The Week in Real Estate

Every Friday, we round up the week’s real-estate news and gossip. By Alejandro Salinas

Comments () | Published November 14, 2008

• This morning, we reported that Washington-area residents are offering their houses for swap on Craigslist during Inauguration week. [Open House] Now the Washington Business Journal points out that developer JPI has started to rent out unleased apartments in two buildings near Nationals Park. [WBJ via Housing Complex]

• Urban Turf has the scoop on this weekend’s open houses, including a two-bedroom penthouse in the former Chinese embassy. [Urban Turf]

• The Washington Post’s article about struggling businesses in DC’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood [WaPo] has caught some (deserved) flack from bloggers. The Washington City Paper calls it “full of stereotypes,” [Housing Complex] while New Columbia Heights argues that evidence supporting the article’s argument is thin. [NCH]

• Mixed-use development Utopia, set for the Southwest corner of 14th and U streets, has been given the green light by the Historic Preservation Review Board and the Board of Zoning Adjustment—but not without conditions. [DCmud]

• Monument Realty, which owns the Watergate Hotel, is being sued for failing to maintain and repair the hotel’s deteriorating garage. The plaintiff claims that more than $5 million is needed to repair it. [WBJ]