Lots of Progress at 11th and Park Road, NW
13 July 2009 3:00 PM | By Prince Of Petworth in Architecture, Buildings, Columbia Heights, Neighborhoods - Columbia Heights, Restaurants, Restaurants - Columbia Heights
The Old Bi-Rite building slated to house Meridian Pint seems to be picking up steam. Here’s what it looked like in June. I wonder if it’s still going to look like the original rendering? It’s nice to see it starting to take shape.
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13 July 2009 3:07 PM | Anonymous Said:
very exciting. is that an outdoor patio on the second floor for smokers? that will be awesome, but i bet the folks in the condo next door (Clumbia Pristine) are gonna hate life once this thing opens!
13 July 2009 3:38 PM | anonymous Said:
I hope they have an outdoor patio….for non-smokers!
13 July 2009 3:45 PM | vonstallin Said:
+1,000,000 on the patio for non-smokers….. Oh just thought about another rant… BRB.
13 July 2009 4:06 PM | Binklesworth Said:
I am thrilled at the progress on this place. I’ve said it before, but worth repeating: can’t bloody open up fast enough.
13 July 2009 4:24 PM | oldmanclem Said:
Can’t really see how that upstairs maybe-a-patio would be for the bar(s), since isn’t the second floor for office space/yoga studio/whatever?
13 July 2009 4:48 PM | Petworth Newbie Said:
I love live music and meeting my friends for a pint, but I hope this venue is a little more friendly to the immediate neighborhood than Asylum is re: noise & angry drunks within. No offense John! If it weren’t for that I’d welcome this sign of creeping gentrification northward and eastward in Columbia Heights/Petworth, which needs more funky welcoming spaces. Hope the menu is more interesting than typical bar food.
13 July 2009 4:50 PM | Petworth Newbie Said:
Funny how when you move from Adams Morgan you want it to come to you, just without the yucky bits.
13 July 2009 4:50 PM | Sir Richard Cox-Moker Said:
Can someone tell me why they bothered to save any of the original structure at all, when it appears that about .5% of it actually remains? Did it have something to do with D.C.’s often bizarre codes?
13 July 2009 5:05 PM | New2CH Said:
First, that patio, if it ends up a patio, will NOT be connected to the restaurant / bar, there will be no seating there or anything like that. From what I understand, while there have been discussions, there are no tenants finalized yet for the top floor office space.
Second, regarding Sir Richard’s question, from what I understand, the decision to retain some of the original structure did, indeed, have to do with zoning / parking requirements, I forget the specifics, but I think some of the ingress / egress and/or the lack of any parking may have been an issue if none of the original structure was retained.
Comparing the original plans to the work-in-progess, so far, they look nearly identical to me.
I echo those who are hoping the food will be given a LOT of careful attention. If this is just a blah American The Heights rehash, it won’t add a heck of a lot. Let’s hope for some inventive, quality cuisine, and a great beer selection as well.
13 July 2009 5:16 PM | wait and see Said:
no one can say asylum does’nt have a style uniquely its own, i bet this place will too. why has this site become so negative lately?
13 July 2009 5:20 PM | New2CH Said:
Oh, and speaking of new restaurants, I was inside Social this weekend. Really looks great. Large, attractive, very comfortable space to hang, still a lot of work to do, but really coming along. Basement level is particularly chill and would be great for a party. They plan to be open by the end of July. But with D.C.’s byzantine permitting process, one never knows … I’d think September is more realistic.
13 July 2009 5:31 PM | Anonymous Said:
“but I hope this venue is a little more friendly to the immediate neighborhood than Asylum is re: noise & angry drunks within.”
I second that emotion but would substitute the word “Wonderland” for “Asylum”. Maybe not as angry, but more crowded and noisier.
13 July 2009 5:43 PM | imoan Said:
I am really excited for this place to open and I am also excited about room11 down the street!! http://www.room11-comingsoon.blogspot.com/ . Now I will have many more choices of places to frequent close-ish to my house in PW and to bring my friends/family to when they visit.
13 July 2009 7:32 PM | Anonymous Said:
Tough crowd on PoP. This place could limit its menu to canned spam, pickled pigs feet, and warm PBR and it would be a major improvement over what was on the corner of 11th and Park!
