SAMs have patrolled Downtown streets since 1997, when the Downtown BID was created. Overall, 70% of the SAM corps are DC residents. 

Cherry Blossom Explosion
She’s poised, elegant and inspiring. And this year, First Lady Michelle Obama is also the honorary chair of the National Cherry Blossom Festival®. First Ladies have played an important role with the cherry blossom trees and the Festival throughout history, dating back to Japan’s original gift in 1912, when First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. First Lady Lady Bird Johnson accepted an additional 3,800 trees from Japan in 1965.

First Lady Obama has been very vocal about getting to know the local community near and around her new home at the White House, and there’s no better time than the Festival, which marks the rite of spring in the nation’s capital, to take advantage of this opportunity. The annual two-week celebration runs through Sunday, April 12, with a medley of community and street festivals, soirees, daily cultural performances, cruises, fireworks, sporting events, demonstrations and the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade®, which will kick off at 10:00 am on Saturday, April 4, and run along Constitution Avenue from 7th to 17th Streets.

To help you navigate through all the activities, a Festival Guide and Festival Calendar Brochure produced by The Washington Examiner are available at the Jefferson Memorial from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and in welcome tents along the Tidal Basin. In addition, Borders (600 14th Street), an information center for the Festival, has copies of the guide and brochure at its DC, Maryland and Virginia stores. For more information, visit www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org. 

Neighborly Response
The long-awaited results of the 2008 Downtown Neighborhood Survey are in. Intended to gain a better understanding of the Downtown community and aid in attracting more retail and improving the quality of life, the report validates most findings in the 2007 survey, with one major exception: most residents now shop for groceries Downtown, thanks to Safeway‘s arrival at 5th and K Streets in Mount Vernon Triangle. As a result, residents shopping for groceries Downtown have climbed from 10% to 56%. In addition, the percentage of residents who now shop in Virginia for groceries has dropped from 41% to 16%, thus keeping a significant amount of retail dollars in DC.

Both survey results show that overwhelmingly Downtown BID area residents are young, well educated and live in high-income households. Their buying preferences indicate an unmet demand for shoppers’ goods retail, particularly grocery/food retail, fashion retail and department stores. The survey results will help recruit new retailers and promote Downtown as a regional shopping destination and weekend gateway for shopping, culture, entertainment and dining. For more survey results, visit www.downtowndc.org/neighborhood.

The Downtown BID, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, the Downtowner and the Penn Quarter Association sponsored the 2008 survey, which had more than 1,000 respondents, including 556 Downtown residents. Last year, a total of 975 respondents, including more than 700 residents, participated. The winner of the survey participant drawing will be announced on Thursday, April 2. Hotel Monaco (700 F Street) and Passion Food Hospitality—owners of DC Coast (1401 K Street), Tenh Penh (1001 Pennsylvania Avenue), Ceiba (701 14th Street) and Acadiana (901 New York Avenue) —will provide a weekend stay for two at the Hotel Monaco and dinner for four at any one of Passion Food Hospitality’s restaurants.

Progress on the Homeless Front
Homeless numbers on Downtown streets have dwindled steadily since March 2007.  As a result, property and retail manager and citizen complaints and homeless-related incidents have fallen by 50% and 85%, respectively.

The latest homeless count taken by Downtown SAMs shows additional progress. On February 24, 86 homeless people were counted on Downtown streets during the day, compared with 128 recorded in February 2008—a 33% drop. On January 28, as reported previously, a simultaneous, nationwide assessment of homeless people living on streets throughout the US found that 80 homeless people were living on Downtown streets at night. This compares with 137 in January 2008—a 42% decline. SAMs, Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, other city government employees and volunteers conducted the Downtown enumeration. 

The improvements represent an intense and coordinated effort to move the chronically homeless into permanent supportive housing. The Downtown BID’s Homeless Services Team has been working for two years to reduce the number of people living on Downtown streets by using a pragmatic, street-to-independence outreach program called Housing First. Partnerships with Pathways to Housing DC, MPD, the DC Department of Mental Health (DMH), the DC Department of Human Services (DHS) and Travelers Aid have made all the difference.

