USPS Sells Georgetown Post Office to EastBanc
• March 13, 2013

The United States Postal Service has signed a contract with local developer EastBanc to sell the historic Georgetown post office building on 31st Street, as first reported by the Washington Examiner. The property is valued more than $4.5 million; the U.S. post office stays.

Anthony Lanier, president of EastBanc, said a post office will remain on the first floor of the 19th-century building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The sale to EastBanc has been years in the making. EastBanc’s design and use for the building was reviewed by the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission, the Old Georgetown Board and D.C.’s Board of Zoning. Future use of the post office building calls for offices, a back addition with much of the new space below grade, according to the Georgetown-Burleith ANC.
Lanier’s EastBanc group owns and has redeveloped almost 60 retail buildings along M Street or Wisconsin Avenue. It is known for its development of Cadys Alley and the adjacent stores. Another EastBanc development is in the works for condos on Wisconsin Avenue to be built on the Verizon parking lot between the C&O Canal and Grace Church.

Fiola Mare Signs 15-Year Lease with Washington Harbour
• February 28, 2013

Chef Fabio Trabocchi signed a 15-year lease last week with MRP Realty for a new restaurant in Georgetown, according to the real estate group, which owns Washington Harbour, the popular multi-use complex between K Street and the Potomac River. Trabocchi plans to open the 9,000-square-foot Fiola Mare by the end of 2013; he already operates Fiola in downtown D.C. To be located on the west side of Washington Harbour, the fish-happy eatery will have inside and outside dining along with a raw bar.

“Fiola Mare will be exceptional complement to the restaurant tenant mix we have at Washington Harbour,” said Bob Murphy, managing principal of MRP Realty. “Having recently completed a significant renovation project at Washington Harbour, Fiola Mare will add to the level of sophistication that we are bringing to our tenants, residents and the community.”

District board of directors vice president, John Asadoorian of Asadoorian Retail Solutions, represented MRP Realty during the transaction, according to MRP.

Heating Plant Bid at $15.8 Million
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The West Heating Plant, the two-acre government property continues to get bids between two or three bidders. As of Feb. 26, the winning stood at $15.8 million, with bidding extended another 24 hours. Advised the General Services Administration: “We are now with the soft-close period. Bidders are encouraged to check back frequently to the remaining auction time.” If no one bids on the plant for more than 24 hours, the GSA will then decide if the auction is to be concluded.

Spicy, Friendly Das Restaurant Warms Up Biz Group Gathering
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On a cold Feb. 20 evening, members and guests of the Georgetown Business Association gathered at the warm Das Ethiopian Restaurant at 28th and M Streets, NW, for its monthly networking reception after its board meeting.
Beside earlier discussions on zoning and streetcars, some of the lively biz folks’ thoughts turned to spring and visions of cherry blossoms and Washington’s annual festival. GBA vice president Janine Schoonover said she wants to get a group together for a cherry blossom event in Georgetown. (One of Washington’s biggest annual event — the 101st National Cherry Blossom Festival — starts March 20.)

As for Das, the two-story restaurant provided drinks and heavy hors d’ouevres of the spicy kind that added to the lively conversations. The reception on the second floor prompted an editor of the Georgetowner Newspaper to remind those willing to listen that the very space they stood in was once part of the offices for the Georgetowner, along with another office for Bobby Poe’s music service — to which a few responded: where hasn’t the Georgetowner offices been over the course of seven decades?
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Benedict XVI to Resign: a Stunning and Humble Act
• February 22, 2013

The 265th pope of the Roman Catholic Church — Benedict XVI (Papa Benedictus Sextus Decimus) — announced his resignation, or retirement, Feb. 11, to take effect by the end of the month for health reasons. The 85-year-old Benedict is the first pope since Pope Gregory XII in 1415 to resign.

A press release from the Vatican website reads:

“Dear Brothers, After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

“Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.”

Before the big news, the pope tweeted (@Pontifex) on Sunday: “We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.”

The announcement was met with surprise, if not shock, by many observers across the world, especially by the more than one billion Roman Catholics, led by Benedict. Even cardinals in the Vatican had no idea it was coming, according to reports.

