Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Inspiration from Memphis

Check out this video and see what folks in Memphis did to perk up and draw investment to a struggling commercial district:

A New Face for an Old Broad from Josh Beckemeyer on Vimeo.

Certainly some lessons for MLK Avenue and Good Hope Road. What's stopping this from happening here?

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Prime Retail Space Now Available on MLK

One of the reasons MLK Avenue doesn't have a ton of retail (restaurants or otherwise) is that it hasn't had a whole lot of available retail spaces come available. A lot of the retail space is taken by office users or is unavailable/has absentee owners/not in good condition. But, over the past couple months two great - and adjacent - spaces have come available: 2019 and 2021 MLK Ave.



The building on the left is the old Anacostia Bank building, and the one on the right has been (probably should not share this if I want the space leased) a funeral home for a number of years.


the buildings now...


...and in the early 20th century (Photo: Library of Congress)

But, they are located on a great stretch of MLK, between U Street and V Street, next to The Hive, along the future Anacostia streetcar route.



The buildings themselves are pretty cool. One has an awesome fish scale transom (see above), and both kind of have that classic small town charm that makes Anacostia unique.



At just $25/square foot, these buildings would be great for anyone looking to start a new business or expand into a neighborhood that - with the success of Uniontown Bar & Grill - has proven itself able to support quality local eateries.

If interested, Click Here for the listings (scroll to see properties) or call broker Carla Merritt at 301-702-3200 x102.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

MLK/Good Hope Bikeshare Moved

Just an FYI, the Capital Bikeshare dock that was on the MLK side of the MLK/Good Hope intersection was moved to the Good Hope side. The dock is now in front of Industrial Bank.


the new location

If you haven't signed up for bikeshare yet, definitely do it. It is a great way to do one-way trips (for example, I metro to work but bikeshare home), and you don't have to worry about what to do with the bike when you arrive at your destination, assuming there is a dock around.


where the dock used to be, before construction on this portion of MLK


now located in front of Industrial Bank

There are also bikeshare docks at the library and the Metro station, and a new dock at MLK and W Street should be installed this summer. For my earlier post on Capital Bikeshare in Anacostia, Click Here.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

St. E's East Meeting This Thursday - Go!



The Office of Planning and Department of Transportation are hosting a series of public meetings for St. Elizabeths East Campus. The East Campus is the huge area on the left (if you're travelling toward Congress Heights from Anacostia on MLK) that will be completely redeveloped separate from the Homeland Security project at the West Campus. The first meeting is this Thursday:

When: May 12, 2011 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Where: Imagine Southeast Public Charter School(Old Congress Heights School)
3100 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE

As is typical of public planning meetings, the agencies would like the public to provide feedback on the project, evaluate development alternatives, and transportation enhancements. Check www.stelizabethseast.com to stay updated.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

11th Street Bridge Detour for Next 6 Months

By now you've probably already noticed the closure of MLK Ave between the 11th Street Bridge and Good Hope Road. All this means is that you need to get off at the Anacostia Park exit and take a left on Good Hope to get back up to MLK.





This closure will be for approximate the next 6 months. All in the name of progress... right?

For more information on the 11th Street Bridges project, Click Here

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Anacostia in the Express

A few days overdue, but in case you missed it, Anacostia was featured in the Washington Post's Express!



The article, titles "A Growth Spurt With Plenty of Promise: New Residents Drawn to Anacostia" is mostly accurate (minus some glaring geographic errors), but painted a nice picture of the ways the neighborhood is starting to turn around. Let the good press keep on coming!