District Digest: Week of 3/6/19

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The Starbucks location at 2300 Wisconsin Ave will close on March 30th. Image credit Kate Michael

Starbucks to close Glover Park location

Starbucks is closing 4 of its 50 DC locations this year.  All location closures are in NW.  Three have already closed; the last is the location at 2300 Wisconsin Ave, which will close on March 30th. The company says the move is an attempt to boost sluggish sales by closing underperforming stores.  It usually closes about 50 stores, total, per year.

Free St. Patrick’s Day Lyft rides offered to deter impaired driving

Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the 2019 St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide® program will be in operation beginning at 4:00 pm on Sunday, March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day) and continues until 4:00 am on Monday, March 18th, 2019 as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk holiday.

During this twelve-hour period, area residents age 21 and older celebrating with alcohol may download Lyft to their phones, then enter a SoberRide® code in the app’s “Promo” section to receive their no cost (up to $15) safe transportation home. WRAP’s St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide® promo code will be posted at 3:00 pm on Sunday, March 17th on www.SoberRide.com.

SoberRide® is offered throughout Lyft’s Washington, D.C. coverage area which includes all or parts of: the District of Columbia; the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s; and the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William.

Dupont’s Hotel Palomar sold to new ownership

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust closed on the sale of Dupont’s Hotel Palomar (2121 P Street NW) on February 22nd for $141.5 million.  The hotel was purchased by LaSalle in 2012 for $143.8 million, then when Pebblebrook acquired LaSalle, it fell under Pebblerbook’s extensive holdings in the area.  Now, it’s the latest in the REIT’s sale of local assets. 

Pebblebrook sold the Liaison Capital Hill for $111 million earlier in February, and is still looking to offload three other of its Kimpton properties, the Hotel Madera, Topaz Hotel, and Rouge Hotel.  No buyer was named in the Hotel Palomar sale.

DPW launches new street sweeping reminder app

Residential street sweeping resumes Monday, March 4th.  Parked vehicles may be towed to allow the sweepers access to the curb lane.  To help avoid fines and towing, the new “myDPW” mobile app now allows residents to receive alerts about when to move their vehicles ahead of weekly residential street sweeping.  In addition to alerts about street sweeping, the mobile app will allow residents to sign up for DPW’s existing booting/towing and leaf collection alerts.  The app can be downloaded from the AppStore or GooglePlay using the search terms “MyDPW” or “MyDPWDC.”

Free Circulator service extended into March

DC Circulator rides will remain free through March 31st.  The Mayor announced the boon to DC Circulator riders as she celebrated the 3rd anniversary of the DC Streetcar last week.  She also announced that veterans would receive a free year of Capital Bike Share membership, made possible through a partnership with the Mayor’s Office on Veteran’s Affairs.