The area around 5th and Eye Streets could be a lot better. There is vacant property, parking lots, and a lot of run down buildings, including a strip club.
One development group is trying to make it better, the Donohoe Company. They originally had plans to redevelop this area with hotels, residences, and a jazz club.
That hasn't exactly come together, reports the Washington Business Journal. The plan now is just for two hotels on a patch of property owned by D.C. at 5th and Eye.
There are many reasons it hasn't worked out. The economy, of course is one. The other is that people in that area are asking for very high prices to sell their property to the developer. The area is also within the Mount Vernon Triangle Historic District (yes, even the strip club), which makes it difficult to make changes.
The proposal for the revitalization of this area is now three years old and D.C. may decide to rebid its lot to a more promising project. We'll see. It would certainly help the vitality of our neighborhood stretch north up to City Vista and beyond if it wasn't for this sore spot.
The article suggests that the @very high prices" being asked are "pre-2007 prices.". It seems to me tgat most things in the area are selling at pre-2007 prices or higher. Why would that be considered very high?
ReplyDeleteThat is a very good point.
ReplyDeleteHowever, at least on the residential side, prices are mostly below 2007 levels, though on the rise from 2009 levels: http://www.jparsons.net/housingbubble/washington.html