Welcome to 2009! While the economic downturn is slowing the pace of business here and elsewhere, it comes on the heels of an extraordinary year for NoMa. Last year brought an abundance of good news for NoMa and the city – NPR’s decision to relocate its headquarters here, the 521,000 square foot Department of Justice lease, Harris Teeter’s plans to bring NoMa its first grocery store, the opening of NoMa’s first new coffee shop and restaurant, and more office leases. Thousands of people visited NoMa for the first time to attend such exciting events as Artomatic – the best turnout ever for this one-of-a-kind arts extravaganza - and the James Bond Summer Film Festival. Through the efforts of the District of Columbia government and the BID, NoMa saw further investments in infrastructure and placemaking, including the construction of Phase 2 of the Metropolitan Branch Bike Trail, groundbreaking for a state-of-the-art bicycle station just outside Union Station, road and streetscape enhancements, and a matching grant for a public art installation at 1st and M Streets. 2009 promises to bring new challenges but also new opportunities. Stay tuned!

One NoMa Station (131 M Street, NE) is now nearly 70 percent leased with the latest lease executed in December with the General Services Administration (GSA) for 59,000 square feet. The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services will occupy the entire 2nd floor in 3Q 2009, joining EEOC and ATF in the building. The lease term is five years with a five year renewal option. David Alperstein and William Hill of Jones Lang LaSalle's Government Investor Services group represented the owners in the transaction. Henry Chapman of CBRE represented GSA.

Keep up with the latest progress on Trammel Crow Company’s Sentinel Square, a 412,000 sf office development at 1st and K Streets. Click here to view their web cam which is also available on the BID home page.

For the latest information on planned development in NoMa, download the BID’s recently updated development map. To request hard copies, contact info@nomabid.org.

NoMa will soon have two exciting new eateries. Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli and Sister’s Pizza & Mussels will open by the end of the month in the ATF Retail Building just outside the New York Avenue Metro station at 2nd and N Street, N.E. The restaurants will serve customers from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week, and offer delivery service to nearby homes and businesses. They join Pound Coffee and Five Guys Burgers & Fries, which opened in 2008.

Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli features such deli favorites as pastrami, corned beef, lox, Reubens, cheesesteaks, roast beef, turkey, and BLT, along with fresh salads, wraps, soups, healthy smoothies, breakfast selections, cheesecake, and other treats. Sister’s Pizza & Mussels, named after founder Steve Naples’ two pizza-loving daughters, specializes in New Jersey-style pizza, calzones, jumbo wings, steamed mussels with various sauces, steamed clams, fried calamari, and even a pizza with mussels and other seafood toppings.

Busy office workers and visitors now have even more options for grabbing a bite "on the fly" as well as an extra caffeine fix or sugar rush.

On The Fly is operating a vending cart in front of One NoMa Station at 131 M Street, just across M Street from the New York Avenue Metro, during the breakfast and lunch hours. Hot coffee and pastries are sold in the morning; lunchtime offerings include fresh tacos, empanadas, and salads.

Inside the lobby at One NoMa Station, a new convenience store is now open to the public from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It offers a wide variety of beverages and snacks along with dry cleaning service, which is discounted 20% through March 31st. Also inside One NoMa Station, a deli is under construction that is expected to open in a month or two. It will have a separate entrance on M Street.

Pound Coffee, which has been serving breakfast and lunch crowds for several months, is now open until 5:00 p.m. for those who need an extra caffeine fix to get through the workday.

New signage heralds the anticipated April, 2009 opening of NoMa’s first hotel, Courtyard by Marriott, located just steps from the New York Avenue Metro station. With 218 rooms and 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail space, The NoMa Courtyard by Marriott is the District’s first majority Hispanic-owned hotel. An elevator will provide direct access to the Metro station entrance and to the elevated Metropolitan Branch bicycle and pedestrian trail adjacent to the Metro track.

NoMa's Courtyard will premiere Marriot's new Central Bistro concept in DC. The lobby design includes a full kitchen with sit-down meal service that is open to the public, as well as grab-and-go options and comfortable lounge seating where guests can catch up on email or have informal meetings with friends or colleagues. Other amenities include free Wi-Fi, printers, fax machines, computers, and "media pods" for private meetings or TV viewing, library, and exercise room. Redesigned guest rooms offer flat-panel televisions, large work desks, ergonomic chairs, and king-size beds with plush mattresses, rich linens, and fluffy pillows.

