Vincent Orange to Host Small Business Summit, Dec. 12
• December 5, 2014

At-large District Councilmember Vincent Orange was one of the leaders of a recent rally cry of “Where’s the $1 Billion?,” referencing the amount that he and others say was not spent on small businesses in the District as required by law.

Orange contends that, of the $1.4 billion that D.C. agencies were supposed to spend on programs for Small Business Enterprises (or SBEs) by the end of fiscal years 2011, 2012 and 2013, only $400 million was actually spent. Orange wants to know why the agencies can’t comply with the law, and he is determined to make them more accountable.

The council member is a man who knows the numbers and can effortlessly quote budgets and expenditures. His bottom line is that the money needs to circulate within the 1,200-strong SBE community so that the community can thrive and contribute to the overall economy. To that end, Orange has chaired three recent hearings which led to the passage of emergency legislation demanding the agencies must be in compliance, held a rally with 300 people, asking, “Where’s the $1 Billion?,” which garnered lots of attention from six media outlets, including the Washington Post, and has been instrumental in seeking a special “SBE Expendable Budget” audit by the District’s CFO for fiscal 2014.

Orange says that local business owners are outraged to hear about the shortage but are glad someone is looking into it.
The lack of small business support in the District is only one part of the picture, though. Orange lights up as he lists the reasons D.C. is the hottest market in the country, including a thousand new residents a month and 63 active projects, as well as some recently completed or in the works. He highlighted projects like the $7 billion Union Station development, the 11th Street Bridge project, a $2 billion Southwest Waterfront Project, the redevelopment of Walter Reed Hospital, the building of a new professional soccer stadium, and more.

But Orange brings everything back to the SBE shortfall issue by saying that – although the city provides a basis for tremendous economic success – small businesses must be brought along as well. When the money flows to small businesses, they contribute back to the economy by hiring D.C. residents and adding to D.C.’s tax coffers.

As the chair of the Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, Orange has spearheaded a series of annual small business conferences. This year’s conference is being called the Small Business and Economic Development Summit III and will take place, 7:30 a.m., Friday, Dec. 12.

The day will begin with breakfast at the Hamilton Restaurant, followed by morning and afternoon workshops at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, with a break for lunch at the Hamilton with keynote speaker Andrew Altman, CEO of Olympic Park Legacy Company, who was responsible for the master development of the 600-acre Olympic Park in London, England. Altman was also D.C.’s City Planner under Mayor Anthony Williams. He will discuss business opportunities, tourism and enhanced branding of District of Columbia and the Washington Metropolitan Region. The event will also include workshops on D.C.’s Olympic 2024 bid, bringing “Hollywood” to the District, procuring local and federal government contracts and economic development in the District more broadly.

The cost of attending the Summit is $75, and you can register with the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at www.gwhcc.org.

Marilyn Thompson is the marketing/events director of the Georgetown Business Association.

December 3 Business Ins and Outs
• December 4, 2014

Neam’s Property Under Contract to Roadside Development
Known for its mindful remaking of historic properties, Roadside Development has the old Neam’s Market property at 3215-3217 P St. NW, also known as the Marvelous Market property, under contract.
Roadside has listed the property on its website as part of its portfolio: “Prime Georgetown Retail space available. Ideally situated at the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue, NW and P Street, NW, this marquee corner location has 13 dedicated retail parking spaces. The site offers tremendous branding, visibility and unparalleled accessibility.” According to Roadside, the building space is 5,873 square feet.

IN: CrossFit Balance

CrossFit Balance Georgetown is now open at 1251 Wisconsin Ave. NW., at the Reebok FitHub Georgetown store. The fitness trend has expanded across D.C., with new studios popping up in almost all of the District’s neighborhoods.
IN: Ledbury Pop-up Shop
Ledbury Clothing Store, headquartered in Richmond, Va., popped up again for Christmas shopping in Georgetown this season in the same location – 1254 Wisconsin Ave. – as last season. The store opened on Nov. 22 and closes Dec. 22.
Francesca’s Coming to M Street
Mid-level women’s clothier Francesca’s has signed a lease to open a store at 3128 M Street NW. The new store will mark Francesca’s second in the District, and will act as a flagship for the retailer in the mid-Atlantic, according to Geoff Mackler of H& R Retail. Francesca’s also operates stores in Bethesda and Pentagon City. Francesca’s is known for selling affordable fashion, with dresses ranging from $50 to $150 and handbags starting around $30.

