Rhode Island Row Throws a Block Party

Rhode Island Row had a block party on Sunday. They put up a big screen TV and two of the restaurants sold food. I stopped by for a little while and watched. It was fun. There were some Eagles' fan there. There was face painting for the kids and some raffle prizes as well.

I hope they do it again some time.

Nice big screen and a great sound system

All the balloons were great.

The food looked great. Too bad I had already had lunch

This woman came prepared to enjoy the game

The great guy got to come too.

Carolina Kitchen Just About Ready at Rhode Island Row

Carolina Kitchen is getting closer and closer to being open. The originally plan, at least in the large signs that were posted, was to open summer of 2013. Obviously that didn't work out as planned.

But now things are moving along really well. It looks like most of the interior is done. The other day when I passed by it looked like people were filling out applications for employment.

Hopefully by March or maybe a little later it will be open.

One thing I don't understand is that there are big screen TVs and, as I'm on my way to the gym at 6am, they are all on. Just don't get that one.

As you can see the two TVs are on. This is a little before 6am as I'm on the way to the gym.

Rhode Island Row at a Standstill?

It looks like the progress that seemed so very promising this spring has come to a standstill.

The promise was for a Carolina Kitchen to open over the summer. The huge signs where the restaurant is supposed to go said so.

The reality of the situation is very very different. This is what the inside of the place looks like. I took these pictures today.

 

 

As you can see the "floor" is dirt. This is obviously not opening this summer. In fact, I would be surprised if it opens this year.

I base this on the fact of how long it has taken the Chipotle to open or not open as the case may be. The construction for this began in November of last year. Things seemed to be going fairly well and then it just stopped. For several months absolutely nothing happened. Then activity started again. I even saw people in there that looked like employees in June.

Sometime in July a sign was posted saying they would open July 31. There was a large help wanted sign out front. Along came July 31 and nothing happened. Actually what happened was another sign saying well as you can see below. August 20 now the official opening day. I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

There are a couple of other places that are being built out, but I would have thought once the DMV opened in April, the place would have rapidly filled in. Obviously that's not the case. At this rate things won't be opening until next year.

Rhode Island Row Finally Starts to Fill in with Stores

Tenants are finally starting to occupy Rhode Island Row. CVS has been there for a while. But the retail space leading up to the Metro has been well empty. There was a lone phone store that opened before Christmas. That was joined by yet another phone store (right next to it no less) in February.

One of the anchors, I guess that is what you’d call it, was the DMV. They finally opened there doors on Tuesday. Here’s some information on it from the DMV site:

The District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles is opening its Rhode Island Service Center in Northeast on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Located in Rhode Island Row at 2350 Washington Place, NE, Suite 112N, the service center will be open for business Tuesday – Saturday from 8:15am – 4pm.

“We are excited to open this new service center,” said DC DMV Director Lucinda Babers. “This is a full service facility and customers will be provided with the same services that they currently receive at our Penn Branch and Southwest Service Centers.”

The Rhode Island Service Center is nearby for metro riders from the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station. There is also metro, garage, and street parking in the surrounding area. This location is also accessible for cyclists and pedestrians.

A Chipotle looks like it will be opening soon as well. Then sometime this summer a Carolina Kitchen will be opening as well.

I'm a little surprised at how long it's taken to get these places open. The phone stores went in fairly quickly. The Mobile was open in late December. The Sprint store sometime in February. The Chipotle has taken a very long time. Construction started in December and they still are not finished with the store. In fact, it looked like at the start of the year, they stopped working completely.

Hopefully the rest of the Row will fill in quickly. It would be great to have it all up and running.

A look inside the DMV

This was on the counters at the Chipolte store. I'm assuming their blue prints.

Rhode Island Row — Finishing up

The outside construction looks complete at Rhode Island Row. There are still a few odds and ends that need to be done but otherwise it looks pretty well done. Not sure what progress is being made on the inside but I think that's pretty close to being done as well. The CVS opened last week. It was a couple days late in opening but that's not too unexpected. It is pretty decent size store.

But, as you may notice from the pictures, there is no other retail being developed. I'm not even sure any other tenants have signed contracts. I was told when I looked at the apartments that retail would not be announced until a contract has been signed. That was back in February a good three months ago. Nothing seems to be on the horizon. There's been talk about what people would like to see and rumors about what supposedly going into the space but that's all. I would have thought at least a couple more places, either retail or a restaurant, would have signed up by now. I'm sure the developer will make a very big deal about it if they get someone else. And I'm getting the impression it might just take a little while to fill in those spaces. And that's not a very good thing.

The CVS that just opened.

A very from the Metro platform

Another view from the Metro platform. Still a little work to be done.

Main entrance. The Metro is at the far end.

The last phase of the development

Notice how the first floor, where retail is supposed to go, is empty.

Rhode Island Row — Close to finishing Construction

Everyday that get closer and closer to finishing the outside construciton on Rhode Island Row. There are no longer any major structures that need to be built. They are working on finishing the outside construction.

There is still a ways to go with getting everything finished and done on the inside. In fact that will probably take a few more months. But at I said in an earlier post, renters are moving in. Soon CVS will open. Not exactly sure how soon that will be but it sounds like by April it will be open.

It will be great when it's finally done.

Rhode Island Row Starts having Tenants

It seems people have started to move into the apartments at Rhode Island Row. I stopped into the leasing office the other day on the way home from work. I got a tour of the place.

During the tour, I was told about 30 people have moved in. They are in the complex that is closest to the Giant and Home Depot. I was also told all the two bedrooms with dens had been rented. I saw the common areas all very nice. There is a nice party room that will look out toward the pool. Also a very nice fitness center. They are in the process of building the pool. It was hard to tell the exact size it was going to be. It will open sometime around Memorial Day.

I also found out that the first official retail client is on board and that's CVS. There are others that are close to signing a lease but they don't say anything until a retailer has actually signed one.

Here's a look at the floor plans for the apartments. The apartments looked very nice; I saw the one and two bedrooms. I liked the set up both of them.

Rhode Island Row — Progresses

Here are some shots of Rhode Island Row. I took these a couple of days ago when we had fog in the morning. This was also the first real use of the camera on my iPhone. I think they came out pretty well.

It looks they are on the final building phase of the project. The first two pictures show the are closest to Rhode Island Avenue. They've completed the parking part and are now building the residents.

The third pictures show the road leading to the Metro. You might notice that the stop lights are up. They are just flashing now to get people used to the fact that they are there. At least now people are almost stopping when driving in and out.

The fourth picture shows the side walk that they've opened up. So now you can actual walk on a sidewalk. They also added some landscaping too.

The last pictures show what the complex looks like from the Metro. Hopefully sometime by early spring there will be shops and restaurants open.