Heavy-hitters Spend Big Bucks on Real Estate
• August 8, 2012

Last month, when New York-based Brookfield Office Properties purchased 799 9th Street for $106 million, or about $522 per rental square foot, the company said that improvements—including a full lobby and building entry renovation, a tenant fitness center with showers and lockers, a new roof terrace, and restroom upgrades—will be in place by the summer of 2013. Currently 96-percent occupied with all leases set to expire in December 2012 and January 2013, the LEED Gold-certified building is primarily occupied by General Services Administration tenants, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The 10-story, 203,000-square-foot building was erected in 2001 and traded hands in 2006 for $127.5 million.

Urban Essentials expands with move to 14th Street
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After 12 years on U Street, Urban Essentials, a contemporary living home and design retailer that specializes in small-scale furnishings for urban lifestyles, announced that it is moving from 1330 U St., NW, to a larger space at 1401 14th St., NW, formerly occupied by Reincarnations Furnishings. The new, 5,700-square-foot Urban Essentials is scheduled to open on Sept. 5. Beginning Saturday, July 28, Urban Essentials will hold a moving sale with 20- to 60-percent discounts on all floor sample items. For more information on Urban Essentials, visit www.urban-essentials.com.

Member-supported Primary Care Comes to G Street, NW
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This fall One Medical Group (1001 G St.), a member-supported primary care practice, will celebrate its first year downtown. The seven-physician office boasts that it has reinvented the doctor’s office by designing health care around patients’ needs and offering more affordable, high-quality care than other high-service models. One Medical offers same-day appointment, longer office visits, email access to doctors and staff and online appointment scheduling, prescription renewals and access to personal health records. The San Francisco-based company accepts most major insurance plans and requires members to pay a $199 annual fee. Discounted pricing is also available. One Medical has a second D.C. office at 1627 I St., NW, eight in San Francisco and five in New York.

Newest Heritage Trail Hits Downtown
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Cultural Tourism D.C. and the General Services Administration are starting the newest Neighborhood Heritage Trail, which will focus on the architecture and art of the Federal Triangle. “Make No Little Plans” begins at the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Metro station and charts a 1.75-mile path around the grand neoclassical buildings that house key agencies of the federal government. The trail consists of 16 illustrated signs that take participants through Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical buildings. The first sign is located in the 700 block of Pennsylvania Avenue and tour Pennsylvania Avenue west to Freedom Plaza, turns south, and continues east along Constitution Avenue to the Federal Trade Commission. For more information about this Heritage Trail, email Trail@CulturalTourismDC.org or call 202-661-7581.

Not in London? Celebrate the Summer Olympics Here
• July 30, 2012

With the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games, London has been the center of the attention this summer. More than 10,000 athletes from 204 national Olympic committees are expected to participate in the athletic and cultural celebration. As the motto of the London 2012, “Inspire a Generation,” reveals the spirit of the Olympics and urge the athletes to perform at their very best and inspire the world. For those of us in Washington, not making it to London, a number of Olympic-themed events will be going on from today throughout the weeks of the games.

Olympic Fun Day
Olympic Fun Day, an effort by first lady Michelle Obama to encourage kids to engage in physical activity, will be held at the National Museum of the American Indian, Imaginations Activity Center, third level. The event will take place on Saturday, July 28, at 12:30 p.m. The activities include several Native-American games, Amazonian games and more. There will be virtual skateboarding and a photo op in a kayak. Before leaving, make sure to head down to “Best in the World: Native Athletes in the Olympics,” an exhibit showcases actual gold and silver medals won by great Native-American athletes. Children under the age of 12 will receive their own miniature U.S. flag for participating.

Brix and Ale
Come watch the Olympic games at Brix and Ale, the official Tyson’s Corner viewing headquarters. Join the fun by participating in the “Corporate Olympics.” Sign up your team to compete against local businesses throughout Northern Virginia. The top three teams will win the gold, silver or bronze medals. The gold-medal winner earns a dinner for 12 in the Brix and Ale private dining room. The silver medal wins a dinner for four at Brix and Ale, and the bronze medal wins 20,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points. Brix and Ale is located at 8661 Leesburg Pike, Tyson’s Corner Va. 22182. Follow them on Facebook for the official Olympic viewing schedule and daily specials. Register your team before the Olympics begin; call 703-610-8275 or email Chelsie.Chemla@Sheraton.com for more information.

The Queen Vic
The Queen Vic invites you to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics with them. There will be drink specials throughout the Olympics including $4 pints of Newcastle whenever Great Britain wins a gold medal. The party starts at 8 p.m. The Queen Vic is located on 1206 H St., NE. For more information, visit them at www.thequeenvicdc.com

The Pug
In celebration of the Olympic Games, The Pug bar located at 1234 H Street, will be promoting drink specials corresponding to the Olympics games themselves. These specials include $3 bud tall boys for the entire duration of the Olympics. For the US women’s soccer team tomorrow, buds will be $2 along with hot dogs at $1. Take advantage of these specials while they last, from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 a.m. For more information, contact tony@thepugdc.com.

H Street Olympic Bar Crawl
What better way to welcome the start of the Olympic games than with an Olympic bar crawl? This bar crawl, inspired by the Olympic torch relay, will begin today at the Argonaut at 5:30 p.m. with stops along the way at the Pug, the Star, Shamrock, and concluding at Queen Vic at 8 p.m. H street bars welcome all bar crawlers to join together to celebrate the Olympics in style. Admission is free.

Lincoln Restaurant
Lincoln Restaurant — at 1110 Vermont Ave., NW — will be celebrating the Olympic games by offering Olympic-themed cocktails. These include the gold, silver and bronze cocktails. Make sure to check them out while the games are in session. For more information, call 202-386-9200.

