Robert Devaney • October 24, 2013

The advisory neighborhood commission for Glover Park is running a survey on Wisconsin Avenue traffic before it comments on Nov. 4 at a transportation committee meeting, chaired by councilmember Mary Cheh. The survey site states: “Voices have been raised, mostly loudly by people who do not live in Glover Park, against the lane changes on Wisconsin Avenue, which were designed to slow traffic through our commercial center and increase pedestrian safety. The lane changes on Wisconsin Avenue north of Calvert Street have already been reversed. It is possible this hearing will result in a decision to return Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park back to the way it was before the streetscape project.” For more details, visit [web] (http://www.anc3b.org)

Robert Devaney •

Goorin Brothers, the classic and “original bold hatmakers” from San Francisco, will set up shop in November.

Robert Devaney • October 21, 2013

Here are two chances for Georgetowners and other concerned citizens to comment on a significant town development as well as hear from the project and design team for the West Heating Plant on 29th Street, south of the C&O Canal and the Fours Seasons Hotel. Plans call for a partial demolition and conversion of the plant into 80 condominiums.

The old government-owned plant was sold to a development group, now known as Georgetown 29K LLC, made up of Georgetown’s Levy Group, the New York-based Georgetown Company and the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. The group won the government auction in March and formally purchased the building and property in June for $19.5 million.

At 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 8, Ignacio Bunster, landscape architect of Georgetown Waterfront Park, will lead a public meeting, showing his plans for the new park at the West Heating Plant that will link the Waterfront Park with Rock Creek and the C&O Canal. It will be a chance for members of the community to both hear and comment on his plans. It will also be a time to meet key members of the development and design teams. This meeting will be held at Washington Harbour in Foley and Lardner’s conference center, 3030 K St. NW, 6th floor. If you would like to attend, it is strongly suggested that you pre-register at events@levygroup.com or by calling 202-337-2058, as space is limited.

On Tuesday Oct. 22, there will be another public meeting, where David Adjaye, building architect, and Ignacio Bunster, landscape architect, will provide a full presentation of the proposed development scheme for the West Heating Plant property. Adjaye — known for his two notable D.C. public libraries as well as for his plans for the African-American Museum currently under construction on the Mall — will be revealing his concept behind the proposed design as well as provide a history of the site. The presentation will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel, Seasons level, 5 p.m. Again, as space is limited, it is strongly suggested that those who wish to attend pre-register at events@levygroup.com or by calling 202-337-2058.

Robert Devaney • October 17, 2013

According to reports received over the weekend, the Georgetown Business Improvement Business District picked up 86 bags of trash at Georgetown Waterfront Park. Since the park is technically closed due to the partial government shutdown, the BID stepped up to assist. Though the fountain is off, people still visit the park.

Robert Devaney • October 10, 2013

The restaurant design group, headed by Karen and Richard McCooey, is branching out into sales of classic American art prints and sports merchandise. You may know the McCooey name, as Richard founded three Georgetown classics: 1789, the Tombs and F. Scott’s, now owned by Clyde’s Restaurant Group.

The McCooeys’ new website, featuring the first names of the couple, went live a few months ago. It is filled with artwork of the golden age of illustration that can be seen at the Tombs — along with a new product line. While selling art, the site also is offering sports shirts that salute such sports as rowing, tennis and golf as well as giving women athletes their due.

“We wanted to represent men’s and women’s success, achievement and strength,” said Karen McCooey. “It is called ‘The Trophy Ceremony.’ . . . It’s time for women to have their own emblem, not a man riding a polo pony.”

The art selection starts with rowing, some of it is new, and shows the sport’s camaraderie. There’s more art coming, and the site will be expand its apparel selection, Karen said. “The prints romanticize the best of American sports, especially collegiate,” she said.

One of the grandest prints, available for sale, is “Georgetown University at the Millennium,” an aerial view of the main campus and the Potomac with historic Healy Building at the center.

It’s a natural leap for the pair, as a McCooey-designed restaurant is alive with art, illuminating the soul of the place, its history or its owners. Some of those places include work at various Clyde’s restaurants, the Tap Room of the George Town Club, Union Street Cafe in Alexandria, the Tap Room at the Greenbrier — and as far away as the Polo Club at the Marriott Grand Aurora Hotel in Moscow.

