Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The southern part of Tenleytown is developing pretty fast:
https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-1900-units-on-the-boards-between-tenleytown-and-au-park/18033

2000 units are slated; 10% are set aside for the working class. ~1200 seem to have broken ground (the wegman's complex). Maybe this boom will also happen a bit further up Wisconsin.

Hell even Glover Park is getting new development.

This is awful.

Anonymous wrote:The southern part of Tenleytown is developing pretty fast:
https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-1900-units-on-the-boards-between-tenleytown-and-au-park/18033

2000 units are slated; 10% are set aside for the working class. ~1200 seem to have broken ground (the wegman's complex). Maybe this boom will also happen a bit further up Wisconsin.

Hell even Glover Park is getting new development.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The southern part of Tenleytown is developing pretty fast:
https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-1900-units-on-the-boards-between-tenleytown-and-au-park/18033

2000 units are slated; 10% are set aside for the working class. ~1200 seem to have broken ground (the wegman's complex). Maybe this boom will also happen a bit further up Wisconsin.

Hell even Glover Park is getting new development.

Interesting. Unless all of that development is priced extremely competitively, I envision a great deal of for-lease signage and move-in specials. Nowhere near enough demand to support that many units at current market rates (without speculating decades into the future).

Anonymous wrote:The southern part of Tenleytown is developing pretty fast:
https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-1900-units-on-the-boards-between-tenleytown-and-au-park/18033

2000 units are slated; 10% are set aside for the working class. ~1200 seem to have broken ground (the wegman's complex). Maybe this boom will also happen a bit further up Wisconsin.

Hell even Glover Park is getting new development.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What they should do: Build city-subsidized 3BR apartments for low-income housing on the site, with retail and restaurants on the first floor.

What they will do: Literally anything else.

Hard pass on the first idea. Thanks, but no thanks.

Definitely wouldn't want families who don't make $200,000 a year living anywhere near us, would we?

Not so much, no. Actually I think my cutoff for a 2-earner household in DC is about $175k. That would include a physical therapist + teacher combo, or library science MS + nurse practitioner couple. NIH biologists. Etc.

But you’re correct, as a neighbor with a large investment in my property, I definitely wouldn’t want too many low income / working class households here. Just the minimum required by DC law for any redevelopment project.

Anonymous wrote:What they should do: Build city-subsidized 3BR apartments for low-income housing on the site, with retail and restaurants on the first floor.

What they will do: Literally anything else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in that area dies.

Yep, they tried to revitalized that area with the high end shops but man, what a dud that was. FH is where retail goes to die for some reason.

Anonymous wrote:When I was 16 (so 40 years ago) I bought a Perry Ellis sweater at that Saks Jandal with money I made babysitting. I still have it and sometimes still wear it. I just thought I’d share!

Anonymous wrote:Cheesecake Factory and Maggiannos did a great job of drawing people to the area, and some of the other stores did as well. The loss of Borders, many years ago, and of Linens and Things really changed the neighborhood shopping patterns. The mix of stores now is not strong enough to pull in destination shoppers from other neighborhoods. Sadly, though, it also lacks a mix that meets the needs of residents.

I used to go to Borders multiple times a week, then make other stops on my way to the Giant. Now I’m going to other neighborhoods just to buy groceries— which means a lot fewer spontaneous stops at other shops along the way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What they should do: Build city-subsidized 3BR apartments for low-income housing on the site, with retail and restaurants on the first floor.

What they will do: Literally anything else.

Hard pass on the first idea. Thanks, but no thanks.

Definitely wouldn't want families who don't make $200,000 a year living anywhere near us, would we?

Not so much, no. Actually I think my cutoff for a 2-earner household in DC is about $175k. That would include a physical therapist + teacher combo, or library science MS + nurse practitioner couple. NIH biologists. Etc.

But you’re correct, as a neighbor with a large investment in my property, I definitely wouldn’t want too many low income / working class households here. Just the minimum required by DC law for any redevelopment project.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in that area dies.

Yep, they tried to revitalized that area with the high end shops but man, what a dud that was. FH is where retail goes to die for some reason.

It was the wrong kind of high end: way too flashy. The older department stores, Brooks Brothers, Tiffany’s and Saks Jandal all did quite well there. Post-Covid though, could be a serious hit.

FH was not good for retail because the area was poorly planned. You have a mall like Mazza that has a Neiman Marcus right next to a McDonald's and TJ Maxx that features a decrepit garage, for example. Moreover, what's the purpose of sticking all these department stores across major roads and sticking Saks so far from Neiman Marcus? The area doesn't have a consistent character and these department stores are across busy streets and far enough apart to not entice people to walk around the neighborhood.

These high-end department stores would get more business if they were in a place like the White Flint Mall site, especially if it was paired with high-end boutiques and restaurants in an open air Pike and Rose concept, with luxury apartments, condos and hotels thrown in, not to mention a much nicer garage. It would entice people to spend hours there and the residences would create a built-in client base as well.

If you had all of the property of Mazza and these department stores in a developers hands, and threw in the Geico headquarters as well, you could have a really nice development. And you wouldn't need tax incentives to do so. Developers are probably chomping at the bit to put $2-$3 million townhomes in the area and high rise condos at the Saks location since it doesn't have to deal with the height restrictions like in DC.