Revised Plans for 1319 South Capitol Site

A presentation was made during Monday’s ANC 6D virtual meeting by Jefferson Apartment Group and Fortis, the new team which will be developing a site adjacent to Camden South Capitol apartments and across the street from Nationals Park at 1319 South Capitol Street. The majority of the site is currently used as a parking lot. Plans include an 11-story multifamily rental building although the number of units was not revealed during the presentation – a story in Bisnow from when the site was sold indicates there will be up to 320 units. Previous plans for 1319 South Capitol project under a different developer included less apartment units. Current plans for the project also incorporate some of the historic townhomes on South Capitol and N streets. Four of the townhomes on N Street will be converted into two Affordable Dwelling Units while two on South Capitol Street could become either commercial or residential units. The end units on both streets will be demolished to widen the alley access from N Street and provide a dog run for the apartment building adjacent to the alley entrance on South Capitol Street. The main entrance to the building will be on South Capitol Street adjacent to the alley entrance. 

View from N Street.

View from Syphax Village.

The corner site where Capitol Liquors is located is owned by a separate entity, as well as two rowhomes on N Street and one on South Capitol Street. These parcels will be developed separately as an 11-story apartment building with two levels of retail. There are two other rowhomes on South Capitol Street not included in the JAG/Fortis development and will remain, including a private home and South Capitol Smile Center dentist practice. 

Rowhouses on N Street

Rowhouses on South Capitol Street. 

Alley entrance on South Capitol Street and access to lobby.

The development team will go back before the ANC later this fall to seek their approval as they go through the Zoning Commission process.  Construction of 1319 South Capitol is expected to start in the first half of 2021. 

Renderings courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle

Mixed-Use Development Planned for 7-Eleven Site

I’m coming out of hiatus to report on plans that emerged for the northwest corner of South Capitol and M streets, considered to be the gateway to Southwest. JBG Smith applied with the Zoning Commission to develop a two-phase project on the site called 5 M Street, with a mix of uses including residential, ground floor retail, and potentially office. The site includes most of the block bounded by Half, L, South Capitol and M streets and will replace the 7-Eleven and parking lot currently on the site. New York-based Ruben Companies controls the northeast corner of the block (where the KFC/Taco Bell used to be) which is not part of the proposed project – an office building was planned for the 1101 South Capitol parcel, but the project website is no longer active. 

While the east side of South Capitol Street between the freeway and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge has filled up with multifamily buildings (and Nationals Park) in recent years, not much activity has occurred on the west side of the street. Camden South Capitol and the Capitol Skyline Hotel are the only large-scale buildings currently on the west side of the street, but more development is planned for the empty lots along the corridor. In addition to 5 M Street and 1101 South Capitol, a two-building development is planned to the north between K and L streets by Ruben Companies and the site north of Camden South Capitol was purchased recently by JAG to develop as a multifamily project. 

Current plans for 5 M Street include an L-shaped multifamily building along Half and L streets with 371 units and an office building along M and South Capitol streets with approximately 226,000 SF of space and over 25,000 SF of ground floor retail. The project is planned in phases – the office building with ground floor retail will be constructed first and the multifamily building after. The developer is asking for flexibility to change the proposed office building to multifamily depending on market conditions, which would increase the total number of units between the two phases to 688 units along with a slight reduction in the amount of ground floor retail. 

According to the zoning application, the Gensler-designed project includes a “modernist concrete and glass palette for the towers” to tie in with buildings in the Southwest and Navy Yard neighborhoods, as well as industrial elements due to its proximity to Buzzard Point. The entrance to the office (or multifamily) building will be on M Street while the other multifamily building will have its main entrance on L Street along with street access to units along Half and L streets. The multifamily units at 5 M Street will be all market-rate since current zoning does not require the addition of inclusionary zoning units, but the additional density requested for penthouse-level residential and commercial uses will require a donation to the city’s Housing Production Trust Fund. 

The ANC will review the project over the coming months, but at an initial meeting with the developers, the commissioners indicated they were not pleased with the concept design, as they felt it was in direct contrast to the surrounding neighborhood, particularly the former 2-3-story sanitary housing south of M Street on Carrollsburg Place and Half Street. Below are some renderings of the proposed development. What are your thoughts on the plan and design? 

S. Capitol & M (office option)

S. Capitol & M (multifamily option)

M and Half (office option)

M and Half (multifamily option)

South Capitol (office option)

South Capitol (multifamily option)

Renderings courtesy of Gensler

Dentist Practice Opens on South Capitol

Last week, Capitol Dental Associates opened an office on the 1200 block of South Capitol Street, next to Grand China carryout. According to their website, Capitol Dental Associates offers the following services:

• General and cosmetic dentistry 
• Root canal services 
• Pediatric dentistry 
• Crown, Bridge, Denture and Implant services

This is the second dental practice to open or relocate to Southwest in the past year.  Last year, a dental practice moved within Southwest to Waterfront Station.  The fate of South Capitol Smile Center on the 1300 block of South Capitol is in limbo depending on how the planned residential development next to Camden South Capitol moves forward. The townhouse where the dental practice on M Street at Carrollsburg Condominium was for sale earlier this year.

The hours of operation for Capitol Dental Associates are as follows:

• Monday - Thursday from 9am to 7pm 
• Friday - Saturday from 9am - 3pm

Permits Filed for Douglass Bridge-Related Demolition

Demolition permit applications have been filed for several buildings along the 1500 and 1600 blocks of South Capitol Street that will be removed to make way for the new Pepco-sponsored traffic oval leading to the replacement Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. The buildings include a repair shop and vacant structures. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new bridge back in February, which will be built about 100 feet west of the existing one. The four-year project will result in a new, six-lane arched span with bike and pedestrian lanes as well as two traffic ovals on either side of the bridge.  While the existing bridge will remain open during construction, expect periodic lane closures on South Capitol Street.

Buzzard Point Nominated as Opportunity Zone

Last week, the District government nominated 25 Census tracts to be Opportunity Zones and one of those was Census tract 6400, covering a portion of Southwest including all of Buzzard Point. Census tract 6400 is bordered by Delaware Avenue and Fort McNair to the west, South Capitol Street to the east, M Street to the north, and the Anacostia River to the south. The nomination was the result of tax cut legislation passed last year by Congress, which created a federal program to facilitate investment and job creation in low-income urban and rural areas. In the District, a majority of the nominated Census tracts are located in Wards 7 and 8 – the only nomination in Ward 6 is the Buzzard Point area. According to a press release by DMPED: 

The tracts were selected with a focus on bringing new investment to communities most in need of jobs, commercial activity and amenities by leveraging actionable investment opportunities. As certain benefits end in 2026, census tracts with projects ready for investment were given greater consideration as the sooner funds can be deployed, the greater the value. 

Census tract 6400 falls into this category – billions of dollars’ worth of development is planned, but the area is currently lacking in jobs and opportunities for residents. According to Census data, the unemployment rate is over 15% and 2016 median household income is $23,485. This compares to the 20024 ZIP code median household income of $75,703.  While Audi Field is seen as a driver of recent activity in Buzzard Point, the Opportunity Zone designation could potentially put development in this area of Southwest into overdrive.  Whether this new designation ultimately helps current residents get jobs and climb out of poverty remains to be seen...

Ground Broken for New Douglass Bridge

A ceremonial groundbreaking was held on Tuesday for the new Frederick Douglass Bridge at the site of the new bridge in Buzzard Point. Mayor Bowser, DDOT Director Jeff Marootian, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressman Steny Hoyer, DC Council members Charles Allen and Trayon White, and Federal Highway Administration DC Division Administrator Chris Lawson were all there and spoke about the project’s benefits. Bridge construction will last about four years with completion scheduled for 2021. Below are some pictures from the groundbreaking event.

DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton

Construction crane at foot of bridge

Mayor Muriel Bowser

Congressman Steny Hoyer (MD)

Chris Lawson with FHA DC Division

DDOT Administrator
Jeff Marootian

Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen

Ground is officially broken 

On the way to the ground breaking ceremony, I walked by the construction site of Audi Field, which is still on schedule to open by mid-July. A topping off ceremony was held last month and since then, work has begun on installing the facade of the stadium.  Infrastructure work continues on the roads around the stadium, including Potomac Avenue, which will receive new sidewalks, gutters, trees, and street furniture. Earlier this year, Half Street south of Potomac Avenue reopened to traffic where similar improvements were also made to that street. 2nd Street south of R Street remains closed to traffic as work will be done on that street to create a bike lane and other improvements.

New street lights on Half Street

Beginning of work on stadium's facade

View west of stadium from Half Street

New sidewalk on Potomac Avenue

Street furniture on Potomac Avenue

Douglass Bridge Groundbreaking Tomorrow

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held tomorrow for the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge project. Construction equipment has been arriving on site over the past couple of weeks. The new bridge will be constructed about 100 feet to the west of the existing span and will include six vehicular lanes, bike and pedestrian lanes, as well as two new traffic ovals on either side of the bridge on South Capitol Street.  On the west side of the span, the traffic oval will connect South Capitol Street, Potomac Avenue, and Q Street.  The design of the bridge was updated in recent months with three above-deck arches, two piers, and four pedestrian overlooks. Construction of the new bridge coincides with the 200th birthday celebration of the bridge's namesake Frederick Douglass as well as the Year of the Anacostia. During construction, the current bridge will remain open and the new span should be complete by 2021. 

The groundbreaking ceremony will start at noon tomorrow. 

Renderings courtesy of DDOT

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.

New South Capitol Street Bridge Design

A new design for the replacement Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge which brings South Capitol Street across the Anacostia River was revealed yesterday at a press event with Mayor Bowser, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and other dignitaries. The new design is a departure from the previous version that looked more traditional and swung open to allow large boats to traverse the Anacostia. Since the display ship U.S.S. Barry that was docked at the Navy Yard was dismantled and moved, there was no longer a need to have a swing span bridge so the design was updated. According to a press release, the new bridge design includes three above-deck arches that capture the District’s arch history, two piers that will appear to float in the river, and four pedestrian overlooks. The new bridge will carry six lanes of vehicular traffic (three on each side), as well as bike and pedestrian lanes on each side of the bridge. In addition to the new bridge, traffic ovals will be built on both sides of the bridge – the oval on the west side of the river will connect South Capitol Street with Potomac Avenue and Q Street.  

Current bridge

New bridge

The bridge project is part of the South Capitol Street Corridor Project, a two-phase project that will eventually include additional improvements to South Capitol Street and adjacent streets on both sides of the river. On the west side of the river, improvements in phase II will reach all the way to the intersection with the Southwest freeway. Construction on the first phase will begin in late 2017 and will run through 2021. More images and an animated video showing the bridge project can be found on the project website.

Historic Designation Sought for Rowhomes

In response to the pending demolition of the rowhomes along the 1300 block of South Capitol Street and the unit block of N street to build a 200-unit apartment building, the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA) filed an application to designate the structures as historic with the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). According to the application, the six “Coleman & Richards Row” homes on South Capitol Street were built in 1892 and the seven “Banes Row” homes were constructed in 1916. The Coleman & Richards Row homes represent the oldest working-class single-family rowhomes left standing in Southwest. Most of the “obsolete dwellings” in Southwest were demolished during urban renewal, but the area east of Canal Street, south of M Street, and west of South Capitol Street was spared since at the time, most of the buildings were fairly new and in good repair.

This is not the first time in the neighborhood that historic designation was used to halt or slow development. SWNA used the tactic in 2014 when the Southeastern University campus building at 6th and I streets was being demolished in preparation for development into “The Bard,” a mixed-use project with administrative and rehearsal space for the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) and multifamily rental housing. In that case, the neighborhood organization was able to get some concessions from the developer in exchange for withdrawing the historic application. Subsequently, the building was demolished and the site sold to STC. A Planned Unit Development was filed for the site in 2016, but it was withdrawn last summer after a backlash from neighbors over the proposed height and density of the project.

