insurance (July 2019)
Ms. V and Culture Coffee Too (July 2019)
Bertie Backus Urban Food Hub (June 2019)
LRCA Forward Team (April 2019)
Ramdass Pharmacy (March 2019

On October 24, 2019, Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based arts and entertainment group, held a community meeting about its plans to open a new location here in the neighborhood in Riggs Park. Meow Wolf is planning locations in Denver and Las Vegas as well.

The meeting served as the company’s introduction to the community. It is challenging to articulate what exactly Meow Wolf is. Danika Padilla, Senior Director of Social Impact, started off by sharing the company’s origin story. It was started by a group of friends in 2008 as an artist collective who just wanted to make weird, interesting, immersive art, and that is what they offer. For example, for one exhibit, an artist who uses a wheelchair designed a space with low ceilings so that people could engage with the space from the perspective of someone in a wheelchair.

Since 2017, it has been a certified B-corporation, a certification for businesses that want to do social good. It is not a nonprofit organization. They describe their business as one with a triple bottom line focused on financial, social, and environmental well-being. Their website has a lot of information about their philanthropy, artist engagement, DIY Fund, and community support.

Han Sayles, Director of Artist Collaboration, spoke a bit about the artist engagement piece and how the company wants to know how it can serve the DC area artist landscape. They are very interested in providing a space for local artists to share their work and be paid fair compensation for their work.

They were also there to listen and find out how they can be a good neighbor. They have hired a local DC artist and resident, Jamal Gray, to serve as a community outreach liaison. They posed several questions to get the conversation started, listed below in no particular order:

1. In what ways can Meow Wolf support artists?
2. What inspires you about your community?
3. What is important to know about the community?
4. What do you enjoy doing for fun in your community?
5. How can Meow Wolf be a good neighbor?
6. What advice would you give to foster inclusivity and accessibility for local residents?
7. Are there local resources or groups that Meow Wolf should be aware of?
8. What are the challenges for new businesses coming into the area?
9. What else would you like Meow Wolf to know?

There were actually two sessions in the same evening; information presented at each was the same. I only attended the second session, so I am only sharing observations from that session. Besides providing feedback on these questions, audience members raised questions about a variety of topics. It was apparent that some people did not realize that Meow Wolf will be part of a much larger development, Art Place at Fort Totten. People asked what other retailers will be part of the development, stating their desire not to have chains. Meow Wolf has no control over that, but did state they have asked the Cafritz Foundation, which is developing the project, to prioritize local retailers. One resident raised a point about making the space environmentally green, considering the number of trees that will be cut down for the development itself. Meow Wolf talked about wanting to have a compost system. They also noted that in Santa Fe, 70% of the visitors are tourists, so for DC they really want to think about ways to incentivize using public transit to access the site.

There was a protracted discussion about gentrification and how some believe this project will be a gentrifying force in the community (gentrification being undefined). Meow Wolf noted that they prize community engagement, showing up and listenting to the unique needs of the community. To that end, they plan to have a community advisory group for the DC location just as they do for their other locations.

They are really interested in finding out how they can be helpful in the local DC area artist landscape. For example in Denver, with the community advisory group, Meow Wolf set a goal that 40% of the artists involved in that location be local artists, and they said they have reached that goal. The artists in the room asked about the boundaries of what is considered a local artist, to which Meow Wolf responded they are definitely looking at Baltimore and Richmond area artists for the DC location. The artist engagement page has a link for people to submit their portfolios if they are interested in being part of a launch event or showing in the space. Some had very specific questions about whether there would be space for music performances or live fire shows. Likely yes to the first question, not sure about the second.

On a personal note, as Art Place starts to build out arts-focused programming in the next phase, I think it would be really awesome for these organizations to provide an opportunity for young people to really explore. While I do believe everything is not for everybody and one thing cannot be all things to everyone, I do not think we should automatically discount certain spaces as off-limits or “not for us” for any particular group of people, whether that be seniors, youth, or people of color, especially if there is an opportunity to engage early on with the creators of the space. Building out a junior staff program for young people or even a work-study program for people of all ages would be really great for the neighborhood. The idea is to expose youth not just to the arts in terms of creating art, but also the many possible careers supporting the arts, such as teaching, fundraising, marketing, and program development. Meow Wolf noted in response to a question that the DC location will provide about 100 jobs, not just for artists but for positions that will support the building and maintenance of exhibits and programming. I also think arts programming provides a really great opportunity of fostering intergenerational interaction. The notion that all artists are young and that the space will only appeal to millenials is not accurate to me. Just my view.

I think the bottom line is that with opening still a few years away in 2022, Meow Wolf is really interested in hearing how immediate community members see this space being part of the community. At 75,000 square feet, it is going to be a big space. If you are interested in providing feedback to the questions listed above or about anything else, email DC@MeowWolf.com.

Meow Wolf D.C. Community Conversations
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Session 1: 4:00pm – 5:30pm EST
Session 2: 6:00pm – 7:30pm EST

DC Public Library: Lamond-Riggs Branch
5401 South Dakota Ave NE
Washington, DC 20011
(Fort Totten Metro via Red/Green/Yellow Lines) 

Information presented will be the same at each session. Kindly RSVP to: DC@meowwolf.com

You might have noticed the big sign on The Modern at Art Place on Galloway Street announcing that a new daycare center called Love & Care Child Development Center will be opening soon. I called the number on the sign and they said they anticipate opening in January 2020, but it is possible I did not hear them correctly. At any rate, they are currently accepting reservations for children 6 weeks to 3 years old. Call (866) 987-0667 for more information.

By David Kosub (Contributor)

You know the museum is coming. You heard the development plans were approved. And, you still have questions. Well, in this edition  of Next Stop Neighbors, Mark Mumm with Explore! Children’s Museum joins us and shares his insights into what’s to come for the project to be located between on South Dakota Avenue NE between Ingraham and Kennedy streets.

We’ll hear about the vision for the museum, projects to engage the community (such as their pop up festival on Saturday, August 24), and potential collaborations with other artistic endeavors. Want to hear how Explore! differs from the National Children’s Museum. Perhaps how local children learn about the solar system? Or even what a Mobile Outreach Manager does? We’ll explore all of that and more in this conversation. 

Click here to listen to the conversation (running time: 10 minutes)

Background on Next Stop Neighbors:

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:

Troka Insurance (July 2019)
Ms. V and Culture Coffee Too (July 2019)
Bertie Backus Urban Food Hub (June 2019)
LRCA Forward Team (April 2019)
Ramdass Pharmacy (March 2019)