More Apartments and Community Center Planned at Waterfront Station

(This post is a portion of an article that appears in the May 2018 Hill Rag)

Waterfront Station and before it the Waterside Mall has served as the Town Center for the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood for decades. It contains the neighborhood’s only grocery store, as well as a pharmacy, restaurants, and professional services, including a dentist office. Two office buildings fully occupied by District government agencies and three rental apartment buildings are currently in place and a future phase with more rental apartments, retail, daycare center, and a black box theater is planned on the northeast parcel. Two other parcels have yet to be developed, which flank 4th Street and are located adjacent to the Waterfront Metro station entrance. 

The original stage one Planned Unit Development (PUD) approval for these two sites at 4th and M streets was for office, but developer Forest City has requested a change to residential. Its reason for the change in use is due to unfavorable conditions in the office market. The state of the office market has changed significantly since the Waterfront Station development was originally conceived in the aughts. Previously, the development was intended to be primarily office, with less retail and minimal residential. Prior to the Great Recession, Fannie Mae was going to move its headquarters to Waterfront Station, but they pulled out in the wake of financial troubles at the quasi-government agency. Over time, the plan for Waterfront Station has evolved in favor of more residential and retail and less office. 

Rendering of planned 375 M Street building

In its current proposal, Forest City plans to develop a 285-unit rental apartment building on the east parcel (375 M Street) with 18,830 square feet of ground floor retail along M Street and the Metro plaza, 32,400 square feet of commercial space intended for professional services tenants on the second floor, and a 6,000 square-foot community center on the first and second floors. This would be the third community center located in Southwest, joining the Randall Recreation Center and King-Greenleaf Recreation Center, but it would be the only one without adjacent recreation fields. The community center was proffered by the developer to win approval from ANC 6D, which was originally lukewarm to the idea of changing uses at the two remaining parcels at Waterfront Station from office to residential. As a part of the PUD, the developer has offered the community center rent-free for a period of 30 years and will contribute up to $565,000 for interior design and fit-out, furniture, fixtures, equipment, and initial start-up costs. 

Rendering of planned 425 M Street building

On the west parcel (425 M Street), the plan is to develop a 310-unit rental apartment building with 21,203 square feet of ground floor retail along 4th and M streets. The main residential entrance will be located at the northeast corner of the building. In both buildings, 8% of the floor area will be reserved for residents earning up to 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) and of that total, five units will be 3BR apartments. Under this proposal, the east parcel will be developed first, allowing for the west parcel to remain open space until the completion of the 325 M Street building. Part of the west parcel will house a trailer that will be the interim Southwest Branch library while a new library is built in its current location at 900 Wesley Place. 

For its part, the ANC has offered conditional support for the PUD. Portions of the PUD that the ANC supports include the community center, as well as the redesign of the project which provides less density and more setbacks than the original office design, a retail strategy, and traffic plan. However, one of the concerns brought by Commissioner Roger Moffatt, whose single-member district includes the 375 M Street site, was the ability for mom and pop retailers to occupy smaller spaces at the proposed development. It has proven to be difficult to get smaller retailers into the previous phases of the development since the buildings would not allow a tenant who needed less than 1,200 square feet to occupy space. While the U.S. Postal Service is not a “mom and pop” retailer, it was used as an example of a tenant that was unable to relocate to Waterfront Station because its need for a 900 square-foot space could not be accommodated. Other outstanding issues brought by ANC Vice Chair Andy Litsky include the selection of the community center operator and clarification on the “free rent” provision to include HVAC and electricity; improvements to public space at the Metro plaza; a traffic plan for the 4th and M streets intersection; placement of the Metrobus and Circulator bus stop along M Street; and other logistical concerns. 

The Zoning Commission will continue the hearing on May 10th and a final decision on the proposed development is expected in the coming months.

Renderings courtesy of Forest City

The Freshman Class of ANC 6D

In last month's general election, three new ANC 6D commissioners were elected - two of them will represent areas of Southwest. Below is an interview I did with Bob Craycraft, who will represent single member district 6D 01 and Cara Lea Shockley, who will represent single member district 6D 02. These individuals will replace Jane Jorgensen and David Sobelsohn, respectively - both of whom did not run for re-election. Portions of this interview also appears in this month's South by West article in the Hill Rag, along with questions posed to David Garber, who will represent single member district 6D 07 in Near Southeast.

