Vox doesn’t necessarily share the same enthusiasm of the Safeway press release announcing Social Safeway’s impending reopening—which is entitled “The Return of a Washington, D.C. Legend”—but we are excited to hear that after almost nine months of construction, the Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue has a scheduled a definite date for when it will reopen, May 6, 2010.

And its reopening with enough amenities to make you think you’ve wandered into a Barnes & Noble, maybe a mall. The new, 24-hour Safeway store will include a Starbucks bar, an indoor and outdoor seating area with a fireplace, WiFi, and HD televisions, a sushi bar, a gelato bar, and a dry cleaner’s.

Safeway is also boasting that this will be its ‘greenest’ store in the District, and it will seek LEED certification when it opens. LEED certification is awarded by the U. S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization which bills the award as the “nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.”

Safeway will continue its free delivery to Georgetown area codes for orders over $50 until it reopens. The code for free groceries is “FREE642.”

In December, unplowed side streets disappointed commissioners

On Monday, the Advisory Neighborhood Commission kicked off the New Year with a relatively empty slate of issues, due mostly to the fact that the Old Georgetown Board doesn’t meet in January. Vox couldn’t be there, but afterwards, we caught up with student Commissioner Aaron Golds (COL `11) to hear what happened.

Among the business that did take place, citizens of Liechtenstein will be happy to know that the ANC approved a public space permit for a flagpole for their nation’s embassy on K Street.

The ANC also received an update that the Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue should reopen according to schedule in May. They responded to some construction issues on 35th Street and reviewed the District Department of Transportation’s response to the massive blizzard that enveloped D.C. just a few weeks ago.

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Plans for the interior of the renovated Georgetown Library

Georgetown Metropolitan has a writeup of all the new and returning restaurants, businesses, and attractions that we can expect to open in Georgetown in 2010. The post, inexplicably entitled “2010: The Year That Will Be,” lists the following as establishments that will open this year:

• Safeway – 1855 Wisconsin Ave – May 2010 – Originally slated to open in March, Social Safeway is supposed to make its grand, green reopening in May. And this one will have gelato, a sushi bar, and a Jamba Juice!

• Apple Store – 1229 Wisconsin Ave – May 2010 – After months of doing battle with the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Old Georgetown Board, who together rejected four drafts for an Apple Store on Wisconsin Avenue, an Apple Store was approved to build in March. So far, builders have demolished the French Connection building that formerly stood there.

• Georgetown Library – 3260 R Street – Fall 2010 – A new library with superior facilities will replace the old one that burned down in a huge fire in May of 2007.

• Ristorante Piccolo – 1068 31st Street – 2010 – This cozy date spot was ravaged by a fire in October 2008. Armed with plans for new rooftop seating, Ristorante Piccolo is supposed to open any day now.

Georgetown Metropolitan also lists a number of spots which may or may not see change in the coming year. Something may open up in the old Nathan’s restaurant location, possibly a steak frites place and the old Georgetown Theater property is for sale. And Pottery Barn is closing its Georgetown Store, he reports.

The Washington Business Journal has also reported that a new cafe will open in what used to be a gallery space at 1639 Wisconsin Avenue.

Photo from DCLibrary.Org

When it reopens in 2010, the produce aisle may not be Social Safeway’s only “green” feature. Owners of the currently under-construction Safeway on Wisconsin Avenue will seek LEED certification for the new building, DCmud reports.

LEED certification is awarded by the U. S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization which bills the award as the “nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.” Georgetown University seeks LEED certification for its new buildings, too.

Unfortunately, students and Georgetown residents won’t be able to marvel at Social Safeway’s eco-whatever features until May—not March, as originally planned. Safeway will continue its free delivery to Georgetown area codes for orders over $50 until it reopens. The code for free groceries is “FREE642.”

Photo from Social Safeway website.

With the Wisconsin Avenue Safeway out of commission, are your shopping needs just not being met by Whole Foods/Safeway Delivery/Trader Joe’s?  GUTS has your back!

According to Georgetown’s Director of Media Relations Andy Pino, GUTS will be offering runs to the Rosslyn Safeway on weekends.

The change will combine the Rosslyn and Dupont Circle routes; GUTS buses will go from campus to Rosslyn, stopping on North Oak Street near the Safeway there, back to campus and then to Dupont.  Weekday service will not change.

You’ve come a long way, baby

The Wisconsin Ave. Safeway has been closed for about a month and a half and construction has started in earnest.

Unsurprisingly, it’s already started to irk the neighbors. On the GeorgetownForum listerv, a resident named Michael wrote yesterday:

Construction vehicles at the 1855 Wisconsin Ave site started at 6:30 AM today with their beep beep beep alarms, audible from at least 2 blocks away. Tuesday June 9 they finished after 11:15 PM. Are there limits on when construction activity can occur and if so, who’s responsible for enforcing them? How can the community assure the volume of the beep beep beep be muffled so they can be heard on site and not 2 or more blocks away from the site?

