Art & Jazz TONIGHT at Honfleur. Be there.

Come to Honfleur Gallery for events starting at 7pm tonight. THE CONNECTION is a free jazz performance by Butch Warren and Freddie Redd, and will be accompanied by a photographic slide show by Antoine Sanfuentes. A poetry reading by local DC poet, Fred Joiner, will also happen in between sets.

Also check out the new works by Cuban mixed-media artist Gustavo Díaz Sosa. Art show opens at 7. Jazz starts at 8.

For more information, check out Honfleur Gallery's website. Be there for the goodness.

Cedar Hill Gets HPRB Approval

Another step! The Cedar Hill townhouse/condo project at the corner of W and 13th Streets is on track to finally start construction... soon.


On W Street looking towards 13th.

"The Board approved the design in concept, with delegation to staff of further review, with the conditions that the V Street building be limited to two stories of height; the applicant satisfactorily address the issues raised in the staff report; and that the applicant careful revise and develop the balcony details on the Type 2 houses, the stairs, the siding on the Type 3 houses, and the width of the alley and the continuation of the 13th Street sidewalk and vegetation along it."

Still awaiting word from Stan Voudrie of Four Points, LLC as to when exactly this will start. Last I heard, the HPRB approval was one of the final steps before construction.

Progress at Environmental Design & Construction

Although there's still work to be done, progress is definitely being made at the Environmental Design & Construction headquarters project at MLK and Good Hope. I love how the red brick building is being brought back to its storefront look after being boarded up for so long!

Satellite Dishes: Not Out Front, Please

It truly is exciting seeing all the renovations going on in Anacostia -- each one makes such an important difference on the neighborhood's blocks. But...

It ain't cool, or allowed, to install satellite dishes on the front of a house.



When you get DirecTV or another dish service, the installers will try to install it on a surface that is easiest for them. However, they will install in the back or on the main roof if you ask for it.

These houses on W Street are a prime example:



For the sake of the historic district - and your own pocketbook (remember, the city city can fine for violations against the historic district) - please make sure to have dishes installed on the back of the house or on the roof, far enough back so that it isn't visible from the street. Thanks!

Renovations on Chester & W Streets

There are a lot more renovations happening now it seems than in the past couple years...


Something's going on here ... not sure what exactly.

This house on W Street between 13th and Chester is finally getting a facade restoration!


Love when the old siding comes off and the wood is revealed...


a new old porch!

It's the little things that are making a big difference...

H Street Does Chalk...

...this Will happen in Anacostia someday...


as seen at the H Street NW Chalk Walk today

The MLK Ave/MLK Drive Confusion

In July of this year, the DC Council voted in favor of renaming the haphazard stretch between the new MLK Memorial on the Tidal Basin and Anacostia "Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive." Not Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, which already exists in Anacostia and elsewhere in Ward 8, but Martin Luther King Drive.


at the corner of MLK Ave/Drive and Good Hope Road


at the corner of 13th/onramp and Good Hope Road/MLK Drive..?

But as you can see above, where exactly MLK Avenue ends and MLK Drive begins is a bit confusing. Are there sections of MLK Avenue that are also MLK Drive? Are there parts of Good Hope Road, a street that intersects with MLK Avenue, also now MLK Drive? Confusing! (and redundant...)

MLK / Good Hope Public Art Survey

Art by committee often ends up being kinda watered down. But, since they're asking for community input, take a minute to give your thoughts on what might be done at the corner of MLK and Good Hope where the empty lot is now.



As I've mentioned before [see this blog post], I'd like to see a chalkboard of some sort asking the community a question. For example, something as simple as "If you owned this lot, what would you put here?" or "Love letters to Anacostia" then just paint lines for people to write their responses on. I can almost guarantee that that would be more interesting than another mural or artistic fence.

But, since I'm not the one deciding, check out this presentation on some potential ideas for the site:
1201-1203 Good Hope Rd Public Art

Then take this survey asking what Anacostia means to you and what you would like to see at the site. If you like the chalkboard idea, make sure to support it! :)

Reminder: this is a temporary installation. Do we really want to waste city money on something elaborate? The end goal here is to develop the site.

188 New Apartments Coming to Good Hope Road

The Washington Post just broke the news that Chapman Development - the same company that developed the Grays at Pennsvania Avenue (AKA the Yes! Organic Market building) has purchased Murphey's Auto Body Shop and (you may want to sit down for this) plans to develop 188 apartments (by right, without zoning changes) on the site, along with 25-30,000 square feet of ground floor retail. As a comparison, the Yes! Organic building is only 118 units.



The site, located between 17th and 18th Streets on Good Hope Road, sits across the street from the Anacostia UPO and Bread for the City, and is just one building down from the Anacostia Neighborhood Library.

Yes, folks, development is finally hitting Good Hope Road (!!!), which has so much potential as it is bookended by the heart of Historic Anacostia and the more affluent and also-redeveloping Hillcrest neighborhood.



My first thoughts:

(1) This will be a precedent-setting development for the neighborhood. Because it is the first large-scale redevelopment in this part of the neighborhood, it it will set the bar for design and quality. It is hugely important that the neighborhood make known that we will accept nothing less than excellent.

(2) The article mentions that the developer might build it out as a senior-living building. Is this something the neighborhood wants or needs more of? If so/not, this needs to be made clear.

(3) As you can see, there are a lof of above-ground wires on this section of Good Hope. Some communities in the DC area have specified that with new development, wires should be undergrounded. Is this something the neighborhood wants to pursue/ask for?

Read the article in its entirety HERE.

Art Behind the Art - Friday at Blank Space SE

Come out to Blank Space SE tonight at 7pm for the opening of a week-long exhibition showcasing behind-the-scenes photography from local film productions. Refreshments by Cotton’s Gourmet.

Blank Space SE is located at 1922 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE.