Is Petworth Becoming the U Street Corridor?

• July 27th 2009

by Mark Wellborn

Prince of Petworth is reporting that the owners of U Street hot spots Marvin and The Gibson will be opening up a new place on Georgia Avenue in Petworth. The establishment (unclear presently if it will be a bar or restaurant) will be in the space that used to house Billy Simpson’s House of Seafood at 3815 Georgia Avenue NW (see map here).

In keeping with their theme of honoring local and international icons (Marvin for Marvin Gaye and The Gibson for pianist Elsworth Gibson), the owners noted that the name of the new establishment will pay homage to Billy Simpson’s restaurant.

In his post, PoP noted that the arrival of a place with this type of reputation “says a lot about the future of Georgia Ave.” So does that mean that this stretch of the avenue is set to transform like U Street did ten years ago?

The signs of change are similar. U Street’s renaissance started around the U Street/Cardozo Metro station, and much of the development in Petworth is centered around the Georgia Avenue/Petworth station. U Street is now home to a number of newish condo and apartment complexes, and comparably, the new Park Place apartment complex, Petworth’s first major residential project with over 150 units, just had its ribbon-cutting ceremony. And just as Marvin, The Gibson and Busboys and Poets made U Street a popular nightlife destination over the last ten years, similarly trendy spots are cropping up in Petworth.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/is_petworth_becoming_the_u_street_corridor/1174.