Saturday, June 27, 2009

The New Anacostia: Eaton Place Condo's Open House



Open House
Sunday, August 2, 2009
2:00pm-4:00pm

Eaton Place Luxury Condominiums
1500 Eaton Road
Washington, DC 20020

Now starting at $199,000

Come out and see the what the new Anacostia has to offer. Eaton Place Luxury Condominiums. 3 & 4 bedrooms. 2-full baths. Spectacular views of DC monuments and Anacostia River. Large, open living/dining areas, spacious bedrooms, lots of closet space, recessed lighting, gourmet kitchens w/stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops and microwaves, full-sized washer/dryers in each unit, master bath includes granite dual sink vanities & jacuzzi tubs. Solid maple hardwood floors throughout, carpeted bedrooms. Gated parking (includes 2 reserved spots). Secured bldg w/video entry system. One block to the Anacostia Metro Station & Department of Homeland Security. Plus much, much, more. See www.AnacostiaRiverRealty for more info.



Closing cost help and one year of no condo fees!

Priced to sell. The best deal in town!

Refreshments served.




www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
At Anacostia River Realty Our Sales Are Flying High!



Thanks for Visiting!

Friday, June 26, 2009

OPEN HOUSE of Eaton Place Condos

Come out and see the what the new Anacostia has to offer. Eaton Place Luxury Condominiums. 3 & 4 bedrooms. 2-full baths. Spectacular views of DC monuments and Anacostia River. Large, open living/dining areas, spacious bedrooms, lots of closet space, recessed lighting, gourmet kitchens w/stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops and microwaves, full-sized washer/dryers in each unit, master bath includes granite dual sink vanities & jacuzzi tubs. Solid maple hardwood floors throughout, carpeted bedrooms. Gated parking (includes 2 reserved spots). Secured bldg w/video entry system. One block to the Anacostia Metro Station & Department of Homeland Security. See www.AnacostiaRiverRealty for more info!
Darrin D. Davis

Closing cost help available and up to six months of no condo fees.

Priced to sell. Starting in the mid $200,000's.

Refreshments served.

Eaton Place Luxury Condominiums
1500 Eaton Rd. SE
Washington, DC 20029


www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
We're the Experts in Anacostia real estate!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Mayor Fenty to sign bill charging DC consumers 5 cent for plastic bags

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo

Beginning in January, consumers in the District will have to pay a five-cent plastic bag tax for each plastic bag given if they don't bring reusable bags when they shop at the grocery store, drug store and other retail outlets that sell food.

As expected, the mayor has signed the bill that was passed unanimously by the city council last month. The new law, officials hope, will reduce the amount of trash that makes its way in to the Anacostia River.

Businesses will charge customers five cents for every bag they take out of the store. That money will go into the new Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection Fund.

The District Department of the Environment will begin a campaign to publicize the five-cent fee by October and will set up a public-private partnership to distribute free reusable bags to those who need them.

"Under this new law, the simple steps we take every day will result in a healthier Anacostia River," Mayor Fenty said in a statement yesterday. "Disposable bags are a menace to our waterways, and dramatically cutting down on their use will have a measurable impact almost immediately."

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Smithsonian's Anacostia Museum Offers Free Shuttle From National Mall

A free summer shuttle transporting visitors between the National Mall and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum offers weekend service through Sept. 20. A door-prize promotion invites Mall visitors to ride Shuttle Anacostia to “Spend a Day at the Museum” in Anacostia and become eligible to win two free tickets to the movie “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” for use on that weekend.

Shuttle Anacostia picks up riders on Saturdays and Sundays from the Smithsonian Castle, the National Air and Space Museum and the Anacostia Metro Station beginning at 10 a.m. Riders can also visit the Frederick Douglass Historic Site, which is included as a stop on the shuttle as it loops back to the Castle.

Interested visitors are directed to shuttle stops marked by promotional signage featuring mannequins and displays from the exhibitions currently on view at the museum, “Jubilee: African American Celebration” and “Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia.”

One door prize will be awarded each weekend to a lucky shuttle rider who will receive an admission voucher to be exchanged at the box office for two tickets to a showing that weekend of “Night at the Museum” at the National Air and Space Museum’s Lockheed Imax theater. For more information on Shuttle Anacostia, the promotion and museum exhibitions and programs, visit http://anacostia.si.edu.

The Anacostia Community Museum was opened in southeast Washington in 1967 as the nation’s first federally funded neighborhood museum. Renamed in 2006, it has expanded its focus beyond African American culture to documenting, interpreting and collecting objects related to the impact of historical and contemporary social issues on communities. For more information, the public may call (202) 633-4820, (202) 633-1000 or (202) 633-5285 (TTY). Web site: http://anacostia.si.edu.

