Second Stage PUD Filed for Waterfront Station NE Parcel

A few months after PN Hoffman made a presentation at a monthly ANC meeting about their plans for their Waterfront Station parcel located north of CVS at 1000 4th Street, they have filed a second stage PUD application. The number of units have changed to 456 total units, with 30% of the total set aside as affordable housing for 30% and 50% of Area Median Income (AMI). For the first 50 years of the ground lease that PN Hoffman will have with the city, the affordable units will be split 50-50 between the 30% and 50% AMI levels. After the first 50 years, the split will change to 25-75 in favor of units at 50% of AMI. There will be 214 garage spaces, 161 long-term bike parking spaces, and 14 bike racks. Parking and loading will be off Wesley Place.  

While the amount of retail planned at the development remains at 29,182 SF, the planned cultural use will change. Last week, it was announced on DC Theatre Scene that the Forum Theater closed suddenly – this was the Silver Spring-based theater company that was expected to come to Waterfront Station. PN Hoffman is apparently in negotiations with the Washington Improv Theater to move from 14th Street NW near U Street to Southwest. Rounding out the retail will be space for two restaurants along 4th Street (a diner has been identified previously as the intended tenant) and space for AppleTree to operate a pre-K school along the private drive to be located on the north end of the development, near the SW Branch library. A 3,000-SF play area will be built for AppleTree use on the northeast corner of the site during school hours and general community use at certain times outside of school hours. At one time, AppleTree would be relocated from its temporary trailers at Jefferson Academy to the Wharf, but apparently PN Hoffman has found another place for them. Although there is a playground nearby at 3rd and I streets, the two play areas will target different age groups. 

According to the PUD application, construction is expected to begin on 1000 4th Street in Q1 2020 and deliver in Q3 2022. 

Speaking of PN Hoffman developments, the Washington Business Journal reports that The Banks apartment project under construction at 7th and I streets will have The Goddard School, a private preschool and daycare as its retail tenant in a 7,700 SF space.  The Banks is scheduled to open by this fall.

Renderings courtesy of Torti Gallas Urban

Upcoming Events

Now that monsoon season has apparently ended, SWBID and SWNA will be hosting Southwest Duck Drop this Sunday at the SW Duck Pond, located at 6th and I streets from 1 – 4pm, which was rescheduled from May due to rain. The event is the celebration of the refilling of the SW Duck Pond and is the second year the BID has hosted. There will be ice cream, BBQ, a local Blues band, games, dance demonstrations, and it is free! 

During the weekend of June 16 and June 17, Events DC will host DC JazzFest at the Wharf, with free performances at District Pier, Transit Pier and Hyatt House, along with a ticketed concert at The Anthem. The schedule of events can be found here. 

The 13th Annual Capital Fringe Festival will be held at venues across Southwest from July 7 through July 29, including Arena Stage, St. Augustine’s Church, Christ United Church, Westminster Church, and Blind Whino. Tickets go on sale on June 18. More details will be posted here when available. 

The DC State Fair will make its return to Southwest this fall when the annual event will be held on Sunday, September 23 at Waterfront Station, located at 4th and M streets. Last year, the fair was also held in Southwest – the DC State Fair has been held in previous years in Columbia Heights, Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill, Shaw, and NoMa. The Southwest BID was instrumental in bringing the fair back to Southwest. According to a press release, contest entries so far include Best Bud, Honey, Wine, and Fiber Arts categories. New categories include Best Salsa, Best Biscuit, and Best Cookie. Other events include the Pet Parade, live music, food and craft vendors, and demonstrations.

Unity Clinic Demolition Underway

Demolition is progressing at the former Southwest Health Center site at 850 Delaware Avenue. The Unity Health Care clinic closed there back in September 2017 and was relocated to 555 L Street SE in Navy Yard/Near SE/Capitol Riverfront in early 2018. Once demolition is complete, construction will begin on the Ward 6 Short-Term Family Housing project, which will bring a 50-unit facility for homeless families to the site with a maximum occupancy of 166 people. The shelter will be a seven-story building and is designed by Studio 24 Architecture. Amenities will include space for on-site wrap around services, dining room, computer lab, laundry facilities, common rooms, and play areas. A health care facility is also planned in the building, which will occupy a portion of the first floor and basement. The entrance to the clinic will be on I Street while the shelter entrance will be on Delaware Avenue. The planned health care facility may or may not be run by Unity. 