It was used again when UIP and Perseus Realty had plans to build on top of a parking garage at Capitol Park Tower, located at 4th and G streets. In 2012, SWNA filed an application to place Capitol Park Tower on the DC Preservation League’s endangered list. At the same time, an application was filed to designate the building and landscape as historic. After the building and landscaping received historic preservation protection, the developers needed HPRB approval before proceeding with their plans for an addition. Final approval was given in 2016, but construction has yet to begin on the project. 

Altus Realty Partners was expected to start construction on the South Capitol Street apartment project later this year with completion in 2019. Since a historic designation application was filed, demolition of the rowhomes and development of the apartment building will not be able to move forward until the HRPB makes a decision or SWNA withdraws their application.

Pre-Construction Activity for South Capitol Apartment Project

Demolition permits have been filed for several rowhomes along South Capitol and N streets in preparation for the development of a new high-rise multifamily building next to Camden South Capitol apartments. Asbestos abatement is underway at the small rowhomes, which date to the early 1900s. A DC Council hearing was held on March 30 to get approval to temporarily close an alley off of N Street that connects to South Capitol Street during construction. ANC 6D gave its support several months ago. The alley will be the access point to the parking garage of the building, but it serves as an outlet to South Capitol Street for area residents. It will reopen once construction is complete as an easement – the air rights above a portion of the alley will be used to build the apartment project. 

Some of the surrounding homeowners are concerned about the proposed alley closing to construct the building, as well as potential damage to their homes once some of the rowhomes owned by the developer are demolished. A rowhome on N Street and two on South Capitol Street closest to the alley may be demolished to make the alleyway larger. Others may be demolished as well. An older rendering showed six rowhomes remaining on South Capitol Street, but the latest rendering revealed at Monday’s ANC meeting shows only four, starting with the blue South Capitol Smile Center building. 

Older rendering of proposed project. The two rowhomes on the
left would be demolished to create a green space for the project.

The new rental apartment building is planned as a 250-unit project with ground floor retail, designed by PGN Architects. Altus Realty Partners is expected to start construction on the project later this year with completion in 2019.

SW Site on Shortlist for New DoL Headquaters

According to the Washington Business Journal, a site at the intersection of South Capitol and M streets is one of the three under consideration by the GSA to relocate the Department of Labor headquarters. The current headquarters building is located at 200 Constitution Avenue NW. GSA is looking for a site that can accommodate between 850,000 and 1.4 million SF of space for the new DoL headquarters. In addition to South Capitol & M streets, the other two sites are located in NoMa and Poplar Point. While the GSA lists the SW site as “Capitol Riverfront,” it is technically within the SW BID. The site is currently occupied by a parking lot and a 7-Eleven and is owned by Vornado. Previously, the parking lot was an office building before it was demolished several years ago. The parking lot is currently being used by The View at Waterfront for parking since construction of two new residential buildings are currently underway on their parking lots. 

If the South Capitol and M streets site is selected, it would be the second federal headquarters to be located on the M Street corridor - the Department of Transportation headquarters is located at M and 3rd streets, SE. It would also be the first federal headquarters building in Southwest located south of the freeway.

Building which used to occupy intersection of Half & M streets.

A contract will be awarded next month to evaluate the three sites in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the public will have the opportunity to comment during this phase. There is no timetable for when the preferred site is selected or when construction would begin.

This post will be updated when more information is available.

Top image courtesy of Google Earth

Leo's to Reopen This Week

Leo’s Wings N Pizza is scheduled to reopen this week at 7 N Street near South Capitol Street. The carryout restaurant was renovated in 2013, but closed last year. In addition to pizza, wings, pasta, salads, subs, and breakfast items, Korean food will be added to the menu.