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Updated Park Morton Plan Could Begin by End of 2020

January 28, 2020

(Rendering of the final phase of Park Morton’s development on Morton Street)

Based on information shared at the January 23, 2020, Park Morton Steering Committee Meeting, the plan to redevelop Park Morton is being adjusted to allow redevelopment to move forward while the DC Court of Appeals considers the challenges to the approved Zoning Order for the development’s first phase at the Bruce Monroe site.

The most significant change from the original development plan is that original Phase 2 of the development plan is now targeted as Phase 1 of the plan (see the area outlined in orange below). This area is the location of the planned larger apartment building on Park Road which would replace the currently empty Park Morton Park Road buildings. The construction timeline for this area is currently scheduled for the end of 2020 or the very beginning of 2021 with completion by the end of 2022.

In order to keep the Park Morton redevelopment moving forward, the area of Park Morton along Park Road (outlined in orange), will now be the first phase of development

In order for construction to begin, housing needs to be coordinated for some current Park Morton residents who live in other buildings impacted by the construction and a new city street needs to be approved and constructed. The street is necessary both to support the development and to ensure the safety of the residents remaining on site.

The original Phase 1 of Park Morton – at the Bruce Monroe site – has been held up in court following the challenge filed against the approved zoning order by four parties from the 700 blocks of Irving Street and Columbia Rd, NW. In reviewing the docket for the case in December 2019, all materials appear to have been filed and the only outstanding item is a ruling from the judge. It is expected that a ruling could happen in the coming weeks, though appeals cases have no timetable.

Presuming the Court upholds the original Zoning Order, the Bruce Monroe site phase can move forward. It would no longer be considered a separate phase of development, but rather could move forward concurrently with the new Park Road Phase 1 which would speed up the timeline. If, instead, the Court identifies any issues those would have to be addressed prior to construction.

The proposed changes to the phasing of the Park Morton development does not alter the overall plan and will not have an impact on the number of housing units produced. The development still plans to replace the 174 units at Park Morton with 545 mixed-income units. Park Morton residents have a guaranteed right to continue living at Park Morton in a new replacement apartment. There are also plans being reviewed to make homeownership an opportunity for Park Morton residents to pursue – though the exact number has not yet been determined.

(This article also cross-posted on New Columbia Heights)

Categories: Development, Housing
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Comments: 3 Comments

Construction at 3622 Georgia Avenue will Result in More Housing and Commercial Space

August 14, 2019

Here’s another long-vacant building on Georgia Avenue that is now actively under construction. 3622 Georgia, next to Lion’s Find Wines & Spirits, is an active construction site.

According to the building permit, issued in June 2019, the construction is for an addition and renovation of the existing two story and basement commercial building into a new R2 condominium with 8 dwelling units and a commercial/retail space on the first floor/basement level. The renovated building will be four stories above grade with a cellar and a mezzanine/equipment platform.

For a little history of the building, it was the office of Dr. Ephraim Edgar Ruebush, a successful veterinary surgeon, from 1925 until 1941.

Categories: Development, Housing, Retail
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The Sweet Mango Property Finally Headed for Re-development

August 13, 2019


Four years after the neighborhood first learned of re-development plans for the former Sweet Mango property at 3701 New Hampshire Ave, NW, it seems those plans may finally be moving forward. Last week security fencing went up around the property. Based on a conversation with the developer a couple months ago, I initially thought this indicated that the structures would be raised and that the lot would be vacant pending a decision to move forward.

However, in connecting with the development team, I’ve learned that the current plan is to raze the buildings and then begin construction of the new building following the completion of the demolition. The development team is currently working with ANC4C and DCRA to get approved building permits.

Once construction begins, the schedule for completion of the new building will be 14 months.

Below is the rendering from 2015 on what the new building would look like.

Proposed 21-unit building at 3701 New Hampshire Ave, NW, from 2015

Categories: Development, Housing
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38 New Housing Options Being Added in Historic Church Conversion on Park Road, NW

May 14, 2019

The redevelopment of the historic Park View Christian Church on Park Road is nearly complete.

