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.

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.

SW ArtsFest is Today!

Don't forget that today is the fifth annual SW ArtsFest, a day-long celebration of the arts in Southwest. Some of the events around the quadrant include the Jazz Preservation Festival at Westminster Church, Creatures from the Deep at Gangplank Marina Park, and the End of Summer event at the SW Duck Pond.

Also this weekend is the Landmark Music Festival in West Potomac Park, a concert series that's helping to raise funds to restore the National Mall.

Westminster Looking for Developer Partner

Today, Westminster Presbyterian Church released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to find a partner to redevelop its property at 400 I Street. The church property is a rectangular parcel just under two thirds of an acre located north of Waterfront Station and two blocks from the Waterfront metro. The church does not own the landscaped area that fronts 4th Street – it’s District owned land, but it is looking to purchase the land to increase the footprint of the parcel. Westminster is looking for the following in their space: 

• Sanctuary/Worship - 7,000 SF 
• Multi-purpose dividable room - to allow seated event for 600 people (Sanctuary/Worship included in this space) 
• Commercial kitchen - 1,000 SF 
• Office space - four separate (150 SF each) 
• Session (Board) meeting room - one of which able to accommodate 20 tabled persons 
• Mail/Copier/Computer room - 300 SF 
• Storage space - 500 SF 
• Parking - 25 spaces 

In addition, the church wants the following out of the development: 

• Affordable housing component 
• 2,500 SF restaurant located street level 
• Workforce Development Center 
• Community center space 
• Maintain and enhance church mission and programs 

Westminster is following the lead of other SW churches including St. Augustine’s and St. Matthew’s in offering up their land in exchange for new sanctuary space. St. Augustine’s has partnered with PN Hoffman, where construction will soon be underway on a 108-unit mixed income condo building and a new sanctuary at The Wharf development. Meanwhile, St. Matthew’s is working with Trammell Crow, who will replace their sanctuary and build a 200-unit apartment building.

New St. Augustine's

New St. Matthew's

 

RFQ responses are due by 5pm on July 25th. The next step would be to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) to a short list of developers and then choose a developer partner.  The chosen developer would be able to enter a long-term lease agreement with Westminster for their land (although there is an option to purchase) and could build multifamily housing on the remaining land that isn't occupied by a new Westminster church. The current zoning for the parcel is R-3, but the Office of Planning is recommending through the Southwest Neighborhood Plan that the church parcel should be rezoned from moderate density residential to medium density residential with low-density commercial.

Renderings courtesy of MTFA Architecture and Shalom Baranes Associates