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 A Planned Unit Development was filed for the site in 2016, but it was withdrawn last summer after a backlash from neighbors over the proposed height and density of the project.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.

St. James Mutual Homes Designated Historic

St. James Mutual Homes is the latest multifamily residential community in Southwest to be designated a historic landmark, following Potomac Place Tower, Harbour Square, Tiber Island, and Capitol Park Tower. The community is a series of 16 garden-style multifamily buildings located east of Channel Square apartments on the 200 block of O Street, P Street and along James Creek Parkway, which was constructed by the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company (WSIC) and its off-shoot, the Washington Sanitary Housing Company (WSHC) in 1937 and 1939 as moderate-income housing. The complex was designed by Appleton Clark in the Colonial Revival style. 

The application for St. James cited eligibility for historic designation in six categories, including: 

1. Buildings associated with specific events that have made a contribution to the broad patterns of our history. 
2. Buildings that illustrate the initial development of the apartment movement as it relates to the need for housing, including the introduction of the building type and the specific form seen. 
3. Buildings that are parts of clusters, corridors, or districts that illustrate the patterns of development of the city. 
4. Buildings that reflect economic forces, both external and internal, that altered the development of the city. 
5. Buildings that reflect trends in the attitude toward the stratification or segregation and integration of religious, racial, economic, or other social groups through the building’s residential character, architectural form, and/or location. 
6. Buildings that are parts of corridors or zones that illustrate changes in zoning and planning trends and specific regulations.

Of the 107 shareholders at St. James, 100 voted in support of pursuing historic designation. The ANC unanimously supported the historic landmark application at their September meeting and the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) staff report recommended approval. The HPRB reviewed the case on Thursday.

Former Washington Design Center Up for Historic Nomination

The Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) will evaluate plans for a new, private Museum of the Bible planned in the former Washington Design Center building at 4th and D streets on July 10. The museum is applying for historic designation for the building, hence the involvement of HPRB. According to the landmark application, 300 D Street is an eight-story building that was originally built in 1923 in the Neo-Classical Revival style (an addition to the east was built in 1983 when it became the Washington Design Center) for the Terminal Refrigerating & Warehousing Company for use as housing cold and dry storage warehouses, an ice manufacturing plant, and the company’s offices. Trains used to enter the building on the 4th Street side on a spur line to deliver goods and loading docks were located on the D Street and Virginia Avenue sides. An interesting note about the shape of the original building – a notch was created on the southeast corner along Virginia Avenue because row houses were there when it was originally built. 300 D Street is the only large, Neo-Classical-style warehouse still standing in the District.

View from corner of 4th and D streets.

SmithGroupJJR has designed the museum to restore some elements of the building that were lost when it was converted to the Washington Design Center and create a new addition to replace the 1983 version, as well as build a large glass atrium above the existing building with a green roof. The museum will be approximately 400,000 square feet, about 30,000 SF larger than the existing building and addition. The main entrance will be located on 4th Street where the train used to enter the building and the loading dock bays that were on D Street will be retrofitted with windows and an open framed canopy above. The new addition will be made of oversized handmade bricks and have been designed to look like stacked bibles. 

On the first floor of the museum, there will be a lobby, museum shop, orientation desk, media wall, and security station. A grand staircase in the new addition will lead to the other floors. Above the first floor is a mezzanine level that will have a coffee shop and multipurpose room. The second through fourth floors will contain permanent exhibit space, while the fifth floor will contain an affiliated museum and performance hall. The sixth floor will have conference space, restaurant, lounge, and biblical garden. Special exhibits and museum support will be in the first basement level and space will be carved out in a second basement level for storage and staff support. The adjacent office building will also receive a one-story addition for an institute with a conference hall, offices, library, education center, and housing units for visiting scholars. 

Planned addition on office building at 3rd and D streets.

If approved, the museum is looking to open in 2017. 

Renderings courtesy of SmithGroupJJR

A Few Quick Monday Evening Items: Water Taxi, SW History, Wharf Retail

Potomac Riverboat Company is now offering a new water taxi service on the Potomac River connecting Old Town Alexandria and National Harbor to the National Mall. The National Mall stop is located at West Basin and Ohio drives. The average trip time from Old Town Alexandria to the National Mall is approximately 30 minutes and from National Harbor to the National Mall is 45 minutes. Tickets are $14 one way or $28 round-trip for adults, and $8 O/W & $16 R/T for children.

