TOPP Meeting Missing Some Participants

At tonight's TOPP (Traffic Operations and Parking Plan) meeting hosted by Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells, there were supposed to be representatives from ANC 6D, the Nationals, DDOT, MPD, and DPW. However, DPW and MPD were missing when the meeting finally got underway more than a half hour after it originally was supposed to begin. Most of the meeting was dedicated to questions from audience members about the lack of enforcement of parking rules on residential streets in Southwest near Nationals Park. Since DPW wasn't present, most of the complaints couldn't get a direct answer because DPW is responsible for ticketing and towing illegally parked vehicles. Some of the culprits behind illegal parking are employees of the Nationals, who somehow have obtained Ward 6 visitor parking passes in order to park on residential streets. Towards the end of the meeting, I posed the following question to Greg McCarthy from the Nationals:

Do the Nationals currently offer any incentives to their employees to take public transit to work since the ballpark is LEED-certified?

In response, McCarthy said the Nationals organization doesn't currently offer an incentive to its employees, but will look into that possibility. Other concerns brought by residents included traffic backups on M Street and P Street during game days and non-game days. Since no left turns are permitted northbound on South Capitol Street from the Frederick Douglass Bridge to north of I Street, the only access people have to Southwest from South Capitol Street south of the freeway is M Street. However, at the end of events at the ballpark, MPD puts up orange cones blocking access to M Street and forces drivers going northbound on South Capitol to go under the M Street intersection, a major inconvenience for local residents. A second TOPP meeting will be scheduled in about two weeks, so all representatives who were supposed to be at the meeting will be present and can properly address residents' complaints. Tonight's TOPP meeting was actually supposed to be held before the start of baseball season, so all concerns could be addressed before Opening Day, but for some reason the meeting was not organized in time.

Although not directly related to the ballpark, I did ask James Cheeks from DDOT after the meeting about the traffic light at the intersection of 4th & I Street. The traffic light is still timed as though there was a 3-way intersection instead of a 4-way intersection. Pedestrians have to wait to cross either I Street or 4th Street until all traffic lights are red, which is a vestige of the old configuration before 4th Street was reopened. Someone else mentioned the 4th & M Street intersection's timing issues to Mr. Cheeks, so hopefully both of these intersections will be fixed in the near future. I'll follow up with Mr. Cheeks to make sure these corrections are made in a timely manner.

More Press for New Safeway

Southwest continues to get plenty of press these days, including an article in today's The Washington Post. The article is about the new Safeway and the reopening of 4th Street. A bit of news in the article states that the sit-down restaurant planned at Waterfront Station is one of the retail leases signed (although that tidbit has been taken down in the past few hours). Previously, the restaurant was just in negotiations to open at Waterfront Station. Perhaps the lease wasn't actually signed yet, so that's why it was removed from the article...

Update: The full article was put back in on Tuesday and includes some misinformation, as one commenter noted, about the Bank of America moving back into the development from their trailer. As of a few weeks ago, the developers at Waterfront Station said that Bank of America would not move back to the development and would remain in their trailer until their lease expires in December 2012. The developers are looking for another bank to take their place.

Waterfront Tower Featured on Fox 5 News

There's a story on Fox 5 News' website about the housing market and featured in the story is Waterfront Tower (I also happen to be interviewed in the story doing my day job). According to the piece, Waterfront Tower, the condo conversion project next to Waterfront Station, is approximately 60% sold. The developer mentions that many buyers are taking advantage of the first time home buyer tax credit. Also, the developer touted recent developments in the area, including the new Safeway and Arena Stage's expansion. Prices at Waterfront Station start in the $200s (as the photo on the top of the post states).

I also read in May's issue of Washingtonian magazine over the weekend that the 20024 zip code is one of the local real estate markets that is bouncing back. Prices were up last year by 12%, although prices declined by 25% over the prior two years.

