POLICY Restaurant Opens!

The new POLICY Restaurant has opened! This Tuesday neighbors had a chance to sample the small plates that the restaurant offers at a reception hosted by owner Omar Miskinyar. My favorite was the Grilled Short Ribs! We wish Omar and his crew much success! Visit www.policydc.com for more information.

SPRING has sprung!

At long last, Spring has finally arrived! Please make sure to get out and see all of the wonderful gardens in our neighborhood that are beginning to bloom...

JBG Proposes New Hotel for 13th and U

The JBG Companies (www.jbg.com) presented their plans to develop the corner into a 110 foot high hotel with 250 rooms at the recent ANC 1B meeting. The development is a PUD (planned unit development) that will require a zoning change since the "by right" height is 65 feet. Amenities will feature a rooftop pool and bar, art gallery spaces, and retail on the ground floor (including the current Rite Aid drug store). The development team reported that they have addressed parking concerns by featuring an all-valet two-story garage that will utilize mechanical stacking devices to far surpass the amount of spaces required by zoning.

For more information, please contact Matt Valentini, JBG project manager, at 240.333.3600.

Photo courtesy of DCRealEstate.com

New Venues for Dining in the 'Hood

POLICY will open soon at the location shown here. You may have noticed all of the final touches being put on the place at the corner of 14th and T Streets. The community has been waiting a long time for this restaurant to be finished and to open. The Nolando Condominium is hosting an opening party on March 24. Visit http://www.policydc.com/ to view their small plates menu and sides.

Simply Home is now NOODLES at the corner of 14th and U Streets. Owner Sak Pollert has remodeled the restaurant and is now offering a variety of noodle dishes at very reasonable prices (to draw in customers during this cost conscious recession). Good Luck!

Placards have been posted at 1825 14th Street, next to Vastu, for a tapas-style restaurant coming later this year.

Please support our neighborhood restaurants!

Revised Plans for Whitman Walker Approved by HPRB

On Thursday, February 26, the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) approved revised plans for the Whitman Walker Project. The original concept plans that were presented to us in the Fall were modified by the design team to respond to community concerns about compatibility with the surrounding historic buildings. The JBG Companies will also develop an exterior kiosk to capture the role and contribution of the Whitman Walker Clinic to the AIDS history in the District.

Several minor adjustments will be made to respond to Dupont Circle Conservancy and ANC concerns about the Swann Street streetscape and the alley frontage. As I previously reported, the Board of Zoning Adjustment has already approved the variance and special exceptions that were requested by JBG for this project.

The BZA Board Order will require that JBG use only 40 per cent of the frontage along 14th Street for a proposed restaurant. JBG had wanted 100 per cent, but nearby residents and the ANC asked JBG to reduce the size of the restaurant space. Neighbors pointed out that the Arts Overlay recommends that 25% of retail space in the arts district be used for food and eating establishments. A survey conducted by the Mid City Citizens Association showed that we are now at 25% and they argued that no more space be set aside for food and eating establishments in the Arts Overlay.