Ted Leonsis, former AOL executive and majority owner of the Washington Wizards and Washington Mystics basketball teams, said recently that he would like to build a new practice facility for the teams near to the arena where they play, the Verizon Center. Shortly thereafter Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) said he would “love” to have such a facility in the District, particularly if it were sometimes open to the community. Leonsis hasn’t said a lot about what type of complex he envisions, other than that he would like it to be near the Verizon Center, accessible to public transit and potentially similar to the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Ballston, where the Washington Capitals (another Leonsis team) practice. (Post)
Restaurateur Mark Bucher has opened the second location of his Cleveland Park steak frîtes restaurant Medium Rare on Barracks Row. The new spot has the same menu as the original spot, which means for $19.50 you get bread, a mixed green salad, and culotte steak with “secret sauce” and fries. (WCP) The developer of a seven-story, 120-unit apartment building less than 1,000 feet from the Bethesda Metro submitted its plans to the Montgomery County Planning Department. At a required pre-submittal community meeting, it was clear some nearby residents still opposed the 4831 West Lane project. But, DC-based developer SJG won support from the County Council in a separate and lengthy rezoning process, largely because of the site’s proximity to Metro. (BN) On January 7, drivers parking in Arlington got a reprieve. Because the frigid temperatures were a danger to enforcement workers and because the weather caused an increase in meter malfunctions, meters were not enforced. The colder weather and freezing precipitation led to a higher than usual number of malfunctions on the multi-space meters that dispense tickets. (AN)
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