Rendering courtesy of Studio 24 Architecture

I Street Church to be Redeveloped

Bethel Church DC360 at 60 I Street is slated for redevelopment. Cornerstone Development has plans to develop a 186,000 SF residential building on the church property. The site is located across the street from the Randall School site, which will be redeveloped by Lowe Enterprises and Telesis/Rubell into a modern art museum and residential project. 

Waterfront Academy is located on the second floor of Bethel, so as a result of the church redevelopment and the school’s growth, it is searching for a new home and has embarked on a $13 million fundraising campaign. Waterfront Academy is a dual immersion (Spanish and English) Montessori school with emphasis on charity and stewardship in the Catholic tradition. The school wants to stay in the SWDC area, where it’s been since opening in 2014. Before opening at Bethel, Waterfront Academy planned to locate on the 1200 block of South Capitol Street. 

According to a fundraising email sent by the school, the new space will allow Waterfront Academy to serve at least 135 students each year. The school will be modeled after the traditional Spanish colony and will feature a Chapel, Library, Teacher’s Lounge, Administrative Office Suite, Infirmary, Gymnasium, Kitchen, one Nido (Infant) Classroom, two Toddler Classrooms, three Casa (Preschool) Classrooms, two Lower Elementary Classrooms, two Upper Elementary Classrooms, one Middle School Classroom, and an outdoor plaza featuring an Urban Farm, Outdoor Classrooms, and Natural Play Space. 

Bethel Church DC360 is the latest house of worship to face redevelopment in Southwest. St. Augustine’s at 6th and Maine moved into its new space in 2016, adjacent to 525 Water condos that was developed by PN Hoffman. A few blocks east on M Street, St. Matthews’ long journey to a new home is months away from completion as construction continues on its new sanctuary and adjacent Valo apartment building by Trammell Crow. Riverside Baptist Church at 7th Street and Maine Avenue partnered with PN Hoffman to redevelop their site with space for a new sanctuary along Maine Avenue and an apartment building at the corner of 7th and I streets named The Banks. Over at Westminster Church, the congregation is finalizing an agreement with a developer to build a new sanctuary on the 600 block of I Street along with mixed income housing. One house of worship in the neighborhood that didn’t get redeveloped into housing is the Living Hope Church at 1200 1st Street. The building has been converted into Kadampa Meditation Center Washington DC Temple for World Peace and received a new paint job and signage in recent months. Although the old Friendship Baptist Church at Delaware Avenue and H Street was originally planned to be redeveloped as a condominium project, the developer changed course and leased the space to Blind Whino SW Arts Club. Land adjacent to the church building was slated to become a temporary housing facility for homeless families, but those plans were scuttled and the shelter will instead be built on the Unity Clinic site at Delaware Avenue and I Street.

Design of New Southwest Branch Library Comes Into Focus

In early January, DCPL submitted an application to the BZA in order to build a new, standalone Southwest Branch library at 900 Wesley Place. The existing library was built in 1961 and no longer serves the needs of a growing community, where thousands of new multifamily units are coming online within the next five years. After a series of public meetings, DCPL developed a plan for the library which provides separate spaces for children and adults.

On the first floor, patrons will enter the new library using an entrance on the northwest corner of the building. Upon entering the library, the north side of the building will be the Market Place. The west side of the building will contain two multipurpose rooms and the book drop. Space dedicated to Children’s Services will occupy the remaining area on the first level, as well as restrooms. Staff will enter the building from an entrance off K Street. A terrace on the northeast corner and a reading porch on the north side of the building will open towards the playground at the adjacent 3rd and I Street SW Park. The second floor will contain a series of study/meeting rooms, space for Teen/Adult Services, an adult patio, staff areas, and space for the Friends of the Southwest Library. A portion of the floor on the second level will be open to the first floor below.

Designed by Perkins + Will, the new Southwest Library takes cues from the modernist design of the neighborhood with the use of wood, metal panels, glass, and a distinctive crinkle roof. The new library will be similar in size to the existing one at 20,792 SF, but there will not be a basement due to concerns over flooding since it is below the floodplain. Parking will be provided for seven vehicles, a reduction in the number of spaces currently available at the library by two. A landscape buffer will screen the parking area from the sidewalk along 3rd Street. Green features will include, among other things, a green roof, photovoltaic panels, and bioretention areas, sufficient to secure LEED-Gold status for the building.

