Bloomingdale Bites
Tree Carver Nabbed
In late April DC police arrested a suspect who may be responsible for carving crop circles into hundreds of street trees in the Shaw and Bloomingdale neighborhoods. The perpetrator, Jose Villacorta, used a brick to carve circles into the trunks of more than 750 oak, sycamore, cherry, and ginkgo trees in the area. The suspect wounded and damaged the bark of the trees, making them vulnerable to disease, pollution, and insects. A forest of damaged trees stretches from the northern tip of 2nd and W streets to 5th and M streets NW. The tree damage spreads east from 9th Street to North Capitol Street.
According to a police report, officers caught Villacorta, 46, in March damaging sidewalk trees on the southwest corner of 9th and P streets NW. When police arrested Villacorta and charged him with destruction of property, he falsely told police that his name was Bonerje Hernandez. Weeks after being arrested, Villacorta failed to appear in court for a hearing at the DC Superior Court, and the city subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest. On April 26, 2014, police caught Villacorta in the Logan Circle area and arrested him a second time for failing to appear in court.
How should the community prevent crimes of this magnitude from happening? "Be aware of your surroundings, and if you see something say something by calling 911," said police spokesman Hugh Carew.
Bloomingdale Home Prices Skyrocket
Bloomingdale homes can't sell fast enough, according to new real estate data released by RealEstate Business Intelligence. According to the market research agency, total home sales have increased 80 percent in the past year, jumping from $4.6 million to $8.4 million. Bloomingdale is such a hot place to live that home prices have increased 20 percent over the past year. In the just the first quarter of the year 15 condos and houses were sold in the area.
"Buyer demand is high in Bloomingdale," said Suzanne Des Marais, the president-elect of the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors and an associate broker with the 10 Square Team at Keller Williams Capital Properties. Des Marais has sold homes in the neighborhood since 2001. "Whereas 10 years ago people looked in Bloomingdale because they could get more space for their dollars, with the recent increase in commercial development Bloomingdale has become a destination of choice for many buyers."
As a realtor who lives and sells property in the neighborhood, Des Marais has witnessed the area's dramatic transformation first-hand. "When I started listing houses in the area, and even for many years after, I would deliberately advertise them as being in LeDroit Park because it was a more recognizable name," she said. "Many real estate agents at that time were unfamiliar with the area. Bloomingdale has become a specific destination for many buyers. We also get a lot of traffic at our Bloomingdale open houses from people who currently rent or own condos in the neighborhood and want to stay and buy or buy larger."
Des Marais said that a variety of factors are responsible for the increase in demand for Bloomingdale property. The demand is driven first by “the architectural stock, which is primarily late 1800s/early 1900s solid brick construction, much of it classic Victorian bayfront. A second factor is that “many of the homes in the neighborhood have income-producing English basement apartments or the potential for such, which somewhat offsets the rising prices.” As a third factor she cited “commercial development, which includes a great local coffee place, several sit-down restaurants, a yoga studio, an awesome farmer's market, and access to transportation options such as Bikeshare.” She adds that Metro is “about a ten minute walk, and there are several bus lines."
Sales figures for Bloomingdale are projected to increase as potential sellers thaw out of this year's defiant winter cold. Home inventory in the area will increase, predicted Des Marais, once the weather gets a bit warmer.
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