Contact: Marcia Baird Burris
(202) 633-4876; (202) 320-1735 (cell); bairdburrism@si.edu


www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
The experts in Anacostia real estate.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Elegant Living Comes To Anacostia





Luxury 3 & 4 bedroom Condos

Now Available!

1500 Eaton Rd. SE
Washington, DC 20020

More Pics & Virtual Tour
available at:
www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com

Eaton Place Condominiums

  1. Priced to sell
  2. Only 1 block from Metro
  3. Spectacular views of DC monuments, Anacostia River, & VA
  4. Large open dining/living areas w/maple hardwood floors
  5. Spacious bedrooms
  6. Lots of extra closet space
  7. Recessed lighting
  8. Gourmet kitchens w/Stainless steel appliances
  9. 2 Beautiful baths w/granite dual vanity, jacuzzi tubs
  10. Full-sized Washer/Dryers
  11. Maple hardwood floors throughout w/carpeted bedrooms
  12. Gated parking (includes 2 reserved parking spots)
  13. Secured bldg w/Video Security System
  14. Closing cost help available
  15. Up to 6 months free Condo Fees
  16. Plus much, much more
Open House: Sunday, June 28, 2009. 2:00-4:00pm. Refreshments!

Another exclusive property from Anacostia River Realty


We're #1 in Anacostia real estate.

Call us today! 202/285-7665


Monday, June 15, 2009

Flaunt a Fashion Show at the Honfleur Gallery in Anacostia

Courtesy of Port of Harlem Snippets
www.PortOfHarlem.Net
By Millée Spears

The show opened in the heart of Anacostia to a packed house. The audience was comprised of new-world fashionistas dressed in everything from Roman sandals, colorful patent leather pumps to mini skirts galore.

It was truly an international event at Honfluer Gallery's Runway Show with representation of nearly every race, age, and walk of life. One New York artist sat in the audience wearing his own creation of an off-the-shoulder caplet made completely of vintage neck ties and sporting a Salvador Daliesque moustache! The two-year-old Honfleur gallery rocked to the beat of Billy Ocean, the wine flowed and the audience eagerly waited for the show to start.

The show opened with the fashions of Nigerian-born Lara Akinsanya. Her collection featured truly lovely summer frocks in traditional Nigerian textiles with a Western cut, reminiscent of the 50's fit and flare.

Local artist and fashion designer Dana Ayanna Greaves' collection opened with what appeared to be a dress made of brown butcher paper with the model sporting a very tall paper feather hat, true three dimensional art.


Will Sharp of The DURKL menswear collection opened with a clear tomato red bomber-hoodie, with the model's face draped in hair like Cousin It of the Addams family TV show.

Dubai born Taimur Baigs’ collection of women’s wear was unique and wearable. His section of the show opened with a delicious paprika red blouse. His day wear section also featured some very interesting peg legged pants.

The show was a five star hit. The audience was beautiful and polite. The models not only modeled, but stayed in character throughout the show and took performance art to another level. And the clothes were exciting, unique and thought provoking right in the heart of Anacostia.


www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
We're #1 in Anacostia real estate. Thanks!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

10 Reasons To Buy Real Estate in Anacostia

Authors note: Thanks for your comments.


1. The most reasonable real estate prices in the Washington Metropolitan area.

2. The large houses which offer great views of the river, city and Monuments.

3. Easy access to major thoroughfares (I-295, I-395, I-95, BW Pkwy) and less than 10 minutes to downtown DC.

4. The small town community feel.

5. DC's focus on making the Anacostia River a focal point of the city and the redevelopment of Anacostia Park which offers a health club, pool, biking and running trails, tennis courts, picnicking, boating and river rowing fun.

6. A new class of upwardly mobile professionals moving in everyday.

7. New luxury Condos & Townhouses being developed.

8. New business'; art galleries, banks, restaurants, the new Anacostia JazzNSoul Cafe (Anacostia's Blues Alley), Anacostia's first full-service real estate company, Anacostia River Realty.

9. The new name, "River East" and the riddance of the negative connotations associated with the name "East of the River".

10.
The overall positive buzz about Anacostia.


www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
We're #1 in Anacostia real estate. Thanks!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Anacostia Past and Present

Author's note: Working in the Anacostia real estate market, I often get questions about the history of the area. I'm attempting to provide a brief history of Anacostia. We'll call it Anacostia: 101! I also include some of the great things that are happening in the present. As always, I appreciate your comments.

Past

The name "Anacostia" comes from the name of a Nacochtank Native Americans settlement along the Anacostia River. Captain John Smith explored the area in 1608, and met Anacostans while traveling up the "Eastern Branch" or Anacostia River.

The core, which is now the Anacostia historic district was incorporated in 1854 as Uniontown. It was one of the first suburbs in the District of Columbia. It was designed to be financially available to Washington's working class, many of whom were employed across the river at the Navy Yard; its (then) location outside of and isolated from the city made its real estate inexpensive.