An expert on Roman Catholicism, Chester Gillis, dean of Georgetown College and a theology professor at Georgetown University, talked Feb. 11 to “CBS This Morning,” co-hosted by Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell. Gillis called the pope’s resignation “unthinkable,” adding that if the pope felt he could not continue because of health issues his stepping-aside was “generous” and “a humble act.”

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, held a press conference this morning on the resignation and what to expect in the weeks ahead. “What has to be uppermost in the hearts and minds of all of us is ‘What is God asking of us in making a choice for who will fill the chair of Peter?’ ” said Wuerl, according to the Washington Post. “And I think that’s going to be the only consideration: who among this body has the qualifications, the characteristics, the spiritual gifts to fill that chair.”

Already speculation has begun on Benedict’s successor. Media outlets and bookies, such as PaddyPower.com, are looking at Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, Cardinanl Luis Tagle of the Phillipines, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana and others.

President Barack Obama praised the pope: “I have appreciated our work together over these last four years. The Church plays a critical role in the United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.” French President François Hollande called the pope’s decision “brave and exceptional.” Also via Twitter, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he was shocked by the decision and expressed “deep respect” for the pontiff.

Pope Benedict visited Washington, D.C., in April 2008. Greeted by President George W. Bush, the pope was presented with a birthday cake in the White House. The pope was serenaded by students from Annunciation Church on Massachusetts Avenue, who sang “Happy Birthday” to him in English and German in front on the Vatican Embassy, where he enjoyed a lunch catered by Cafe Milano. Like his predecessors, he visited the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception next to Catholic University. One of the biggest events of his trip was a mass at the new Nationals Park .

Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Bavaria, the pope attended the seminary as a teenager but was forced to be part of the Hitler Youth and then German infantry briefly at the end of World War II. His family’s home was used by U.S. troops as a headquarters. He returned to the seminary with his brother — and went on to become a professor and the Archbishop of Munich. Becoming a cardinal and then as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he succeeded the extraordinarily popular, beloved and long-reigning Pope John Paul II in 2005. Benedict has dealt with the sexual abuse scandals within the church and its children — not always to the satisfaction of many, if not the hatred of some. He has been seen as an intellectual, explaining the correctness of tradition and of Christian theology and culture.

Upon his ascension to the seat of Saint Peter, Benedict said, “Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me — a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”

We shall see and hear more in the days ahead, but a German proverb from Psalms — “An Gottes Segen Ist Alles Gelegen” — should inform our understanding. Once seen in many households in Saxony and Bavaria, these words mean: “With God’s blessing, everything is possible” — or, more literally, “On God’s will is everything placed.”

New Businesses: DSW, Alex and Ani, Fiola Mare (Bids for GSA’s Heating Plant)
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Add the discount shoe store, DSW, to the new tenants getting ready to fit into the reconstructed Shops at Georgetown Park on M Street. Vornado Realty Trust representative Scott Milsom presented signage plans to a meeting of the Georgetown-Burleith advisory neighborhood commission. The signs will be located at the western to the former mall near Dean & DeLuca. Designs included DSW; other tenants on board included T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Pinstripes.

Alex and Ani opened at 3068 M St., NW, on St. Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, appropriately enough, for the eco-friendly, socially responsible bracelet shop: its motto is “Made in America With Love.” Alex and Ani’s creator and designer Carolyn Rafaelian named the fast-growing and Rhode Island-based small business after her daughters. Founded in 2004, Alex and Ani has 28 stores and also has counters within 80 other shops. With Rafaelian’s signature bangles, necklaces, and rings, Alex and Ani also partners with organizations through Charity by Design, it says, “where artwork, meaning cards and signs are created for the charm to help spread awareness of various organizations in need. 20 percent of the proceeds from all sales of the Charity by Design Bangle go directly to the organization or cause involved.”