The conversion of the historic Park View Christian Church building and parking lot is quickly nearing completion, with the new construction now on the market and some of the condos in the historic building still receiving finishing touches. In all, the project is adding 38 new condos (including Inclusionary Zoning units) to the Park View community.

The buildings were open over the weekend and I managed to swing by and check them out. According to the developers Web site, units start at $290k, and from what I saw they go up to about $900,000, depending upon the unit size and location. I noted that five of the condos already have contracts pending.

You can see the range of prices and floor plans here.

There are a lot of things I like about this project. Top of my list is that it adaptively reuses a history building (and they are doing a good job of this). I also like the fit and finished that have been used throughout, that there is a range of unit sized, including two-level units, and that many of the upper units have dedicated outdoor space. I also like that this project was large enough to include units that are more affordable to the neighborhood than many developments bring.

You can see images of the units on their Web site, or I have included a few below I took on my visit.

Categories: Development, Historic Landmarks, Housing
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The Arcade Sunshine Apartments Turned Out Great

March 26, 2019

(Lobby at entrance to 715 Lamont Street, NW.)

Over the weekend, I had a chance to catch up with 1A09 Commissioner Michael Wray and tour the Arcade Sunshine apartments at 715 and 735 Lamont Street, NW. As many may recall, this is a project that has been in the works since mid-2014 and when fully completed will add about 225 units of housing and 102 parking spaces for its residents. I’m particularly please as I was able to negotiate the preservation and reuse of the Lamont Street facades into the new development creating an interesting mix of old and new.

The site was originally constructed as an industrial cleaners ca. 1919 and was in continued use as such until its recent conversion into new housing. It is currently leasing providing the opportunity to schedule a tour.

I’m providing photos here so you can get some idea of how well it turned out. You can also review the apartment floor plans here.

715 Lobby and common areas

(more…)

Categories: Development, Housing
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Brief Report on Tuesday’s Hebrew Home Update Meeting

March 21, 2019

(Neighbors at the Petworth Library listening to updates on the Hebrew Home project, Tuesday, March 19th)

A good number of neighbors attended the Hebrew Home redevelopment update meeting at the Petworth Library on March 19th. The primary objective of the meeting was to learn where the project for 1125 Spring Road, NW, is and what progress has been made since the project got the green light to move foreword. While the development team is still fine tuning the project, key updates shared focused on approvals the project has received to date, design element refinements, and the basic timeline for when construction would begin.

Current status of approvals as of March 2019.

The plans for the historic Hebrew Home building were approved by the HPRB in January 2018, following Victory Housing and Brinshore being awarded the project in August 2017.

When completed, the development will include the creation of 187 residential units through a mix of townhomes and apartments. The project will include the creation of 88 units of affordable housing for seniors at or below 60 percent Area Median Income (AMI) through the adaptive preservation of the historic Hebrew Home building as well as the creation of 62 units of affordable housing in a newly constructed building at the current site of the Paul Robeson School.

Currently the team is continuing to work on design and financing stages of the project. They anticipate several more months of work  before construction can begin, and that will be once all the financing is in place. Optimistically, construction could begin in late 2019. Conservatively, construction could begin by January or February 2020 at the latest.

Both the renovation of the historic Hebrew Home building and the new construction next door would begin at the same time, though they would likely be completed at different times. Once construction begins, the historic renovation should take approximately 14 months to complete, while the new family building would take approximately 18 months to complete.

(Current design for the Spring Road side of the new construction.)

(The 10th Street elevation, incorporating more brick.)

Overall, most residents who asked questions and commented on the 1125 Spring Road site expressed a spirit of support for the effort. The chief area of frustration centered on the issue of neighborhood parking and frustration with the District Government for not doing more to leverage District resources to assist with the parking needs of Raymond Elementary, the Raymond Recreation Center, and neighbors.

For example, Raymond Elementary has a large surface parking lot to the east of the building, yet DCPS has expressed that the parking lot is for the sole use of the school and not open to either the community or rec center to use. I, along with others, expressed that this is unacceptable as the school is District property. Furthermore, the recreation center was rebuilt as an extension of the school so that the school has use of the rec center during school hours as an extension of their programs. When the school is not in session, the school property must equally be flexible  and available to support the needs of the rec center. Clearly there is more work to do regarding the parking issue and DCPS’ rigidity with access to their property.