Pathways DC serves chronically homeless, single adults. It has an 85% retention rate housing homeless people on the streets of the one square mile Downtown BID area. The Homeless Services Team has benefited from Pathways DC’s close ties with DMH, DHS and the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness (801 Pennsylvania Avenue).  Moreover, the partnerships developed when the BID ran the Downtown Services Center (closed in January 2007) still play a vital role in the Homeless Services Team’s success. Some of these partners include Catholic Charities (924 G Street), Community Connections, Green Door, N Street Village, So Others May Eat (SOME), Miriam’s Kitchen, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Martha’s Table, Travelers Aid and, above all, the Community Partnership.

Rising Water Pressure
Get ready for a number of water and sewer-related charges. The impervious area charge on all DC property owners has been pushed back a month. The DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) will now impose the fee effective May 1. The new charge on water bills will appear separately from the reduced sewer rate —which will decrease by 16-cents per 100 cubic feet—and will be used to help the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pay for the $2.2 billion required to build tunnels that will reduce sewer overflows into local waterways, including the Anacostia and Rock Creek. The charge will be based on the square footage of a property’s impervious surface —man-made surfaces, such as paved driveways, patios, rooftops and parking lots, that cannot be penetrated by water easily. To view the amount of impervious surface area assigned to your property, log on to “MyAccount” or register for “MyAccount” at www.dcwasa.com. For more information about the fees, visit www.dcwasa.com/customercare/iab.cfm.

WASA also has proposed a 10% water and sewer rate increase, which, if adopted, will take effect October 1. A public hearing is planned for the summer, and the WASA Board will make a final determination at its September meeting. For more information and questions, e-mail info@dc.wasa.com or call 202.354.3600.

Also, the DC Department of the Environment (DDOE) is set to increase the stormwater fee on May 1. This fee and WASA’s charge are separate and address separate pollution control requirements. The stormwater fee—which helps pay for green roofs, rain gardens, tree planting, street sweeping and other activities that help keep waterways clean—is based currently on water and sewer usage for commercial and multifamily properties, but will be charged based on a property’s impervious surface area. Basically, the fee will shift the cost from properties with more green space to properties with more impervious surface area. DDOE is accepting written public comments on the increase through April 6. A public hearing is scheduled for April 13 at DDOE; written testimony will be accepted through April 10. For more information, visit http://ddoe.dc.gov/ddoe/cwp/view,a,1209,q,498382.asp or email jonathan.champion@dc.gov.

Taxing Matter
DC Councilmember Jack Evans (Ward 2) wants to bring investment back into DC and make the city more competitive. Last month, along with Councilmember David Catania (At-Large), he introduced a stimulus bill that would lower commercial property and business income tax rates. The first, he said, is much higher than surrounding jurisdictions, and the latter is among the highest in the nation. The DC Economic Growth and Investment Stimulus Act of 2009 is unlikely to gain much traction given the tenuous state of the economy and a $450 million projected shortfall in the DC budget, so jumpstarting a discussion about tax parity isn’t such a far-fetched idea.

The tax rates explain why. Evans’s bill would reduce commercial property tax rates—currently $1.65 per $100 of assessed value for the first $3 million of a property’s value and $1.85 above that—to $1.55 and $1.75, respectively, over the next two years. It would lower the income tax for corporate franchises and unincorporated franchises from 9.975% to 8.5% over three years. That’s nothing to laugh at. When interviewed about the measure, Richard H. Bradley, executive director of the Downtown BID, was quoted in the Washington Business Journal as saying, “I think it sends a message that DC is not just assuming this is a high-tax district, and if you don’t like it, screw you.” 

Council Chairman Vincent Gray and Councilmembers Tommy Wells (Ward 6) and Muriel Bowser (Ward 4) are co-sponsoring the bill.
 
Progress in Chinatown
The Chinatown Cultural Development Strategy (CCDS) planning team has released draft strategy and priority actions identified by several task forces working to begin revitalizing Chinatown into a lively enclave replete with street vendors, bright signage, cultural institutions, entertainment and usable green space. The 10 recommendations focus on goals established previously to develop strong community organizations that can work together; develop Chinatown as a cultural destination, given its status as the region’s only outdoor public space for holding events and festivals in an Asian ethnic neighborhood; create a Chinatown street experience to bring out the area’s character and unique feel; promote Chinatown businesses that offer high quality unique goods and services; and improve the quality of life to compete with popular suburban options.
 