SWNA will have its monthly meeting tomorrow at Westminster Presbyterian Church (400 I Street), starting at 7pm. The meeting will include a presentation from Marjorie Lightman, Bill Zeisel, and Peter Sefton from QED Associates LLC, who will share their preliminary findings from a historic context study of Southwest that was commissioned by SWNA. The context study is a step in the process of establishing a Southwest Historic District.

In today's Real Estate Bisnow, Monty Hoffman from PN Hoffman is profiled. An interesting factoid about the retail planned at The Wharf was mentioned:

About two-thirds of The Wharf's restaurant space is under LOI, and celebrity chefs Mike Isabella, Robert Wiedemeyer, Stephen Starr, and Fabio Trabocchi are in talks for new concepts.

Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

Town Center East Designated Historic

Last month, the DC Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) designated both multifamily buildings at Town Center East and the grounds as historic.  It has also requested that the nomination for historic preservation be forwarded to the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings, located on 3rd Street between K Street and M Street, were designed by I.M. Pei and built in 1960-61.   Originally built as apartment buildings, Waterfront Tower was converted to condos in 2009. Meanwhile, 1001 at Waterfront was last renovated prior to its sister building’s conversion, but has remained as apartments. The two buildings at Town Center are the mirror image of the two apartment buildings to the west of Waterfront Station at The View at Waterfront (or Town Center West). Those two buildings are not included in the historic designation. In its ruling, the HPRB determined that Town Center was eligible for historic designation in three categories, including “Architecture and Urbanism”, “Creative Masters”, and “History.”  According to the ruling, “Town Center East is important as one of Washington’s best examples of mid-century Modernism, and certainly among the best in Southwest.” 

The owners at Waterfront Tower, along with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, applied for historic designation in response to a PUD submitted by The Bernstein Companies to build two large multifamily buildings on the parking lots of the existing Pei buildings and a smaller building on the courtyard separating the two existing buildings. It was reported in the Washington City Paper about the tension between Bernstein and the Waterfront Tower owners. With the historic designation in place, Bernstein will need to alter its PUD and have it approved by the HPRB in addition to the Zoning Commission.

Original design of Town Center PUD.

In recent years, other residential complexes in Southwest have been designated as historic, including Potomac Place Tower, Tiber Island, and more recently, Harbour Square. Other residential complexes built during urban renewal may apply for historic designation as they turn 50 years old. Thus far, individual buildings have been applying for historic designation, but eventually a historic district may be coming to Southwest, which would preserve the mid-century modern architecture of the neighborhood.

Rendering courtesy of Maurice Walters Architect, PC

Town Center East Seeking Historic Designation

ANC 6D gave its unanimous support last night to designate Town Center East as a historic landmark. The Waterfront Tower Homeowners' Association, along with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, have applied for historic status with the DC Register for the pair of buildings on 3rd Street, designed in the modernist style by I.M. Pei in the 1960s. The move to grant landmark status to the buildings, grounds, and parking lots comes at the same time that The Bernstein Companies is trying to get approval for their consolidated PUD application which would replace the surface parking lots with two new high-rise residential buildings with some ground floor retail and a third smaller building in the open space between the existing Pei buildings. At last month's ANC meeting, the commissioners voted not to support the Town Center PUD as-is and asked the developers to rework their plans & meet with the Waterfront Tower residents to hear their concerns. 

Current plan for new and existing buildings at Town Center East.

Historic designation would complicate things, but as Cecille Chen, the head of SWNA's historic preservation task force said at Monday's meeting, the designation of a property as historic wouldn't stop future development, it helps to bring development that is appropriate since the Historic Preservation Board would have a say in any plans to build on the site. If Town Center East is designated historic, it would join other modernist residential complexes that have recently been designated historic, including Tiber Island and Harbour Square. Potomac Place Tower was designated historic almost a decade ago..  

Tiber Island on its Way to Historic Status

(This post is an abbreviated version of the South by West article that will appear in July's Hill Rag.)