COMING: Mashburn at G’town Court
Mashburn, a clothing store out of Atlanta, will be coming in 2015 to 3206 N St., NW, which is part of the Georgetown Court complex and in the former space of Neyla Restaurant and the long-closed
The store will stretch from Prospect to N Street with a women’s and men’s side. There will also be a coffee shop on the west side of the store, facing the courtyard. “Think L.L. Bean meets Starsbuck’s,” said the architect, who showed plans at the Dec. 1 meeting for the Georgetown-Burleith advisory neighborhood commission (ANC2E).

GBA Warms Up at Expanded il Canale Ristorante
• November 21, 2014

The Georgetown Business Association held its monthly reception Nov. 19 at the newly expanded il Canale Ristorante on 31st Street, just a few steps from the C&O Canal. GBA members and friends were there to talk about the November election results and to check out the restaurant’s added space, which once housed Cannon’s Seafood Market — and to get in from the cold.

Il Canale owner Joe Farruggio greeted the more than 100 guests with a great selection of food that included pizza, pasta, antipasta and cannoli. On hand were local politicians, designers, bankers and PR and media types as well as Italian Embassy staffers.

The next GBA get-together is a big one: the Annual GBA Holiday Party, 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 12, at the Embassy of Ukraine at 3350 M St. NW and requires a government-issued ID at the door and an RSVP by 5 p.m., Dec. 9.
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Moleskine Storefront Coming to M Street
• November 13, 2014

Italian notebook maker Moleskine is moving in to Georgetown at 3029 M St., NW, in the lead up to the holiday season. The store will open its doors as a pop-up shop until January, when it will close to begin a permanent build out. The Moleskine brand began in 1997, when a small Italian company reintroduced a small leather-bound notebook popularized in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Since then, the company has expanded to sell planners, diaries, sketchbooks, bags, pens and pencils, and other reading and travel accessories. Moleskine products are already sold in the District at outlets like Target, Staples and Barnes & Noble, but this will be the brand’s first brick-and-mortar location in Washington, D.C.

EastBanc helped Moleskine make the move to Georgetown. EastBanc’s vice president, Philippe Lanier said, “Moleskine is a prominent lifestyle brand and will compliment the other lucury retailers in our Georgetown portfolio. Their arrival reinforces the neighborhood’s status as a premier retail destination.”

After the store moves in, Georgetowners will be able to get all their paper goods on one M Street block: Moleskine is moving next door at Paper Source.

Business Ins + Outs
• November 6, 2014

IN: Free People
Free People, a Bohemian apparel and retail store that sells women’s clothing and accessories, will open its first store in D.C. – at the former Fino Italiano space, 3009 M St., NW – by the end of the month. Owned by Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters, Free People has more than 81 boutiques in the U.S. and two in Canada. It has six stores in the region.
IN: Rent the Runway
Rent the Runway will move into Cady’s Alley at 3336 M Street, NW, in mid-November. The store rents designer gowns, dresses and accessories.

OUT: Prince Cafe
The Georgetown Prince Café and Hookah Bar at 1042 Wisconsin Ave., NW, and its owner Ehab Asal have moved on. The business gained fame on WUSA Channel 9, which reported on its health code violations, including a “mummified rat inside the kitchen.” Local advisory neighborhood commissioner Bill Starrels observed: “The neighbors on all sides of Prince Cafe were thrilled that the business was moving on. The trash and grease was becoming a rat buffet. … Prince was a hookah bar that wasn’t even licensed for that. Chances are good that whatever replaces Prince Cafe will be a step forward for the neighborhood.”

Trickponi Pop-up, Nov. 6-9
A Trickponi pop-up in Georgetown will open at 3210 O St., NW, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6, to Sunday, Nov. 9. The pop-up will showcase collections from unique Middle Eastern designers as well as U.S. designers including Christin Chang, Shosh New York and Emm Kuo.

IN: Alice and Olivia
The hip woman’s clothing boutique Alice and Olivia is under construction at 3303 M St., NW. Its founder Stacey Bendet is the designer who aims to make “a trouser sexy.” She launched the brand at Barneys in 2002. It now sells in more than 50 countries. The Georgetown store will be Alice and Olivia’s 14th store. It should open by the end of November.
GeorgeTownPool Pops Up, Nov. 15
A preppy men’s and women’s clothing store, GeorgeTownPool, will pop-up Nov. 15 at
1063 Wisconsin Ave., NW, in the space once occupied by the Pleasure Place, next to Filomena Ristorante. The pop-up shop originated on Nantucket this past summer with ideas from hospitality leader Bo Blair. The store is run by Georgetown native and Gonzaga alum Marty Ellsworth. Mike Pabb of Smith Point is also involved in the store, which will carry local brands such as Smathers and Branson and Sissy Yates, as well as Lilly Pulitzer, Southern Proper and more. Call 202-669-2659 for employment opportunities. The pop-up runs through Dec. 31.