Among the key actions suggested:

•	Develop a Chinatown Business Council or a Main Streets organization
•	Develop an Asian street market/festival by this summer, which would be a seasonal or monthly street market on H or I Streets
•	Revise signage regulations to allow for more creative and larger Asian signage to attract tourists and consumers
•	Create a Chinatown vending and economic development zones
•	Repair and enhance Chinatown Park

The DC Office of Planning and the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs—along with major input from the Downtown BID, other city agencies and community and business stakeholders—lead the CCDS, which has held four community meetings to date. For more information, contact Thor Nelson at thor.nelson@dc.gov or 202.741.5241.

Keeping Fit
The General Services Administration (GSA) is proposing exterior improvements to the Herbert C. Hoover Building (1401 Constitution Avenue), also known as the US Department of Commerce building. The facelift would include relocating the visitor entrance of the National Aquarium from 14th Street to Constitution Avenue; installing new base building utilities; replacing temporary perimeter security with permanent perimeter security that would encroach on public space; and upgrading entrance ramps to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and mitigate flooding. Public comments concerning the scope of the Environmental Assessment (EA) ended last month, but the draft EA is planned for release in June and will be made available for public review and comment at www.gsa.gov. The Hoover Building, constructed between 1927 and 1932 and named for the president who served as Commerce secretary during the agency’s early development, is currently undergoing a $652 million, 13-year renovation project that began in February 2008.

Deals Extraordinare
A big toast to the seven Downtown BID area projects that are finalists in six of 13 different categories in the Washington Business Journal’s Best Real Estate Deals of 2008 awards.  The honors recognize the region’s most prominent real estate projects closed in the previous year. In addition to the Journal, Beers + Cutler and Reed Smith sponsored the awards, which will be presented at a ceremony on April 29 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (1300 Pennsylvania Avenue).

The winners are as follows:

Architecture –	1331 L Street and 1099 New York Avenue
Interior Design –	American Association for Justice (777 6th Street)
Community Impact –	The Pew Charitable Trusts Non-Profit Village (901 E Street)
New Office Development –	1050 K Street and 1099 New York Avenue
Rehab/Renovation/Re-Use –	1401 New York Avenue
Retail Deal –	National Museum of Crime and Punishment (575 7th Street)

 

Springing Forward
Notice the changes lately over at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center (775 12th Street)? The hotel closed the Regatta Raw Bar, its nautical-themed, lobby level restaurant. Now the space is home to Fire & Sage, a casual restaurant offering soups, salads, sandwiches, brick oven-fired flatbreads and entrees. Fire & Sage seats 160 guests at communal tables and oversized booths and offers a private dining room that can accommodate up to 20 guests. The restaurant opened on March 27, one day after the hotel closed Metro Grille, its second floor dining room that served American cuisine. That space is now used for banquets. For more information, call 202.737.2200.

International Flair
A small Middle Eastern restaurant, Urfa Tomato Kabob (740 6th Street), has settled into space that Café Deli formerly occupied. The new Chinatown addition opened recently and features baklava, homemade falafel and tomato sauce and lamb, beef and chicken kabobs. The eatery is named for an ancient city in southeastern Turkey, often referred to as the Prophets’ City, which sits at the crossroads of routes to Europe, Asia and Africa. For more information, call 202.609.8970.
 
Italian Obsession
Another Italian restaurant is coming to the Downtown BID area to join Potenza (1430 H Street), Vapiano (623 H Street) and Siroc (915 15th Street). Pizza Autentica (1331 L Street), slated to open by mid-May, will specialize in homemade gelato, pizza and penne. It will be the first retail establishment in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s new LEED gold-certified building. The Italian café will seat about 32 and offer sidewalk dining for 30. Hakan Ilhan, the restaurant’s owner, founded the Café Cantina (1325 G Street) franchise.
 