SWTLQTC: How long have you lived in Southwest?

Bob: It will be 12 years in March, the entire time I've lived in the Washington area.

Cara: Three years in February.

SWTLQTC: Why did you decide to run for office?

Bob: I felt at the time that the District, and Southwest in particular, was entering an exciting period of continual improvement and growth that I wanted to be a part of, and try to influence in a positive way.

Cara: Commissioner Sobelsohn asked me to consider it. I’d been on the ABC Committee as his representative, so he knew I was willing to contribute. But more than that, I love this neighborhood. We lived in Arlington when I was a little girl, and we used to come to the Flagship restaurant for brunch on Sundays. I remember telling my mother when I was about 10 that I wanted to live here. I’ve been lucky enough to do it.

SWTLQTC: What neighborhood issues would you like to tackle during your first term?

Bob: Residents of SMD 6D01, the so-called Near Southwest, are in a Bermuda Triangle of development defined by Fourth Street, L'Enfant Promenade/10th Street, and the Southwest waterfront. Our only boundary not under development, in fact, is an 8-lane freeway. Trying to represent the needs of residents in this rapidly-changing environment are critical, whether it's traffic, parking, or a host of other issues. The rumors and media reports about moving Southwest into Ward 8 need to be addressed head-on, and residents' viewpoints considered. There are chronic problems facing Jefferson and Amidon-Bowen Schools that I'm not certain can be turned around -but I will do my best to be an active part of the process that is at least trying. We have a rare grouping of mid-century religious architecture that I also feel is endangered, and Town Center West Park, the duck pond as many people know it, is literally crumbling in front of our eyes. In the longer term, I'm also concerned with the threat of overhead streetcar wires appearing on Seventh Street one of these days, and have yet to be convinced on the economics of a streetcar system.

Cara: My SMD has many elderly people and many people with disabilities. I’d really like to see our sidewalks made safer. So much of the street lighting concentrates just on the areas where the cars are driving. We need better lighting, and I’d prefer something tightly focused on the sidewalks so that it doesn’t become an issue for the homeowners, more even sidewalks so that people on canes or in wheelchairs feel safe, and I’d love to see some beat or bicycle cops patrol in the evenings.

SWTLQTC: What role do you think ANC Commissioners play in the development of neighborhoods?

Bob: We should try to be the reasoned voice of the majority of residents, and not just a mouthpiece for our most strident neighbors. I also want to strike a balance between homeowners and renters, who can often have very different views on a subject.

Cara: We’re supposed to fight for the residents – all the residents – we currently have. I don’t want to see my neighbors priced out because the area is suddenly chic. A neighborhood without businesses won’t thrive either. It’s a balancing act. We also need to be able to get things done, like the traffic study the current commissioners have spent years pushing for. They’ve finally, just this past meeting, gotten DDOT to promise one. Traffic patterns at all times of day and all the various layers – pedestrian, bicycle, car, public transportation, major streets, neighborhood streets, major events – need to be understood. Businesses can’t succeed without easy access, but we also can’t have accidents like the ones at 4th Street, SW and M Street, SW become part of the fabric of the neighborhood.

SWTLQTC: What are your thoughts about the redevelopment plans for the Southwest Waterfront, which mostly falls in your single-member district?

Bob: Overall, I think we have a home run with some of the most talented developers in the country involved. I'm not certain it's the right place to put public housing - the lack of a walkable supermarket, drug store, or Metro station seemed to make it uniquely ill-suited for a lower-income resident.

SWTLQTC: What are your thoughts about the redevelopment plans for Randall School, which falls in your single-member district?

Cara: If Bing Thom really is going to be the main architect, I think it’s terrific. His work for Arena Stage was striking, and I like the idea of continuity of design throughout the neighborhood. There’s a clinic in my SMD, right next to Randall School. I want it to stay, if not there, then nearby. That clinic has been a godsend for so many of my constituents – including me. Beyond that, I really need to see all the plans and ideas from the new owners. I think the public art aspect is wonderful, and I respect Commissioner Sobelsohn for getting it.