GBA Reception at il Canale, Nov. 19
The Georgetown Business Association’s Nov. 19 networking reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the newly expanded il Canale restaurant, 1063 31st St., NW, will also be a “post-election celebration.” RSVP to 202-640-1279 or info@gtownbusiness.

Don’t Repeat Vanderbilts’ Mistakes
• October 23, 2014

Most people remember the Vanderbilts as one of the wealthiest families in our nation’s history – creating immense wealth to be passed on for future generations to prosper. Right? Wrong.

What Cornelius Vanderbilt got right was creating a shipping empire that began with nothing and amassed a multi-billion dollar fortune.

What he got wrong was planning for the future of his fortune.

There are three stages in everyone’s financial lives from the accumulation phase to the protection payout phase and, finally, to the legacy phase. We spend our lives working tirelessly to provide for our loved ones, then we work to preserve that wealth believing that what is important is what we leave behind when we are gone.

This is only half of it.

Just ask Cornelius Vanderbilt. Seventy years later and his fortune has been squandered by the same family he was seeking to provide for.

You don’t have the fortune of a Vanderbilt. Few do. For some it is about money, but we should all begin to think of wealth, and for that matter estate planning, in a different way. We should all begin by asking ourselves: What is true wealth?

When I ask my clients what they think the most important thing to pass on to their beneficiaries is, they say financial assets dead last. But many, if not all, estate plans start and stop with a dollar amount.

If it’s just the money, then you should rejoice. This summer the D.C. Council approved a package of extensive changes to the tax code including raising the state estate tax exemption from $1 million to $5.25 million and bringing it in line with the federal tax code.

This may sound like an opportunity, and it is for the financial industry, which is trying to convince you to buy their last engineered product designed to pass as much of your wealth onto your children a legally possible. That’s a great instinct but too often people are persuaded by financial industry sales pitches that offer no advice other than how to make their estate plans as tax–efficient as possible.

Remember the Vanderbilts? You should.
Cornelius’ estate plan was flawless, but what he forgot was that, with money comes great responsibility. When it is handed to you on a silver (or gold) platter, your children, those same beneficiaries, often lose out.

It is important to sit down and create an estate plan, but it is just as important to sit down with your children and teach them your values, the meaning of hard work and the importance of charity.

There are a number of tried and true ways to do that, including family foundations to continue charity work, and leaving your money in a fashion that encourages entrepreneurship, such as a family “bank.” That’s what has sustained Europe’s Rothschild family of bankers for two centuries.

It’s the job of a financial planner to look at your hard earned dollars and make sure you can sleep at night knowing that you left your money in competent hands.

There’re many ways to set up an estate plan. I can show you how to plan for the next generation’s future while accomplishing your own goals. I can tell you how to make the most of the new tax rules in Washington, and how to ensure your children get the most of what you leave behind.

But the most important advice I can give my clients is to think about the good they want their money to do instead of the ease of luxury it might provide. I suggest that they ask themselves what they should do today to make sure their fortune and their legacy last longer than 70 years.

John E. Girouard, CFP, CHFC, CLU, CFS, is the author of “Take Back Your Money” and “The Ten Truths of Wealth Creation,” a registered principal of Cambridge Investment Research and an Investment Advisor Representative of Capital Investment Advisors, in Bethesda, Md.

Business Ins + Outs
• October 22, 2014

50 Years of David Berkebile’s Georgetown Tobacco

Family and friends — some arriving from the other side of the country — pulled off a surprise party for David Berkebile, owner and founder of Georgetown Tobacco, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. A stunned Berkebile was surrounded by well-wishers, as he entered the Woodrow Wilson House on S Street with his wife Sandy on Sept. 27. His current and former employees view him as a godfather in the tobacco industry. Berkebile has been at the helm of the store — known as “The House That Dave Built” — all 50 years. It is at 3144 M St., NW.

