In June 2024, DC News Now reported that the CVS on Kennedy Street NW would close that July. That winter, DDOT began tearing up the corridor between 16th Street and Georgia Avenue. For most of the time since, the most dependable reason to be on the street on a weekend morning was the FRESHFARM Uptown Market, which stayed open in a smaller footprint while the work went on around it.
The market's 2026 season ends Saturday, November 21. In past years, that date left a long gap until spring. This year is different, because the street now has enough open storefronts to cover the winter on its own: a full grocery, a coffee roaster, a cafe and a dinner spot with a new menu every week. The market got Kennedy Street through the construction. The businesses that opened during it are what keep the street busy now.
What the Rebuild Finished, and What It Hasn't
DDOT's Kennedy Street NW Reconstruction page lists the project as 97% complete, with underground infrastructure at 100%. The page lists these areas as completed:
- Kennedy Street NW, 16th Street to Georgia Avenue
- Colorado Avenue NW
- The 14th Street and Kennedy Street intersection
- The farmers market area
According to DDOT, the remaining work is mostly punch-list items and tree planting, which is set to start during the fall planting season. The Georgia Avenue end isn't finished yet. The page still shows final restoration between Kennedy and Longfellow as "in progress," next to a June 30 target date that has since passed.
The scope covered rebuilt pavement, curbs and sidewalks, ADA features, upgraded signals with countdown pedestrian timers, and new layouts at the 14th, Kennedy and Colorado junction and at Georgia and Illinois. That 14th and Colorado junction is where the market sits, which explains why it spent part of this season working around crews.
Three Saturdays Left at 14th and Colorado
The Uptown Market sets up at 5500 Colorado Ave NW, where 14th Street, Kennedy Street and Colorado Avenue meet. It runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with local producers selling fruit, vegetables, meat and bread. The construction note on FRESHFARM's market page covered the smaller footprint through April. From the week this post goes up, three market days remain: November 7, 14 and 21.
FRESHFARM's listing doesn't show a December date for this market. After the 21st, produce and bread shopping on Kennedy Street moves indoors.
The Street That Carries the Winter
A walk from the Georgia Avenue end toward 16th Street passes four businesses with current evidence that they're open this fall. Their addresses cover a few hundred numbers of the same street, and each one picks up a different piece of what the market used to handle.
| Address | Business | What it covers once the market closes |
|---|---|---|
| 201 Kennedy St NW, Unit C1 | Idido's Coffee & Social | Daily cafe hours, with live music on its event calendar |
| 400 Kennedy St NW | IYMA Daily Essentials | Groceries, fresh and organic food, vendor and music events |
| 500 Kennedy St NW | La Coop Coffee Company | Coffee roasted on site several times a week |
| 701 Kennedy St NW | Poplar | Dinner Thursday through Saturday, menu changing weekly |
IYMA is the one that matters most after November 21. WJLA's Good Morning Washington profiled it on October 15. The station described a Black woman-owned neighborhood grocery founded by Mariam Faye and Isatou Touray to sell fresh, healthy, organic and culturally diverse food, with a focus on helping seniors, families and residents with specialized diets find healthier food close to home. It opened in October 2025, a little over a year after the CVS's scheduled closing. WJLA also reported that it hosts local vendors, artists, food, music and neighborhood events. The store posts updates on Instagram.
La Coop Coffee Company opened at 500 Kennedy in November 2024, around the time construction started. The company says it roasts at that location several times a week. Idido's Coffee & Social has daily hours and online ordering through its Toast page, and it hosted an evening concert on October 15.
Poplar, at 701 Kennedy, serves dinner Thursday through Saturday evenings. It changes its menu every week and posts the new one on Tuesdays. When it opened, Washingtonian described it as a snug restaurant with a foraged, local menu. A weekly menu that leans on what's local fits the end of market season, since seasonal produce can still turn up on the street after the Saturday stalls are gone.
The Washington DC Economic Partnership counts these businesses among the Kennedy Street openings since 2024, together with Progresso Market. Every one of them opened during the construction or just before it started.
The Georgia Avenue End, Wednesday to Sunday
At the north end, the street's winter calendar continues on Georgia Avenue.
Three Whistles, at 5832 Georgia Ave NW, soft-opened in January and held its grand opening on February 25. PoPville described it as a coffeehouse and workspace that adds evening dining and bar service. Its posted hours differ between pages of its own website, so check before you go. Its event calendar is consistent, though: Color, Dine and Sip nights on Wednesdays, November 11 and December 2, 9 and 16, plus a separate listing on December 30.
On Sundays, the Juanita E. Thornton–Shepherd Park Library at 7420 Georgia Ave NW is running a six-week baseball film series at 2 p.m. Remaining dates:
- November 8
- November 15
- November 22
- December 6
- December 13
- December 20
The DC Public Library listing names Bull Durham, Fever Pitch, The Jackie Robinson Story, Field of Dreams, Only the Ball Was White and Talent for the Game. The schedule skips the Sunday after Thanksgiving and ends the weekend before Christmas.
The week before Christmas, on Saturday, December 19, from noon to 1 p.m., when Rock Creek Park hosts Wreaths Across America at Battleground National Cemetery. The National Park Service says volunteers will lay wreaths at the graves of 41 Civil War soldiers. Details are on the NPS special events page.
Neighbors heading south can find The Parks at Walter Reed's free Holiday Market at Marketplace Plaza on November 21, from noon to 5 p.m. That's the same day the Uptown Market closes for the season, so you can do both in one Saturday: market in the morning, holiday market in the afternoon. Petworth's weekend calendar for late fall is covered in our Petworth guide.
The Next Stretch of Construction
Kennedy Street's rebuild is almost done, and Georgia Avenue is next. DDOT's Georgia Avenue NW Bus Priority project runs from Barry Place to Eastern Avenue, which covers all of Brightwood's Georgia Avenue frontage. The concept DDOT selected includes 24-hour bus lanes along the whole corridor, some bus bulb-outs, consolidated bus stops and pedestrian improvements. DDOT's October 19 notice put design near 65%, with construction expected in 2027. The project page narrows that to spring 2027.
DDOT is holding a virtual town hall on Monday, November 9, from 6 to 7 p.m. Three Whistles at 5832 Georgia and the Thornton–Shepherd Park Library at 7420 Georgia both sit on the corridor the project covers. The Georgia Avenue end of Kennedy Street, where DDOT's restoration work is still listed as unfinished, is part of it too.
Our earlier piece on Brightwood's storefront and golf course covers more of this year's changes, and the Brightwood neighborhood page has the wider map.
The Kennedy Street storefronts that opened during construction have changed how the corridor works. Whether you own a rowhouse near the street or are starting to think about what the rebuild means for your block, Anthony Beharry can walk you through how these changes look on your block. Let's Connect.