Hot and Spicy 
Get ready for more Asian fare. The Royal Thai Cuisine & Bar will open at 507 H Street this month in newly renovated space that the Golden Horse Tourist, Inc. (513 H Street) and the Acupuncture and Herbal Center once occupied. The restaurant is owned by the Koll Group. Its signature dishes will include honey grilled Royal duck, volcano chicken, jumbo crispy soft shell crabs and tum yum soup. Royal Thai will occupy two floors and have a full bar and three separate dining areas, including private dining space. For more information, call 202.842.1405 or 202.842.1407.

Turning a New Page?
Chapters Literary Bookstore, one of the few independently owned Downtown bookstores, closed its doors at 445 11th Street in September 2007. Now the shop—with the help of DLA Piper (500 8th Street) law firm—has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization known as Chapters Literary Arts Center & Bookstore. Chapters also has signed a letter of intent to move into 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, a mixed-use development that it hopes will soon house the 22-year-old bookstore and its free monthly programs, a literary reference library, a letterpress center and tearoom. In addition, Chapters intends to offer literacy outreach with its legal neighbors at DC Superior Court and the Public Defender Service for DC (500 Indiana Avenue). It is accepting donations for the nonprofit entity and has less than 90 days to raise money for its new home. For more information, e-mail chapters.literary@erols.com or visit www.chaptersliterary.com.

Naturally Clean
Keep an eye out for the new Georgetown Valet (1100 13th Street) cleaners scheduled to open this month in the same 12-story building now home to Au Bon Pain restaurant. The full service, 100% organic dry cleaning plant will occupy nearly 1,500 square feet in an empty space with no previous tenant. In addition to dry cleaning, Georgetown Valet will offer alteration and tailoring services.

Healthy Food
The Penn Quarter FreshFarm Farmers’ Market does more than sell produce, seasonal soups and pastries, handmade soaps, plants, flowers and meat. It also has a gleaning program, and over the years has worked with several gleaning partners, who distribute leftover crops from farmers’ fields to communities in need. This year, the market has partnered once again with Thrive DC (309 E Street), formerly the Dinner Program for Homeless Women. The homeless prevention and services organization that serves women, men and children received more than 1,000 pounds of fresh food from the gleaning program last year. The FreshFarm Market will return to 8th Street, between D and E Streets, on April 2 and run through December 17. For more information, visit www.freshfarmmarkets.org.

Night at the Museums
What do you get when you combine daylight savings time with warmer weather? More time to spend at the Smithsonian. Three museums have extended their hours, allowing patrons two extra hours to browse and “ooh” and “ah.” The following have extended their hours until 7:30 pm: the National Museum of American History (14th Street and Constitution Avenue), through April 16; the National Museum of Natural History (1000 Constitution Avenue), through September 7; and the National Air and Space Museum, through September 6. For more information, visit www.si.edu.

Moving on Up
Greg Brown has been named general manager of the Capital Hilton (1001 16th Street). The native Virginian most recently managed the 390-room Hilton Boston Back Bay. He has spent 30 years working for Hilton and replaces Brian Kelleher, who was appointed complex general manager of the Doubletree Hotel Crystal City/National Airport and the Embassy Suites Hotel Crystal City/National Airport in February.
 
Stellar Examples
The Washington Business Journal has announced this year’s honorees for the second annual Minority Business Leader Awards. The awards pay homage to the Washington area’s top minority business leaders and owners who have demonstrated outstanding performance for their companies within the last 12 to 18 months. Hats off to Emilio Pardo, executive vice president and chief brand officer, AARP (601 E Street); and Raj Sharma, chief executive officer, Censeo Consulting Group (1331 H Street). 

Leading the Way
Kudos to two Downtown properties that know how to raise the bar for environmental sustainability—BP America (1101 New York Avenue) and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (1331 L Street), MBAA. They recently obtained certification under the US Green Building Council’s program for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). BP America’s interior office space received platinum certification, making it the second in the region, and one of only 13 nationwide, to earn the top certification.  The oil and natural gas producer’s 22,000 square foot government affairs office features sophisticated lighting fixtures and recycled products, including a wall made of salvaged timbers.

