And the grocery store is....Harris Teeter!

Yay! Harris Teeter is moving into Constitution Square! I've been out of town so didn't see this new development until today but it's great news to come home to. We've been hearing a lot of rumors about this and apparently it has been in the works for a while with the city pushing really hard for the grocery store by providing tax incentives and helping with the cost of parking. The 50K SF grocery store is expected to open in winter 2010/2011.

Opening of Pound Coffee Approaching

Pound Coffee's website states they are opening on April Fool's day but they will also have a "soft" opening on Friday, March 21st. According to an email from Khalil to the mailing list:

We are looking at a "soft" opening Friday March 21st and "live" opening about a week later on Tuesday, April 1st. "Soft" opening means we will just open doors without any major fanfare and see who strolls by. "Live" opening means fanfare will be involved. I dare say "hoopla" even. We will reserve the term "Grand Opening" for another time. At that time, we will use the term "hysteria" or "madcap fiasco."

Up Next: Retail Announcements at NoMa

With NPR and the DOJ's huge decisions last week to lease in NoMa, the next big news for NoMa will be retail announcements which are expected during the spring.

These include which “high-end” grocery store will be setting up at Constitution Square, and who will lease the last 4,000 sq feet of retail available at the space ancillary to the ATF building. One NoMa Station is also expected to make an announcement some time in the summer regarding the possible signing of national retailers or local quick service food operators.


Some may also have noticed that the Marriott Courtyard, which is expected to open next year, is now several floors up. The hotel has 10,000 sq feet of retail and is actively targeting a sit down restaurant.

Random Trivia about Peter Nickles

So here's some random trivia about Peter Nickles. DC knows him as Fenty's general counsel and now the Acting Attorney General after Linda Singer resigned. He has a bit of controversy surrounding him since he is the reason why Linda Singer resigned and he apparently isn't a DC resident either although it's a job requirement.

Well, I just read in the March 2008 issue of DC North that he is an ultratriathlon competitor. An ultratriathlon consists of a 6.2 mile ocean swim followed by a 261.4 mile bike ride and ends with a 52.4 mile run! In the article ("Help Wanted...Experience Necessary" by Mark Segraves on page 22), it says he completed the Ultraman World Championship Triathlon in Hawaii twice, at the age of 63 and then at the age of 67!

Although it is a bit of useless trivia, it probably is a good insight as to his personality or perhaps his work ethic. My in-laws have competed in triathlons and I know one other person who has completed an Ironman. The amount of training and commitment needed to do the Ironman is pretty intense so the training involved with an ultratriathlon must be insane! And he did this in his 60s!

Dancing at the 9:30 Club

My blog is turning into NoMa watch so I thought I'd better post something non-NoMa related. Last night, hubby and I went to the 9:30 club to watch the Donnas and the Hives. It's a rare event for me as I only go if it's a band I've grown to like after considerable play time in hubby's car.

It was an awesome concert. I wish I had pics to post up but I only had my crappy phone camera and I still can't figure out how to download that on to the computer. I like the Donnas better so I'll post their pic up.

One thing I did wonder was why no one was dancing to The Donnas. Everyone was of course bobbing their heads to the beat but only a handful, including me, were rocking our bodies to the beat. Hubby says it's because they weren't playing any songs that people knew. And granted, most people were there to see the Hives. But hey, I don't know any of their songs but I still couldn't help dancing to their infectious beats.

Then the Hives got on stage and it became too cramped to do any sort of dancing aside from jumping up and down. It was actually my first time to be so near the stage since I've always been a litle freaked out at being in the middle of any moshing. There was definitely lots of pushing and shoving but I really didn't mind it. The music was great, it was all in good fun, the crowd was really into it, and even polite. I am only five feet tall so I'm always behind someone taller than me. The couple next to us told me I could step in front of them if I wanted to. One other guy told me to stay behind him and I'll be sure to get all the way to the front. So I did. With one hand tightly holding hubby's hand who was behind me the entire time, I went along for the ride and really enjoyed it!

Still pumped up after the concert, we swung by the Saloon on U Street to wind down. Hubby (who has been going to concerts at the 9:30 club for about a dozen years) remarked who would have thought that you could now walk to a bar after seeing a concert at the 9:30 club. We decided to cab home afterwards where a Maryland cabbie tried to charge us $12 to go 10 blocks!

DOJ is Also Coming to NoMa!

It's turning out to be a great week for NoMa. According to Bisnow, DOJ is also coming to NoMa! The 521K lease will go to Constitution Square which is that big lot directly south of the ATF building. It is expected to be completed in 2010, with DOJ employees moving in early that year. As you may recall, Constitution Square is also being scoped out as the site for a Harris Teeter or some large grocery store.

UPDATED: The Washington Business Journal has also just reported the news. Although Bisnow reports the location at 100 M Street, NE, it appears as if the DOJ building will be specifically located at Two Constitution Square at 145 N Street, NE.

UPDATED: NPR Moving to NoMa

Back in November, I wrote about how NPR and the Department Justice of were both considering NoMa for new locations. Today, it's been reported that NPR will be moving to a newly built headquarters at 1111 N. Capitol St., NE. I believe NPR's new space, which will consolidate the two locations it currently has in Mt. Vernon Square, will be more than 400,000 square foot. 25,000 square feet of retail is also planned for the new building. A Smithsonian Institution warehouse actually sits on the site right now but the developers are planning to maintain the historical facades (read more here).

Here are more details from the NoMa BID press release and Bisnow. Unfortunately, occupancy is not expected until late 2011 or early 2012. That's a long time away still! On a positive note, DC has agreed to streetscape improvements around the site, which is across from the Northwest One project (formerly Sursum Corda coops).

DOJ also apparently signed its 500,000-square foot consolidation last Friday and the announcement of exactly which site won the lease is expected this week.

With solid commitments of businesses moving into area, I'm definitely hoping more retail and food services seriously start considering our area and taking that plunge.