Meeting about 3701 Georgia Ave redevelopment (Sweet Mango Cafe)

Meeting about 3701 Georgia Ave redevelopment (Sweet Mango Cafe)

ANC 4C Commissioner Timothy Jones is holding a Single Member District meeting (SMD) tonight at 801 Shepherd St NW at 7pm along with Rooney Properties, the new owner and developer of 3701 Georgia Avenue, which used to be Sweet Mango Cafe.

Read more about the meeting and links to the backstory, after the break:

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A plan for Sweet Mango's Chuck Brown mural?

Rooney Properties, who purchased the former Sweet Mango Cafe's foreclosed building at 3701 New Hampshire Avenue NW this past April, told the Washington Post that they are looking at options to save the Chuck Brown mural painted on the side of the building.

The developer's current plans call for construction to begin on the new building next summer and to find ways to preserve the mural. (See my previous article on the 21-unit building to replace Sweet Mango Cafe.) None of the plans seem to involve saving the actual wall where it now stands, but involve pictures or perhaps moving it someplace else.

“I love the mural,” said Lex Lefebvre, director of development for Rooney Properties, to the Washington Post this week. “We obviously know the mural has a lot of significance in the neighborhood and so we talked about a couple of ways we can incorporate it into the new project.”

Current design for the new 21-unit apartment building to replace the Sweet Mango Cafe building.

While the mural is relatively recent, having been painted in 2012, it's a local favorite. There has been a fair amount of unhappiness at the potential loss of the mural (as well as Sweet Mango Cafe).

Apparently one of the ideas the developer has to preserve the mural is to take high-resolution photographs of the mural and hang photos in the lobby of the new building. 

Another idea, according to Lefebvre, is that the wall facing north on New Hampshire Ave will be blank in the current design (as opposed to the southern facing wall the mural is now), and that perhaps that northern wall space can be used for a new mural. 

The Post article states that: "But Lefebvre noted that the building’s neighbor is allowed to build against that wall, so the spot is not ideal. The mural could also be placed in the lobby of the apartment building or in one of the retail spaces. 'We are certainly looking at all options,' Lefebvre said."

There is a new restaurant, "3701 Jerk Station," temporarily in the building. They're hoping to reopen in the same location after the current building is torn down and the new building is completed.

Source: Washington Post

Drew

Hyperlocal community journalist in Petworth, Washington DC.



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Sweet Mango Cafe to become 21-unit apartment building (updated)

Image courtesy of UrbanTurf

If you were wondering what was going to happen to the Sweet Mango Cafe after it closed earlier this year, wonder no more. Looks like it's going to be torn down to build a 21-unit apartment building at 3701 New Hampshire Ave. 

According to DC UrbanTurf, "the 65-foot, five-story residential development will have one and two-bedroom residential units on floors two through five and there will be retail on the ground floor."

And of course, the developer wants to get a variance to reduce the amount of required parking spots down from the 13 the zoning laws call for (not sure what the final desired number is). The developer will need to go before ANC 4C and ask for a letter of support, and then the DC Zoning Board will have to approve their request for the variance.

Considering it'll be an apartment building with 1-2 bedroom units located across the street from the Petworth metro and a block from Safeway, etc, I would image that they'll get that variance approved.

7/31 Update: For those lamenting the loss of Sweet Mangos Cafe, bear in mind that the restaurant closed in March 2015 due to financial troubles (the building went into foreclosure). It was subsequently purchased by Rooney Properties for $2,430,000. There had been rumors of a new restaurant, but since the lot is zoned for residential as well, it's not a surprise that it's being redeveloped into a larger building. This redevelopment into a new mixed-use building is not the cause of Sweet Mango's demise.

According to a Park View blog post from April:

"The property is zoned GA/C-3-A. C-3-A permits matter-of-right medium density development, with a density incentive for residential development within a general pattern of mixed-use development to a maximum lot occupancy of 75% for residential use and 100% for all other uses and a maximum height of sixty-five (65) feet. Additionally, the Georgia Avenue (GA) overlay stipulates that the ground floor level of each building shall have a uniform minimum clear floor-to-ceiling height of 14 ft. To accommodate this, buildings permitted an additional five feet of building height over that permitted as a matter-of-right in the underlying zone, meaning that any new development on the site could be up to seventy (70) feet."

 

Chuck Brown mural on the side of the former Sweet Mango Cafe

It will be a shame to lose that awesome mural, though. The mural was put up in 2012 to honor iconic DC musician Chuck Brown (the mural was drawn from a 1992 photo taken by Washington City Paper) who passed away that year (here's his Washington Post obit). Sounds like a great opportunity for ANC Commissioner Timothy Jones (4C08) to reach out to the developer and work with them to get a new mural created at that location.

There's been some lively discussion on this topic on the Petworth News Facebook page. Feel free to add your thoughts on FB or below.

One resident posted this option on the Petworth News Facebook page:

Courtesy Mike Henry

Sources: DC.UrbanTurf, ParkViewDC 

Drew

Hyperlocal community journalist in Petworth, Washington DC.



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