There’s something about the gritty, industrial vibe of Ivy City in NE DC that's drawing restaurants and retailers, the Washington Business Journal reports. Take Bedrock Bars owner Geoff Dawson, who said he would never get in on the front end of a redevelopment ever again after a failed project in 1998; now he’s opening a 4k SF Big Chief bar in Ivy City later this year. And he’s not the only one: Ari Gejdenson is leasing 7k SF for dining establishments at Douglas Development’s Hecht Warehouse (above), and local bike shop Bicycle Space will be making a new home in 4k SF at Hecht. Ivy City is being compared to New York’s Meatpacking District, Williamsburg or Bushwick, because it hasn’t succumbed to the shiny, glass facades you see in DC’s other booming retail districts. While other parts may look unrecognizable, it’s nice to know there’s a piece of DC that still looks like DC.