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Neighborhood Development Co. president Adrian Washington took a risk most developers would avoid when he bought the old, dilapidated building at 5832 Georgia Ave. that housed the IBEX nightclub, where Metropolitan Police Department officer Brian T. Gibson was fatally shot in 1997.
Last Saturday’s groundbreaking at the former nightclub site hardly resembled the downtrodden feeling the building has emanated for years, as people gathered to celebrate the Lofts at Brightwood.
Washington’s company is starting construction on a 32-unit condominium development project with a first-floor sit-down restaurant, the Meridian.
“The focus of our company is emerging neighborhoods,” said Washington in an interview.
Vice president Steve Cassell added, “We want to get in at the ground level and feel the momentum [of development].”
“We have many times been the first development on a part of a block,” said Washington. “Go back to properties we developed four or five years ago, and
you’ll find that they’re really transformed.”
At the event, Cassell said the company “looks at most buildings developers wouldn’t.” Washington echoed Cassell, saying that the Lofts at Brightwood “fully encompasses” the company’s mission.
Ward 4 Council member Adrian
Fenty said he is pleased by the company’s
decision to redevelop a
building that “was used for things
the community wasn’t happy with
before.” He hailed the inclusion of a
sit-down restaurant and new housing,
and he noted its prominent location
at Georgia and Missouri
avenues.
Responses are “100 percent positive,”
the council member said.
“On a corner this visible, you want
to have a flagship project like this.”
Fenty, an announced mayoral
candidate, told the celebrants that
development in the area has been
long in coming.
The Rev. Joseph Daniels, pastor
of the nearby Emory United
Methodist Church and a longtime
resident of the neighborhood, said
he is excited about the development
and what it means for the community.
He said some of his church’s
members have already inquired
about the new units.
Daniels said he has been in the
community at the church for 13
years but remembers his parents
shopping in the neighborhood when
he was young. Then, he said, he
came to parties in the neighborhood
in college. As someone who
remembers the building’s history, he
said he is happy with its new direction.
“There’s something positive and
productive taking place here,” he
said. “The neighborhood is crying
out for new and fresh development.”
K. Yuen, who owns the gas station
across the street from the building,
said the condominium and
restaurant will be good for business.
“It’s a great way to rejuvenate urban
living,” he said.
Brightwood Community
Association member Randall
Clarke, who chairs the group’s economic
development committee, said
Washington approached the community
group about nine months
ago with the project plan and was
well-received by the group.
“We look at it as an anchor for
Georgia Avenue, and hopefully it
will bring more business,” he said.
Brian Lang, a member of the
Brightwood association and its historic
preservation committee, said
the building also deserves some
attention. It stands on the headquarters
of the battle of Fort Stevens, he
said. In 1921, a Masonic Grand
Lodge was built, with a post office
on the ground floor.
Gateway-Georgia Avenue
Revitalization Corp. president Marc
Loud said in a phone interview that
Washington has established himself
in the community. “I think it’s a
great project,” Loud said.
“You don’t find developers who
want to go there. Usually they have
a target return, and [on Georgia
Avenue] they might not be able to
get that return. [Washington] said,
‘You can leave some of the money
on the table. You don’t have to take
all of it as a developer.’”
Cassell said their projects usually
cost $5 million to $15 million;
projects in wealthier neighborhoods,
such as Adams Morgan, cost
$25 million to $100 million or higher.
Their projects, he said, often
appeal to first-time home buyers.
And buyers are diverse, he added.
The commercial stock on
Georgia Avenue, Loud said, is much
less expensive than the houses in
residential communities in surrounding
neighborhoods.
“It’s been Georgia Avenue that
people have perceived as generally
run-down,” he said.
But that’s all changing.
Along with the Lofts at
Brightwood, several other significant
developments are progressing
along the corridor.
Sunday, Sept. 18, will mark the
second annual showcase for the
upper Georgia Avenue business
community. Loud’s group is organizing
a Funfest from 1 to 6 p.m. in a
not-yet-determined location.
Loud said many people don’t
know all the businesses on Georgia
Avenue, and this festival will be a
way for the community to connect
“in a fun, relaxed and comfortable
setting.”
On Sept. 19, the National
Congress for Community Economic
Development will tour the Gateway
area of Georgia Avenue as part of a
selected tour during its national
meeting. “They’re looking at how
we were able to change a blightedlooking
community,” Loud said.
In addition, the Mexican food
restaurant El Tamarindo recently
expanded its business to include an
art exhibit in its building. The
restaurant previously housed a onestory
restaurant, but now uses the
rest of the building to exhibit art. He
said El Tamarindo is “one of the first
young, hip places on Georgia
Avenue. What it says is that people
are willing to invest in the area.”
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