There are times when Brightest Young Things does some actual reporting. Now is a time though when we just repost news gathered by others…such as our friends at the Washington Post.
According to a report this morning, former Mayor Anthony Williams is brining his bowtie to H Street, NE. Williams, who rented an apartment in Foggy Bottom during his administration, has purchased a $1 million condo in the Landmark Lofts.
The lofts are located at 3rd and H Streets, NE behind Union Station on the site of the former Washington Children’s Museum. The lofts were built by uber-developer Jim Abdo, whose close association with Williams (although not mentioned in the Post article) often led to the Mayor’s criticism from local activists during his administration. BET co-founder, and billionaire, Sheila Crump Johnson, also owns a condo in the building according to the article.
A Williams move-in is big news for H Street. We shouldn’t expect the former Mayor to be hanging out at hipster haunts further down the street (although we will always have a photographer on hand should he choose to drop trow at a Garutachi underwear party at the Rock & Roll hotel). However, having a figure like Williams committing to the H Street corridor could spur development on its western portion near Union Station.
More importantly for those sick of disjointed bus routes and high cab fairs, the attention among city officials that Williams would bring to H Street could help the District move forward with its plans to bring better mass transit to H Street via a street car line. The DC Department of Transportation has drawn plans for an H Street streetcar line to Union Station, as well as a connecting route to U Street and 18th Street in Adams Morgan (the same lines were torn up with the introduction of Metrobuses).
HELL YES to an H Street street car line. I’ve heard this mentioned before and it gives me goosebumps just thinking how awesome that would be.
The X2 bus is never on time getting out of downtown due to traffic (WHY do people drive down there on a Friday night? WHY?!?!?!), and, as I found out the weekend before last, it doesn’t make much difference whether you wait for it at the Government Printing Office (i.e. behind Union Station), or you wait for it at Gallery Place, although at least you might get to hang out with other shivering souls by Gallery Place.
I’m not saying I think having the former mayor living on H Street will or will not make a difference, I just want to give the idea of an H Street street car line further props.
March 14, 2008 at 2:13 amDoctor No is right about this distance - Williams will be living at 3rd and H while most of the bars are down around 11th. However, what is a bit different is that the entire strip is considered by the District to be a development area. In that we can expect what happens on one anchor end to have residual impact on the other…in particular with transportation.
March 14, 2008 at 9:26 am
For the record, the approximate distance from where the Mayor will be living to the Rock and Roll Hotel is equivalent to the distance between Ted Kennedy’s house and the Black Cat, and I don’t expect to see the Senior Senator from Massachusetts at Le Chat anytime soon.
Also, the distance from 3rd and H to RNR is MUCH farther than the distance from any part of Georgetown to Clarendon. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.
N.
March 13, 2008 at 5:52 pm