A Hill Now story about an armed robbery at a McDonald’s on the unit block of I Street SE sparked a debate last night over how to identify this chunk of the District.
In our piece, we wrote that the area is in Navy Yard. We’ve traditionally called the area in Southeast D.C. bounded by the Anacostia River, South Capitol Street and the Southeast Freeway as Navy Yard. We refer to the Navy instillation in the area as the Washington Navy Yard.
Although the unit block of I Street SE is at the edge of this area, it fits within these boundaries.
NBC Washington reporter Tom Sherwood released these tweets shortly after we published our story, unleashing a torrent of comments on whether this block is in Navy Yard and whether Navy Yard is even a real neighborhood name:
@tomsherwood Because now most people call everything south of the freeway "Navy Yard", whether it makes any sense or not?
— JDLand (@JDLand) May 3, 2016
it's idiotic if they do. And certainly dumb for any news organization to do so. https://t.co/zRt84prNDg
— Tom Sherwood (@tomsherwood) May 3, 2016
We’re no strangers to debates about neighborhood names at Local News Now, the parent company of Hill Now. At one of our other websites, Borderstan, which covers a large swath of Northwest D.C., we looked at whether “North End Shaw” is a valid neighborhood name.
Unlike North End Shaw, Navy Yard as a neighborhood name has been around long enough that a neighborhood association and The Washington Post, Washington City Paper and other local news publications use the moniker. This week, for example, DCist, used Navy Yard to describe the neighborhood that is the focus of local blogger Jacqueline Dupree, who runs JDLand.
Instead of Navy Yard, we’ve heard at least part of the neighborhood called Near Southeast, Old City I and Capitol Riverfront.
What do you call the unit block of I Street SE? You can weigh in through the poll and in the comments.
Photo via Google Maps
Music will again fill the air in Yards Park on Friday nights next month.
Capitol Riverfront BID is set to kick off its annual Friday Night Concerts series on May 20 during a performance in conjunction with this year’s Tour de Fat celebration.
Six years running, the series is an event where locals can “come to Yards Park to relax and enjoy the river view, fantastic bands, food and beverage, and a large variety of great restaurants within a five-minute walk from the park,” according to its website.
Bands will play songs with “family-friendly lyrics” making it an event for adults and kids alike.
Image via Facebook / Yards Park
Pineapple and Pearls Coffee Bar Set to Open on Friday — Rose’s Luxury owner Aaron Silverman said he plans to open the coffee bar and cafe portion of his new eatery Pineapple and Pearls on Friday. [Washington Post]
Police Say Driver Who Caused Sunday Crash Near Nationals Park Was Fleeing Officer — Police investigating the crash near Nationals Park on Sunday that left one person in critical condition and injured two others said that the man who caused the crash was speeding away from a police officer who tried to pull him over. However, police do not believe that the officer was chasing the suspect at the time of the crash. [Washington Post]
How Navy Yard and Southwest Became Two of D.C.’s Fastest-Growing Areas — Greater Greater Washington takes a look at the history of the Capitol Riverfront area around National Park and how several forces combined to create the current development boom in the area. [Greater Greater Washington]
Navy Yard May Get D.C.’s First Winery — The New York company Brooklyn Winery is in talks to open District Winery, on Water Street SE. The company is planning a 15,000-square foot building with 450 seats indoors, 100 seats outdoors and a tasting room. [Washington City Paper; Washington Business Journal]
Apartments, New Retail to Replace H Street Strip Mall — There are new details on what will replace the H Street Connection strip mall between 8th and 10th streets NE. The complex will be torn down and replaced with 420 apartments and 45,00 square feet of new retail. Work on the development that will hit eight stories is expected to begin next year. [Washington Business Journal]
D.C. Is One of the Most Segregated Cities in America — Washington is the sixth most segregated city in the country, according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight. The data compares city diversity to neighborhood diversity. [Washington City Paper; FiveThirtyEight]
Community Meetings — Items on ANC agendas this week include discussion of a liquor license for Nando’s Peri-Peri on H Street NE, the latest on the Eastern Market flea markets and DOT’s study on Southeast Boulevard. [Capitol Hill Corner]
Capitol Sledding Ban Might Be Dropped — Sledding might not be a crime. The House Appropriations Committee passed a provision this week that would allow sledding on the Capitol grounds. In defiance of the ban, families held a non-violent sled-in at the Capitol on March 5. [Washington Post]
Navy Yard Development Map — JDLand mapped out what development is planned and when it’s expected to be complete in the booming Navy Yard, aka Capitol Riverfront, area. By the site’s count, 21 new buildings are now complete and about 37 new buildings are on the way. [JDland]
Senior Citizen Assault Suspect Had Assault Arrest — The 19-year-old suspected of punching a 69-year-old man in the Eastern Market Metro station last week is on probation for assault. He attacked an actor after a performance last May, leaving the victim in the hospital, police said. [NBC Washington]
Wale performed on H Street, and Common is coming to Navy Yard.
