Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
Vol. XXIII, No. 23
The Georgetown Current
ABC Board orders Ozio noise limits
Parking, noise at issue in two license protests
martial artist
■ Georgetown: Neighbors
fear impact on local character
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
The owners of Dupont Circle’s Ozio Martini and Cigar Bar are fighting a decision that would block them from having DJs on their rooftop and otherwise restrict their noise levels. The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ruled on Aug. 15 that Ozio, located at 1813 M St., created an “unacceptable” disturbance for residents of the Jefferson Row condominium building, which backs to the property. In a 4-0 decision, the board ordered that Ozio cease hosting bands on its roof and allow DJs only when the roof area is enclosed. The board also ruled more generally that Ozio must never generate noise audible from inside a residence. In a March protest hearing, Jefferson Row residents were represented by the DC Nightlife Noise Coalition, a new group founded by two Dupont residents to seek controls on late-night disruptions to mixed-use neighborhoods. In a statement, the coalition praised the board’s decision on Ozio as a “major See Noise/Page 16
By GRAHAM VYSE Current Staff Writer
In a nod to residents concerned about noise and parking scarcity near their homes, the Georgetown advisory neighborhood commission voted last week to protest liquor license applications from After Peacock Room and the planned Yakitori restaurant. After Peacock Room, a tearoom/ coffeehouse at 2622 P St., plans to shift into serving lunch and dinner.
MacArthur Safeway plans face delays due to merger ■ Palisades: Company says Brian Kapur/The Current
Autumn France, a martial arts student at Yong Sung Lee Hapmudo at Foxhall Road and MacArthur Boulevard, competed in a Washington metro tournament Sunday in Arlington.
By KATIE PEARCE Current Staff Writer
NEWS
Brian Kapur/The Current
Fannie Mae has its headquarters in an iconic 1956 building at 3900 Wisconsin Ave.
purchased the property about four decades ago. “The building looks very pretty, but it’s an aging infrastructure,” Fannie Mae spokesperson Pete Bakel said this week. “It makes more sense to modernize with a new
Current Staff Writer
location than undertake trying to update all of the infrastructure that requires significant costs and significant disruptions.” Bakel said the timeline for the move is uncertain, but Fannie Mae hopes to arrange the purchase of a new downtown building by the coming winter. Commenters on various news reports have imagined the sprawling headquarters property — 422,876 square feet total, assessed by the city this year at $81 million — as the future home of condos, a high-end grocery store, an embassy, a charter school or other educational institution, or even extra space for Sidwell Friends, among other possibilities. See Fannie Mae/Page 30
SPOR TS
District to assess neighborhoods for senior amenities — Page 5
In season openers, Gonzaga, St. John’s win as Wilson falls — Page 11
project ‘on the back burner’
By BRADY HOLT
Fannie Mae to sell off Northwest properties As Fannie Mae prepares to consolidate into one downtown location, attention is focused on the property the company will leave behind, including its iconic redbrick headquarters at 3900 Wisconsin Ave. The public-private mortgage backer announced last week that it would be selling off that property, in addition to two others it owns in the area. The 228,000-square-foot Colonial Revival building on Wisconsin Avenue, across from Sidwell Friends School, was designed in 1956 for an insurance company. Fannie Mae
Yakitori, at 1515 Wisconsin Ave., is a new Japanese restaurant set to open next year in the space where John Rosselli Antiques currently sits. The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board is scheduled to hear both cases this month. After Peacock Room plans to open six days a week with its new offerings — Tuesday through Sunday, from noon until 10 p.m. That schedule would be a change from its current hours, which are noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. In addition, the restaurant is seeking to open a 16-seat seat outdoor patio, although See Licenses/Page 30
Planned redevelopment of the Palisades Safeway has been delayed amid an Idaho firm’s efforts to acquire the grocery chain, according to Safeway spokesperson Craig Muckle, and so far few details are available on the project’s timeline. Albertsons hopes to spend $9.2 billion to buy the Safeway chain, a merger that’s been OKed by Safeway shareholders but still needs Federal Trade Commission approval. Muckle said the deal is expected to go through in the fourth quarter of this year. In the meantime, though, Safeway officials aren’t pushing ahead with controversial plans for the store at 4865 MacArthur Blvd. The company said in spring 2013 that it intended to expand the store to cover the property’s surface parking lot and build up to 100 condo units above it, similar to a project recently completed at its Petworth store. “The company is currently
SHERWOOD
Scandals and ’Skins dominated summer news cycle in D.C. — Page 8
Brian Kapur/The Current
Safeway plans to replace the old grocery with a bigger store below several stories of condos.
focused on the merger so some business matters like these are on the back burner for the time being,” Muckle wrote in an email. Asked about timing, Muckle said it’s too early to know when the company will have further updates for residents, much less when the project will move forward. “It would be completely unfair to the community and unrealistic to speculate on a timeline at this point,” wrote Muckle. “Once the merger transaction ultimately gets completed … we have no way of knowing when development matters will be addressed.” See Safeway/Page 7
INDEX Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Exhibits/21 In Your Neighborhood/18 Opinion/8
Police Report/6 Real Estate/17 Service Directory/27 Sports/11 Theater/23 Week Ahead/3
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