Route 1 nonprofit Community Forklift recently received a $750,000 grant from the federal government to expand its operations.

Located at 4671 Tanglewood Dr. in Edmonston, Community Forklift resells donated housing materials and furnishings.

Rep. Glenn Ivey recently helped the nonprofit get a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to train its truck crews, who pick up material at construction sites, and buy a new electric vehicle to make deliveries.

Executive Director Trey Davis said the training could help Community Forklift crew members get hands-on experience that they might later use to get a job in a related field.

“If you can deconstruct a building, then those are some of the skills that you can use in going into construction trades,” he said.

Over the summer, Community Forklift held regular “First Friday” events with live music and food trucks. It also works with other local groups, such as Emma’s Torch in D.C.’s Woodridge neighborhood.

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Over the last 15 years, Hyattsville’s “Arts & Ales” Festival has become the signature event for the Route 1 corridor and surrounding area.

This annual event, which is free and open to the public, is set to take place from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21, and will showcase nearly 100 artists and crafters working in various mediums, along with craft alcohol, local restaurants, and live music.

Now in its 15th year, the annual festival takes place along several blocks in downtown Hyattsville, just off Baltimore Avenue, and is expected to attract around 5,000 people.

After an initial effort fizzled in 2004, the festival started in earnest in 2009 as EYA was building the Arts District row homes. Working with local groups, the developer held a small arts festival with about 30 vendors to help sell homes.

Other developers also supported the festival the first few years, but once the homes were sold, the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC) took over full responsibility and began expanding it, adding local brewers in 2016.

This year’s festival will also feature local favorites Franklins, Denizens Brewing Co., Streetcar 82 Brewing Co. and Maryland Meadworks as well as Twin Valley Distillers, Bullshine Distillery, Liquid Intrusion and The Brewer’s Art from elsewhere in Maryland.

Stuart Eisenberg, executive director of the Hyattsville CDC, told the Hyattsville Wire the event generates about a half million dollars and valuable publicity for the city as an arts and dining destination.

“The word gets out regionally and statewide that Hyattsville and the Arts are indelibly linked,” he said.

If you arrive early, you can join the Anacostia Trails Heritage Area for a Historic Hyattsville Public Art Walking Tour Saturday morning at 4318 Gallatin Street in  Hyattsville starting at 10 a.m. A $15 donation for tour is suggested. Be sure to register here.

And if you stay late, DJs with the Hy-Fi Groove Society will host a dance party on the lawn at 33rd and Farragut Street after the festival to celebrate its 15 year anniversary, while vendors and officials dismantle the tents.

Parking is available all day for $5 at Hyattsville Justice Center Garage at 43rd Ave and Rhode Island Ave.

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[This story has been updated on Sept. 19 to correct the apartment complex referred to in the initial article posted on Sept. 18.]

An affordable apartment complex in College Park is under construction.

Located on Baltimore Avenue between Delaware and Cherokee streets, across the street from Uptown Cheapskate, the Flats at College Park will be a 317-unit low-income housing development when it opens in 2025.

The apartments will rent for between $1,200 and $2,500 a month, making it the third designated affordable housing complex in College Park, according to the city’s planning department.

The building will also have about 4,000 square feet of retail space which is intended to be used by the nonprofit Meals on Wheels, which has provided home delivered meals to the elderly and house-bound people in College Park, Greenbelt, Beltsville, Berwyn Heights, Adelphi and nearby areas since 1974.

The project, which replaces three hotels that were demolished, is being built by RST Development using the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program.

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A popular Hyattsville musician has rebuilt his Victorian home after a house fire using cutting-edge techniques to reduce its energy use.

Joe Atkins, who started the Zydeco band the Wild Anacostias, was devastated when his historic house in the 4900 block of 42nd Avenue burned down in 2020.

But rather than rebuild in a more contemporary style, he decided to try to recreate the Queen Anne Victorian style, hiring Hyattsville architect Michael Romero.

The new house, dubbed the “Queen of Zero,” was built using high-performance techniques to make it a “net zero” home, such as structurally insulated panels, a Tesla solar roof and high-performance heating and air conditioning.

That’s actually quite appropriate, as Victorian homes incorporated what were then cutting-edge techniques, such as taller double-hung windows to maximize interior air flow and wide porches to reduce heat from direct sun.

The home is already drawing attention in architectural circles, and the DMV Net Zero Coalition is even hosting an open house on Friday, Sept. 20 in which experts will discuss how it was done.

Tickets to the open house are available here. Proceeds go toward the Net Zero Coalition and contractors putting on the open house.

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A North Brentwood arts studio is teaching residents on and around the Route 1 corridor how to build everything from dinnerware to sculptures out of clay.

Located at 4531 Rhode Island Ave., Material Things has offered classes for adults on “hand-building,” the techniques for making shapes out of clay without using a throwing wheel, since 2021.

But last summer, the art studio expanded into the building next door, moving its classrooms to a new space with natural light and a sunset view and allowing it to double its scheduled number of classes.

Students range from those who have never worked with clay to longtime sculptors looking to improve their technical skills, co-owner Erin Lingle told the Hyattsville Wire. They are encouraged to “dream up their own projects” and ask the instructor for advice.

“Teachers will sometimes develop skill-building exercises or teach specific forms and techniques, but students can feel free to follow their own creative paths,” she said.

Courses are taught by Nicole Ponce, studio manager at District Clay Center, who studied in New Mexico and has taught throughout the greater D.C. area.

Material Things is a project of Lingle, Katie Aldworth, and Francisco Rosario.

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Apartments are now for rent at two new high-end buildings at University Town Center in Hyattsville.

Located at 6400 America Blvd., The Six features one- and two-bedroom apartments with rents up to $2,945 a month.

Located at 6601 Melville Rd., The Devon features studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rents up to $3,585 a month.

Amenities at the Devon include an interior courtyard with a pool, a fitness center, a coworking lounge, two dog parks and a game room.

The Devon is certified LEED Silver, the third-highest level of environmentally conscious designed recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council, while Six is the first apartment complex in Prince George’s County to be certified Gold under the National Green Building Standard.

The Devon also includes a 1,238 square foot retail space that is currently available.

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A fast-casual national chain restaurant specializing in chicken fingers will soon replace the Nando’s in College Park.

Baton Rouge-based Raising Cane’s will move into the location at 7400 Baltimore Ave., across from city hall.

Started in 1996 near the Louisiana State University campus, the chain has a simple menu focusing on chicken fingers and chicken sandwiches. It also has tailgate specials of up to 100 chicken fingers.

The chain plans to open in College Park, its 10th location in the greater D.C. area, in August or September of next year, according to the Diamondback.

Nando’s Peri-Peri, a South African chain that served spicy grilled chicken, was at the location from 2015 until this summer. Before that, the space was occupied by Ratsie’s pizzeria.

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