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H Street Tracks
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This month, we will depart slightly from the normal format of this column. As we begin the new year, I thought we could take a look at what 2010 might bring to H Street NE. I talked to a variety of different people, and they all shared with me their visions for the H Street corridor in 2010.
Anwar Saleem, resident, and voice of H Street Main Street
Saleem’s main focus at the moment is to fill up vacancies on the corridor. This includes not only vacant buildings, but also vacant lots, some of which have dotted the H Street landscape since the 1968 riots ravaged the corridor. Over the length of the corridor stretch untold numbers of buildings and lots with a very diverse group of owners, meaning Saleem has to coordinate efforts among large numbers of people.
Saleem said he wants to take a creative approach to the vacant lots. He’s thinking about how maybe they could be transformed through landscaping, or public art, or simply repurposed for community use. Right now he’s exploring possible grant opportunities with District agencies. With H Street NE attracting over 100 new businesses over the past four years, things are changing fast on the corridor, and he wants to use that momentum.
Saleem is also actively seeking out more new businesses. He has a pet store shopping locations in the 500 block right now, and he’d really love to get a bike shop. He’s also looking for someone interested in opening a gym. Visit www.hstreet.org for more information.
David Bernhardt, resident, and H Street building owner
Bernhardt owns three properties in the 400 block of H Street NE. One of them has been vacant since the closing of Pap and Petey’s. The space (421 H St. NE) is about to reopen as a new bar called Toyland. From the 1930s until well after the riots, the location was a variety store owned by a family on Fourth Street. Though its official name was Hume’s, all the neighborhood kids knew it as Toyland. Toyland should open early in 2010, and it’s going to feature a short menu, as well as draft beers, specialty cocktails and all the typical offerings you’d expect from a great bar.
On the personal side Bernhardt is looking forward to the District Department of Transportation wrapping up work on the east end of the corridor. He’s also decided that 2010 is the year to push for his own personal vision of public restrooms on H Street. Bernhardt is an alley dweller, and he and his neighbors have dealt with their fair share of people who aren’t quite housebroken. He’s convinced that if you give people attractive looking, clean places to go, they will use them instead of the alley. He calls it “bringing civility to H Street.”
Drew Ronnenberg, resident and chair of ANC 6A’s Economic Development and Zoning Committee
Much of Ronnenberg’s energies these days are focused on the H Street Connection and the development slated to replace it. Right now the developer and the District are hashing out the parking plans, but after years of work, Ronnenberg feels that the plans are nearing completion. The project is a mixed-use development with retail downstairs and housing above. Ronnenberg calls the design “fantastic,” saying the community response is “very favorable.” The project is massive in terms of transformative value for the corridor, and it goes before the full Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A in January.
On the personal side, Ronnenberg says he thinks the east end has a good vibe that we need to cultivate on the western portion of the corridor. He stresses the importance of following the Strategic Neighborhood Action Plan (“SNAP”) as we move forward, and continuing to identify and tax vacant properties on the strip. Lastly, he’s very excited about the streetcars on H Street, in part because the parking issue is only going to grow.
Brandon Bies, resident and co-cordinator PSA 102
Bies has been the co-coordinator for Police Service Area 102 for about two years now, and he agreed to speak with me about the new patrols. Four Metropolitan Police Department officers, in two groups of two, will patrol the 1100-1400 blocks (up to the Argonaut) of H Street NE. They will also loop down Linden and the portion of Maryland Avenue behind the Argonaut. The officers will patrol the alleys behind the establishments. Patrols will run Friday and Saturday, 11:30 p.m.-3:30 a.m., and certain holidays like New Years. They hope to increase the nights as more businesses buy into the plan. This is a supplemental patrol, and regular MPD patrols of the area will not diminish or be impacted. The participating H Street businesses are covering half of the expense. The rest of the funding comes from an Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration allocation funded by the DC Council, which is already paying for similar services in other parts of the Distict.
Bies wants to see more development in the center and on the west end of H Street NE. He doesn’t think there are too many bars, but he would like to see a greater diversity of businesses, especially retail. He stressed that he already feels safe on H Street, and he hopes that the new patrols will make more people feel the same way.
Joe Englert, business owner
“I look for H Street to become a lot more polished and ‘baked’ as the streetscape nears completion,” was the first thing Englert said. He echoed the others in his prediction that underdeveloped blocks will start to fill in, and that the critical mass will mean more money for patrols. He also expressed hope that some big names in the restaurant business will migrate to H Street. His other visions for the future include a major grocery store and a nice parking garage like they have in Bethesda and Arlington. Oh, and he can’t wait for the introduction of the much debated H Street hover-craft that will ferry visitors from Union Station. |