IN: Carol Joynt Joins Foreign Policy Group as VP of Communications

Carol Ross Joynt joined the Foreign Policy Group, a division of Graham Holdings Company, formerly the Washington Post Company, as vice president of communications, after three years at Washingtonian magazine as editor-at-large. Here’s what Joynt’s new employer says about her: “Her extensive career is principally in broadcast journalism. Carol has been a producer for all the major networks and cable channels, in New York and Washington, and worked closely with Ted Koppel, Walter Cronkite, Charlie Rose and Larry King as a writer and producer on their nightly broadcasts. She started her career in print, with the wire services and then as a reporter for Time magazine in its New York bureau. She also directed films for the National Gallery of Art. Carol won the national Emmy Award for ‘Best Interview’ for a Charlie Rose prison interview with Charles Manson at St. Quentin. Her memoir, ‘Innocent Spouse,’ tells the story of the dozen years she spent away from journalism, owning Nathans, a Georgetown saloon.”

Joynt continues her Q&A Cafe at the George Town Club, which began in 2001 at Nathans. Upcoming talks are Nov. 7 with Dan Rather and Nov. 18 with Bruce Allen of the Washington Redskins.

IN: Dog Tag Bakery, Run by Wounded Vets, Set to Open Soon

It is ready to open at 3206 Grace St., NW — a unique business and non-profit — Dog Tag Bakery. Set up for wounded veterans and their spouses who will learn how to bake and run a business. With a curriculum from Georgetown University’s School of Continuing Studies, the bakery is the brainchild of Rev. Rick Curry, S.J., and Connie Milstein — both of whom have started non-profit bakeries previously.

Curry is a professor at Georgetown University and founded the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped in New York. Milstein is co-founder of Ogden CAP Properties, LLC, which restored the Jefferson Hotel on 16th Street, and has a house on R Street.

Near the C&O Canal and the intersection of Wisconsin Avenue and M Street, the rebuilt 4,200 square-foot building, the former space of a Japanese restaurant, will house a cafe and bakery, along with meeting rooms and offices. The bakery’s chief operating officer is Meghan Ogilvie; its general manager is Justin Ford. Says the non-profit: “100 percent of our profits support the men and women who bravely serve in our military and their families. It’s our way of saying ‘Thank You.’ ”

Dog Tag Bakery Celebrates Ribbon-Cutting on Grace Street
• October 10, 2014

Dog Tag Bakery, a non-profit bakery that employs veterans, cut the ribbon May 4 at 3206 Grace St., NW.

Here’s how the non-profit business describes itself: “The bakery will feature an assortment of baked breads from Father Curry’s book, ‘The Secret’s of Jesuit Bread Making,’ as well as specialty, seasonal and holiday items. The bakery will also offer light fare for breakfast and lunch and a full-service coffee and beverage bar. Dog Tag Bakery will also produce homemade dog biscuits for our canine customers. The bakery will be a self-sustaining vehicle for supporting and funding our veteran’s program. Our building will be fully ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant and will provide classroom and meeting space. Our intent is to provide the critical business and life skills in the classroom that our staff can then learn experimentally through their internship at the bakery.”

The unique bakery plans to open later this year.

New Life for Parking Lot at Prospect Place
•

One of the last pieces of underdeveloped prime real estate in Georgetown is about to go under construction. Prospect Place, the parking lot on Prospect Street across from Cafe Milano, will be the site of a new community of retail outlets and restaurants.

Chicago-based McCaffery Interests, Inc., will redevelop the 82-space parking lot, constructing two stories of storefront retail atop a 101-space underground parking garage. Development is well into the entitlement process, and the owners hope to have approval from the ANC by early-to-mid 2015. The goal is to break ground toward the end of that year. The construction is projected to take just over a year, with an estimated completion date of late fall 2016, assuming no delays in approval.

“It’s a killer piece of frontage,” says Juan Cameron, Senior Managing Director of Development and Acquisition Opportunities at McCaffery. “Prospect Street has a great flow of pedestrians—it gets more foot traffic than any place in the neighborhood besides M and Wisconsin.”

McCaffrey is interested in what Cameron calls the “pedestrian experience,” making streets comfortable for walkers, retailers and restaurants. M Street’s thin sidewalks, for instance, are prone to crammed, highly concentrated traffic jams on street corners and outside of major retailers. Wider sidewalks, which are a key feature to the proposed designs for Prospect Place, allow more rhythm on the street. “We want room for diners to sit outside at a storefront cafe and space for foot traffic to comfortably walk by.”

Although it is still too early to know what shops or restaurants to expect, McCaffrey anticipates that there will be local retail players that Georgetown has not seen before.