SWTLQTC: Your single-member district also includes L’Enfant Plaza, which is north of the Southwest Freeway. How do you think the north and south areas of Southwest can be more connected short of removing the freeway?

Bob: I appreciate that question, as many people are surprised to learn that for those of us along Seventh Street, L'Enfant Promenade is just as convenient as Fourth Street. Or could be. Yet we are virtually blockaded from the Metro and the Promenade with pedestrian-hostile architecture that has included the closing of the southern walkway around the HUD building and the enclosure of what is now called Constitution Square in just the past two years. We have the incredible Mandarin Oriental hotel right beside us but "you can't get there from here" due to the tangle of streets and walkways. The only thing I can see in the short term to make it better would be some sort of wind-breaking enclosure along the freeway overpass, it can be a miserable walk in bad weather. It would be fantastic if a redeveloped L'Enfant Promenade could include a greenhouse-style entrance way out onto Seventh Street to entice and welcome shoppers into that complex, but I don't see the Feds ever allowing such an amenity.

SWTLQTC: Much of your single-member district is on the north side of the Southwest Freeway, which is primarily an office district. How do you think the north and south areas of Southwest can be more connected short of removing the freeway?

Cara: There’s a foot tunnel commuters use to get to Federal Center SW and its environs which is junky and scary; it and the pathway leading to it need to be cleaned up and made more appealing – widened would be nice, policed would be even better. The sandwich shops and other businesses should be encouraged to stay open later, many of them close mid-afternoon, for the residents to pick up something on their way home from the office or just to have a place to go in the evening occasionally. We need some of the smaller amenities. I already use the dry cleaner near NASA because they do great work and are open on Saturdays. So many of the little shops aren’t open on the weekend at all – even the Starbucks at the Federal Center SW metro stop isn’t open on Sundays.

SWTLQTC: What is your stance on the proposal by Ward 6 Council member Wells to implement a “Complete Streets” concept for M Street SE/SW (i.e. remove a lane of traffic, add cycle tracks, widen sidewalks, etc.)?

Bob: I think the proposal is little more than quaint as long as we have pedestrians being killed at Fourth and M Streets and the MPD unwilling to ticket speeders and red light-runners blatantly running through our streets and intersections. The intersection of G and Seventh Street is another bad one, with G Street changing from one-way eastbound to two-way "just because" and so many Maryland commuters using it as an I-395 bypass. I just don't have the confidence in DDOT or MPD's moving violations enforcement to feel the Complete Streets concept will work for us.

SWTLQTC: What kinds of businesses would you like to attract to SMD 6D 02?

Cara: Local ones. I love the idea of both the Randall School development and the renovation of the Southwest Waterfront. But if all we end up with is a bunch of national chain stores or hotels, I think we lose something crucial. I was on the bus in Ward 8 a week or two ago and saw a restaurant that had “Black owned and Family run” on its sign. I want businesses like that in my neighborhood, ones with ties to DC. If there’s going to be an ice cream parlor (I bring this up because the PN Hoffman representative kept using “getting an ice cream cone” as his example of someone coming to the Southwest Waterfront), I want to see Gifford’s rather than Baskin Robbins. We don’t need another Starbucks – there are five within half a mile of me - but bringing in Sidamo Coffee and Tea, for instance, would be something unique and local.

SWTLQTC: Which DC political figure (past or present) do you most admire and why?

Bob: David Catania. Anyone who can be white, gay, and a closet Republican in a city that is majority African-American, straight, and Democratic and win at-large elections has earned my respect.

Cara: Sharon Pratt Kelly. She saw problems with the city and ran for Mayor to combat them. I also think Tommy Wells does a good job of listening to the people he serves.

January Hill Rag Posted Online

The January issue of the Hill Rag newspaper has been posted online. Starting with this month's issue, I have started writing the South by West article for the paper, which covers topics in Southwest and the Capitol Riverfront neighborhoods. You will recognize most of the content in the articles focused on Southwest since they are adapted from this blog. In addition to the Hill Rag, I write a monthly Real Estate Notes column for The Southwester, which I started doing in October 2009.