THE NORTHWEST CURRENT Wednesday, March 9, 2016 Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967 Vol. XLIX, No. 10 Ward 3 critics THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW Assessment gains show of shelter seek D.C. market’s strength transparency 2.96 percent was barely half the ■ Real estate: Rise in values rate of the next-slowest ward — By CUNEYT DIL Ward 2, whose values grew by Current Correspondent highest in city’s eastern wards 5.74 percent. Ward 8 in far South- By BRADY HOLT east and Southwest led the growth Opposition to a proposed Current Staff Writer with a whopping 13.54 percent homeless shelter in Ward 3 has increase compared to last year, grown louder, as residents and Ward 3 homebuyers know that followed closely by Northeast’s community leaders call for more the market there is tight, with Ward 5 (11.45 percent). scrutiny of Mayor Muriel Bows- houses typically selling quickly Overall, the agency found that er’s plan for replacing the dilapi- — and often for more than their the District’s real estate market dated D.C. General family home- asking prices. has remained steady, with an aver- less shelter. But the District’s Office of Tax age increase in residential proper- Last Saturday hundreds of resi- and Revenue saw relatively little ty values of 6.60 percent and an dents squeezed into Stoddert Ele- increase in the ward’s residential average increase in commercial mentary School, about an eight- property values in the last year, property values of 5.11 percent. minute walk from the proposed according to data the agency Ed Krauze, CEO of the Wash- facility’s site at 2619 Wisconsin released last week. An increase of See Assessments/Page 5 Ave. NW, to hear from city lead- ers. Many who spoke had ready opposition for the Department of Human Services chief, Laura Zeil- AU likely to miss deadline inger, also a Ward 3 resident. Grievances addressed the scale of the proposed building — which for East Campus housing would need zoning relief to build 38 units on a vacant lot, currently zoned for three town homes, Brian Kapur/The Current ■ Development: University across from the Russian Embassy The Janney Players presented the classic Broadway musical will arrange off-campus sites — and the lack of transparency in “Annie” at Deal Middle School over the weekend. The cast the site selection process. Stoddert of Janney Elementary students performed hit numbers like By MARK LIEBERMAN parents also said additional chil- “It’s the Hard-Knock Life” and “Tomorrow.” Current Staff Writer dren from the shelter would over- See Shelter/Page 18 American University’s East Campus project might not be fin- ished in time for the start of the fall 2016 semester, university rep- resentatives conceded at a com- Brian Kapur/The Current Senior facility set for apartment conversion munity meeting last Wednesday One of three East Campus dorms By MARK LIEBERMAN term rentals would also be avail- — meaning that the school would is two months behind schedule. Current Staff Writer able for as few as 30 days. be out of compliance with a key Some community members are component of its 10-year campus the university to extend construc- Early last year, residents of The asking Holladay to account for the plan. tion hours using “minor modifica- Georgetown, a senior living facil- expected increase in foot and vehi- After a long-fought battle, the tion” applications to the Zoning ity at 2512 Q St. NW, moved out cle traffic at and around the build- university in 2012 received per- Commission. temporarily to accommodate a ing, and to drop its short-term mission from the Zoning Commis- The school now intends to ask large-scale renovation of the lease plans. sion for a series of development the zoning panel for another modi- 41-unit building. Regarding the project’s broader projects. As part of that process, fication, this time to waive the fall Demolition of the facility’s Brian Kapur/The Current change from renovation to new the commission ordered the school 2016 housing deadline, officials restrooms began shortly after the Former residents of the Q Street apartments, Holladay’s Jessica to ensure it could house 100 per- reported to Advisory Neighbor- residents moved out — but the building will stay in Chevy Chase. Sterchi told The Current that the cent of its freshmen and sopho- hood Commission 3D last week. rebuilding process never began. decision came because of a per- mores and 67 percent of its total (ANC 3D includes Foxhall, the And last month, the Holladay borhood Commission 2E (George- sonnel shortage, not because the undergraduate population on cam- Palisades, Spring Valley and Wes- Corp., which owns the property, town, Burleith). corporation was looking for some- pus by fall 2016. The commitment ley Heights.) announced that it would instead The proposal calls for 96 apart- thing more economically viable. was crafted in response