MBAA’s new building recently qualified for gold-certification for core and shell work, which covers base building elements such as the structure and HVAC system. The building began as a speculative office property; it was not designed to meet LEED standards. Its core and shell designation is one of only three in DC and among 18 nationally. In particular, it acknowledges the limits that developers of speculatively developed building face and, therefore, encourages the use of green design and construction practices in areas over which they have control.

Supporting Clean Energy
Funding solar, wind and energy projects in DC just got a little easier. The District Department of the Environment  (DDOE) has rolled out a Renewable Energy Incentive Program. It’s the first of a series of multi-year Green Energy DC initiatives to support clean energy technology.  Under the program, residents, businesses, nonprofits and private schools can apply for rebates up to $33,000 to assist with installing solar photovoltaic and wind turbine systems. Up to $2 million for each of the next four years—2009 through 2012—will be available to eligible applicants. Incentives will also be available in the second quarter for solar thermal, geothermal, biomass and methane recovery systems. For more information and to download an application packet, visit www.greenenergy.dc.gov or e-mail greenenergy@dc.gov.

A Piece of the Action
Good news on the greening front. The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which creates jobs and restores economic growth, will also help fuel the metropolitan Washington area’s green-building movement. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. The legislation increases resources significantly for the US General Services Administration (GSA) to green federal buildings and buy more alternative-fuel vehicles. Thus, GSA—which manages 8,600 government-owned or leased buildings—will receive $4.5 billion to convert federal buildings to high-performance green buildings. Given that a third of the government’s total square footage is located in this region, much of that cash will end up here. To find out more about GSA’s environmental initiatives, visit www.gsa.gov/gogreen.

Jolly Green Giant
Green buildings in the metropolitan Washington area rank as the 4th greenest in the country.  According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) list of the top 25 cities with the most Energy Star qualified buildings in 2008, the Washington area had 136 buildings, or 42.3 million square feet of space. This resulted in total cost savings of $42.2 million. Los Angeles (262 buildings), San Francisco (194) and Houston (145) took the top three spots. For the complete list of qualified buildings, visit www.energystar.gov/ia/business/downloads/2008_top_25_cities_chart.pdf.

Big Red
They’re here. Two new DC Circulator bus routes now extend across new areas of the city. One route operates between the Woodley Park/Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and McPherson Square Metro via the 14th Street corridor. The other new route goes from Union Station to the Navy Yard Metro by way of the new Capitol Visitor Center, Barracks Row and the Capitol Riverfront. These additions bring the total number of Circulator routes up to five. The existing three routes run east-west, connecting Georgetown with Union Station, operating primarily along K Street and Massachusetts Avenue; north-south, connecting the Convention Center with the Maine Avenue waterfront, operating mostly along 7th and 9th Streets; and around the National Mall.
 
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) partner with the city’s business improvement districts, or BIDs, to provide Circulator service. In a recent Washington Business Journal article about the new routes, Richard H. Bradley, executive director of the Downtown BID, was quoted as saying “the Circulator is branded as a different kind of transit experience. It’s more visible; it comes more frequently; it’s a little more friendly.” The shiny red buses have operated since 2005 and carried the 8 millionth passenger last month. More information about the new transit lines is available at www.dccirculator.com.

Feeding the Meter
DC parking meter rates are increasing. The higher rates should be in place at all 15,453 city meters by month’s end. As a result of new legislation passed by the City Council, parking meters that previously charged $1 per hour will now charge $2 per hour. All other parking meters will increase by 25-cents per hour. So a meter that costs 25 cents to park for one hour will increase to 50-cents per hour. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) began updating the meters in February; it hopes to have all meters updated by April 30.
 
Stimulus Bonus
The economic stimulus package is paying dividends already for local transit riders. Beginning last month, the maximum monthly transit benefit nearly doubled to $230.  Now employers can subsidize their employees’ travel by as much as $2,760 a year. Previously, the allowance was $120 a month, or $1,440 a year. In the metropolitan Washington area, about 190,000 employees from 400 federal agencies and 4,000 private employers—including the Downtown BID—use the benefit. They participate in the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) SmartBenefits program. Employees also can receive the nontaxable benefit in the form of a pre-tax payroll deduction.