DDOT started planting trees in NoMa this week and will add 45 new trees to the area by the end of March. The NoMa BID has been working closely with DDOT’s Urban Forestry Administration for the last year to reforest the neighborhood, including identifying and removing dead trees or stumps, planting empty tree boxes, and trimming and maintaining existing trees. These efforts will greatly improve the appearance of the neighborhood as well as the quality of life for those living and working here.

Speaking of trees, the BID has received two grants from Casey Trees’ Community Tree Planting Program. Casey Trees is a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring the urban forest canopy in the District of Columbia. The grants will provide a total of 31 new trees in two locations within the BID: the Metropolitan Branch Trail between L and M Streets, N.E., and a National Park Service (NPS) site at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and New Jersey Avenue, N.W.. The BID is working closely with NPS to prepare a landscape plan that conforms to the original design for this park. The BID will be soliciting local volunteers to assist with tree plantings this spring. If interested, please contact Merrit Drucker at mdrucker@nomabid.org.

Parking restrictions: According to information available at this time, there are no planned road closures in NoMa for inaugural activities on January 20th. The District’s Department of Transportation (DDOT), however, has informed the BID that parking on several streets will be reserved for charter buses. These streets include North Capitol Street; First Street, N.E.; H Street, N.W.; and the following streets between North Capitol and First Street: K, L, Pierce, M, and Patterson. For reference, see the Washington Post's Inauguration Transportation Plan. The Secret Service could make last-minute changes to road closures; for the latest information, see http://www.inauguration.dc.gov/closures.asp. To register your cell phone number or email address for emergency announcements regarding transportation, weather and other emergencies in the city during the inaugural period (Jan 15 – 22, 2009), please visit: https://textalert.ema.dc.gov/register.php.

BID Support: The BID’s clean team and ambassadors will be out in force on January 20th supporting the thousands of visitors who are expected to park in NoMa and walk to the Mall. BID staff will be positioned at the New York Avenue and Union Station metros and street corners along 1st Street and North Capitol to greet visitors, provide maps and directions and distribute American flags.

Raise the Flag: Re-tracing Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural journey, the President-elect will arrive in Washington by train for the inaugural festivities on Saturday January 17th. After stops in Philadelphia, Delaware and Baltimore, President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden and their families will travel through NoMa before they disembark at Union Station. NoMa property owners are encouraged to welcome the presidential procession to Washington by displaying flags from your buildings, crane, flag poles and fences. For more information, contact the BID office at 202-289-0111.

The Art of Change Inaugural Ball: Last year the NoMa BID hosted the largest, most successful Artomatic ever. Our friends at Artomatic are at it again – this time planning a party celebrating President Obama’s Inauguration. Come join the fun!
Tuesday January 20, 2009
1021 7th Street, NW (Enter at the corner of 7th & New York Avenue, NW)
Doors Open at 8 PM; Creative Dress Requested
http://www.artists-ball.org

Virtually all of the 94 people who participated in the NoMa BID’s annual survey said that the neighborhood’s cleanliness, appearance, and public safety has improved - or greatly improved - over the last year. In addition, they provided very positive feedback on the events hosted by the NoMa BID last year, including Artomatic and the James Bond Film Festival. Respondents indicated their interest in continuing the film festival and in launching additional cultural events, lunch-time concerts, and eventually a weekday farmers market. Top priorities for the coming year, according to respondents, include public safety, economic development, and improvements to the public infrastructure including sidewalks and parks.

The NoMa BID has hired two new Safety Ambassadors. Robert Walker joined the BID in October after graduating from Project Empowerment, a District-funded job training program, and interning with the BID for several weeks during the summer. Albert Williams joined the team in December after completing customer service training offered by S.O.M.E. (So Others Might Eat). The BID now has four uniformed Ambassadors available to help workers and visitors within the rapidly developing neighborhood just north of Union Station in Washington, D.C. Since the Ambassador program was launched in April 2008, the Ambassadors have provided over 4,000 assists, including successfully moving five people from homelessness to housing and connecting 26 others with supportive services.

Please click here if you cannot view this email.
If you wish to no longer receive emails from the NoMa Business Improvement District, click here to unsubscribe.