Zipcar and Flexcar, D.C.’s two most popular car-sharing companies, announced they are merging Wednesday. Emails to customers of both companies directed them to an announcement on Zipcar’s website. “The combined company will provide our members with increased benefits and improve our ability to expand into new markets,” said Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith in the statement. The new company will operate under the Zipcar name, and while the pricing plans are still being hammered out, they…

The Washington Business Journal reported yesterday that the Washington Convention Center will be officially renamed to honor D.C.’s first elected mayor, Walter E. Washington. Apparently the D.C. Council approved the name change last year, though we can’t recall having heard about it at the time. The idea is a fine one though, and Washington is certainly worthy of having his legacy honored. So what’s the problem? As of Nov. 5, the building will officially become…

Many neighborhoods in the District tend to go through a rather predictable routine. They start as fringe areas, slowly attract residents and business owners looking for good deals on housing and commercial properties, see an influx of newcomers as word spreads, and soon become the city’s next hot destination. And throughout the process the usual conflicts tend to emerge — between old and new residents, between local and national businesses. Yesterday the rather tranquil Barracks…

The Washington Business Journal reported this morning Monday that Carpool on Fairfax Drive will be torn down in favor of building something the Arlington area clearly needs more of — condos. D.C.-based Donohoe is behind the plans to replace the billiards hall with a 232,500-square-foot mixed-use development of condominiums and retail outlets. Over at Pygmalion in a Blanket, the Nabob sums up our feelings about the news far better than we could: Where does one…

It’s just not a good time to be in local media. The Post has had its share of labor disputes and forced resignations, WJLA has been accused of ignoring worker rights, and now unionized employees at NBC 4 might go on strike. The Washington Business Journal yesterday reported that 2,500 workers at four NBC Universal-owned television stations, local affiliate NBC 4 included, have voted to authorize a strike over a contract that expired in March…

It was a tantalizing prospect. The news that Walter Reed Army Medical Center would close in 2011 had District residents and officials dreaming of the possible uses for the 113 acres of land located between 16th Street and Georgia Avenue in residential Northwest Washington. Getting their hands on the land was always a longshot, however, and news organizations are reporting today that the Feds have lowered the boom on the idea — deciding instead to…

It’s already been a busy year for development in the corridor of land that stretches from Bryant Street north along North Capitol to Catholic University. DCist has kept a close eye on the debate between residents of the nearby neighborhoods (of Park View, Petworth, and Brookland) and the Armed Forces Retirement Home, which intends to open portions of its massive campus to commercial and residential development. Green space has been a part of that discussion,…

Scorching housing markets across the country might be taking a breather, but Washington area buyers and sellers don’t seem particularly fazed by rising interest rates and uncertain economic conditions. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight is reporting year on year growth for the last quarter of 2005 of 12.95 percent nationwide, which equates to a fair amount of continued energy for the country as a whole. In Washington, however, prices last quarter were…

The Washington Business Journal broke the news late last night that the director of the District Department of Health, Gregg Pane, has chosen Marsha Martin, a longtime HIV/AIDS activist and director of the non-profit organization AIDS Action, to head up the city’s troubled HIV/AIDS Administration (HAA). Once the appointment is officially announced, Martin would take the helm of an understaffed government bureaucracy which has been accused of failing to adequately address the HIV/AIDS crisis in…

New WMATA Chairman Wants Rider Input: We can hear applause somewhere. WMATA’s new board chairman, Dana Kauffman, says that he wants the system to be accountable to the riders who use it and is proposing many new external relations efforts that will boost the weight of rider’s input into upper-level decisions regarding the transit system. The Post reports that these efforts will include a riders’ advisory board, public comments at WMATA board meetings, regular town…