Columbus
Washington Business Journal
DraftKings says it's preparing to launch in the District
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG), one of the largest U.S. players in the fast-growing online sports betting space, said Tuesday morning it intends to soon launch an online sportsbook in the District.<\p> An exact date of its availability in the District was not revealed, but competitors like Caesars and BetMGM have been quickly setting up in D.C. after city government opened the door to more operators earlier this summer. And DraftKings had hinted before that it intended to get in the game in D.C. <\p>
Country clubs are getting younger. Not everyone is happy about it.
Pine Tree Country Club general manager Andrew Smith isn’t sweating the dress code.<\p> The Birmingham, Alabama, club has relaxed its clothing rules since its founding in 1968, when it debuted as the result of a merger between two private clubs. Since then, the focus at the club has been on creating a fun, friendly atmosphere where people can meet — and membership has grown as a result.<\p>
Brazilian retail magnate’s D.C. building slips into special servicing
A loan secured by the office building at 2025 M St. NW was transferred to a special servicer this month as its maturity date looms.<\p> The borrower, an affiliate of Michael Klein, a Brazilian retail magnate who heads home appliance and furniture giant Casas Bahia, owes $56.4 million on a $63.5 million loan originated in March 2015 by RAIT Partnership LP. The loan was later sold as a commercial mortgage back security.<\p>
Sterling startup lands federal work to combat drug shortages
Capra Biosciences Inc., a Sterling biotech that makes ingredients for cosmetics, just got $7.5 million from the federal government for a project to combat drug ingredient shortages.<\p> The agreement was made through the federal-backed BioMaP-Consortium, which supports research and advancing biomedical manufacturing. Project funding comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the Office of Industrial Base Manufacturing and Supply Chain. The effort to bolster biomanufacturing came through a 2022 executive order aimed at controlling production and boosting the economy.<\p>
Bethesda startup nets $8.5M to help companies make secure software
A Bethesda cybersecurity startup has raised $8.5 million in a seed round to help companies across industries develop more secure software for internal or external use.<\p> Heeler Security Inc., founded by four alums of Boston cybersecurity firm Rapid7 Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD), obtained lead investment for its seed round from Palo Alto, California, investment firm Norwest Venture Partners. It also saw participation from Storm Ventures, a Menlo Park, California-based investment firm.<\p>
N.Y. software firm backed by Carlyle eyes D.C.-area expansion
Despite being based in New York, the risk-management company Exiger has a big D.C.-area presence that it's planning to grow significantly in the next few years.<\p> Private equity giant The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) and New York’s Insight Partners announced plans to acquire a majority stake in Exiger in December in a deal that valued the company at $1.2 billion. The capital infusion from Carlyle and other investors has given Exiger additional resources to “complete several acquisitions” in the next year, and ramp up hiring in D.C. and beyond, CEO Brandon Daniels said in an interview.<\p>
Inova is about to start building 2 new hospitals
The Falls Church-based Inova Health System intends to begin construction in August on a pair of new acute-care hospitals, a spokesperson told me Monday. <\p> Those facilities, one at the former Landmark Mall site in Alexandria and another in the Franconia-Springfield area, will together replace the nonprofit’s aging Alexandria hospital at 4320 Seminary Road. <\p>
IRS ERC moratorium could cost the agency billions
Efforts by the Internal Revenue Service to crack down on Employee Retention Credit fraud could cost the agency billions of dollars in interest payments.<\p> The IRS in an announcement in June said it had taken the time since its Sept. 14 moratorium on processing new ERC applications to analyze the more than 1 million ERC claims filed in 2023. Through that analysis, it found that between 60% and 70% of the applications showed an unacceptable level of risk.<\p>
Shake Shack eyes Reston as part of growing Northern Virginia footprint
Shake Shack plans to open a new outpost at Reston Town Center, part of a larger push into Northern Virginia that includes new locations in Prince William and Loudoun counties.<\p> Representatives for the New York-based burger chain recently applied to Fairfax County to open a 59-seat restaurant at 11922 Democracy Drive, presently the location of The Counter Custom Burgers. The application was submitted on Thursday, per the county's online building permit system.<\p>
Many Virginia concert venues are getting a new promoter
The Bowery Presents, a concert promoter and venue manager with a large presence on the East Coast, will now have a hand in booking and marketing operations at a number of music venues across Virginia — including Capital One Hall in Tysons. <\p> The New York City-based promoter, which is a part of Anschutz Entertainment Group, said it is teaming with Richmond’s Broadberry Entertainment Group, the state’s largest independent promoter, to bring shows to theaters and stages across Virginia and West Virginia.<\p>
Amazon data center arm buys Sterling campus for $136M
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has acquired a data center campus in Sterling for $135.75 million, a price that looks to be well below what it would cost the company to build new data centers from the ground up. <\p> The e-commerce giant's data center arm, Amazon Data Services Inc., more commonly known as Amazon Web Services, bought the 33-acre assemblage known as TransDulles Centre 2 at 45900 Pathfinder Plaza on June 24, according to Loudoun County property records. <\p>