The initial subdivision of 1854 originally carried a restrictive covenants prohibiting the sale, rental or lease of property to anyone of African or Irish descent, but Abolitionist Frederick Douglass, often called "the sage of Anacostia," bought an estate in Anacostia called, Cedar Hill from the developer of Uniontown in 1877. He lived there until he died in 1895. The home is still maintained as a national historical site.

During the Civil War, Anacostia was protected by a series of forts upon the hills southwest of the city. Following the conclusion of the war, the forts were dismantled and the land returned to its original owners.

There is shopping, dining, and entertainment facilities throughout Anacostia. Anacostia, has it’s own recreation center located at the waterfront. It features: a Boys and Girls Club, tennis courts, swimming pools, work out facilities, a skating rink, biking and riding trails and is home to many river-rowing, and soccer teams.

The Anacostia National Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The historic district retains much of its mid-to-late 19th-century low-scale, working-class character, as is evident in its architecture.

In 1959, an Anacostia landmark the "World's Largest Chair", was installed at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and W Street, SE. The chair was built by Bassett Furniture for Curtis Brothers Furniture Store, formerly located at this site. In the summer of 2005, the “Big Chair”– as it is known – was removed for repairs, then returned in April 2006.



Present

Today, Anacostia has the most reasonable real estate prices in the Washington Metropolitan area with large houses which offer great views of the river, city and Monuments.

It is easily accessible to major thoroughfares (I-295, I-395, I-95, Suitland Pkwy, and BW Pkwy) and less than 10 minutes to downtown Washington, DC.

Most recently, Washington DC's focus has been on making the Anacostia River a focal point of the city and a world-class waterfront.

In years past, Anacostia was the home of many of the city’s lower-income residents. New classes of upwardly mobile professionals are moving into the area everyday. Drawn to the area’s reasonably priced new luxury Condos & Townhouses that are being developed all over the area.

In recent years, Anacostia has seen a resurgence of new business’ that include; art galleries, banks, restaurants, such as, Anacostia Cafe, the new JazzNSoul Cafe (Anacostia's Blues Alley), and Anacostia's first full-service real estate company, my company, Anacostia River Realty.

New residents love the small town community feel of the area. They have dubbed the area "River East" versus the title “East of the River” ridding itself of the many negative connotations associated with the name from years past.


www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
We're #1 in Anacostia real estate. Thanks!

Maryland Take Steps To Cleanup The Anacostia River

I will be the first to admit that I was unsure of how the 5 cent bag tax approved by the city of Washington would work in cleaning up the Anacostia River without Maryland's involvement. But, it seems Maryland is stepping up to the plate by building several bioretention facilities The bioretentions facilities have been constructed over the last three months to reduce runoff and pollutants entering the northeast branch of the Anacostia River in Edmonston.

The work was done by the University of Maryland, College Park's chapter of Engineers Without Borders, the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership and the city of Edmonston.

Engineers Without Borders primarily works abroad, but this time the group decided to partner with the University of Maryland, College Park's A. James Clark School of Engineering to work on a problem a little closer to home.

The Anacostia is a highly polluted river, in large part due to urban runoff, the storm water draining from cities into the river, according to the National Resources Defense Council, a not-for-profit environmental protection group. The project team, consisting of students, faculty advisers and various professionals, designed a bioretention system and implemented it in a park owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission near Edmonston's Decatur Street, which will be the first "green," or fully environmentally responsible, street in Maryland.

The bioretention facilities take runoff water, in this case from parking lots and roads, and naturally treat it, said Kristen Markham, 21, one of the project leaders and recent UM graduate, who is returning in the fall for graduate school. The team designed trenches where the water could travel into the 15 feet by 30 feet bioretention area. There, the storm water goes through several natural filtering systems, including several layers of soil that help the water flow quickly, gravel, rocks and plants. Each technique naturally filters out pollutants.

The bioretention facility diverts storm water from the parking lot and road near the Edmonston Recreation Building into a natural filtration system.

It's a natural, passive way to treat runoff water that has pollutants. Water goes back into the river a lot cleaner than it was before."

The entire project, from deciding to work with the Anacostia river to its completion, took only six months, including getting approval for the project, meeting with officials, getting a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and implementing the design.

Our city's goal of making the Anacostia River a world-class waterfront comes one step closer to being realized.


www.AncostiaRiverRealty.com

We're #1 in Anacostia real estate. Thanks!


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Comcast Makes The Leap From Broadband to Wideband Starting in Anacostia

Comcast high-speed broadband internet access is coming to Washington. As Washington policy makers decide how to define and roll out universal broadband, Comcast is not making the policy makers look very far to see its efforts to launch the cable industry's next generation of high-speed Internet access.

