Archive for November 12, 2014

Park View Community Partners Chosen to Lead Redevelopment of Park Morton

November 12, 2014

From a press release that was posted on the DC Housing Authority Web site today:

Park Morton(Park Morton units from Park Road.)

The District of Columbia Housing Authority Board of Commissioners selected Park View Community Partners to be the team to lead redevelopment of Park Morton apartments.

Park View Community Partners is comprised of The Community Builders, Inc.; Dantes Partners, LLC; Torti Gallas Urban; Harkins Builders, Inc.; and Klein Hornig, LLP.

“This redevelopment team was chosen based on several factors, including their capacity to complete the work and how they treat our customers,” said Chairman Pedro Alfonso.

There will be one-for-one unit replacement at Park Morton.

“Park View Community Partners’ proposal shares DCHA’s commitment to both affordable housing and community building,” said Adrianne Todman, DCHA executive director. “This is complex work that requires an experienced and knowledgeable partner.”

Park Morton is one of four neighborhoods identified as part as the New Communities Initiative. DCHA is working in partnership with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to complete this redevelopment project.

“The selection of a developer for Park Morton allows us to continue the momentum of revitalizing the neighborhood through our New Communities Initiative,” said Mayor Vincent C. Gray. “I thank the Housing Authority for selecting a team that will help us transform this area into a thriving community.”

Park Morton, a community comprised of 12 three-story buildings, currently sits on 3.66 acres. It is roughly bounded by Park Road, Warder Road, Lamont Street, and Georgia Avenue in Northwest.

The Request for Proposal required that developers propose a mixed-income community, with a variety of townhouses and high-occupancy buildings for all incomes, to ensure the neighborhood’s long-term viability.

The selection panel chose Park View Community Partners based on their qualifications and experience; development vision and approach; financial plans; women and minority certified business enterprise connections; offers and considerations to DCHA; and the off-site housing proposal.

The New Communities Initiative (NCI) is a comprehensive public-private partnership that began in 2005 and aims to address the physical and human architecture of neighborhoods troubled by concentrations of poverty, unemployment, blight, and the deterioration of the housing stock. Financed through the Housing Production Trust Fund, which is operated by the DMPED, NCI is designed to spur the renewal of both the physical and social conditions of designated communities in the District.

Area Sidewalks Damaged by Tree Roots to be Repaired with Flexipave

November 12, 2014

About a week ago, I was notified that the District of Columbia’s Urban Forestry Administration (UFA) will soon begin work to repair sidewalks that have been damaged by street trees at locations citywide. According to their notification, this work will be completed using a new sidewalk material, a flexible porous paving, which is commonly called flexipave. The citywide locations have all been identified by a UFA Urban Forester or Ward Arborist and were selected based on the damage to the sidewalk and the necessity of using alternate materials to preserve street trees.

The UFA further explained that “Flexipave is designed to reduce the damage to sidewalks by tree roots, and to provide the additional environmental benefits of allowing rainwater to infiltrate into the tree space. It is an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional materials for a number of reasons. The material is made from recycled tires and stone aggregate; it is mixed with a urethane adhesive and poured on site to create a paving material that is 100% porous. This permeability allows stormwater to infiltrate into the groundwater, and because the installation is low impact and the material flexible, it is well suited for tree preservation, since it will not break or buckle due to the growth of tree roots beneath it.”

In looking at the map of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1A, I was able to identify 6 locations where this work will be done — 1 on the 600 b/o Princeton Place; 3 on the 700 b/o Lamont Street;  1 on the 1100 b/o Park Road; and 1 on the 1400 b/o Irving Street. The map below shows these locations with the red darts. You can also click on the map to navigate throughout all of Washington to see all the locations where work will occur.

Flexipaver map(Click on map to go to navigable map of flexipaver locations)


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