Patchwork Frenzy
The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is patching those nagging potholes that are all too familiar after winter storms. Since Mayor Fenty launched “Potholepalooza,” a month-long campaign that encourages pedestrians and motorists to phone in, go online, twitter or e-mail requests for pothole repairs, several thousand potholes have been eliminated within 48 hours since March 11. The normal response time is within 72 hours. Halfway through the campaign, an average of 280 repairs were made each day. If you see any potholes call the Mayor’s Call Center at 311, log on to the Online Service Request Center at www.dc.gov, text message or Tweet to twitter.com/DDOTDC, or email potholepalooza@dc.gov. Remember to identify the pothole's location, including the city quadrant. And provide as much information as possible, including the approximate size and depth of the pothole. Act quickly. The campaign to repair the potholes within 48 hours ends after April 11.

Preferred Makeover
There’s a new vision for the National Mall, the historic landmark where 25 million Americans come annually to protest, celebrate and play. Plans to refurbish America’s front yard now call for eliminating the National Sylvan Theater and the Capitol Reflecting Pool (not to be confused with the larger Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool), sprucing up two monuments—the District of Columbia War Memorial and the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial—and making way for more restrooms and seating. The National Park Service (NPS) prefers this preliminary alternative to restore and protect the civic landscape.
 
Under the plan, the reflecting pool could be replaced with another water feature and the Sylvan Theater—the site for free military concerts, plays, rallies and ballets—succeeded by a multipurpose entertainment facility. Nothing is written in stone; and a final version of the plan may take another year to create. NPS is seeking broad public input and urging the public to submit comments about the preliminary preferred alternative by April 20 at www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan. Note that Pennsylvania Avenue is no longer part of the National Mall Plan. The issues facing America’s Main Street are a little different and, therefore, require a separate environmental document.

“The National Park Service is really doing good work. From suggested improvements it has made in facilities and infrastructure to visitor information, education and enjoyment, the agency has stayed true to its intent to establish a sense of place and an overall, comprehensive identity for the Mall,” said Rick Reinhard, the Downtown BID’s deputy executive director of planning and development, who serves as a liaison to NPS on the National Mall Plan.

The underfunded and overused Mall continues to benefit from the largess of Downtown property owner Chip Akridge, chairman of Akridge (601 13th Street), the full-service real estate firm. He launched the Trust for the National Mall formally in 2007 and is its chairman and major benefactor. Under Akridge’s tutelage, the Trust has raised more than $3 million in private funds to assist with Mall improvements.

Watch that Sign!
Effective April 1, businesses that violate the city’s ban on signs placed in public space, particularly on sidewalks, will be fined $150 for the first violation—double that amount for subsequent violations. The exceptions: Realtor open house and valet parking signs. The regulation is not new, but because the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has received many complaints lately about a proliferation of illegal signs in public space, the agency beefed up enforcement to ensure safe and efficient travel for pedestrians and vehicular traffic. For information on how to apply for legally permitted storefront advertising—the kind that’s affixed to a building front—contact the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) at 202.442.4678.

Stand Up and Be Counted
In March 2010, the US government will mail the 2010 Census questionnaire to millions of Americans. It’s important that DC receives an accurate count. Population counts influence retail decisions and housing development. In 2006, the US Census raised its 2005 estimate of DC’s population from 551,000 to 582,000 after the DC government challenged the count. The following year, it also raised the city’s July 2006 population estimate from 581,530 to 585,459. The 2007 Census population estimates confirm a steady increase in DC’s population, which has risen by 16,493 since 2000. The increased population figures, and the demographics they represent, help determine the amount and type of retail that the city can attract, as well as housing that developers may build. Although a year away, all eyes will be on the 2010 Census—and with good reason.

Small Wonders, Big Opportunity
Paying tribute to DC-based businesses has special meaning for the Washington, DC Economic Partnership (1495 F Street), or WDCEP, which is now accepting nominations for its second annual BusinessPremier Small Business Awards. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to spurring DC’s economic development.  It plans to reward three deserving organizations in the following categories: Small Business of the Year, 100-Year-Old Business of the Year and Small Business Initiative of the Year (for a government agency or nonprofit organization). Nominations and applications are due by May 20. For more information and to download an application, visit www.wdcep.com/pdf/events/sba_app09.pdf. 