to com- “The conditions under which convert it into a conventional ments at an average size of 535 In 2013, the head of Holladay’s munity complaints about off-cam- we’re operating leave us with no apartment building. square feet, including several in retirement division retired him- pus student conduct. other options,” Linda Argo, the The company revealed more the basement, and 11 parking spots self, leaving a void in the compa- But the four-building East university’s vice president for details about its plans at the Febru- on the premises. In addition to six- ny’s oversight abilities, according Campus project has repeatedly external relations and auxiliary ary meeting of Advisory Neigh- month and one-year leases, short- See Georgetown/Page 5 fallen behind schedule, prompting See Zoning/Page 3 SHERWOOD AGING, HEALTH & WELLNESS SPORTS INDEX Calendar/22 Police Report/4 Classifieds/30 Real Estate/19 Bridge in peril Healthy variety Back on top District Digest/2 School Dispatches/8 Washington’s iconic Memorial Experts praise the fitness options St. John’s takes down Georgetown Exhibits/23 Service Directory/28 In Your Neighborhood/20 Sports/9 Bridge exemplifies nationwide found in today’s gyms and studios Visitation to win the DCSAA girls Opinion/6 Week Ahead/3 infrastructure crisis / Page 6 as encouraging exercise / Page 11 basketball championship / Page 9 Tips? Contact us at [email protected] 2 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016 THE CURRENT DISTRICT DIGEST “This legislation will help low ing to gather 100 volunteers for Pinehurst Tributary, according to which also includes Lincoln Mul- Bill aims to convert to moderate income residents the event, as well as “Pinehurst Casey Trees. California Tortilla ticultural Middle School. vacant properties afford to live in the District while Partners” who will commit to will be donating lunches for the A new D.C. Council bill is simultaneously ridding our com- watering the trees throughout the volunteers that day. Furniture shop leases aimed at helping convert vacant, munities of chronically vacant summer. Those interested in par- blighted and condemned proper- and blighted properties,” Bonds ticipating can contact John Bur- Bell seniors raising space at Cady’s Alley ties in the District into livable says in a news release, citing fig- well at [email protected]. Resource Furniture, a show- affordable housing. ures listing thousands of vacant The planting is part of Casey funds for graduation room of modern European- Under the proposal, the mayor buildings and hundreds of blight- Trees’ Pinehurst Project, a volun- The senior class at Bell Multi- designed furnishings, will mark would acquire the rights to the ed or condemned properties in the teer initiative to restore the mead- cultural High School in Columbia its grand opening in George- vacant or blighted properties and District as of last November. ow and forest of the narrow 1.5- Heights is working to raise funds town’s Cady’s Alley next month. transfer those rights to a resident, The bill has been referred to mile Pinehurst Tributary, bounded for students to buy caps and The company has signed a nonprofit or for-profit venture to the council’s Committee on by Western Avenue, Beech Street, gowns for their graduation cere- long-term lease to occupy a rehabilitate the buildings, with Housing and Community Devel- Aberfoyle Place and Beach Drive mony, as well as to take part in 2,097-square-foot retail space at help from loans from the D.C. opment, which Bonds chairs. NW in northern Chevy Chase. the senior prom and senior class 3340 Cady’s Alley NW, part of Housing Finance Agency. Over the past three years, hun- trip. the Georgetown Renaissance The bill would require 75 per- Tree planting planned dreds of volunteers have worked A campaign at the GoFundMe portfolio of the EastBanc and cent of a property’s total square to remove invasive plants that fundraising website, set up at Jamestown firms. footage to be sold or rented to for Pinehurst area threaten wildflowers and oak gofundme.com/griffins_2016, as This will be the first D.C. low- or moderate-income individ- A Casey Trees community trees along the tributary, accord- of Tuesday had netted about showroom for Resource Furniture, uals or families with a 40-year event on March 26 will plant 100 ing to a release from Casey Trees, $1,320 toward its overall goal of which has locations in New York, covenant. trees along the Pinehurst Tribu- which has teamed up with the $21,000. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Can- At-large D.C. Council member tary of Rock Creek Park, as part National Park Service and Rock In total, the fees associated ada and Mexico. Launched in Anita Bonds introduced the legis- of a longer-term restoration proj- Creek Conservancy for these with graduation activities amount 2000, the company is known for lation on March 1 along with ect.