DCPL is seeking approval for the project and has requested three special exemptions from zoning regulations. One special exemption has to do with parking – zoning requires a government building of this size to have nine spaces, but DCPL wants to build seven surface spaces. Since the library is close to the Waterfront Metro station, two Metrobus routes, and within walking distance of most of Southwest, DCPL contends there will be sufficient parking. The second special exemption is for long-term bicycle parking – DCPL will provide one less space than required. Finally, the third special exemption is lot occupancy – it is required that up to 40% of the lot be occupied by the new building, but the design calls for 47% lot occupancy. All three special exemptions have been requested in order to maintain the current design of the new library. At its December 2017 meeting, ANC 6D voted 3-0-2 in support of the BZA application.

If approved by the BZA, demolition of the existing library will likely take place this fall, after an interim library location is found. Construction will take a little more than a year and the new library will be complete in early 2020.

Renderings courtesy of DCPL

Raze Permits Filed

Raze permits have been filed for two sites that will soon become mixed-use developments. One is the Unity Health Clinic site at 850 Delaware Avenue, which closed back in October. In its place will be a 50-unit temporary housing facility for homeless families, with a maximum occupancy of 166 people in a seven-story building. A new health clinic will be in the basement of the building, with its entrance on I Street. This is the Ward 6 location of the Mayor’s Homeward DC initiative to place smaller family homeless shelters in each ward of the city to replace the DC General facility. The Zoning Commission approved the 850 Delaware Avenue project in March and the new facility is expected to be completed in 2019. 

The second site is the former home of Engine 13 at 555 E Street. E Street Development won the bid to develop this site and another District-owned parcel at 4th and E streets several years ago. The latter was developed into a Hyatt Place with a fire house on the ground floor – the hotel just celebrated its two-year anniversary. On the 555 E Street site, the developer plans to build a 253-key citizenM hotel, a 194-unit mixed-income rental apartment building, and 10,750 SF of ground floor retail. This project is also expected to be completed in 2019. 

Renderings courtesy of Studio 24 Architecture and E Street Development

The Bard: Act II

More than a year after withdrawing a PUD application for The Bard development at 501 I Street due to neighborhood opposition, the development team of Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) and Erkiletian recently submitted a new PUD, making several changes to their plans in the process. The site is currently zoned R-3 and the development team through the PUD process is requesting a change of zoning to MU-4. 

The current plan calls for a five-story building (four stories plus a habitable penthouse) and a five-story annex structure on the northeast portion of the site. The main building is U shaped and will contain 29,425 square feet on the first level and below-grade for STC administrative space, four rehearsal spaces, a costume shop, space for educational activities, as well as five actor housing units. On the upper floors, there will be 85 rental apartments. In the annex building, there will be five two-story duplex units for STC fellows on the lower floors and 15 units on the upper floors for STC actors. Within the project, approximately 11,400 SF of space will be set aside as affordable housing under inclusionary zoning, at 60% and 50% of AMI. At least one of the IZ units will be a three-bedroom unit. Additionally, two units will be set at 40% of AMI for the first 10 years of the project and will be reserved for teachers or staff at Amidon-Bowen Elementary or Jefferson Academy. 

There will be two entrances to the STC-controlled space, one on 6th Street and another on I Street. Meanwhile, the main residential entrance to the building will be on I Street. Actor housing units will have entrances on 6th Street in order to maintain a residential character on the street. Along I Street, there will be public art – including art panels and murals. Parking will be provided for 39 vehicles on-site in a below-grade garage as well as at least two electric charging stations, and 15 off-site spaces. There will also be 70 bicycle parking spaces. 

According to the PUD application, the following public benefits will be offered: 

Free performances aimed at young audiences and development of long-term curriculum for Amidon-Bowen and Jefferson Academy Schools; free performance tickets and scholarships and tuition discounts to Camp Shakespeare and Adult Master Acting classes; support for community arts programming; and public access to use assembly spaces/conference rooms within the Project for community meetings. 

