Breakfast links: Want to rent in a “green” building? It’ll cost you a bit more.
1225 Connecticut Avenue NW is a LEED-certified office building by AgnosticPreachersKid licensed under Creative Commons.
Buildings with LEED certifications charge a higher rent in DC
A study of new multifamily buildings for rent in DC found that buildings with a LEED environmental certification charged about 15% higher rents, or 45 cents more per square foot. (Nena Perry-Brown / Urban Turf)
The train tracks between DC and Baltimore will get an upgrade
Amtrak will replace and realign some of the train tracks between the two cities so that all tracks can carry high speed Acela trains by 2021. Currently only two of the three tracks are available for high speed trains, creating a bottleneck. (Neal Augenstein / WTOP)
A two-year project to narrow Maryland Avenue NE is about to kick off
Construction on a project to reduce the car travel lanes from four to two, and add bike lanes in both directions on Maryland Ave NE between 2nd Street and 14th Street, will begin this summer, and will last until summer 2021. (Andrew Giambrone / Curbed)
The MoCo Planning Board candidates don’t agree on a building moratorium
At a public forum, five candidates and the current board chair disagreed on what to change about the current building moratorium. Only two candidates outright opposed or approved of the moratorium. (Caitlynn Peetz / Bethesda Beat)
The Commonwealth’s Attorney primary is an unexpectedly high dollar race
The primary between incumbent Theo Stamos and challenger Parisa Dehghani-Tafti for the Arlington and Falls Church prosecutor position has raised close to $1 million, an unprecedented amount. Tafti’s progressive challenger has drawn large contributions from national PACs. (Airey / ARL Now)
Both sides are still fighting ahead of the highway widening vote
After leaders from Montgomery and Prince George’s County proposed alternatives to the Beltway and I-270 widening, Governor Larry Hogan again defended the proposal and attacked critics as “pro-traffic.” The Board of Public Works will vote today on the public-private parternship to fund the highway expansion. (Kate Ryan / WTOP)
Governor Ralph Northam calls for a special legislative session on gun control
Following last week’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach, the Governor called for a special session of the Virginia legislature where he hopes to pass “common sense” gun control, like as universal background checks, despite opposition from Republican legislators in the General Assembly. (Marie Albiges / Virginian-Pilot)
Two new bills could expand voting in DC
A bill introduced in the DC Council would restore voting rights to incarcerated felons in the District, while another bill would let residents vote by mail in order to increase turnout. The vote-by-mail bill has already gotten support from the majority of the Council. (Martin Austermuhle / WAMU)
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