“I’m a sporting person,” said Karen, who is an artist herself and wants the art and apparel to be a celebration of sports, just like the Tombs, where you can catch the couple dining regularly.

Visit RichardandKarenMarie.com for more details.

Robert Devaney •

Amid scenes of the Paris opera house and Eiffel Tower, the Wolf Trap Ball Sept. 21 — under the patronage of Ambassador of France Francois Delattre and his wife Sophie L’Helias-Delattre — moved elegantly into songs, dining and dancing despite the evening’s downpours. On stage in front of the opera house backdrop, built by the Wolf Trap Opera Company production team, soprano Mireille Asselin sang “Juliette’s Waltz.” Ball co-chairs Karen Schaufeld spoke of the power of music and memory and Sean O’Keefe thanked major sponsor Airbus and saluted the U.S.-France partnership, which Delattre said has “never been stronger than … today.” It was the first ball for the new boss, Wolf Trap’s President and CEO Arvind Manocha. The gala-goers stayed to dance to the likes of “I Got a Feeling” and “Blurred Lines.” The ball raised more than $1 million — a record — for Wolf Trap. [gallery ids="101464,152966,152976,152972,152960,152980" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

The Georgetowner first published Oct. 7, 1954. Its frontpage held a profile, an essay, news about an outdoor art fair and column, entitled “Potomac Packett,” along with a memo from founding publisher Ami Stewart. It was the 20th century, yet this newspaper looked like it was from the War of 1812.

The succeeding owner-publishers have only been two: David Roffman and Sonya Bernhardt. Each has added his and her stamp on the paper. To leaf through the newspaper archives of the Georgetowner during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s is to see hometown American history in the nation’s capital. How special it is to read a story in the Georgetowner that reports N Street neighbor John Kennedy is considering a run for the presidency.

Those seven individual decades have seen and brought many changes in America, in media and in journalism. You and we know all about the digital revolution and live it. Ways to communicate may shift, but a good story remains a good story. And truth remains the truth. These are core principles at the Georgetowner.

In 2014, the Georgetowner will turn 60 all the way, will introduce a few surprises — and will, no doubt, celebrate with its own gala.
Meanwhile, and more importantly, let us wish a great Georgetowner a happy birthday. Frida Burling turned 98 on Sept. 16. She had a party at her 29th Street home with her family. At 98, she still e-mails friends and family and remains interested in and supportive of her Georgetown community. And we expect to hear from her soon enough. Stay well and true, Frida, and we will, too.

Robert Devaney •

Theirs is a Georgetown story few could keep up with, much less conceive. Developer Herbert Miller and his wife Patrice Miller have lived throughout Georgetown in some of its finest houses as well as being part of community service and charities. In Herb’s case, his career involves work on major real estate projects across Washington, D.C.

While the Millers lived here for decades from N Street to O Street to Q Street and back, they have downsized to a condo near 14th and P Streets, NW, and have departed Georgetown.

For all this, they are the honorees for the 2013 Georgetown Gala — the annual Citizens Association of Georgetown event that brings together more than 350 guests, neighbors, sponsors and politicos — to be held Oct. 18 at the Italian Embassy. The gala committee said of the Millers: “We couldn’t let them leave without a proper goodbye.”

CAG’s big event and the Millers certainly meet the group’s goal: “to celebrate Georgetown and CAG’s mission of historic preservation and improving the life of the community.”

While Patrice Miller has volunteered for many Georgetown non-profits that include CAG and Georgetown Senior Center as well as offering the family home for many fundraisers, she is not one to be in the limelight.

The Miller family has five children: Ben, Alexis, David, Daniel and Caroline (the oldest two from a previous marriage), now in their 20s and 30s. Ben and Dan Miller have their own take on development work with their Fundrise concept and run the Powerhouse on Grace Street.

The empty-nesting parents spend a lot of time in their place on the Eastern Shore, where Patrice is on the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md.

She charmingly points to her husband, whose mixed retail projects in D.C. are epic tales. They married in 1983, after Herb asked Patrice to marry him on a birthday and the same day he bought a house on N Street. Meanwhile, Patrice is happy to have Herb talk at length to anyone else.

After George Washington University, Herb Miller lived on M Street, next to the Round Table, near 28th Street. In 1967, Miller founded Western Development Corporation, a real estate development and management organization with a 44-year history of innovative mixed-use development.