Upcoming Meetings This Week

- SWNA will have its monthly meeting on Monday at 7pm, located at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church. Items to be discussed include the arts in Southwest, as well as a tribute to Dr. Dorothy Height, who died on Tuesday at the age of 98.

- On Tuesday, there will be a Traffic Operations and Parking Plan (TOPP) meeting at Westminster Presbyterian Church fr0m 6:30pm - 8:30pm, which is located at 400 I Street. The meeting will discuss traffic issues in the area, with the following participants: Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells, DDOT, DPW, MPD, the Washington Nationals, and ANC 6D.

- Also on Tuesday, there will be a Community Meeting to discuss the Consolidated Forensic Laboratory at Whiting-Turner's construction trailer at 200 E Street. The meeting will be from 6pm - 7pm.

10% Discount at Safeway Through May 15!

The following is a message from ANC 6D02 Commissioner David Sobelsohn regarding discounts at the new SW Safeway:

APRIL 15 DISCOUNT

As I’ve reported before, at our March 8th ANC 6D meeting, Safeway’s Eastern Division Regional District Manager Donna Maxwell promised a 10% discount on purchases made at the Southwest Safeway pre-opening, 4-8 p.m. Thursday, April 15. Regrettably, Safeway automatically applied that April 15th discount only to shoppers who bought $50 worth of groceries on April 15th. Ms. Maxwell has agreed to provide a 10% refund to everyone who shopped at the Southwest Safeway April 15 but did not get the promised 10% discount. Store manager Mike Bigelow says just bring your cash-register receipt, dated April 15, to the customer-service counter. You need not bring photo identification. Explain that you didn’t get your 10% discount April 15, & that Mr. Bigelow has advised you to go to the service counter to get a 10% refund. Remember to bring your April 15 register receipt! If you have any difficulty, ask for either Mr. Bigelow or assistant managers Michelle Gayard, India Lawal, or Stephen Newman. If you still have difficulty let me know.

10% DISCOUNT THROUGH MAY 15

The April 15 one-day discount was not the only 10% discount Safeway offered its Southwest Safeway customers. I have learned that Safeway sent some neighborhood residents, but not others, cards good for a 10% discount through May 15, 2010, without limitation as to the purchase amount. Mr. Bigelow has promised me that anyone who did not get such a card may get the 10% discount refunded going forward. From now through May 15, after paying for your groceries, go to the customer-service desk. Show the customer-service staff your receipt. Explain that some of your neighbors got a 10%-discount card good through May 15, that you didn’t get your card, & that Mr. Bigelow has advised you to go to the service counter to get your 10% same-day refund. If you have any difficulty, ask for either Mr. Bigelow or assistant managers Stephen Newman, Michelle Gayard, or India Lawal. If you still have difficulty let me know.

I was unable to persuade Mr. Bigelow to make this 30-day discount retroactive. Only the April 15th discount is retroactive. For purchases made April 16 through the time you’re reading this, if you didn’t get the 10% discount others got, it’s too late. But you can still get a refund going forward. Just go to the customer-service desk.

David C. Sobelsohn

Commissioner, ANC 6D02

Secretary, ANC 6D

(202) 484-8303

I was one of those recipients of a Safeway Club card that allows me to get 10% off all grocery purchases until May 15. If you already have a Safeway Club card and received this discount card, the directions say to call 1-877-SAFEWAY to have the 10% transferred to your current card. That seems to be a better solution than going to the customer service desk each time you go to the store to get a credit.

RIP Dr. Height

Sad news to report...according to The Washington Post, Dr. Dorothy I. Height, legendary civil rights leader, former president of the National Council of Negro Women, recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Southwest resident, died early today of natural causes at Howard University Hospital. She was 98.

Update: Details about funeral services have been released by the Post.