The developers intend to work with ANC 6D to refine the list of public benefits. If approved, construction is expected to start in 2018 and finish in 2020. 

Renderings courtesy of Shalom Baranes Associates

Randall PUD Revisions Submitted

Now that Lowe Enterprises has been brought on as a developer partner in the redevelopment of Randall School on I Street to a mixed-use project, revisions have been made to the previously approved (and recently extended) PUD. One major change to the previous PUD is the removal of an annex building for the museum, which results in a larger courtyard separating the historic Randall School building and the proposed apartments. In addition, the design of the apartment building has been revised to further open up the courtyard – a portion of the wings of the apartment building was pulled away from the historic building. The courtyard will be open during the day and closed at night with gates. 

West view of courtyard

The east and central buildings will contain an approximately 32,000 SF modern art museum. The museum entrance has been shifted to the east building, which will allow the center building to be fully restored. Originally, a restaurant was planned in the east building’s auditorium, but instead this space will contain museum space with larger pieces of art, as well as ancillary retail (café, bookstore, gift shop). A mix of commercial, retail, and non-profit uses are still planned in the west building, but a mezzanine level will be added to increase the amount of usable space. 

Museum entrance moved to east building

Meanwhile, the residential entrance will now be in the center of the apartment building on H Street. The number of units have been reduced from 520 to 489 units. While the number of units have been reduced, the percentage of units set aside as affordable will remain – 20% of the units will be set aside as affordable to households earning up to 80% of Area Median Income. Most of the units will be apartments, but a portion may be built as condos. The parking garage entrance has been moved to the northeast corner and a total of 301 spaces are planned. The ground floor of the apartment building might include retail/service uses and two-level units might be created. Penthouse configuration and trellis placement are also changing slightly. The Bing Thom-designed apartment building has been refined by Beyer Blindle Belle, simplifying the façade to allow balconies and to further distinguish the historic Randall buildings from the new construction.

Former design 

Current design

If approved, abatement of the historic buildings are expected to start in late 2018, then demolition of the non-historic portion, which would likely put the start of construction in 2020. 

Renderings courtesy of Lowe Enterprises

Photo Tour Part 3: Apartment Construction

Most of the new residential buildings under construction in Southwest are rental apartments - the only condo building currently under construction is VIO at District Wharf. Above is a photo of 301 M, which is the rental apartment building furthest along, aside from District Wharf, by The Bernstein Companies. Since these pictures were taken in early August, progress has been made on the buildings, especially Valo, the chosen marketing name for the apartment project attached to the new St. Matthews at 222 M Street, developed by Trammell Crow Company, High Street Residential, Meadow Partners, and CSG Urban Partners. A few more floors have been added to the building since the below photo was taken. Advertising went up last month for Valo, a Finnish word meaning light or glow.

Valo apartments at 222 M Street.

Another project making progress is the two-building addition to The View at Waterfront along M and K streets from Mill Creek Residential Trust. Both buildings are mid-rise structures with a concrete base and wood-frame construction above. 

New M Street building at the View at Waterfront.

Meanwhile, the Riverside Baptist Church project at 7th and I streets by PN Hoffman is still a hole in the ground. Construction began earlier this year and won't be complete until 2019. The most recent addition to the construction list was 1399 Maryland Avenue at The Portals, a 373-unit apartment building which started a couple months ago by Republic Properties.

Tower crane at Riverside Baptist site.

PUD for The Bard to be Revised

One year after withdrawing their Planned Unit Development (PUD) application for The Bard, Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) and Erkiletian Development, the team behind the redevelopment of the Southeastern University site at 501 I Street, are trying again to get their project approved by the Zoning Commission. The original PUD was withdrawn after the District Office of Planning recommended a set-down hearing not be scheduled for the project since the proposal was inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan or the Southwest Neighborhood Plan.

The newest development proposal for The Bard, presented at the June 22 community meeting, reduces density by more than a third from the previous design to a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 2.89 and shortens the height to a four-story building with a penthouse level set back 11 feet on all sides. In addition, the number of apartments has been reduced to 112 units, with 27 of them set aside for use by STC as actors’ and fellow housing. The design of the main building will be in the shape of the letter C and the annex building on the north side of the site will no longer have a ground level connection to the main building. However, an underground connection will remain. Shalom Baranes Associates has designed the project. 