“This is a very important piece of real estate and we all want to see it done right,” says Bill Starrels, ANC commissioner for Ward 2.

One objection raised by Starrels and the ANC board was the initially proposed plan to have merchandise delivery and trash pickup out front on the sidewalk. “Anybody who has to drive on Prospect in the morning knows it’s a pain because of restaurant deliveries. We have to learn what didn’t work in years before. When we’re talking about an additional 28,000 square feet of retail, we need proper designs for loading and unloading.”

Starrels believes there can be great benefits in the new construction for local residents as well as visitors. “It really depends on what goes into these new storefronts. Retailers in Georgetown need to remember that there are about 14,000 residents—add Burleith and that’s 2,000 more, plus all the college students. There are a lot of retail options that could benefit the neighborhood community.”

For his part, Starrels would like to see if the developers could attract a Trader Joe’s or a small Whole Foods.

The owners should be sensitive to this fact, as they are one of Georgetown’s oldest families. The Weaver family, who settled in Georgetown in 1811and have run WT Weaver & Sons, an architectural hardware and decorative plumbing store at 1208 Wisconsin Ave., has owned the parking lot for over a century and will retain ownership of the redeveloped property.

Business: Ins + Outs
• October 8, 2014

Oktoberfest in Cady’s Alley

In the tradition of Munich, Bavaria and Deutschland, Oktoberfest was celebrated in Cady’s Alley Sept. 27 and 28. The retail alley became a Oktoberfest fun fair with Bavarian food provided by Kafe Leopold, a soft pretzel cart, a two-story central beer hall that featured seasonal German brews and a fun zone filled with games and attractions. The weekend festivities were sponsored by EastBanc, Inc., and Jamestown Co.

IN: Mama Rouge Set to Open Oct. 14

Mama Rouge, the new Southeast Asian Bistro, replacing Bangkok Joe’s at 3000 K St., NW, will open Oct. 14. Chef and owner Aulie Bunyarataphan and husband and business partner Mel Oursinsiri are working at the same spot at Washington Harbour near the entrance. Expect a nice mix of Southeast Asian and French influences from the chef’s family. The restaurant’s name comes from Bunyarataphan’s grandmother.

IN: Yummi Crawfish’s Grand Opening

Yummi Crawfish, “the traditional Cajun crawfish experience of Louisiana,”1529 Wisconsin Ave., NW, held its grand-opening party just about all day Sept. 26. If you “like” the restaurant on Facebook, you will get 15 percent off your bill on your first visit.

OUT: Subway Closed

The Subway sandwich shop at 1363 Wisconsin Ave., NW, closed suddenly last month.

OUT: La Fourchette to Close

La Fourchette on 18th Street is set to close. Chef Pierre Chauvet and his wife Jacqueline will also sell their apartment next door. Also adjacent to the classic French restaurant, Jonathan Cho of Sakuramen will be opening a new pan-Asian place at 2431 18th St., NW.

Palisades Safeway Property Up for Bid; New Law Passed

While the owners of 4865 MacArthur Blvd., NW, where a Safeway grocery store has been for decades, say that the store “will consider a short-term leaseback post closing,” the future of the Palisades Safeway is unclear.

Passed Oct. 7, legislation by the District Council prohibits use of restrictive covenants being placed on land, formerly occupied by grocery stores. “Some national grocery store chains use restrictive covenants or land use restrictions to prohibit new grocery stores from filling the space of their former stores when they vacate,” according to one of the law’s sponsors, At-large Councilmember David Catania.

KLNB Retail lists the 64,815-foot commercial site with a bid deadline of Oct. 6 and a close of escrow of no later than Dec. 12. The property is assessed by D.C. tax office at $3.2 million. The loss of the Palisades Safeway would leave the neighborhood with only the Georgetown Safeway or stores in nearby Arlington.

Cerberus Capital Management bought Safeway, the nation’s second-largest grocer for more than $9 billion in March and is merging it with Albertson’s, the fifth-largest grocer.

Watergate Hotel Under Reconstruction

Work has begun to renovate the Watergate Hotel, “a $100-million project that will significantly increase the number of guest rooms and return the property to its former luxury status,” according to the Washington Business Journal. Reconstruction will gut “all 13 floors of the vacant, 277,000-square-foot building on Virginia Avenue, NW, replacing plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems and installing high-end, imported finishes.The room count will go from 251 to 348 . . . The work will also result in two new restaurants, as well as a rooftop bar, renovated ballrooms and spa and fitness areas.”