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Tysons Corner, Va. Metro says it plans to start carrying rail passengers July 26 on its long-awaited Silver Line, capping five years of construction and more than a decade of political fights and contentious design work on a rapidtransit link between the D.C. area’s biggest economic hubs, Tysons Corner and downtown Washington. Barring any unforeseen glitches, the line’s first riders will begin boarding trains at the new Wiehle Avenue station at noon that Saturday, Metro General Manager Richard Sarles said Monday.
SOCCER
Hearing Goes On Despite a request from D.C. Council member Jack Evans to recess a hearing about the proposed D.C. United stadium during the U.S.-Germany game Thursday, Chairman Phil Mendelson said it will go on as planned. But they will accommodate fans who want to get out in time to watch. (T WP)
FOOD
The Award Goes to … The Rammys celebrated the best of D.C.’s food scene on Sunday (well, sort of: only members of Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington can win). (E XPRESS) Formal Fine Dining: Fiola Upscale Casual: Ripple Everyday Casual: Toki Underground New Restaurant: Red Hen (though the co-owner suggested Rose’s Luxury would’ve won if it were a member.)
The $2.9 billion first phase is 11.4 miles of track from Wiehle Avenue in Reston to East Falls Church. It has four stations in Tysons Corner, which has grown to be a traffic-snarled colossus of retail and office development in the decades since the original Metrorail system was mapped in the 1960s. Overall, the Silver Line generally follows the Dulles Access Road through the commercial heart of Fairfax County, a corridor rich with high-tech firms, government contractors and other businesses in what has become the Washington area’s most populous jurisdiction. “This is going to transform our economy,” said Rep. Gerald Connolly, a former member and chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors who was elected to Congress
A view of the Silver Line’s Spring Hill Station looking west toward Reston, Va.
in 2008. “This is going to allow us to live up to our full potential.” From the East Falls Church station, the Silver Line will share tracks with the Orange Line to Rosslyn, then with the Orange and Blue lines as they cross beneath the
“Yogurt is really more healthy than some other things, as is cottage cheese.”
Potomac River. From the StadiumArmory station, the Silver Line will share tracks with the Blue Line to Largo Town Center. Metro estimates that 50,000 passenger trips each workday will begin or end at Silver Line stations but about 17,000 of those trips will be taken by customers who already use the system regularly. For some riders, the impact of the Silver Line will be a bit of inconvenience. The tunnel under the Potomac can handle 26 trains per hour. Adding Silver Line trains to the mix means Metro will be forced to run fewer Orange and Blue line trains. The project ’s 11-mile second phase — expected to cost $2.7 billion — is due to open in 2018.
— MARION BA RRY, RESPONDING TO A REPORTER’S QUESTION ABOUT THE SOCALLED “YOGA TA X.” BARRY DECLARED THE NONEXISTENT TA X ON THE DAIRY PRODUCT “CRAZY,” BEFORE SUGGESTING THAT COUNCIL MEMBER JACK EVANS MAY HAVE BEEN TO BLAME FOR IT AND SAYING THE BEST KIND OF YOGURT IS ORGANIC, THE HUFFINGTON POST REPORTED.
PAUL DUGGAN (THE WASHINGTON POST )
‘Monster’ Rowhouses Anger Some in D.C. Washington They’re like skyscrapers in small villages: townhouses — but between 40 and 65 feet high — right next to squat, two-story rowhouses in neighborhoods from Petworth to NOMA to Adams Morgan. Their common nickname: popups. Their common epithet among neighbors and on local blogs: monsters. Middle fingers. These residences are spreading across the city, fueled by small developers eager to cash in on D.C.’s real estate boom and seize any inch of available real estate. Though developers have the right to build upward — and say they are providing needed housing stock — the city is evaluating how it can ensure that popups in some neighborhoods reflect their community’s character. D.C., which began seeing the first wave about 10 years ago, is now experiencing a rush. What began largely in Adams Morgan has come to streets all over. The pop-up bible is the PoPville blog, which for several years has chronicled their advance.
SARAH L. VOISIN (THE WASHINGTON POST)
Metro: Passenger service will officially start next month
JAHI CHIKWENDIU (THE WASHINGTON POST)
See You on July 26, Silver Line
Hearsay
‘The Monster’
“This is about profit. It’s about the historic streetscape.” — JIM GR A H A M , D.C. COUNCIL MEMBER,
In the case of the Ava, which has been dubbed “the Monster” on V Street NW, the building is in a commercial zone that allows residences to be as high as 65 feet. The five-story structure is topped with a huge eye-shaped window that one PoPville-blog reader thought was like the evil “Eye of Sauron” from the “Lord of the Rings.” The middle unit, listed for about $749,000, and the penthouse, listed for about $800,000, have not been sold. A real estate agent for the building said the bottom unit, listed for about $400,000, is under contract. (AP)
In a process analogous to teardowns in the suburbs, older rowhouses are scooped up by developers and torn down and rebuilt, or remodeled, to the maximum heights allowed by
ings in once-impoverished neighborhoods, has so much more housing demand than supply that, as of May, the average condo or single-family home was selling in about 45 days. The tight inventory is pushing prices up, and pop-ups allow builders to tack on new units without having to purchase large blocks of real estate.
zoning regulations — heights that in the past weren’t reached because space wasn’t at such a premium. Now, D.C., teeming with new restaurants and gigantic condo build-
ARGUING THAT THE POP-UPS ARE GEARED TOWARD THE WELL-TO-DO AND DON’T PROVIDE WHAT THE DISTRICT REALLY NEEDS: AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN TRENDY AREAS.
The D.C. Office of Planning has been examining whether the current 40-foot maximum height is “appropriate” for some neighborhoods in residential zones, but proposals have not been publicly released yet and the Zoning Commission would have to approve any new regulations. IAN SHAPIR A (THE WASHINGTON POST )