Condo construction continues
Despite rumors to the contrary, construction has not stopped at the future site of the Cityline Condominiums. The project is in full swing, complete with the drone of drills and pounding hammers.
"Does it look like construction has stopped?" asked a sales agent at the condominiums' office. "Do you see the men in the windows working?" He explained that construction looked like it had stopped because work is being done on the interior, and that is more difficult to see from the street.
The tar on the front has recently been extended, and the windows are beginning to go in. The fa?ade on Wisconsin Avenue will be the last part of the project to be completed, in "one last sweep," said the sales representative.
The condominium complex, located on the corner of Wisconsin and Albemarle avenues above Best Buy, is on schedule to open in early 2005. "We can't predict the future," said the sales agent. "One should be prepared for variation." If there is some kind of unforeseen disaster, the project will suffer setbacks, he said, but otherwise everything is expected to go according to schedule.
He explained that the hurricanes in Florida have made it harder to get some materials, but it is not terribly affecting them.
Ninety percent of the 209 condos have been sold. The starting price is $300,000, but prices are as high as $1,000,000.
"The community, in general, finds this project, which is being built under the current zoning laws, to be a very welcome addition, and we would happily welcome more such developments along the Wisconsin Avenue Corridor," said Amy McVey, chair of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E, which represents the Tenleytown, AU Park and Friendship Heights neighborhoods.
- THEODORA BLANCHFIELD
Michael Moore no more at GMU
Officials at George Mason University cancelled a scheduled appearance by liberal filmmaker Michael Moore Thursday, after conservative legislators objected to public funds being used to pay his speaking fee.
"It was decided that this event would be an inappropriate use of state resources," a short statement from GMU said.
Moore was supposed to receive $35,000 to speak at the Patriot Center on the GMU campus Oct. 28. The event was part of his "Slacker Uprising Tour."
The tour is going to 60 cities in 20 states over the next month. It is targeted at non-voting college students.
"I want everyone in their teens and twenties who exist from one packet of Ramen noodles to the next bag of Tostitos to take your fully-justified cynicism and toss it like a Molotov right into the middle of this election," Moore said about the tour in his blog.
The Washington Post reported that Moore plans to speak at GMU despite the cancellation. It also reported that Moore believes GMU owes him his $35,000 speaking fee, which he would donate to charity.
- EMILY CARONE
