On Saturday, October 3, the Kalorama Citizens Association set out refreshments from SoleLuna on the upper level of the Adams Morgan Plaza and invited the neighborhood to celebrate. The party marked the end of a lawsuit that began in 2017. On paper, the guarantee it celebrated covers two plazas. One is the plaza that exists now at 18th Street and Columbia Road. The other doesn't exist yet. Jubilee Housing expects to break ground on it, along with a six-story building, in 2027.
The settlement keeps a public place on this corner permanently, and it also clears the way for the corner to be rebuilt. The current layout has roughly one more year, and the blocks of 18th Street around it are already turning over.
The Win Covers Access, Including a Plaza Still on the Drawing Board
Under the agreement, Jubilee Housing, which now owns the property, granted KCA a conservation easement. KCA's summary says the easement lets the association help plan events, recommend upgrades, and keep community access to "the existing and future plazas in perpetuity." The site covers more than 4,000 square feet. KCA says the plaza was created for community use in the late 1970s.
The future version already has a design. KCA and its co-plaintiff, Adams Morgan for Reasonable Development, worked with Jubilee and its architects at Eric Colbert & Associates on the plan. In KCA's words:
"The future plaza... will include seating, greenery, a covered portico area, and a small stage."
Jubilee will build on the footprint of the old bank building. Jubilee's development page describes a six-story, mixed-use building with 51 affordable homes, a habitable penthouse, basement-level parking, and "a multifunctional community plaza designed to serve residents and neighbors alike." A small stage and a covered portico would give future events on this corner something the current plaza lacks.
Eight Years, in Order
The case moved slowly, and each step explains why the corner looks the way it does today. The dates below come from KCA's account, which PoPville republished on October 9:
- 2017. KCA and Adams Morgan for Reasonable Development sue SunTrust Bank to keep the plaza public. SunTrust had planned to sell the site to developers whose condo building would have covered the entire plaza.
- December 2022. The D.C. Court of Appeals rules that the case should go to trial, a win for the plaintiffs.
- October 2023. SunTrust, which had become Truist Bank while the case went on, donates the property to Jubilee Housing.
- September 2024. The D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board approves Jubilee's construction plans.
- December 12, 2025. Judge D.W. Tunnage of D.C. Superior Court dismisses the case after the parties reach their agreement.
- October 3, 2026. KCA holds its celebration on the upper plaza.
- 2027. Jubilee expects to break ground.
According to KCA, attorneys Paul Zukerberg, Cynthia Pols and Amanda Fox Perry worked on the case pro bono, and KCA donations covered court costs. The easement is posted on KCA's site for anyone who wants to read the document itself.
What the Plaza Does Until Construction Starts
Between now and groundbreaking, the plaza's recent role has been as a site for the neighborhood's big event days. Adams Morgan Day on September 13 used the space, listed as 1800 Plaza at 1800 Columbia Road, as one of its programming sites. In 2025, the Adams Morgan Partnership kicked off its AdMo Vibe summer concert series with the Washington Capitals at Jubilee Plaza, then held the Thursday concerts at Kalorama Park. This summer's AdMo Vibe series at Kalorama Park ended August 27.
The Saturday farmers market has already moved. KCA's homepage still shows a photo captioned "The farmers market on the plaza, 2016." This year's FRESHFARM guide places the Adams Morgan Farmers Market at Euclid Street and Columbia Road NW, the Unity Park end of Columbia, on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
No one has published a date or plan for closing the plaza during construction. Jubilee says it is still working with District agencies, financial partners and consultants on financing, design and permitting, and expects to share updates "in the months and years ahead." Until that schedule appears, the plaza stays as it is, and the noticeable change on this corner is a few doors up 18th Street.
18th Street Has Already Started Turning Over
North of Columbia Road, the 2400 block of 18th Street has been turning over all summer. In July, Eater DC reported that Mola at 2438 18th Street had closed. The space next door, the former Mellow Mushroom at 2436, is where the Popal Group is bringing back The Berliner, the German beer hall that closed in Georgetown in 2022. Eater's fall preview forecast an October opening, with sausages, pretzels and a long rotating tap list. As of October 15, City Cast DC said no specific dates had been released. The Berliner joins Lapis, Lapop and Maison Bar à Vins, three other Popal Group restaurants in the same neighborhood.
Here is where each address stood as of mid-October, from the plaza corner outward:
| Address | Business | Status this fall |
|---|---|---|
| 2321 18th St. NW | The Boogiedown | Launched 9/11/26 |
| 2339 18th St. NW | Wingo's | Signage up, opening date pending |
| 2431 18th St. NW | BUL Korean Restaurant | Reopened, per PoPville on Oct. 2 |
| 2436 18th St. NW | The Berliner | Forecast for fall, no confirmed date |
| 2438 18th St. NW | Mola | Closed in July |
| 2001 18th St. NW | CARLA | Opened Sept. 24 |
PoPville billed The Boogiedown as a New York sports bar. BUL, which serves Korean comfort food and soju, came back on 18th Street at the start of October.
At the south end of the strip, where 18th meets U Street, CARLA is a walk-in-only bar with no reservations. According to PoPville, it's open Tuesday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., closed Sunday and Monday. It serves $5 bites and $11 spritzes all day, plus a weekday happy hour from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Farther south, toward Dupont, Dupont Market at 1807 18th Street plans to add coffee and lattes. On October 2, PoPville said the upgrades were expected in about three weeks and that alcohol sales would pause for roughly six months. A restaurant is reportedly moving into the former Pupatella space at 18th and S Streets, but no tenant has been named.
A Fall Calendar Within Walking Distance
The corner's regular events still fill out late October and November:
- Saturdays through December 19, 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Adams Morgan Farmers Market at Euclid Street and Columbia Road. Licking Creek Bend Farm handles CSA pickup.
- Sunday, October 25, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Mitchell Park's free Fall Fun Day at 2222 S Street NW in Sheridan-Kalorama, with children's crafts, inflatables, face painting, a balloon artist and food vendors.
- Saturday, November 7. Adams Morgan Fall PorchFest, with more than 100 bands on more than 25 stages and a new pre-holiday vendor market. The headquarters tent is at the plaza at 18th Street and Adams Mill Road, a different plaza from the one at Columbia Road.
- Any day. The Ancestors Pavilion at Walter Pierce Park now has a wood-and-steel bench, paid for with more than $3,500 KCA raised for it. The pavilion, dedicated in September 2024, lists the names of 8,428 African American and Quaker Washingtonians buried in two 19th-century cemeteries on the site.
Until Jubilee announces a construction schedule, the plaza at 18th and Columbia stays in its current form, open and largely unprogrammed. The redesign with seating, greenery, a covered portico and a small stage is next in line.
When a corner this close to home changes, it can quietly affect how buyers value the blocks around it. If you'd like a measured look at what the 18th and Columbia timeline could mean for a Kalorama property, Capital Residential Properties offers it privately. Request a confidential market consultation.