Randall School Redevelopment Profiled in Big Apple Media

In all the hoopla surrounding the opening of Safeway and 4th Street last week, I forgot to write about the NY Times article describing the planned redevelopment of the Randall School site on I Street by the Rubell family and Telesis Corporation. Back in February, it was announced that the Telesis/CACB team would buy the site from the Corcoran, which conducted a nationwide search for a development team to take over the project. They plan a boutique hotel and art museum in the historic building and multifamily housing on vacant land behind the building, however, the Corcoran will not be moving their College of Art + Design to Randall. New details about the development in the article include the number of hotel rooms planned - 225 keys. Several local officials are quoted in the article, including Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells and ANC 6D Commissioners Ron McBee and David Sobelsohn. Wells was intrigued by the new proposal, but is concerned about getting the full value of the property, which is being sold for only a quarter of the assessed value of $26 million. McBee wants the developers to provide community space, but is also excited about the planned museum. Sobelsohn would like for local residents to receive free admission to the museum, but sees the development plan as a great improvement over what is currently at the site - a vacant building. We'll see what kind of community benefits the ANC Commissioners ultimately will seek when the Telesis/CACB team come before the ANC, probably later this year. The sale also has to be approved by the DC Council, since the original sale by the city to the Corcoran stipulated that the intended use of the building would be a college, which won't be the case under the new development plan.

Northrop Not Coming to Southwest

According to The Washington Post, Southwest is out of the running to become the corporate headquarters of Northrop Grumman. It appeared that the deal to bring the company to DC was unraveling last month when members of the DC Council started to withdraw their support for a $25 million incentives package. If the aerospace company chose Southwest, they most likely would have moved to the planned office building at 4th & E Streets, SW, with a new Engine 13 firehouse on the ground floor. Jurisdictions still in the running include Arlington, Fairfax, and Montgomery Counties and a final decision should be made later this month.

The UnSafeway is Dead...Long Live Swanky Safeway!

Well, the new Waterfront Station Safeway at 1100 4th Street is now open for business (along with 4th Street itself!), after having a preview event on Thursday and Grand Opening on Friday. From today forward, the store will be open from 6am - 11pm. Free samples were aplenty and there were large crowds in the store (at least on Thursday when I made a shopping trip). Groceries were 10% off and coupon books were mailed out to residents with other discounts through May. I also received a free reusable bag for spending more than $40 after using a coupon from Safeway's weekly flier. Thursday was my second visit at the store, after getting a sneak peek a couple weeks ago. When I went on Thursday and again on Friday morning, I could tell that several of the staff were recently trained or were still in the process of being trained, so it will take a while for all the bugs to be worked out that's expected when a new store opens. The food court area seemed a little cramped at spots and there wasn't a price list yet at the sushi bar, but for the most part it was an enjoyable experience. I did recognize some of the employees from the old store (it's been a couple years since I shopped at the old Safeway), but there were several new faces as well. For instance, while at the store yesterday morning with a neighbor, we spoke with Jessie, the produce manager who was brought in from a store in VA, and he was diligent about keeping inventory of produce & noting which items needed replenishing. He said for us to check up on him in a month to make sure he was still doing a good job, so we'll take him up on his offer. I'm just thrilled that I can now walk to a quality grocery store! What do you think of the new store?

Safeway and 4th Street Almost Ready for Opening

The new Safeway at Waterfront Station is less than 48 hours away from opening and over the past few days, the final touches have been put in place. As the photo at the top of this post shows, store signage is now up, including signs illuminated with the Safeway logos. Restrictions on vehicle traffic on 4th Street should be lifted by the end of the week as Safeway opens its doors to customers. Below are some photos of the new 4th Street street scape.

Here is a daytime view of part of the Safeway storefront.

There will be some outdoor space at the bistro planned by Med Lahlou.

Large trees have been installed in the Waterfront-SEU Metro station plaza.

Multi-space parking meters have been installed on a landscaped 4th Street.

Update: There will be an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the reopening of 4th Street on Friday morning at 10:30am. I cannot attend since I've been out of town for the past couple of days and need to be at work. If any of you attend, feel free to send photos of the ribbon-cutting to southwest.tlqtc@gmail.com!