To encourage entrepreneurship during these trying economic times, WDCEP also has launched a $100,000 PremierPlan business plan competition for small businesses. The DC Certified Capital Company (CAPCO) Program, whose partners help increase private capital investment in the city’s new or expanding small businesses, is funding the new initiative, which will award $100,000 in investment capital and a package of pro bono services. Applications are due April 20; business plans must be submitted by May 20. For information about workshops to help create the most compelling business plan and to download an application, visit www.wdcep.com/newsletter96.php?aId=391&pageId=44.

Historic Honors
Know of people, organizations or businesses that have made a tremendous difference promoting historic preservation in our nation’s capital? The DC Historic Preservation Office wants to hear from you. The agency is accepting applications for the Seventh Annual Mayors Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation through May 1. The 2009 awards cover seven categories: Excellence in Archaeology, Community Involvement, Historic Preservation, Preservation Advocacy, Public Education, Stewardship and Individual Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in Historic Preservation. Last year, EHT Traceries, Inc.  (1121 5th Street), a Downtown research and consulting firm specializing in architectural history and historic preservation, walked away with one of the coveted awards.  This year, deserving honorees will be saluted at a program slated for Thursday, November 5. For more information, visit http://www.planning.dc.gov/planning/cwp/view,a,1284,q,635477.asp..

Tuesday, April 14, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Downtown Neighborhood Association
Monthly Meeting
Calvary Baptist Church
755 8th Street

Residents and workers are invited to this Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting. This month’s featured discussion leader will be Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning Neil Albert.He will be joined by officers from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Patrol Service Area 101W. To RSVP, email miles@dcdna.org. For more information, visit www.dcdna.org.

Tuesday, April 21, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
NAIOP Maryland/DC Chapter
Getting It Done – The Art of the New Deal
Grand Hyatt
1000 H Street

Discover at this Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP) Maryland/DC Chapter seminar why some deals evolve while others stall. The discussion will include deal savers and deal breakers in this post boom era, when a new way of doing deals is shaping up. Rich Lane, a principal with West, Lane & Schlager ONCOR International and a specialist in tenant representation, will moderate a panel that includes senior designer Marc Schneiderman, Dennis Cotter with James G. Davis Construction and Jonathan Kaylor, senior vice president, Boston Properties. Members pay $75; guests pay $100. For more information, visit www.naiopmddc.org.

Wednesday, April 22, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm
DC Department of Small and Local Business Development and GreenHome
Greening DC Restaurant Workshop for Business Owners
One Judiciary Square
441 4th Street

Join the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) and GreenHome for this free workshop for DC restaurant owners. Learn strategies for reducing operating expenses, increasing customer sales and positively impacting the environment within your budget. To register, complete a brief survey online at www.dslbd.dc.gov, then click on “Green/Sustainability Business Resources.” For more information, contact Camille Nixon at camille.nixon@dc.gov, or call 202. 727-3900.

Thursday, April 23, 7:30 am – 10:30 am
District of Columbia Building Industry Association
Seminar: What Do You Say After You’ve Said Dubai?
National Press Club
529 14th Street

The District of Columbia Building Industry Association is hosting this seminar, designed to keep real estate professionals informed of the latest market forecasts, developing trends and capital markets for both residential and commercial development.  The cost to members is $70; nonmembers pay $95. For more information, visit www.dcbia.org or call 202.966.8665.

Wednesday, April 29, 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Washington Business Journal
Best Real Estate Deals of 2008
Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue

Join the Washington Business Journal, along with sponsors Beers + Cutler and Reed Smith, as they announce the finalists for the Best Real Estate Deals of 2008. The awards presentation begins promptly at 6:30 pm, followed by a cocktail reception. Tickets are $175 each, or $1,500 for a reserved table of 10. For event questions, contact Mike LaRosa at mlarosa@bizjournals.com or 703.258.0854. To register, visit www.bizjournals.com/washington/event/5790.