On the ground floor of the main building, there is space set aside for Shakespeare’s administrative offices and seven actors’ housing units, as well as the lobby of the rental apartment building and amenity space. The entrance to Shakespeare’s portion of the building will be located off a courtyard facing 6th Street. A water feature and landscaping will fill out the courtyard. Meanwhile, the lobby entrance to the rental apartment building will be along I Street. Shakespeare will have its costume design shop and rehearsal space in the basement level along with a 39-space parking garage (17 spaces would be used by STC) and storage for 70 bicycles. Floors two through four of the building will contain 75 rental apartments and an additional 10 units will be located on the penthouse level. Each of the penthouse units will have private terraces. The annex building on the north side of the site will contain five duplex units for fellows and 15 additional actors’ apartments on the upper three floors. 

Despite the reduction in density and height from previous versions of the plan, the development team is still requesting a zoning change to accommodate the project, which has been a sticking point with the surrounding neighbors who live in townhomes. There has been strong opposition to the project from those who live closest to the site – one went as far as creating a blog to vent her frustration with the development process. A group of neighbors have collected more than $20,000 to hire an attorney to oppose the project as it goes through the PUD process. They also engaged a firm to design an alternative development plan for the site. During the community meeting, neighbor after neighbor stated their preference for no changes to zoning for the site and for the developer to build townhomes instead. A petition was circulated around the room to present to the Zoning Commission, maintaining the current zoning for the site, which is R-3. The current zoning permits matter-of-right development of single-family residential uses (including detached, semi-detached, and row dwellings). Over the course of the meeting, several signatures were secured. 

Former design of the building, looking northeast

The development team intends to file a revised PUD within the next month and will work with the community in the coming months to try to reach a compromise. The attorney who was leading the meeting did not want to “put words in the mouth of the Office of Planning,” but intimated their support for the revised proposal. It should be an interesting next few months in Southwest...

Photos of renderings provided by Shalom Baranes Associates

Community Meeting Planned for The Bard

About a year after withdrawing their PUD application, the developers of The Bard at 6th and I streets are preparing to submit a revised application. A community meeting is planned on Thursday, June 22 at 7pm at Amidon-Bowen Elementary (401 I Street). The project's latest design, which is now five stories tall, will be revealed at the meeting.

Old rendering courtesy of Shalom Baranes Associates

PUD Extensions Sought for Development Parcels

 

In addition to Forest City’s request for an extension of their PUD at Waterfront Station (and potential change in use from office to residential), PN Hoffman is seeking a two-year extension for the NE parcel next to CVS. Last year, PN Hoffman won the development rights for this parcel from DMPED to build a mixed-use project with ground floor retail, a black box theater, and 443 rental apartments. While extensions have been granted for the site before by DMPED, this is the first request from the developer of the project. PN Hoffman is still working on a disposition agreement with the city and intends to start the PUD process for their proposed project next winter. 

Another extension is being sought for the Randall School project, a long-planned development on I Street. Similar to the Waterfront Station project, this extension is being sought by a new developer. Lowe Enterprises recently came to an agreement with Telesis/Rubell to become the primary developer of the project. While the main elements of the project will remain, including a modern art museum, retail, commercial space, and mixed income apartments, some changes are planned. According to the developer, the two-year extension will allow Lowe Enterprises to make modifications to the plan to make the project work financially. If the extension is granted, a building permit would need to be obtained within two years and another year for construction to commence. Abatement of the historic buildings are expected to start in late 2018, then demolition of the non-historic portion, which would likely put the start of construction in 2020. 

Both of these extensions were presented at the April ANC 6D meeting and were supported by the commissioners. On the Waterfront Station site, the commissioners want PN Hoffman to maintain the brick pavers and activate the site prior to construction. At Randall, Lowe Enterprises has agreed to maintain the derelict property and put up signage touting plans for development.

Groundbreaking for Riverside Redevelopment

Construction has begun on a new Riverside Baptist Church and a multifamily rental building at 680 I Street. Back in December, demolition started on Riverside, where some of the façade will be used in the new church building. The church will be located at the corner of Maine Avenue and 7th Street while the 173-unit rental building, developed by PN Hoffman, will be at 7th and I streets. About 10% of the apartment units will be set aside as affordable housing for households earning up to 50%, 80% and 100% of Area Median Income. There will be space on the ground floor of the apartment building for community-serving uses, such as a daycare center. 

