Harris Teeter coming to Sherman and V? And Trader Joe's coming to 14th and U after December

Holy crap! I hope you like grocery stores, because it seems our area may be getting two good ones: a Trader Joe's is supposedly coming to the Louis development at 14th and U (next to the McDonalds) and a Harris Teeter may coming to the area where Florida Ave, Sherman Ave and V Street meet up -- specifically the Atlantic Plumbing building, the one with all the gum on it.

Pretty big news. The Trader Joe's just received a permit and Borderstan reports the building is supposed to be finished in December 2013 so TJ's would open after that.

The timeline for the Harris Teeter is fuzzier, especially since the redevelopment of that building hasn't even started and they still need to buy some property, but apparently have a commitment from Harris Teeter. The Louis building, on the other hand, is going up as we speak.

The Louis project sounds impressive: it's going to be big at 42,000 square feet of retail and 125 fancy residential units, including a rooftop pool, though it will be maintaining some of the existing facades.

They also have the weirdest ad campaign I've seen: it's some kind of candy-colored futuristic Black Eyed Peas meets King Louis XIV thing, or something, complete with pink dogs. It annoys me for some reason:

Capital Bikeshare adding stations in Petworth, elsewhere

If you're planning to bike north (maybe to Qualia Coffee or Domku) there are some new Capital Bikeshare options for you: the service has added stations at 14th & Upshur, 14th & Colorado, 5th & Kennedy and Georgia & Emerson. They also added one at 18th & Wyoming in Adams Morgan and others around the city. There's more info here (you have to hit "next page" to see the Petworth ones) which also includes the full list of 18 new stations around the city.

I use CaBi multiple times a week, and it's fantastic. I encourage you to check it out if you don't use it already, it's great for short hops or runs down the hill towards U Street. The phone app that tells you which stations have bikes or open docks is really useful too.

Yard sale on Saturday to benefit Mundo Verde Charter School

The weather is getting nice, which  means it's yard sale time again. Get yourself to 16th and Park for Mundo Verde Public Charter School's yard sale, where all the proceeds go to the school. They'll have kids' clothes and toys, small electronics, sporting goods, furniture, books and a lot more, plus door prizes, music and face painting for the kids. It'll be there from 9am to 1pm. Here's their flyer, check it out!

Mercado Flyer

Sportsman's Liquors is cool -- but want some smoked salmon-flavored vodka?

 The other day I stopped into Sportsman's Liquors, located at 3249 Mt. Pleasant Street NW (right at Park) and I was impressed. I was looking for Green Hat Gin, the locally made gin from New Columbia Distillers, and while they didn't have it, the friendly guy at the counter offered me a sample of another gin called New Amsterdam, which was tasty.

The place has a good selection and pretty good prices, and while it's a little farther than my favorite spot, CC's Liquors at 14th and Monroe, it's worth a visit if you live nearby.

Something else funny about the place is the random things they have, like this smoked salmon-flavored vodka. I can't think of a use for it -- maybe at breakfast, but who drinks vodka for breakfast? With orange juice it would probably be pretty weird. Then again, I guess Alaskans get pretty bored up there.

Mama Chuy opens patio, starts awesome 8 hour long 50% off drinks happy hour during the week

Mama Chuy, the great traditional Mexican taqueria at 2620 Georgia Ave NW, now has their patio open and is hosting brunch and happy hour -- 50% off all drinks from 11am-7pm!

If you haven't been, check it out -- it's run by a brother and sister with delicious small plates and entrees based on their Guadalajaran grandma's recipes. I've written about them before -- the tacos, sopes (flat tacos with a crispy flat shell) and small plates are all great. I'm a big fan of the al pastor, carne asada and espectially the milanesa tacos and sopes (breaded beef,) and their vegetarian options, like mushroom tacos, are good enough for carnivores. They have entrees too, though I haven't tried them yet -- the tacos are too good. The margaritas are sweet and tasty as well, and a 4-star rating from 67 reviews on Yelp can't be wrong!

I feel like this patio could be a great pre- or post-pool spot, once Banneker Pool is open just down the street. Plus they're open at lunchtime for the crowd who are around the area then.

Here's what they had to say on Twitter:

We opened our patio area and added 20-25 additional seats overall. We have seating on the patio, on the stoop, and an upstairs dining area. We have Happy Days Mon-Fri. 11am-7pm. All drinks are 50 % off during this time. Our hours are Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm. Fri-Sat 11am-11pm with our kitchen closing 30 min prior.

Is your rent dropping? Bloomberg says yes

Apparently one news source thinks your rent is going to drop -- but I'm not buying it. Bloomberg, the business news website and TV station, has an article out about rent in different US cities and claims rent will drop in DC by 2% this year.

Of course I'd like this to be true, but I can't imagine it. It's nice enough if landlords don't increase rent, let alone drop it. Plus if anybody has tried to find a place to live lately, it's crazy out there: huge open houses with tons of people, long questionnaires for potential housemates, and snap decisions due to places being filled really quickly.

There are some problems to Bloomberg's analysis though: they include the entire metro area, meaning the numbers are skewed by the burbs. They also say there's too much supply, but this doesn't seem to be the case in our area, where apartments are going for more than $2000 in new buildings. I know some buildings have been converted from condos to apartments, but as far as I can tell, those are being snapped up.

In Real Estate Business Intelligence's latest housing report for the 20010 zip code, there are fewer houses on the market now than 1 year ago, but prices are up 17%, which to me means there's still demand.

So if your rent has really dropped, I'd be shocked -- and good for you!

Kentucky Derby events at the Red Derby: Big Hat brunch, juleps, race on the big screen

The Kentucky Derby, the biggest horse race around, is this Saturday, and even if you can't tell whoever is supposed to win the race from Mr. Ed, the Red Derby has some fun stuff for you.

The Derb, at 3718 14th Street NW, has a pre-race Big Hat brunch (and their brunch is solid and cheap) plus they're showing the race on their big screen. There's also a $5 mint julep deal, the traditional drink of the race.

The race itself is at 6:24 pm, though there's lots of other races before. Sounds like a good time for some brunch n julep.