Comcast will make the "leap" from broadband to wideband service in the neighborhood of Anacostia in the city starting this month. Anacostia will be the first area to receive the new services.

Comcast says speeds will double for high-speed customers at no charge. It is also adding the service to parts of Arlington and Alexandria, Va., and Montgomery County and Prince George's County, Md., all part of the Washington Metro area in the future.

Customers can choose from two new premium plans, new business plans, and increased speeds for existing customers.

www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
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Monday, June 8, 2009


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We're #1 in Anacostia real estate. Thanks!


Sunday, June 7, 2009

Anacostia Festival A Success

The yearly festival, Unifest returned to Anacostia yesterday. It was actually my first time attending, but I along with hundreds of other Anacostia residents had a great time.

The celebration of African American culture and history took place on several blocks in Historic Anacostia on Martin Luther King Avenue. The atmosphere was festive-- the music, seafood, hot dogs, ice cream, lemonade, the ribs, the hula hoops, the cheerleaders, local entertainers, and dance squads all added to make the yearly event a grand success.

During its early years, the festival featured little more than a street parade. In recent years, more than 100,000 people descended on the festival, there appeared to be even more people there yesterday at mid-afternoon.

Organizers worked with city agencies to offer social services at this year's festival, including booths for HIV testing, free medical and dental screenings, and credit and foreclosure prevention counseling.



www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
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Wednesday, June 3, 2009

DC's 5 cent bag tax passed by City Council

The D.C. Council Tuesday gave initial approval to legislation creating a tax on the use of plastic bags by retailers, an environmental initiative that could make the city the first in the nation to enact such a measure but one decried by opponents as a tax on the poor.

The Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Act of 2009 bans the use of disposable non-recyclable plastic carryout bags and assesses consumers a 5 cent fee per recyclable paper and plastic carryout bag used to carry purchases at retail establishments like grocery stores, convenience stores and liquor stores.

Retailers under the proposal would be allowed to keep one cent of the fee, while the remaining four cents would be placed in a fund targeting cleanup of the Anacostia River, which officials say receives 20,000 tons of trash each year.

Stores also can offer a carryout bag credit program, which would credit customers at least five cents for each bag they provide, and be able to keep two cents per bag sold.


www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com
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Monday, June 1, 2009

DC Gets Tough On Disposable Bags

The Anacostia River in Washington DC is ridden with garbage, and plastic bags make up 20% of the trash tossed in (Photo by Kavitha Cardoza)

For years, the Anacostia River that flows through Washington DC was widely known as the forgotten river, lost in the shadow of the better known Potomac. At one point, some say the trash in the river was so thick you could walk from one side to the other without getting wet. Today things are better. But, most people say not enough has been done. DC's city council is considering a five cent tax on every disposable plastic and paper bag with most of the money going to cleanup efforts. As Kavitha Cardoza reports if it passes, the fee would be the toughest law on plastic and paper bags in the country:

LEGISLATION THAT would put a price on the bags that litter the streets and waterways of the District has cleared critical hurdles. It sailed through two D.C. Council committees, and it seems to have public support. But the real test comes tomorrow, and it is important that council members not falter in taking what promises to be a key step in reducing pollution.

The council will be asked to approve a bill that aims to discourage the use of plastic and paper bags via a small tax. Five cents would be charged for bags leaving grocery, drug, convenience and liquor stores, with most of the revenue earmarked for cleanup of the Anacostia River. An amendment exempts paper bags from restaurants and for carryout food. The bill is the brainchild of council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who, rightly disgusted by the 20,000 tons of garbage that end up each year in the Anacostia, looked for ways to cut down on the bags that make up much of the debris.

Other places that have imposed fees have seen dramatic changes in consumer behavior. A fiscal impact statement by Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi cites the experiences of Ireland and Denmark in assuming that the District would see a 50 percent reduction in the number of disposable bags used in the first year. The report estimates that if the 5-cent tax were adopted in the District, the number of disposable paper or plastic bags from grocery, drug, convenience and liquor stores would drop from 270 million used in fiscal 2010 to 27 million sold in fiscal 2013.

Eleven of 13 council members endorsed the bill, which won unanimous approval from the two committees. What's particularly heartening about the bill's support is that it comes despite efforts by opponents to color the debate with issues of race and class. Post columnist Marc Fisher reported how residents in African American neighborhoods in Southeast were targeted with faxes and robocalls in a lobbying attempt reminiscent of the ugly campaign that surrounded defeat of a 1987 ballot question that would have imposed a deposit on bottles and cans. This time, it didn't work because, as council member Yvette M. Alexander (D-Ward 7) told us at a Ward 7 Democrats I attended this past Saturday, her constituents care just as much about the river and the appearance of their neighborhoods as their counterparts in other wards of the city.



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