Tag Archives: metro

Riggs Park shoutout in WaPo

Posted by nextstoprp in Neighborhood Profile and tagged with , , , ,

A Washington Post article includes Riggs Park in a list of neighborhoods that are good alternatives to more popular, expensive neighborhoods for homebuyers in DC.  Along with Riggs Park, the article lists Petworth, Takoma, SW Waterfront, Brookland, Woodridge, and Hillcrest.  I am never quite sure what to make of articles like this.  Nevertheless, it is true that Riggs Park is a great neighborhood in a pretty good location.

When I was in the market 3 years ago, I considered most of the neighborhoods listed in the article, eventually narrowing my search to Brookland and Riggs Park.  One of the major draws of Riggs Park is the metro access.  I can walk to Fort Totten metro station in less than 10 minutes and get on the red, yellow, or green line, or hop on one of several buses at the station.  In fact, I finally sold my car earlier this year because (a) I do not like driving or car maintenance; (b) I was not driving much at all; and (c) it is easy enough to get to all the things I need and want without a car.  I walk about one mile to the Giant on Eastern Ave or the 1.5 miles to Yes! Organic Market in Brookland for groceries.  Occasionally I walk the couple of miles to the Takoma Park farmers market.  I walk/bike to Brookland or metro to Takoma for dance classes.  I can walk to Lamond Riggs neighborhood library in less than 10 minutes for books and movies.  And getting to work downtown takes 30 minutes door to door.

Developments in the neighborhood will add retail and restaurants to the mix in the next few years.  The neighborhood is also home to Food & Friends and the Backus campus of UDC-CC.  There is a neighborhood recreation center (Riggs LaSalle).  Crime is relatively low and neighbors are super friendly.

As the article noted, many of the homes in the neighborhood are semi-detached.  However, there are detached single family homes available that of course cost a bit more.  The new Hampshires development at 6000 New Hampshire Ave NE added several single family homes about one mile from Fort Totten metro station.  The development is also bringing new townhomes to the area (grand opening this Sat. from 12 pm to 2:30 pm).

Of the neighborhoods listed, Riggs Park is probably the most affordable, partially owing to a lack of amenities as compared to some of the other areas.  Proximity to Petworth, Brookland, and Takoma helps to mitigate the lack of amenities a bit.  Semi-detached homes with at least 3 bedrooms/1.5 bathrooms and a decent backyard can still be had for under $300,000.  Renovated semi-detached homes are now selling for over $300,000.  Newly constructed homes at the Hampshires are listed in the $500,000 range for townhomes and upwards of $600,000 for the detached homes.  Prices are up, but one can still manage to get a solid home in an established neighborhood without breaking the bank.

Tidbits from the Fort Totten walking tour

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

The Coalition for Smarter Growth hosted a walking tour around Fort Totten called “Fort Totten:  More than a Transfer Point,” on June 15, 2013.  Greater Greater Washington has a nice recap of the tour.  In addition, CSG has pictures posted on facebook and flickr.

Overview

Deborah Crain from the Office of Planning provided an overview of the process that created the Small Area Plan for the South Dakota Avenue/Riggs road NE corridor.

More Apartments On the Way

A resident of the apartments at Aventine Fort Totten recounted the history of the complex, which was originally constructed in 2007 as Fort Totten Station apartments on WMATA property next to Fort Totten metro station under a 99 year lease.  The project, which consists of three apartment buildings, was originally slated to be five buildings, including some condos.  Residents and advocates were successful in finally getting a walking path from 3rd Street NE opened to Riggs Road.  Now, residents are hoping to make the walkway ADA compliant.

Fort Totten metro station is one of the stations around which WMATA hopes to create new transit oriented development.  Stan Wall, WMATA Director of Real Estate & Station Planning,  spoke a bit about plans for rental apartments on the site of the commuter parking lot on 1st Place NE.  The project will still contain commuter parking, but likely will not contain any retail.  The RFP for that project will likely be out around September of this year.

Improved Pedestrian & MBT Connection

Anna Chamberlain, DDOT transportation planner and project manager, discussed the city’s desire to create a better pedestrian experience around the metro.  DDOT’s transportation/access plan for the Fort Totten metro area, including for Galloway Street and 1st Place NE, can be found here.  Part of the plan involves transforming 1st Place NE from a service road for WMATA to a city-owned street with the attendant streetscape improvements.  WMATA and DDOT are currently negotiating that deal.  Ms. Chamberlain and others also highlighted DDOT’s reconfiguration of the South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road NE intersection, which eliminated the flyby, constructed a four corner intersection, and created high visibility crosswalks and streetscape improvements.

Ms. Chamberlain also discussed the Fort Totten connection to the Metropolitan Branch Trail.  DDOT plans to create a cycle staircase, which will require bikers to dismount, next to the the trail at a 5% grade.  The city has allocated money for this fiscal year and next to design the Fort Totten connection, with money allocated for FY2016 for construction of the Fort Totten portion of the trail.

Art Place at Fort Totten

With respect to the two major developments underway in the neighborhood, the tour highlighted the difference in engagement between the team for Art Place at Fort Totten and the team behind Fort Totten Square.  No one from the Art Place team was on hand to provide updates on the project.  Residents and representatives from the Lamond Riggs Development Task Force filled in the gaps.  We know that a bid is out for general contractors, with a selection expected to be made in July.

