JBG acquires majority of Akridge's Half Street project by Nationals Park

D.C. developer Akridge has sold the majority of its Half Street parcel across from Nationals Park to The JBG Cos., which is expected to redevelop the site with two new residential buildings and a large amount of what one executive called “dramatic” retail.

The site is currently home to the Fairgrounds, a popular outdoor hangout before and after Nationals games.

The deal was recorded Thursday, five months after Akridge launched a formal search for a new equity investor in the project. The developer…

At Hecht Warehouse, restaurants and retailers from tonier neighborhoods are drawn to a grittier D.C.

Geoff Dawson of Bedrock Bars swore he would never again come in on the front end of a redeveloping neighborhood, ever since his ill-fated Velocity Grill failed in the then-MCI Center.

But something about Ivy City, the industrial neighborhood in Northeast D.C. that is starting to see the beginnings of redevelopment, brought Dawson around. He plans to open the 4,000-square-foot Big Chief bar in a former warehouse later this year.

“I’ve been bitten before with getting in too early,” Dawson said this…

First Virginia Community Bank tops $600M in assets

Fairfax-based First Virginia Community Bank saw 2014 earnings rise more than 85 percent from the previous year and assets topped $600 million for the first time.

Full-year net income was $4.1 million, or 79 cents per share, compared with $2.2 million, or 48 cents per share in 2013.

Assets rose 19.3 percent in 2014 to $604.8 million. Loans rose 24.1 percent to $509.9 million.

First Virginia Community Bank ended the year with $504.2 million in deposits, up 17.3 percent from a year earlier.

The…

D.C. Health Link reports jump in second enrollment period

On the heels of news that Healthcare.gov enrolled some 11.4 million individuals during the Affordable Care Act’s second open-enrollment period, officials at the District’s health insurance marketplace reported their own major increases in signups.

During the second open-enrollment period, there were 4,422 new individuals who selected health plans on D.C. Health Link, 2,640 existing customers who selected new plans and 11,369 customers who had plans auto renew. That’s a total of more than 18,400…