Dupont to gain valet parking

Restaurants and shops on P Street Northwest in Dupont Circle are getting some financial assistance to ease the burden of construction on their street.

The city’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development has given the Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets program $56,000 to develop a valet parking program, said Morgan Zehner, executive director of the Dupont organization.

Retailers and restaurateurs say construction on P Street — from Dupont Circle to 23rd Street — has depleted parking in the area, preventing people who live elsewhere in the city or in the suburbs from stopping by. They expect to get some help from the parking program, in which Historic Main Streets will set up a valet station on P Street and park cars at John Francis Junior High School.

“We desperately wanted something to alleviate the parking mess and make it more amenable to come down there and park the car,” said Mike Silverstein, a local advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 2.

“The huge drop-off that they’ve all felt is in weekend business that often came from the outlying parts of the city and suburbs. Because of construction, no one can find a place to park,” he said.

Construction has “really killed business,” said Mark Medley, co-owner of Mark & Orlando’s restaurant at 2020 P St., where business was down 30 percent to 60 percent this spring and summer. He says his neighboring restaurants have been hurting, too.

Mr. Medley came up with the idea of a valet program about a year ago and started lobbying the school and D.C. Council.

Now, Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets is accepting bids from valet companies to set up the program. Mr. Medley expects it to be up and running by November or December.

In the meantime, Mr. Silverstein said, residents have stepped up and tried to support the restaurants.

“There has been a terrific surge in local support the past two months,” he said. “Folks in the community rallied. They know the owners by name — they’re friends and neighbors.”

In other news …

• Starwood Capital Group and Perseus Realty LLC signed an agreement to build an eco-friendly luxury hotel at 22nd and M streets Northwest. The hotel will be one of the world’s first “1” Hotels, which is Starwood Capital’s new five-star, eco-friendly brand. Construction on the 180-room hotel is expected to start in mid-2008; the hotel is scheduled to open in 2010.

• The 14th annual Taste of Georgetown is Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest. Restaurants will be selling samples and offering wine tastings. Tastings cost $5 each, $20 for five or $100 unlimited.

• Moe’s Southwest Grill has opened its latest Washington-area restaurant. This one is at 10250 Baltimore Ave. in College Park.

• Ratner Cos., a Vienna, Va., family-owned salon group, is raising money at its 115 Washington area Hair Cuttery, Bubbles and Salon Ceilo locations. Funds will go to Habitat for Humanity’s Gulf Coast efforts. The salons are collecting money through Oct. 28.

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