Its signature work in Georgetown: the condos and the Shops at Georgetown Park retail as well as Washington Harbour. Elsewhere in D.C.: Market Square on Pennsylvania Avenue and Gallery Place next to the Verizon Center.

Miller also formed the Mills Corporation — which held super regional malls: Potomac Mills, Franklin Mills (Philadelphia), Sawgrass Mills (Ft. Lauderdale) and Gurnee Mills (Chicago).

In the mid-1990s, Miller led the Mayor’s Interactive Downtown Task Force, a 100-member committee charged with re-vitalizing Washington’s central areas. Apparently, it worked: a new convention center and renewed Carnegie Library, two examples among many.

Today, after taking back, trying to retain and revitalize Georgetown Park in his own vision, Miller seems pragmatic, knowing all things change. He did note that the complex could not get an anchor, such as Bloomingdale’s Soho, a deal he almost sealed — it was complicated by D.C. government. After all, this is the guy who in his first years as a broker in the shopping center business convinced Stanley Marcus to put Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie. Some people also forget that Georgetown Park was the first urban mall in America.
These days, Miller will only work on projects that have a community benefit, he says. There is one that involves businesses, real estate and the community, but that’s all he is letting on for today.

One of his passions is the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative, “a regional collaborative to advance innovation in energy, life sciences and security in the ‘Chesapeake Crescent’ region of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. CCI’s leadership includes federal government agencies, state and local government leaders, major private sector companies as well as academic institutions.”

Miller believes it is the national capital region that should be leading the way in innovation and integration of “safe and smart city” technologies.

“Government needs innovation,” he says. He cites numbers and statistics: growth over decades, only 6 percent for the non-military part of the federal budget, whereas states have averaged a 400 percent increase and cities a 600-percent increase. The aim is to get rid of things that are inflexible, he says.

As far as the so-called Walmart bill that was vetoed, Miller says, “Don’t penalize the merchants, help them.” Perhaps, he adds, give back a bit of excess sales tax to them to help increase wages. And in the campaign for mayor, as much as he likes Mayor Gray — who has not declared whether he will run for re-election or not, Miller simply says, “It’s Jack’s time,” referring to councilman Jack Evans, who is running for mayor.

And, as much as Miller is seeing the big picture in terms of government and economic development, he concludes: “In the future, people need to manage their own neighborhood.”

That is something Georgetown knows a lot about — and it is glad to have had Herb and Patrice Miller in its midst for, lo, these many years.

Meet the Millers — and Your Neighbors — at the Gala
Come to the Georgetown Gala, Oct. 18, to cheer the Millers and also thank other for their community work, such as the second of the gala’s“Community Pillars”: Capital Asset Management Group.

A Community Pillar sponsorship patron, Capital Asset Management Group, founded by John Girouard, is celebrating a big year. Not only was the firm named as one of the Premier Advisory Practices in the Washington, D.C., metro region, Girouard ‘s second book, “Take Back Your Money: How to Survive the Next Recession and the One After That” will be published this month. For over 35 years, Girouard and CAMG have taught families throughout the Washington metropolitan area region how to achieve financial independence sooner and safer in both good times and bad through CAMG’s learning center, the Institute for Financial Independence. The Girouard family has planted deep roots in the Georgetown community as John’s wife, Colleen Girouard, is the co-chair of the Citizen’s Association of Georgetown Gala and on the board of the Washington Animal Rescue League. John Girouard is on the board of the George Town Club.

Robert Devaney • October 7, 2013

The Frye Company held a grand opening party Oct. 2 for its Georgetown flagship store with a special performance by Mission South. Party-goers enjoyed the freshly renovated and unique historic structure, full of leather and Frye’s famed boots, along with drinks and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

Known for its boots, shoes, handbags and accessories, the Frye Company is the oldest continuously operating footwear company in the United States. The Georgetown store is its third U.S. location and opened for business a few weeks ago.

Near the C&O Canal at 1066 Wisconsin Ave., NW, the store occupies the former space of Papa-Razzi Restaurant. Frye’s 2,700-square-foot store is located in the historic Vigilant Firehouse, the oldest extant firehouse in D.C., which first housed Engine 5.

Founded in Massachusetts in 1863, Frye is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a collection of footwear of its most iconic styles — including a new flag theme. With its boots, worn by soldiers, sailors, singers and actors, the company has fans that have ranged from Sarah Jessica Parker to General George Patton to John Lennon.
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