10 women-owned food businesses land OpenTable-funded grants
A nonprofit supporting women-owned food businesses has handed out $5,000 grants to 10 food startups from the D.C. and Baltimore region, including makers of French macarons, beignets, Mexican-style popsicles, dumplings and more.<\p> For the first time, Regarding Her, an organization founded with D.C. and Los Angeles chapters, has accepted D.C.-area businesses into its academy and grant program. The nonprofit primarily supports startups that have been in operation for as long as five years with annual revenues between $250,000 and $1 million. <\p>
What to know about the protests planned for Netanyahu’s D.C. visit
Thousands plan to attend protests in the District this week to coincide with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit, which includes a planned address before Congress on Wednesday.<\p> The Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement it is working with partner D.C. agencies and federal law enforcement partners to monitor the protest activity. The department cautioned that "intermittent street closures and traffic delays" around the U.S. Capitol and downtown D.C. can be expected during the visit. <\p>
Exclusive: District Dogs taps Ballston business leader as its new CEO
District Dogs founder Jacob Hensley has tapped the former longtime head of the Ballston Business Improvement District to step in as CEO of his doggy day care business.<\p> Hensley officially hands the leash to Tina Leone on Monday, though he plans to stay on as the company's owner and be actively involved in the business and its franchising operations. The company will celebrate its 10th anniversary in September.<\p>
Check out the winners from the 2024 RAMMY Awards
Long Shot Hospitality was named the region's top restaurateur, besting a competitive set that included the José Andrés Group, Seven Reasons Group and The Popal Group, at the 42nd annual RAMMY Awards held Sunday at the Washington Convention Center in downtown D.C.<\p> It was a star-studded evening with many highlights, including Anju's Angel Barreto winning chef of the year and Masako Morishita, executive chef at Perry's, winning rising culinary star of the year, fresh off her being named the nation's top emerging chef at last month's James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Awards.<\p>
GSA seeks historic status for Brutalist federal building in D.C.
The U.S. General Services Administration has filed a series of applications to place a 1970s-era federal building in Southwest D.C. on a number of historic registers and, in turn, allow it to access federal tax credits to help offset the cost of rehabilitating and preserving of the structure.<\p> The GSA in May applied to the D.C.’s Historic Preservation Office to name the Brutalist-style Hubert H. Humphrey Building at 200 Independence Ave. SW as both a historic landmark and historic district. The seven-story, 890,000-square-foot building is home to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. <\p>
D.C.-area banks, hospitals feel ripple effects of CrowdStrike outage
The D.C. region's airports have mostly recovered from a global technology outage that temporarily grounded flights Friday morning, but banks, hospitals and courts were still feeling the ripple effects of a flawed software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.<\p> The Maryland Judiciary said courts and offices across the state were closed to the public Friday and would only be open for "emergency matters." <\p>
Reston cybersecurity firm expands to Bay Area with acquisition
A Reston cybersecurity and cloud services provider is eyeing national expansion following the acquisition of San Carlos, California-based provider of IT and compliance services.<\p> Neovera Inc., located in the RTC West office complex at 12100 Sunset Hills Road, said its deal to acquire Emagined Security Inc., will allow it to extend its security operations center, which is primarily located on the East Coast, to one that can better handle clients throughout the whole country. The company also said the deal makes it better equipped to address challenges in the "ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape and regulatory requirements" while becoming better tuned to serve clients working in highly regulated industries like the financial, health care and government markets.<\p>
Kennedy Center plan is 'transformative for the whole city'
Jamie Weinbaum, the CEO of multifamily developer Horning, chaired the Urban Land Institute technical assistance panel that came up with the vision for connecting the Kennedy Center to the National Mall. <\p> The panel, which included planners from a number of other organizations such as Urban Atlantic and JLL, gathered last fall for several days to provide expert recommendation to the National Capital Planning Commission on how the colossal vision could be implemented. <\p>
Tastee Diner redevelopment in Silver Spring takes key step
A D.C. developer won key initial approvals toward the redevelopment of the historic Tastee Diner in downtown Silver Spring.<\p> Roadside Development LLC, which bought the Tastee Diner site in 2023, got the green light Thursday from the Montgomery County Planning Board for sketch and preliminary plans, important milestones in laying the regulatory groundwork for a new residential-over-retail tower on the 1-acre assemblage at 8711 Ramsey and 8676 Georgia avenues.<\p>
Washington Business Journal
5K+
Posts
757K+
Views
The Washington D.C. region's source for local business news, breaking news alerts, newsletters, business intelligence and local business networking. An American City Business Journals publication.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.