In reviewing the boards and other information that was available, I also noticed some programming and rough plans for the pocket park that is located to the west of the Hebrew Home building. I’m including that image below to show the progress on that aspect of the project.

(Programming diagram for the pocket park on Spring Road.)

 

Categories: Development, Historic Landmarks, Housing
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Reminder! Hebrew Home Development Update Meeting Tonight at Petworth Library

March 19, 2019

The development team working on renovating the historic Hebrew Home and developing new housing on the remainder of the property is hosting a community meeting tonight.

The meeting starts at 6:30 pm at the Petworth Library. See flyer below:

Categories: Development, Housing
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Public Park Morton Steering Committee Meeting Scheduled for Thursday, February 28th

February 27, 2019

Curious about where things stand with the redevelopment of Park Morton? Then join the Park Morton Steering Committee on Thursday, February 28th to learn about recent events and updates to the redevelopment effort. See the flyer below.

Categories: Development, Housing
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Arcade Sunshine Transformation from Dry Cleaning Plant to 225 New Apartments is Amazing

February 5, 2019

Entrance to the new apartments at 713 Lamont Street, NW

It has been interesting to watch the transformation of converting the Alsco/Linen’s of the Week building into 225 new units of housing right off of Georgia Avenue. The community first learned about the proposal in 2014. Today, the property has progressed to the point where both the 713 and 733 Lamont Street buildings are now leasing. In visiting the Arcade Sunshine Web site, you can see both the floor plans for 713 Lamont as well as the floor plans for 733 Lamont.

While the conversion of the historic laundry plant is nearly complete, the owners still plan to construct a few more housing structures on the parking lot to the west, and they also own the land behind the building that connects to Morton Street.

From beginning to end, once ANC1A and the developer was able to agree upon saving the historic facades of the 713 Lamont building, this has been a class act with an exciting outcome. This is adaptive reuse at its best. It includes significant underground parking, adds 225 new apartments to the neighborhood on a property that has never supported housing in its long history, and has done so in a way that incorporates historic structures and facades to create a new outcome that is both exciting and enhancing the architectural fabric of the surrounding community. I’m a big fan of this project.

Below are a few more photos of the (nearly) completed project.

Categories: Development, Housing
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729 Princeton Place Gets Permits, Potentially Ending 3+ Years of Vacant and Blighted Conditions.

January 2, 2019

The days living with the vacant and blighted rowhouse at 729 Princeton Place appear to be coming to an end. With a new owner, a new design, and newly approved building permits, the property looks like a go for being completed and back in productive use soon.

As nearby residents may recall, the issue dates to the Spring of 2015 when the then owner constructed a third story addition with no permits to do so (either filed or issued). Making the issue more complicated, construction began days prior to changes in the Zoning Law that would require the as-built addition to require a Special Acceptation and Board of Zoning Adjustment approval. Rather than apply for the appropriate building permit or file a BZA case to seek approval, the owner repeatedly continued to work in violation of DCRA’s Stop Work Orders. Ultimately, this created an impasse leading to the current state the building is in today.

729 Princeton Place as of January 2019.

Now it appears that the days of seeing this property vacant and blighted may be coming to an end. In June, 2018, the property was sold to a new owner. Unlike the previous owner, they have found a solution that will rebuild the third story in a way that is compliant with ZR-16 and will not require a BZA Special Exception (NOTE: the previous owner could have gone this route as well).

According to the plans shared with me and the language in the DCRA PIVS system, the new design conforms to the 35′ height allowed by right, restores a section of the original roof, and allows for the property to be converted into two living units. The third story as currently constructed is higher than the 35′ limit.

The new permit was approved on December 19, 2018, and scope of work is described as follows:

EXPEDITION REVIEW

Complete interior remodel to existing 3 story structure.  Rebuild existing third story addition to comply with zoning and building code requirements.  New rear 3 story addition.  Conversion to a two-family flat.  All new electrical, mechanical, and plumbing.  Exterior work to also include landscaping + new parking pad off alley.

… and here is the newly proposed plan for the building.

Newly proposed elevations for 729 Princeton that comply with ZR-16.

Categories: Architecture, Development, Housing
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