This is the first multifamily project to start construction in 2017. Other multifamily projects that are likely to start this year include The Kiley on 4th Street apartments, 1399 Maryland Avenue apartments at The Portals, 1319 South Capitol apartments, Peninsula 88 condos and Riverpoint apartments & condos. According to a press release, construction is expected to be completed at 680 I Street by late 2018. 

Rendering courtesy of PN Hoffman

Top Posts of 2016

Now that 2016 has come to an end, let's take a look back and see which posts were the most read and commented on throughout the year. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of interest in The Bard, which was a contentious development proposal for the former Southeastern University site at 6th and I streets. Shakespeare Theatre had plans to build artist studio space, non-profit office space, and educational uses on the site, and partnered with Erkiletian to build actors' housing as well as market-rate apartments. Many neighbors were concerned about the scale and height of the project. A PUD was filed earlier in the year, but after it became clear that the developer was not going to get community buy-in for the project, it was withdrawn. At the time of the PUD withdrawal, the intention was to re-file in the fall, but as of yet, this has not happened. Three of the top 10 read posts were about this project. 

However, the most commented post of the year was about the plan for the District government to open the Ward 6 temporary housing facility for homeless families in Southwest. There was also controversy with this project. In an effort to close DC General for homeless families by 2018, the Bowser administration selected eight sites across the District (one in each Ward) to place smaller facilities. Originally, the Ward 6 facility was to be built on a privately owned parcel next door to Blind Whino at 700 Delaware Avenue. Once the DC Council became involved, they moved the location to a DC-owned site nearby at 850 Delaware Avenue, currently home to Unity Health Clinic. A new clinic will be built on the site as well as a 50-unit facility. 

There was some interest in what's going on in Buzzard Point, but surprisingly, no post specific to the D.C. United stadium made it to the top 10 read or top five commented lists. Two posts made both lists - one about retail at The Wharf and the other about the withdrawal of the PUD for The Bard. Below are the lists of top read and top commented posts of 2016!

Top 10 Most Read Posts of 2016 

1. Breaking: STC and Erkiletian to Withdraw The Bard PUD Application 
2. Homeless Shelter Site Shifted to Unity Health Clinic Parcel 
3. Neighborhood Events
4. Adios Z-Burger, Eliot Getting Closed Up 
5. Buzzard Point Construction Activity 
6. Historic Designation Sought for Buzzard Point Power Plant 
7. Parcel 11 Update 
8. Community Benefits Meeting for The Bard This Thursday 
9. More Community Benefits Added to Bard PUD 
10. Wharf Retail News 

Top 5 Most Commented Posts of 2016 

1. Family Homeless Shelter Planned for Square 643 
2. Construction Begins at The View at Waterfront 
3. Wharf Retail News 
4. Breaking: STC and Erkiletian to Withdraw The Bard PUD Application 
5. Developers Behind The Bard Intend to File PUD Application

Renderings courtesy of Shalom Baranes Associates and DC Government

Signs of the Times

Part of the exterior of Riverside Baptist Church is being removed in preparation for demolition (a demolition permit was submitted back in September). The stone exterior will be reused in the new church that will be constructed at the corner of Maine Avenue and 7th Street. In addition to the new church, a 173-unit apartment building will be built at the intersection of 7th and I streets by PN Hoffman. About 10% of the apartment units will be set aside as affordable housing for households earning up to 50%, 80% and 100% of Area Median Income. There will be space on the ground floor of the apartment building for community-serving uses, such as a daycare center. 

During construction, Riverside patrons will be worshiping at Jefferson Academy Middle School. Jefferson is also hosting AppleTree in a temporary trailer while a new home for the charter school is built at District Wharf. The new Riverside Baptist and apartments should be completed in 2018. Other multifamily buildings that are expected to start in 2017 include 1399 Maryland Avenue and The Kiley on 4th. Over 680 units in three projects started construction in 2016 – 301 M Street, St. Matthew’s, and View at Waterfront.

Signage is now up for Eliot on 4th, the 365-unit apartment building at Waterfront Station. Leasing is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2017.

Renderings courtesy of PN Hoffman