No one is against construction activity if it really has to proceed late at night. The community wants a grocery store sooner rather than later. It seems we can have both the construction activity and reasonable noise levels in the neighborhood. Any ideas?

Now that’s a pretty reasonable complaint, especially by local listerv standards. According to Safeway’s website (www.socialsafeway.com, I kid you not…), they’re doing special nighttime construction this week, so that may explain the after hours beeping. Still, it’s going to be a long year on the listservs…

How’s the actual construction going, though, you might wonder. The ever-obliging Safeway has set up a construction webcam which is updated daily with a new, impressively high-resolution photo of the site. So now you can stare longingly at the mound of dirt, remembering the good old days when it used to house actual groceries, as you try to figure out what else to add to your online cart to get to the $50 free-delivery threshold…

Photo from Safeway’s construction webcam.

When you’ve gotten over the initial shock of Wisconsin Avenue’s Safeway closing for a year, and made your way through all the extra stock you purchased in the ‘blowout sale’ at the location’s last hurrah, you’ll realize that you need a new grocery store to buy all your nourishing goodness. Well, have no fear, there are a few sample answers for this puzzling conundrum.

If you don’t feel like changing your routine much, Whole Foods at 2323 Wisconsin Ave is very willing to take on some extra clientele. This store sells those fancy, high quality natural and/or organic products, so you know your colon will be happy you made the switch. However, beware: your receipt total rises the healthier things get.

If you feel like dropping a few extra, unneeded dollars into the hands of those thieves’ Dean and Deluca, head down to 3276 M Street and get less than you pay for. Clearly the closest locale for grocery fulfillment, but experience tells me that you might leave empty handed and completely unfulfilled.

My personal favorite Safeway replacement, however, is Trader Joe’s, located at 1101 25th Street. This store offers some great organic products, and much more reasonably priced than Whole Foods or that pocket-emptying Dean & Deluca. This is highly recommended, if for nothing else than to try something a little bit more fresh.

Naturally, I’ve the left the best choice for last. In fact, you don’t have to change your routine at all. Even after the Wisconsin Safeway location is closed, you can place orders on www.safeway.com and they’ll bring it right to your doorstep and with promotion code FREE642 students can receive free delivery on all orders $50 dollars or more. Granted, you may be missing out on the total grocery shopping experience, but after all—the internet is the future!

So long, Social Safeway…

As the grocery reign of Social Safeway comes to a close, bargain hunters may rejoice in seeing the 20 – 30% off signs that plaster the store’s windows, an effort by management to sell off stock before their store closing this upcoming Sunday. Stepping into the store and seeing the scantily filled shelves, however, show that this hunt for value may lead to disappointing results.

For all those willing to trek up Wisconsin, there may still be a few golden finds. With Georgetown Day coming up, you’ll find yourself instinctively heading to the aisles that once housed bountiful amounts of six packs and assorted wines, but don’t bother; countless people already had that idea. Instead, make use of the discount to find something else that’ll benefit your alcoholism: mixers! While those around you ignorantly shell out for whatever they can find to mask the taste of their latest Towne purchase, plan ahead and purchase reserve supplies of sharply discounted pineapple orange banana Minute Maid or Simply Orange.

More deals and steals after the jump!

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In the first of what will be regular ANC 2E wrapups, we’re proud to bring you the events of last night’s ANC meeting. (But between Issue Rundowns, GUSA Roundups, and ANC Wrapups, it grieves me to report that we’re running out of summary nouns.)

Last night’s local government rumble had a considerable many high points:  the ANC’s communal chastisement of WASA Director Louis Jarvis, the Dixie Liquor owner’s truly pathetic request for an exception to the singles ban, a resolution of gun stores in Georgetown, Apple’s store redesign, and a visit from the wardmaster himself, Jack Evans.

Details to follow, but the Safeway on Wisconsin will be closing for construction for over a month this Spring.

WASA: Jarvis felt the fury of the ANC when he admitted that 30% of Ward 2 hydrants, still need maintenance nearly two years after bum hydrants stymied firefighter’s efforts to rescue the burning Georgetown Library.

Ed Solomon, who recently watched from his tuxedo shop as a dumpster fire at Addison School required a second pumper truck (the nearby hydrant, tagged as “needing maintenance” but still supposedly in working condition, was in fact a dud), noted that this amounted to 59 hydrants and called the situation “unacceptable.” Later in the meeting, Jack Evans agreed.

Dixie Liquors: Next, Dixie Liquor’s Jody Kurash stopped by to request an exception to Ward 2’s singles ban, saying the store projected a $38,000 loss in sales for this year based on 2008 figures.

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Mommy want a martini in the middle afternoon? Safeway will soon be able to help that. According to employees at the store, the supermarket just got its liquor license approved. We couldn’t speak to their manager—he’s apparently out of town for the week—but we can certainly speculate about the possible implications of this. Perhaps now you’ll be able to find bread, baby food and booze all in the same aisle.

Posted by Clare Malone, Features Editor