The organizers of the DC Jazz Festival announced where dozens of performers will take the stage in locations across the District, including in Yards Park.
Common, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, Sharón Clark and others will perform in the Water Street park during the festival set to run June 6 to 16.
Two days of outdoor concerts will be held on the Capitol Riverfront for the second year in a row, with activities for kids, vendors and chef demonstrations.
“The waterfront Yards Park has quickly become the centerpiece for the growing Yards neighborhood, and the return again this year of DC JazzFest is an important reason why,” Deborah Ratner Salzberg, president of event co-sponsor Forest City Washington, said in a statement.
Tickets for the June 13 concert with Common and Femi Kuti are available online and start at $45 each. See the DC Jazz Festival website for the full lineup citywide.
Photo via Facebook/DC Jazz Festival
(Updated at 9:55 a.m. Monday) The owners of Bardo Brewpub on Bladensburg Road want to turn unused land in Navy Yard into a “deluxe” waterfront beer garden with food trucks, a dog park and outdoor movies.
In a three-minute video narrated by their mascot Bardawg, Bardo announced last night that they’re aiming to raise $200,00 in the next month to create a “BeerDisneyLand” at 25 Potomac Ave. SE, just south of Nationals Park.
“Same old Bardo fun, now on two acres of Anacostia riverfront property — 100,000 square feet of fun,” a voice says in video of the owners’ Australian cattle dog roaming the development site. “New, shiny stainless steel brewery tanks. Biggest dog park in the city … Outdoor movies, as always, this time projected on a floating screen in the river.”
Donors to Bardo’s Indiegogo campaign will receive Groupon-style discounts on beer once the business opens. For $20, a donor will receive four pints of beer. For $1,000, donors get “a hunnert pitchers of beer” for a party at the beer garden.
Representatives from Bardo presented the initial concept to ANC 6D earlier this month, as JDLand reported. The business was pitched as an interim use on an MRP Realty development site.
Bardo could operate on the lot for a minimum of five years, owner Andrew Stewart said in an update.
Video via Vimeo/Bill Stewart; map image courtesy of Bardo
You can watch “Back to the Future,” “Selma” and “Bring It On” al fresco this summer.
After polling the community about their picks, the Capitol Riverfront BID has announced the schedule for their free Thursday night outdoor movie series.
“This year’s lineup was selected or inspired by public demand, and celebrates characters whose decisions shape the world, space, and time,” the BID said in a statement.
The movies will be shown every Thursday at sundown from June 4 through September 3, in Canal Park, at 2nd and M streets SE. Here’s the full lineup, as WTOP spotted:
June 4 Back to the Future
June 11 Selma
June 18 The Princess Bride
June 25 Rush Hour
July 2 Independence Day
July 9 Bring It On
July 16 LEGO Movie
July 23 Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
July 30 Big Hero 6
August 6 Pitch Perfect
August 13 The Goonies
August 20 Guardians of the Galaxy
August 27 To Kill A Mockingbird
September 3 The Sound of Music
Photo via Capitol Riverfront BID
Navy Yard is booming.
The population of Navy Yard, aka the Capitol Riverfront, is expected to be nearly 79 percent bigger three years from now. The Capitol Riverfront BID projects the area will gain an additional 3,700 residents by 2017. About 4,700 people call the neighborhood home now.
The BID highlighted the growth of the neighborhood today, presenting a report on growth in the area roughly bound by South Capitol Street, I-695, Southeast Freeway and 15th Street SE.
“A year ago, Capitol Riverfront office workers outnumbered residents almost 8 to 1, but over the next three years, some 3,200 new residential units, three new hotels and 270,000 square feet of new retail will cut that ratio in half,” BID President Michael G. Stevens said in a statement.
Here’s Navy Yard by the numbers, with 2014 figures the BID shared today:
- 105,000 square feet of new retail space opened
- 190,000 SF office space leased
- Six new apartment buildings with a total of 1,916 units under construction as of Q4 2014
- 168-room Hampton Inn under construction
- 46 percent of the apartment construction started in DC in 2014 was in Capitol Riverfront
- Eight new restaurants open: Willie’s Brew & Que, Ice Cream Jubilee, TaKorean, Sweetgreen, Starbucks (in Harris Teeter), 100 Montaditos, Big Stick, Subway Café
- Whole Foods breaks ground in 2014 will open in 2017
- 186 events in the Capitol Riverfront attracting almost 3 million people
Photo via Capitol Riverfront BID