D.C.C.O.P.S. Classic Tees Off Aug. 13 to Honor Joe Pozell
• July 27, 2012

August 13 will mark the ninth anniversary of the D.C. – C.O.P.S. Classic and will be hosted at Westfields Golf Club in Clifton, Va., to support the D.C. Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors.

This year’s tournament is dedicated to the memory of Metropolitan Police Department Reserve Sergeant Joseph Pozell. On May 14, 2005, Reserve Sergeant Pozell was struck by a vehicle while directing traffic at the intersection of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue and died from his injuries on May 17, 2005. Pozell had served in the Metropolitan Police Department for three years. He is survived by his wife Ella and son.

D.C. COPS Classic Golf Tournament was started in 2003 by Metropolitan Police Department Detective Joey Crespo. Detective Crespo started this tournament to raise money for the Washington DC Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors. The tournament has grown from 75 players to last year’s biggest event with 260 golfers. Detective Crespo has been joined by Metropolitan Police Department Officer Greg Alemian in 2006 and Detective Travis Barton in 2008. 100 percent of the proceeds from the D.C. COPS Classic are given to the Washington, D.C., Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors. For more information, visit www.dccopsclassic.com

Second District Police Lunch, Aug. 9
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The Citizens Advisory Council Second District police appreciation lunch is scheduled for Aug. 9 at the Metropolitan Police Department’s Second District station (3320 Idaho Ave. NW.). For more information or to volunteer, contact Samantha Nolan at 202-244-2620 or nolantutor@yahoo.com.

NPS Looks at Boathouse Possibilities Across the Potomac for Arlington
• July 25, 2012

As with the northern banks of the Potomac, Arlington County could also be getting a boathouse in the years ahead—not a new idea—on the southern banks of the Potomac. Here’s a missive from the National Park Service’s Jon James, acting superintendent of George Washington Memorial Parkway:

“I am now pleased to announce the re-initiation of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Arlington County and Vicinity Non-Motorized Boathouse Facility. The goal of the EIS is to study the sites identified in the 2002 feasibility study and determine a preferred alternative that is consistent with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidelines, and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as well as NPS policies and mandates.

“This analysis was initiated specifically at the request of Congress to assess potential siting, or location, of a boathouse facility for non-motorized boats within Arlington County along the Potomac River on parkland administered by George Washington Memorial Parkway. The study examined building a facility, which included indoor storage space and floating docks at four possible locations—two on the waterfront near Key Bridge, one south of the CSX/14th Street Potomac River Bridges, and one on Daingerfield Island, south of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

“At this time, I invite your participation in the EIS effort. The scoping period will end on August 31. A public open house will be held on July 24. The purpose of this meeting is to provide you with an opportunity to contribute ideas and concerns about the proposed boathouse for non-motorized boats. At the open house, NPS staff will be on hand to answer questions and solicit written comments from all interested parties. Interested parties may also submit written comments online… When the draft EIS for Arlington County and Vicinity Non-Motorized Boathouse Facility is produced, you will be invited to review and comment on it.”

Georgetown University Expands to Downtown
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In step with its agreement with the neighborhood to lessen main campus expansion, Georgetown University announced July 19 that its School of Continuing Studies “will relocate to the heart of downtown Washington, D.C. Georgetown signed a lease agreement with Brookfield Office Properties for a new space to house SCS at 650 Massachusetts Ave. NW, at the intersection of 7th Street near the Gallery Place/Chinatown neighborhood. Located just eight blocks from the university’s Law Center campus, the move expands the university’s ‘Georgetown Downtown’ presence. It reflects Georgetown’s commitment to aligning itself with the growth and development goals of the city.”

The announcement came just days after the D.C. Zoning Commission approved the university’s campus plan, thus ending years of tense, sometimes hostile, debate over town-gown issues.

The university says, “1,100 students will take classes and study at the new campus. . . . There will be four levels of leased space that cover 91,000 square feet, allowing for future program growth. The school welcomes conversations with local community leaders about new ways to engage and collaborate at the new campus.”

Across from Mount Vernon Square, the continuing education school is one block from the Washington Convention Center at 7th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, and near Chinatown’s restaurants and shops and three blocks from the Verizon Center, home to the Georgetown men’s basketball team. Currently, the school holds its classes at the university’s main campus at 37th and O Streets, NW, as well as in Arlington, Va.

“This expansion of Georgetown Downtown is a defining moment for the university,” said John DeGioia, president of Georgetown University. “Just as the construction of our Law Center did 30 years ago, this new home provides us with an opportunity to extend the impact of the university into new parts of the city and to broaden the reach of our work.”

According to the university, the school “offers graduate degrees in human resources management, journalism, liberal studies, public relations and corporate communications, real estate, sports industry management and technology management, as well as over 25 professional certificates, summer school and special programs. It also includes the university’s only part-time bachelor’s program. The school intends to launch several new master’s programs in the coming years. In fall 2013, for example, it will launch two of those programs – urban and regional planning as well as emergency and disaster management.”

Public Transportation Just Got a Lot Easier, Along with More Expensive
• July 12, 2012

On June 18, the Washington Metropolitan
Area Transit Authority (WMATA) rolled out
Rush+, a new service plan that adds more
trains during peak hours and provides faster
access to Downtown DC. The goal is to serve
more customers, reduce crowding, offer more
transfer-free destinations and begin preparing
for the future Dulles Corridor Metroline Project,
dubbed the Silver Line. It is expected to improve
service on the Green, Yellow, Blue and Orange
Lines Monday through Friday, from 6:30 am to
9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. All told,
21 Metrorail stations will get more frequent
service with six additional trains every hour of
rush hour. A new map reflecting the changes
will be placed throughout the system. Fares also
increased around percent.