raze permit for the old gas station

the long-abandoned gas station at 1234 Good Hope Road finally has a raze permit. Owned by the District, the gas station site is directly across from Honfleur Gallery and adjacent to the Anacostia Gateway office building.



Although originally planned to be part of the Anacostia Gateway Government Center, rumor has it that the project is off the table and the city is again deciding (how actively I'm not sure) how to use the site.

While they're deciding, (and believe me, I rarely advocate for parking) I think they should make an attractive temporary parking lot like they did at the old convention center downtown. Not only would it clean up the corner, it would provide some much-needed public parking near some of the neighborhood's most visited new amenities.

photo / graphic by DG-rad

sweet new(ish) tree boxes


- - -

yep, definitely time for this to go and for the Department of Transportation building to be built.

photos by DG-rad

Meet Anacostia Gateway

Today I had the chance to tour Anacostia Gateway, the future home of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development, with Mike Wallach, Vice President and COO of the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation. In a perfect world, it would have been blue skies and sunny, but with this building's views, it is hard to not be impressed, however gray the day.



The Green Roof:
for some reason I didn't take any pictures of the patio part, but this roof is accessible to all building users.


you can see Grandview Estates up on the hill




a little sedum

From the 3rd Floor:







tear me down and build something in my place


good ol' mysterious Drake's


the old Green Derby. AEDC did the exterior renovation, and is currently seeking approval to build stairs out the front door

Anacostia Square:

Mike telling me about the Anacostia Square project, to be developed by AEDC and Douglas Development.

According to him, they own the entire block all the way down to the railroad tracks (except Drake's). They are currently waiting on HPRB on design issues, but it is still very much in process. Once Historic Preservation signs off on the project, then it goes into the PUD stage. (I didn't know it was a PUD until now. This is a good thing, because it means that there has to be a good amenity base in the project)


at least it can really only get better than this



Before the DDOT Building arrives:



future roundabout / traffic circle





Good Hope:

new Elks lodge signage


...and new gate: secret entrance to the Daily Planet?





From the 2nd Floor:



Honfleur Gallery! (the blue one)

FYI, they are having a show opening this Saturday called Into the Light at 7pm. Free.






I seriously hope this won't be someone's corner office

The Retail:

they are still looking for a restaurant in this corner


Industrial Bank is [purportedly] headed for this spot (dang, I was really hoping for a Wachovia..)

Lobby and Exterior:



they are still deciding which work of art to display in that back frame





Conclusion: the Gateway building is very impressive, with fantastic views of Anacostia and beyond. I am confident that once those employees move in, it will definitely inspire future neighborhood investment and growth, as well as more retail in the surrounding area.

Still no DDOT Developer

The Washington Biz Journal reports today (print edition, this part not available online) that the city has yet to choose a developer for the new District Department of Transportation building adjacent to (and technically part of) Anacostia Gateway at the corner of MLK and Good Hope.

"It looks like the they will be waiting a while longer. The now-defunct National Capitol Revitalization Corp. issued a solicitation to developers, but it elicited less-than-stellar responses, according to Neil Albert, deputy mayor for economic development. He says he has cancelled that solicitation and will issue a new one in the next few months."

The good news: at least the project is still moving.



images courtesy of DDOT (PDF)