Former Dakota Cowgirl/Hamburger Mary Location

Via 14th & You, the Post has some information on what's going into the 14th Street spot former occupied by Dakota Cowgirl (formerly Hamburger Mary) and Ramrod (formerly Titan's). It turns out, like the former occupants, there's going to be two places. The downstairs will be called Birch & Barley, and something called ChurchKey will be upstairs. Both sounds quite beer-ish, so that's a good sign.

Also: "500 labels, 100 styles and 50 draft beers" is a big win in my book. They're hoping to open in October.

Why Downzoning is a Good Idea

At the most recent CDC meeting (of which I happen to be a member), there was a request for support brought to us regarding a particular chunk of Dupont/Logan where they are looking to down-zone the area to match the homes that are already there. During the discussion, the question was brought up: Why are you doing this? Doesn't the Historic Preservation District already prevent this?

Well, I think we have our answer. Anything done to throw up more walls against that kind of monstrosity can only be a good thing.

Old Convention Center Site

First it was an ugly behemoth, hated by all. Then, it was turned into a giant parking lot, albeit one with fancy environmentally-friendly water control and fun public art. Now, it's scheduled to become Yet Another High-Rise Mixed-Use Development.

That's right! We're talking about the site of the Old Convention Center, and they have a web site all about their plans. While it may be outside our boundaries as a neighborhood, the sheer enormity of this plan will certainly have impacts on us, too.

Construction anticipated to begin: 2008

The project will include the following:

• Retail: 280,000 square feet


• Office: 450,000 square feet


• Housing: 690 units


• Parking: 1,700 spaces

In addition:

• Civic/Open Space: Park, Plaza, Pedestrian Alleys


• 111,000 square feet are reserved for uses to be decided upon by the District

Off the top of my head, all I can say is: Wow. That's big. I hope they make a good chunk of those housing units Offical Affordable Housing. The entire area desperately needs it!

Should DC Allow Skyscrapers?

An article in today's Post discusses the argument over the 130 foot building height restriction in the District. This is certainly an issue that greatly affects Logan Circle, as well as the surrounding communities.

On the one hand are those who feel that the city is simply running out of development-worthy land, and that the restriction unfairly limits the density an area can achieve - robbing the city of tax dollars. On the other hand are those who retort that not only is that anathema to the city "plan" by L'Enfant, and that there is plenty of land that could be suitable redeveloped.

Personally, I think I fall into the latter category, if only for the fact that much of the re-birth of the neighborhoods like ours would have been delayed if there had been less pressure to build out instead of up. And there seem to be plenty of half-renovated row houses sitting vacant, just begging to be torn down and replaced.

What do you think?