Tiber Island Co-ops and Condominiums is the latest residential complex in Southwest to seek historic designation. The Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA) submitted an application last fall at the request of the Boards of the Co-Op and Condominium communities to be nominated to the District and National historic registers. Designed by the architecture firm Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon and built between 1963-65, Tiber Island comprises 8.4 acres and is situated south of M Street between 6th Street  and 4th Street, north of N Street. Tiber Island was originally designed as rental apartments and townhomes, but over time became two entities – a co-op containing four high-rise towers and townhomes near the center of the development, with the remaining townhomes primarily along the perimeter under condominium ownership. The four towers form a pinwheel around a central plaza and the townhomes are placed in a manner that creates a series of courtyards and passageways throughout the community. On the west side of the complex is a Great Lawn and adjacent to it is the Thomas Law House, which was built in 1794 and now serves as a community center (it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973). 

A public hearing was held on May 24 by the Historic Preservation Review Board to consider the Tiber Island application. Ultimately, the Board was unanimous in its support of the application, with some members urging the Historic Preservation Office and community to consider creating a Southwest Historic District. Members thought a piecemeal approach to historic designation was not the best route and that creating a historic district would be a better option. For instance, Potomac Place Tower at 800 4th Street SW was designated by the HPRB as historic in 2003, while Harbour Square Cooperatives has an application pending for historic designation. River Park is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary and other residential buildings in Southwest are approaching the half century mark, which makes it easier to apply for historic designation. Whether there is enough community support to create a historic district in Southwest is uncertain – the Historic Preservation Office staff members do not feel that there is sufficient support yet since there is still some debate whether the wholesale removal of a community in the guise of urban renewal should be commemorated with a historic district.

Tiber Island Plaza Extreme Makeover

As Tiber Island Condos and Co-ops seek historic designation, the community is gearing up for a $2 million upgrade to its central plaza, which currently is a stark, windswept area with a large water feature. In addition to the plaza, the lobby, hallway corridors, and signage will be updated. Tiber Island has brought in SmithGroup/JJR to redesign the plaza and other common areas in a way that respects the period in which the community was built.

The SmithGroup/JJR design calls for the plaza to be shaped as an ellipse, with an elliptical fountain, structural pergola and vegetation. The new fountain will be smaller than the existing one and will serve as a focal point – an infinity fountain with adjustable bubblers that will be table height so it is accessible and touchable. Movable seating will be provided around the fountain and pergola, which will be a sculptural art piece with plants and vegetation. There will be three rings of vegetation behind the pergola, with groundcover, perennial plantings, and grasses of varying height. Direct walking paths will be created from each tower to the plaza and the pergola will be designed to be open both physically and visually. New ADA-compliant ramps will be installed to ease access from the towers to the plaza.

The plaza is still in the planning stage, so the finished product may look different than the above rendering.

Rendering courtesy of SmithGroup

Zoning Analysis of Southwest to Begin Soon

According to the Summer 2008 issue of the Ward 6 Neighborhood Planning Update, the DC Office of Planning will conduct a study of conditions in Southwest in order to help guide zoning and future development in the area. The boundaries of the study area are the Southeast-Southwest freeway to the north, the south side of P Street to the south, the Washington Channel to the west, and South Capitol Street to the east. Buzzard Point is not included in this study. Currently, there are 11 zoning districts within these boundaries, in addition to federal land, as a result of "reactive" zoning, since the zoning districts were created after Southwest was redeveloped in the 1950s and 1960s. Some issues that will be analyzed include possibly reopening some streets in the original L'Enfant plan, designate structures as historic, guide where new development should occur, and how to maximize transit use in the neighborhood. The community will be involved during this study period in a series of meetings, which are supposed to start in late summer and conclude in late fall of this year. Once the dates of the meetings are released, I'll post them here.

HUD Headquarters is Landmarked

Per Greater Greater Washington: the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) unanimously approved landmark status for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) headquarters, a 1960's-era Expressionist building designed by Hungarian architect Marcel Breuer. The HUD website states the following about the building: "Constructed from 1965 to 1968, the building is recognized as the first federal building in the country to utilize precast concrete as the primary structural and exterior finish material, as well as the first fully modular design for a federal office building...At its ceremonial opening, the HUD building’s bold aesthetic and technological advances were hailed with optimism as a turning point for public architecture nationwide." Taste has changed significantly since its opening. This building is now derided as cold and uninviting to its surroundings, which in itself is also cold and uninviting. In 1990, there was an attempt to enliven the plaza area in front of the building. Martha Schwartz, a landscape architect, was commissioned to redesign the plaza. Her efforts resulted in the saucer-like canopies and circular planters that now grace the front along 7th Street.