Chef Fabio Trabocchi signed a lease last week with MRP Realty for a new restaurant in Georgetown, according to the real estate group, which owns Washington Harbour, the popular multi-use complex on the Potomac River. Trabocchi plans to open the 7,500-square-foot Fiola Mare, in fall 2013; he already operates Fiola in downtown D.C. To be located on the west side of Washington Harbour, the fish-happy eatery will have inside and outside dining along with a raw bar.

P.S.: The General Services Administration extended bidding until just after noon, Feb. 20, for the West Heating Plant on 29th Street, the two-acre government property with some restrictions and community leaders urging use of the open land as parkland. As of noon, Feb. 19, Bidder # 2 was winning with a $5.2 million amount. The auction can still be extended by GSA, if it so chooses.

West Heating Plant Gets Its First Bid on Valentine’s Day
• February 19, 2013

The West Heating Plant on 29th Street, a big clunk of Federal property in Georgetown for sale by the General Services Administration, got some love on St. Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, when one bid for $500,001 showed up on the GSA auction website.

Bidder number one popped up on the GSA website in middle of the afternoon with fewer than five days remaining on the auction, which began Jan. 18 and closes Tuesday, Feb. 19.

A half-million dollars may sound like a low-ball amount for a prime, two-acre site, just half a block from the M Street business corridor, but the Valentine bid illustrates the problems with the property for would-be owners. No new building is allowed on the site, no new windows may be added to the existing heating plant and parkland is to be incorporated along the property. The building’s new owner must also begin a massive clean-up and reconstruction, such as tearing out pipes and the metal features of the interior with a good detox of the entire structure, estimated to cost in the tens of millions of dollars.

The strategy that some bidders might wait for the last few days of the auction to put in their bids remains to be seen.

Georgetown developers and citizens have been discussing the impending sale for more than a year. Along with Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans and others, the Citizens Association of Georgetown asked for part of the site to be green space, connecting it with the C&O Canal and Rock Creek. Developers and commercial real estate owners appeared to have the money and plans drawn and ready to go.

The broker in change, Jones Lang Lasalle, touts the building as “Georgetown Heating Plant: A Landmark With Monumental Potential.”

The views from the heating plant’s rooftop are indeed monumental — the Potomac River directly south, to the east, view of the National Mall and Watergate, to the north the National Cathedral and just west all of Georgetown before you — and made the property seem like an easy sale. The 29th Street building itself was the site of a June 19, 2012, congressional hearing that chided GSA’s slowness in disposing of old and unused government property.

How is how GSA describes its prime property at 1051 29th Street, NW: “The 2.08-acre property is located in the historic Georgetown district of Washington, D.C., and contains one building, a 110-foot tall former heating plant and four large fuel oil storage tanks. A large concrete and stone retaining wall surrounds much of the site consisting of 9,335 rentable square feet over six partial interior floors. The building footprint is approximately 100 feet by 200 feet. The plant contains significant amounts of equipment and piping related to the former steam generation activities. Steam generation activities ceased at the facility in 2000; since then the property has been used for office purposes and as the site of the backup fuel supply for the GSA Central Heating Plant. GSA vacated the facility in May 2012.”

For sales information and online auction assistance, contact Tim Sheckler — 202-401-5806 or Tim.Sheckler@GSA.gov

For more information —www.georgetownheatingplant.com.

Park Service Puts Boathouse Area Up for Bid; Jack’s Attorney to File Complaint by Friday
• February 15, 2013

The National Park Service has reviewed its temporary halt to an eviction of Jack’s Boathouse and wrote to Jack’s on Jan. 18 that it has decided “to issue a new temporary concession contract for non-motorized boat rental and storage devices and to allow you to continue your operations until such time as the contract is awarded, provided that your occupancy comports with National Park Service standards . . .”

The Jan. 18 letter from NPS regional director Stephen Whitesell to Jack’s Boathouse owner Paul Simkin rescinds the Park Service’s Dec. 18 letter sent to the popular canoe and kayak renting facility on the Potomac River in the shadow of Key Bridge that first brought up the eviction — and howls of protest in late December from fans of Jack’s.

