Observations 20 days in:

Found somewhere with internet outside Riverdale for this post.  :)  

Obviously it is a bit disappointing that some of the basic stuff you would expect like mail, internet and trash still are not there but these are some other things I have noticed.

First, although the hiker/biker trail is officially closed it seems everyone is using it.   There is a barrier there but directly to the side of it there is a PVC pipe a few inches off the ground which is the “barrier”… So many folks have went that way that there is a trail worn through the grass.  I think they are not officially opening the trail since the construction is going on in the area but maybe they don’t care if folks use it.

The walk to the metro is about 0.7 miles and since I walk fast I usually am making it to the metro in around 15 minutes.  It’s a great walk through a great neighborhood and there is tree cover/shade most of the way.

The metro ride to Capitol Hill does take a bit longer than I expected as the ride from College Park to L'enfant Plaza is around 30 minutes.  The train is usually a quarter full at the College Park stop though so I get a seat and even when it reaches L'enfant it is still not packed.   I was taking the Red Line in the past few years at the same time of day and a lot of days a train would show up so full that no one could even get on.  College Park IS losing the Yellow line next week due to metro cuts… so we will have to see what impact only having Green Line at College Park will have.

I’m very happy with the townhouse overall.  There are a few selections I wish I would have done differently but overall it’s great.  I will detail some things I think I did right and some things I missed with my selections in a later post so hopefully I can help folks down the road.  We are still working very hard to get settled in and get the right furniture in the right places.  Getting even furniture delivered when your address does not exist has been a challenge.

I will post more construction pictures later but most of the building three exterior is finished now.  It is looking like that one is on track for August closings.  Finally I am seeing they are putting in the foundations down at building four, if we follow the same timeline that would be late October/November for building four closings…  Late last week I saw they started prepping some of the land down for some of the later buildings, seems they may start getting ready for foundations down there at some point soon.  I did hear that they just stared selling past building four...

Speaking of selling, Unit 3 in building one (a Parker) is still for sale and one Dawson down in building three is also still for sale.

More updates to come....

Mail for Riverdale Park Station

If you are currently living at Riverdale Park Station all of the mail is going to and staying at the sorting station that is right behind the Whole Foods.   I created a ticket with the post office about this back when I moved in but there still has not been any resolution.   Although that building is not open to the public if you go in there and ask real nice they will give you your mail.

Pricing Structure Change:

There was recently another $3000 price hike across the board but they FINALLY got smart about the Cassidy and made the price differential higher.  I am not sure what took them so long.

Read my post from 3/8/17 regarding this:

http://riverdaleparkstation.blogspot.com/2017/03/dearth-of-cassidys.html

Only a $25,000 difference between the Parker and the Cassidy was the reason they had a waiting list for Cassidy’s that exceeded the number of Cassidy’s that will even be built way back in February 2017 before anything had even been built….   Now it is a $45,000 difference which makes a lot more sense.   For the 8 people who got locked in before this change this is great news.   If one of those 8 reads this blog I am very curious how early you had to get on that list to get a Cassidy since in February the waiting list was already so long.  I am thinking maybe back in Fall of 2016?  The first day they went on sale?

The pricing history on the smallest floor plan (Dawson) has been:

12/9/16:               $415,000

1/22/16:               $425,000

3/2/17:                 $430,000    

3/28/17:               $440,000

6/5/17:                 $443,000

 The pricing history on the middle floor plan (Parker) has been:

12/9/16:               $440,000

1/22/16:               $450,000

3/2/17:                 $455,000

3/28/17:               $470,000

6/5/17:                 $473,000

 The pricing history on the largest floor plan (Cassidy) has been:

12/9/16:               $465,000

1/22/16:               $475,000

3/2/17:                 $480,000

3/28/17:               $495,000

6/5/17:                 $518,000

No internet service, no mail service, no trash service.

Both Verizon and Comcast are saying no internet will be available at Riverdale Park Station for quite some time.  Comcast is saying at least 90 days and Verizon will not even give a date.  Stanley Martin is saying Comcast should have already been available as of last week and should be ready any day now but that is not what I am hearing from Comcast.  I am hoping Stanley Martin has better information than I do from a higher source.

The mail apparently does not get delivered here as well.   I got the issue raised to the postmaster and I should have something back from them this week according to the source at the post office I spoke with.

There is also no trash service…. At least there are dumpsters around from construction.

I am not sure how the two folks that closed a few months ago in building one have been making do but maybe next time I see one of them outside I can ask.

I figured being in building two would mean I would not have to deal with these types of issues but it appears the building #1 folks are extremely patient.  :)

Ahhh the joys of being early....

No Internet Yet:

Quick post from my phone...  Apparently Comcast/Verizon is still not available for a few days more  at Riverdale Park Station.   Lots to post once I get internet!