Fort Totten Square

Although the Art Place project is a planned unit development (PUD) and one would expect more engagement since there is more approval required for the project, the team behind Fort Totten Square has been much more forthcoming about the realities of the Fort Totten Square project, which is a matter of right project.  That is not to suggest that residents always get what they want with Fort Totten Square.  Residents were quite vocal about not wanting Walmart as an anchor for the project for a variety of reasons.  The reality also is that certain businesses can afford to pay rent and do not mind co-locating with a Walmart, so while the developers have promised that they will not solicit businesses like liquor stores and check cashing stores, they have not ruled out cell phone stores, for example.  The challenges of having a Walmart-anchored project were acknowledged on the tour.  However, the strong points about the project, including its mixed use design and “urban format” grocery component were highlighted.

During the tour, Jamie Weinbaum, JBG project manager for Fort Totten Square, described the amount of programming and amenities the residential component will have (yoga, outdoor movies in the courtyard, two-tiered pool, transit screens, bikeshare, car2go parking in the garage).

One other tidbit from the tour was Mr. Weinbaum’s response when asked whether his team would work with existing small businesses to improve storefront facades to contribute to the overall improvement of the South Dakota/Riggs corridor.  He said his team has had talks about development opportunities and various discussions with local businesses.  However, nothing concrete was provided.  He also discussed what is known as the south site, the grassy area in front of the mural on Riggs Road.  He said his team has resumed talks with the city about a land transfer for that site.  However, given that his team is interested in making sure Fort Totten Square is fully leased for both residential and retail purposes, it does not seem as if there is any urgency into getting control of that site if it will not be developed right away.

Overall, the tour provided a nice opportunity to meet folks from Riggs Park, North Michigan Park, Petworth, and South Manor who are all interested in seeing a great, established neighborhood have improved connectivity and more neighborhood amenities.

 

Metro work June 14 – 16

nextstoprp's avatar

Free shuttle buses replace red line trains between Rhode Island Ave and Forest Glen stations, 10 pm Friday, June 14 – closing, Sunday, June 16.  The buses will run on a local route with stops at Silver Spring, Takoma, Fort Totten, Brookland, and Rhode Island and a limited stop route, operating between Rhode Island and Forest Glen with a stop at Silver Spring.  Visit metro’s page for details. 

The green line at Fort Totten station will be open.  Yellow line trains will run between Huntington & Mt. Vernon.  Yellow & green line trains will run 20 minutes apart.

Building Permit Issued for Fort Totten Square

Posted by nextstoprp in Fort Totten Square, Neighborhood Development and tagged with , , ,

A representative from JBG shared updates on the progress of Fort Totten Square, the mixed-use development anchored by Walmart with approximately 345 rental apartment units.  Final building permits were issued on May 30, 2013.  Digging will soon end and the concrete will start to pour.  Once the digging is done, many more contractors will be working on the site.  Clark Construction, the general contractor on the project, will set up a trailer office near the site.  Residents are encouraged to report problems with trash and other issues.

The construction job fair on March 23, 2013, yielded over 900 applications.  Qualified applicants will be contacted directly by the subcontractors.  In addition, the Fort Totten Square website contains information about hiring for the Walmart store.  A hiring center will open three to four months before the store opens.  More information about the hiring center will be posted on Walmart’s Washington DC website.

As mentioned in another post, JBG will pay for installation of a bikeshare station at 3rd Street & Riggs Road NE once the development is complete in spring 2015.  Walmart has also agreed to pay for a bikeshare station at Fort Totten metro station.  The developers anticipate having transit information screens in the residential buildings.  These are part of the developers’ effort to promote a walkable, bikable neighborhood.

Renderings of the development are available on the site of the development’s architects Hickok Cole.  The blue paneling seen in the online rendering is supposed to be more of a muted blue color.  The renderings provide views of both the residential and retail portions of the development.

The development has space for three to four additional retail tenants on the ground level at Chillum Place & Riggs Road NE.  In addition, a separate ground level retail space will be available at 3rd Street & Riggs Road NE.  There is hope that a major coffee shop will be interested in leasing the 3rd Street retail space.  Luring such a tenant will partly entail convincing DDOT to have 30-minute parking meters for the 16 spaces that line Riggs Road in front of the development.  It is still a little early to approach tenants for an anticipated delivery of spring 2015, but residents should use the time to think about what they would like to see at Fort Totten Square.

May 10 -12 Metro work on red line

Red line trains will share a track between Rhode Island Ave & Takoma, beginning 10 pm, Fri May 10 – closing, Sun May 12.  Trains will operate every 28 minutes between Shady Grove & Glenmont.  Additional trains will provide service about every 10 minutes between Grosvenor & NoMa during daytime hours.

Capital Bikeshare possibly coming to Fort Totten in 2nd round expansion

Posted by nextstoprp in Uncategorized and tagged with ,

DDOT released news of its latest round of Bikeshare expansion to include 54 new station installations between January and March 2013.  These 54 locations were selected from a list of 78.  One of the locations not selected for the first round of expansion that could possibly be included in a second round expansion is Fort Totten metro station.  JBG/Lowe have stated that they would support (fund?) a bikeshare installation at Fort Totten as a community benefit for the Fort Totten Square development.  That development is expected to add 350 rental apartments and retail to the community in 2014.  To comment on the latest round of expansions (and advocate for bringing a station to Fort Totten sooner), email ddot.bikeshare@dc.gov by January, 15, 2013.