The Park Service wrote in its Jan. 18 letter to Simkin that it “will release a Request for Qualification (RFQ) for non-motorized boat rental and storage devices at or near the location of the present operation. We will evaluate all responsive proposals, including yours should you wish to submit one . . . “ The deadline to respond is in two-and-a-half weeks, Feb. 6.

Meanwhile, Charles Camp, attorney for Jack’s Boathouse LLC, will file a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the end of the week, he said.

Camp said, “I am more convinced than ever that the National Park Service does not the power to do this [evict Jack’s]. Camp said he has looked over the letter of exchange and cited the assigned duties and rent but said there is “not a lease,” and he added, “The delegation of D.C. duties is to the National Park Foundation.”

There was no development allowed in the Park Service’s agreement with the District, Camp contended. “The NPS wants a concession there,” Camp said. “That’s development.”

Adding to his argument, Camp said, “Under the 1980s’ agreement [between D.C. and the NPS] rent money is to benefit the Georgetown waterfront.”

Understandably, Jack’s owner is clearly upset about this latest obstacle in his fight to remain on the shores of the Potomac and operate his business, a Georgetown tradition since the 1940s. Simkin has owned and run Jack’s since 2005. He has operated under a lease controlled by the Park Service that has not updated since 1982; the monthly rent remained a little more than $350 for years. Simkin said he has made significant improvements to the property that cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Several weeks ago, Simkin has retained attorney Charles Camp, who first wrote to Park Service, citing a detail of September 1985 reso- lution by the District Council, concerning the transfer of D.C. public land in the area around Jack’s: “The National Park Service shall assume responsibility to repair, maintain, and protect all wharves, piers, bulkheads, and similar structures that are located on the transferred land or in the adjacent waters.”

Upon learning of the Jan. 18 letter, Simkin issued this statement: “We thought we were doing the right thing. We thought by following the rules, making our customers happy, increasing our customer base . . . approximately 18 -fold and creating a special environment that people from all-around the world, not just D.C., wanted to be a part of, that we were doing things the right way. Without being too cliche, it’s the American way. We somehow failed. I think we’ve just been too naive. We are being steamrolled into oblivion by the National Park Service, and we still don’t know why.”

“If this were a simple rent matter, we would have been happy to pay what was asked. We were never asked. In addition, we have now learned that they [the National Park Service] should have been paying, all of these years, for dock maintenance — something that has cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.

“If something doesn’t change soon in the next few days, we are finished. Jack’s will be gone forever. The legal expenses here are killing us, as is the Park Service’s failure to respond to us in any meaningful way and leaving us absolutely in the dark. Its willingness to see a D.C. resource turned into a typical corporate entity will prevail. In fairness to my employees, I’ve had to tell them that the future at Jack’s appears bleak. That’s 27 persons.”

Campus Police Warns Students About Burglaries … Again
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One more time, kids: please lock your doors. Seems each semester, this warning is repeated. Last week, a rash of burglaries hit Georgetown University main campus dormitories and a classroom building from Jan. 28 to Feb. 8 at Copley, Harbin, McCarthy and Regents Halls., according to the university’s public safety department. Most items taken include a laptop, phone and watch. In all cases, doors to the rooms were unlocked. One of the suspect was described as “a black man with a thin build. He’s about 5’10 and was seen wearing a green jacket. Anyone with information should call police,” according to WJLA.

One of the Georgetown Cuddlers Gets a New Trial
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The D.C. Court of Appeals overturned the 2010 conviction of “an Arlington man accused of breaking into homes and sexually assaulting male Georgetown University students as they slept,” according to the Washington Examiner. The court ruled Jan. 31 that Todd Matthew Thomas “can get a new trial because prosecutors were allowed to tell jurors that he was previously convicted of sexually assaulting another man in Virginia.” Thomas had been sentenced to 26 years in prison for burglary and assaults on five male Georgetown students between 2007 and 2008. The assaults occurred on 33rd and 35th Streets near the university’s main campus. During the trial, Thomas has claimed another “Georgetown Cuddler” had committed the crimes, because there were similar attack on female students — and he had been wearing an electronically monitored ankle bracelet at that time.