Living in Glover Park
It’s been two and a half years since my Glover Park tour and since then we’ve all learned about a world with Covid. What happened in Glover Park? Businesses closed, and there have been huge changes with both real estate and the schools and a few good surprises. Let’s find out what’s happening in Glover Park.
Whole Foods is OPEN for business. The Glover Park Whole Foods was mired in legal controversy for several years all over rats. Yes, rats. Many neighbors followed the ups and downs of the legal case, but suffice it to say, the store has reopened and is the first Whole Foods Store to have totally contactless service. You scan your phone or the palm of your hand (I’m not joking) when you go in and shop, then scan your palm again on the way out. You never scan the groceries, the store just knows with cameras when items leave shelves and they are added to your virtual cart.
Trader Joes is still going strong, as is Safeway and if you prefer Giant, head up to Cathedral Commons, about a mile north of Glover Park.
Restaurants
Restaurants didn’t fare so well during Covid. Casolare and Arcuri’s closed, along with our Food Hall first called Ghostline then renamed Social Beast. They didn’t survive Covid unfortunately and that space remains empty.
We still have Sweetgreens, Bread & Soda, Wingos, Chipotle, Dumplings & Beyond and Old Europe – though that was looking shaky for a moment.
In late 2019 Surfside moved to Tenleytown, leaving their space open and that is now occupied by Mario’s Trattoria. And in Arcuri’s space another Italian Restaurant is expected. Glover Park Grill replaced Casolare.
Real Estate
Real Estate has gone off the rails. Two and a half years ago I was reporting pricing of $800,000 for a home that needed work up to the low $1M’s. All that has changed. The days of a house priced in the 6 figures is gone. Glover Park’s rowhomes have hit new highs, starting in the low $1M’s and closing as high as $1.8M+.
The initial sales prices of these homes 90 years ago was $7500!
Schools
Another exciting change is that KinderCare opened at Wisconsin and Calvert. So in addition to the Guy Mason Co-operative, there’s another daycare option here
Next exciting change is that due to all the families with kids, there will be a new high school added to alleviate overcrowding at Wilson High School. All of these issues are currently being hammered out so it’s still too soon to know the final details but a few things are certain.
Some Stoddert Elementary kids may be re-zoned to a new elementary school – Foxhall Elementary which will be at 1550 Foxhall Rd, the former Lab School. This is either going to be a PK-5 school with its own boundary to serve, or, it will become an upper elementary school for Key and Stoddert Elementary schools.
Side note: These are the stupid decisions by DCPS that enrage me. Why you would split up students even further into grades when many families have to now make multiple drop-offs is beyond me.
MacArthur High School will be at 4530 MacArthur Blvd, occupying the former lower and middle school of Georgetown Day School.
In other news, Georgetown Pediatrics is moving their hospital location on Reservoir Rd this summer (2022) to their buildings at 2115 Wisconsin Avenue.
The gems of the neighborhood are also still here – Georgetown Library where I find myself once a week, the Guy Mason Recreation Center and the Playground and dog park.
Stoddert is also a joint-DPR recreation center so as life returns to “normal,” there have been games and leagues back on the field instead of just work-from-home dwellers laying on the field to get some sun and fresh air.
And finally, our neighbors in the Russian Embassy appear to have gotten out of dodge. No surprise there, but there is much protesting being done outside the Embassy, due to their attack on Ukraine, and I’m not sure anyone is actually inside that building. It’s cold and dark. Like Siberia.
But the huge pro to living in Glover Park really proved itself, when over the holiday break, the Russian students didn’t return. We all knew on January 2nd that something was happening. And that’s a newsbreak no other media could provide.
