Faces of the Front

Mozzelle Isley
Resident, Axiom at Capitol Yards
Mozzelle Isley relocated to DC and fell in love with the Axiom apartments and the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. She's met many people in her building in their 20s and 30s and enjoys the sense of community and the variety of events including taco nights and football playoff parties. Though without a car, she raves about the convenient location close to Metro and several bus lines MORE

TJ Oleksiak
Resident, Townhouse
An early believer in the Capitol Riverfront, TJ Oleksiak purchased a 100-year-old townhome in 2005. He's already seen the promise of the neighborhood fulfilled - the value of his home has increased since he purchased it, new residents have moved in and parks are being built. His hopes are being realized and "what is here now is just the beginning!" MORE

Daryl Jackson
Resident, Capitol Hill Tower Co-Op
Daryl Jackson, a General Services Administration (GSA) Contracting Officer, moved to the Capitol Riverfront in August 2006. His friends envy the spirit of community that is evident when they visit him at his co-op. “We are a close-knit community, and we have bonded in a way that most other communities don’t.” MORE

Monica Murdoch
Manager, Starbucks
Against a national backdrop of shrinking workforces and diminishing services, one Capitol Riverfront business manager is longing for more weekend staff and longer weekend hours. At the Starbucks at the corner of New Jersey Avenue and M Street SE, business has never been better. “We’re getting a lot of traffic and we’re still growing despite what people say about the economy,” says manager Monica Murdoch. “I’m surprised at our weekend growth, up 15 percent since last year ….” MORE

Carol and Ed Kaminski
Residents, Velocity Condos
After living near Annapolis for the last decade, Carol and Ed Kaminski are ready for a change. Their suburban home with its good schools and plenty of room, suited them well as their children were growing up. But these self-described foodies – who love going to new restaurants, theater and museums – always found suburban life a little sterile. With their children now in college, they decided to make a move to the District, and after an extensive search from Upper Northwest to Dupont Circle, discovered the Capitol Riverfront and Velocity condos. MORE

Mostofa Mohammed
Owner, Subway
Stop in at Mostofa Mohammed’s Subway sandwich shop near the corner of New Jersey Ave, SE and M Street, SE any day during lunch time, and hungry Capitol Riverfront customers are often lined up outside the door and onto the sidewalk. Since its opening in December 2004, this Subway restaurant has experienced double-digit annual growth that has catapulted it into a top-five ranking of the chain’s 1,000 stores in the Greater Washington region.MORE

Bonita Holbrook
Resident, Capitol Quarter
Bonita Holbrook and her family have waited a long time to move into their townhouse in Capitol Quarter. Holbrook had been living with her three children and her mother in the Arthur Capper Carollsburg public housing project since the early 1990s. But getting to a new home meant leaving the neighborhood for awhile. They moved back to The Front in May of 2009 and haven’t looked back. MORE

Thomas and Carey Dougan
Residents, Capitol Quarter
For Thomas and Carey Dougan, the Capitol Riverfront is the perfect place to raise two young children. “The community has been welcoming; offering free outdoor movies, farmers markets, family nights at the Nationals Stadium and other social events has really helped us build a strong community” Carey says. MORE

Todd Myers
Director of Operations, Alion Science and Technology
To Todd Myers, the director of operations for Alion Science and Technology, the Capitol Riverfront is a “great location for government consulting and contracting.” Aside from its business advantages, the strategic location of his office offers Myers a wealth of opportunities both now and in the future to savor life in this neighborhood by the river. “There are a lot of exciting things happening in this neighborhood. People who haven’t come down in the last year or so really don’t know what this neighborhood is all about” he says. MORE

Duffy and Elena Welsh
Residents, Capitol Quarter
Several years ago, while living in a condo in Penn Quarter, an internet search suggested the Congressional Cemetery dog park as a good place to exercise their pooches. Along the way, they'd detour through The Front to check out the future site of the new stadium. Quickly outgrowing their condo, Duffy and Elena stopped by the EYA’s Capitol Quarter sales center after one of their dog walking adventures. The duo were so taken with the property that they camped out for a week to secure a townhome reservation, even turning down offers of $10,000 to $20,000 for their place in line. MORE

Wyatt Cardwell
Manager, Courtyard by Marriott
Wyatt Cardwell needs just one word to sum up his reaction to his first Capitol Riverfront visit in 15 years. “Wow.” The manager of the Marriott Courtyard Hotel at L Street, SE and New Jersey Avenue, SE, says he has been both stunned and excited by the transformation of what he calls “this city within the city.” “I was in total awe of what is already here and what is going to be here in the future,” says the 20-year Marriott employee…MORE

Liam and Meredith Larue
Residents, Velocity Condos
To Coast Guard veteran Liam Larue, life along the Capitol Riverfront is a winning tapestry of change and convenience, underscored by “the promise of building up a kind of a forgotten part of town.” A convert to urban living, Liam has lived at Capitol Hill Tower since 2006, and recently joined his fiancé in purchasing a new condominium at the nearby Velocity. MORE

Jack Whitsitt
Resident, Onyx on First Apartments
For two Capitol Riverfront newcomers, the long wait for a perfect apartment came during a short wait for exhibit space at Artomatic. Armed with a wish list that included a place with more space and a more flexible floor plan than their Northwest D.C. apartment, Jack Whitsitt and Paivi Salonen were standing on line to register for exhibit space at the tenth annual arts festival when a sign for The Onyx caught their eye. MORE

Arman Moyer
Owner, Chicken Tortilla
Until he became the business manager of the Chicken Tortilla restaurant, 30-year District resident Arman Moyer hadn’t spent much time in the Capitol Riverfront. But he likes what he sees now – a vibrant, accessible neighborhood with flair. “There is a lot of vitality. The Nationals Stadium has brought us lots of business, while the new parks have kept the area like a small and friendly neighborhood,” he says. MORE