Between Wonderland at the south end, the great looking new wine bar in the middle and this new bar with Red Rocks at the north end, 11th St. has the makings of a nice little neighborhood nightlife district. As near as I can tell, all with local owners who are investing in the neighborhood with nice looking buildings.
It’s hard to find any bad news in any of that, despite the fact that there is still no Arbys.
With any luck, a similar little concentration of restaurants and neighborhood bars will open around the GA/Petworth station.
13 July 2009 7:40 PM | New2CH Said:
Agreed anonymous. The key word being neighborhood places — all the new places are small, locally owned, not part of big chains, unique, and seem to be attracting a desirable demographic (aka, not rowdy recent college grads, but rather a more mellow, more mature crowd). From what I’ve heard of the forthcoming businesses, they should fit right in to that business model.
What we’re getting is undeniably great — but nothing wrong with hoping for them to be even greater! Don’t forget the restaurant from the owners of Local 16 to the north. That I imagine will be the last new place for a LONG while because there has been no movement on any of the remaining vacant spaces, the most prominent of which is the former Hope 11 project, which is absolutely prime real estate and such an absolute waste …
13 July 2009 8:26 PM | Binkesworth Said:
The upstairs is supposed to be an eco-friendly travel agency. Wouldn’t be surprised, though, if the plan has changed, as it’s been a while and the economy tanked when I first read that.
Walked by Meridian Pint this evening. Still disappointed it’s not yet open. This reminds me of when I was 6 and planted a peach pit, and was crying an hour later because it hadn’t even sprouted, let alone yield fruit.
13 July 2009 8:26 PM | JJ Said:
Anonymous is exactly right. Cheers to options on 11th!
13 July 2009 9:42 PM | ParkRd Said:
Yeah, 11th street is coming along great! Now, if we could just get Georgia Ave moving along a little faster. I know some people love their adult entertainment, but I’d be so much happier if the strip club wasn’t there. I walk up to the metro pretty early in the morning, and I always see lots of booty flyers on the ground. If I had kids at the charter school up there, I wouldn’t want them seeing those.
13 July 2009 9:58 PM | alaaro Said:
To the very first commenter – I live in Columbia Pristine, and I’m very psyched for this place. The owner of Meridian has presented many times to the community and has eased all fears about the type of place this is going to be. This is not going to be Asylum in the least. Higher end, more focus on food and beer pairings. I have no doubts the food will be fantastic – keep in mind that Asylum has been rated one of the top brunches in the city for years now.
14 July 2009 4:48 PM | Anonymous Said:
I wish something would open that is not a bar.
15 July 2009 9:28 AM | Richard Said:
Thank you to everyone is who investing in 11th street. One needs on to look at the successes of Red Rocks, Wonderland, CHC, etc to see what your potential ROI might look like.
15 July 2009 10:28 AM | 3DG Said:
Thank you for your continued support, PoP and everyone. We’re reaching the final stages of what has been a multi-year odyssey fraught with collapsing real estate markets, vanishing credit markets and a severe recession. I’m as excited as anyone about getting this done!
Thanks,
John Goldman
Managing Member
3DG Real Estate
15 July 2009 11:49 AM | dismayed Said:
Return on investment over people. Ugh.
16 July 2009 11:23 AM | Trubs Said:
Binkesworth:
This also reminds me of when I was 6 and my older brother buried our dead family cat. I dug it up a few hours later hoping to find bones. My brother was pretty pissed that he had to re-bury the cat.
19 July 2009 10:19 AM | New2DC Said:
My wife and I are moving to DC and thinking about living around 11th and Park. The places that we’re looking don’t come with parking. How is the street parking in the area? Are there any opprotunities to rent/buy a parking space? Also, slightly concerned about the whether the new establishment going in at 11th and Park is going to create a lot of late night noise. Any word on whether it’s going to play music or will it be someplace more on the mellow side?
27 July 2009 1:27 PM | neighbor Said:
What would you all think of an Italian style deli in the neighborhood? I have been wanting to do something like this. Let me know your feed back.
Thanks.