Pennsylvania Avenue restaurants await answers on GW construction plans

Media Credit: Hatchet File Photo

Mehran, an Indian and Pakistani restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue frequented by students, plans to move to a new location in Foggy Bottom.

Administrators have yet to pick a developer for its 11-story office building along Pennsylvania Avenue, which local business owners say has kept them waiting far longer than expected.

GW will demolish a row of townhouses and local businesses some of which have sat on Pennsylvania Avenue for decades, like Thai Place, Mehran and Panda Cafe to build the office complex early next year. But those restaurants still haven't heard the final word about when they need to relocate their spaces.

Alicia Knight, senior associate vice president of operations, said last week that GW was still interviewing potential developers, but maintained that the project was not delayed.

We are still on track and plan to make an announcement this spring, she said in an interview.

GW had predicted it could begin planning construction as early as 2014, according to its website.

Businesses will receive six months' notice from GW before having to vacate their locations, Knight said in January, but only one has left since the project was announced in November 2011. The project took a small step forward last week when the D.C. Council approved the reconfiguring of an alleyway that will be adjusted in the construction process.

Five-year Mehran employee Kamran Khan said he expected to be notified by the University in March and has begun scouting new locations for the restaurant, including a spot on 21st and L streets, where he said rent is twice as expensive as their current location.

Panda Cafe manager Lisa Zheng said she has not heard anything from the University and does not know when they will be expected to leave their space.

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Pennsylvania Avenue restaurants await answers on GW construction plans