Meeting to Discuss Closure of T St Post Office

I attended the meeting last night and learned that the post office is being closed because the owner of the property does not want to renew their expiring lease. As you may know, there is a new 8 story building proposed for that site.

I asked the Postmaster to consider extending the lease for another 6 months to give all of us a chance to figure out some options for another location in our neighborhood while the approvals for the new building are being reviewed by DC Government agencies. I also asked for another community meeting and he agreed.

We have not had adequate notice or opportunity to consider other options, I feel. These two actions would give us some more time. We need a post office on 14th or U St with all of the development that is scheduled to happen along 14th Street in the next several years.

Stay tuned...

Happy Turkey Day and Thank You!

I would like to wish all of my constituents and visitors to our neighborhood a Wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving! I would also like to thank all of our residents, businesses, activists and volunteers for making our community a better place to live, work and play!

Revised Project at 15th and V Approved by HPRB

The HPRB has approved the Jair Lynch Project located at 15th and V Streets after the architect's plans were modified to integrate the building's scale into the historic neighbhorhood as requested by the Board at its September hearing. In order to do so, the architect increased the percentage of masonry (to glass) on the facade, reduced the height of the corner tower (by one foot on V Street and 4 feet on 15th), decreased the size of all windows, created slimmer bay projections (by a foot-and-a-half), and added more masonry between the ground-floor glass and the tower. Two kinds of glass will now be used in the bays, clear and "fritted" (i.e. enameled).

Included in the development will be two levels of underground parking, 95 apartments - 87 market rate units and 8 subsidized (at 50 to 80% of AMI) - a fitness room, club room, shared interior courtyard, and roof deck.

The property, located at 2005 15th Street, will overtake an existing parking lot that serves the adjacent Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments (formerly Campbell Heights) at 2001 15th Street, a 10-story, 171-unit apartment designated as affordable senior housing, which is property owned in large part by Jair Lynch. The corner of 15th and U Streets was formerly the location of the historic Dunbar Hotel which was razed in 1974. The hotel was Washington's leading elite black hotel. The Campbell Heights apartments were built in 1978.

Lynch acquired majority ownership of the Dunbar apartments building last year - as the website states - after having "structured a complex package of debt and equity totaling $43.3 million to facilitate the rehabilitation of the property." According to the U Street Neighborhood Association, "The [15th and V Street] project subsidizes a portion of the renovation work being performed on the ... Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments."

Leaf Collection Schedule

The District has scheduled our neighborhood for leaf collection from November 21 to December 3. Please rake your leaves into the tree boxes by Sunday, November 20. Leaves ONLY! Tree limbs, bricks, dirt, rocks, etc. will damage the equipment and delay collections.

Bagged leaves, placed in your alley trash collection site, will be collected along with the regular trash.

Old Post Office Construction to Begin Soon

The owner of the Old Post Office, Ron Eichner of New Legacy Partners, has confirmed that renovation/construction will begin in a few weeks and last for nine months. The plan is to add a second story to the Post Office building with a 15 foot setback. The old postal truck driveway will become a two story brick building. The space may be subdivided into several businesses depending on the tenants' wishes for space. Pictured here is the approved concept plan and a photo of the properties at 1407 and 1409 T Street NW. We look forward to the changes to these properties which served as storage/display space for Rough and Ready Furniture for many years.

Graphic and photo courtesy of New Legacy Partners website

Street Sweeping Ends for the Season

Street sweeping ended on Halloween for the season. So for those of you who have vehicles on the street, you can rest easier about having to move them for street sweeping until March. Thanks to everyone who cooperated during this season to make street sweeping so effective in light of the changes in the days of the week and the hours of street sweeping operations.