Massive Development Plans for Woodley Park – Michael Drohan Reports on the Details

2660 Woodley Rd, NW

Neighborhood resident, Michael Drohan, reports on last night’s meeting:

“I checked out the Woodley Park Community Association’s meeting tonight, where JBG shared their long term plans for the redevelopment of the Wardman Park site. Overall, a very informative presentation I thought, and JBG has some ambitious plans that, for the most part, seemed to be cautiously welcomed by the community. I.e. no one is mourning the loss of the eyesore Marriott, but of course concerned what the influx of housing for 6000 new neighborhood residents (roughly doubling the size of Woodley Park) means to things like parking availability and schools.

JBG has set up a detailed website on the plans, www.wardmanparknews.com, and handed me a press release, attached. Some other high level notes and observations:

2016-April-13-WPCA-Presentation-FINAL (PDF)

Doc Apr 13, 2016, (PDF)

-Overall, the site is looking at a transformation of 3x the current density. Key to the redevelopment is that in their 2012 land use map, the DC Gov marked the site as a targeted high density residential site for the future. It is currently a medium density zone, and as it stands, the Marriott is technically under utilizing the designation.

–Planning on five buildings: Phase One will be one building on Woodley Rd of 110-120 units, and the open green space that the neighborhood currently values so much will be preserved for the community to use. Phase Two will be four more buildings, three of which will back up to Calvert St. and one will be in the “middle” of the development. Right now, the site is zoned for purely residential development (In case you’re wondering, dear reader, the Marriott was grandfathered in to this most latest zoning). There was talk of the possibility of putting some combined pressure on the DC Government to rezone for limited retail if that was of interest to the community.

What was also interesting is in their presentation, JBG had a current and after rendering of how the buildings will contribute to the Woodley Park skyline from various vantage points, and it definitely looks more attractive and even less obtrusive than the current brown brick block of the Marriott.

-Architect Michael Swartz (of David M. Schwarz Architects) described the buildings as a “natural fit” to the community, much like the recently opened The Woodley apartments, which was more-or-less JBG’s “Phase Zero” for the site. Brick, neo-gothic style.

-I didn’t get a good sense of the timeline, but we’re looking at several, several years. There are several moving parts including the DC government and whatever terms Marriott still has on managing the property. JBG plans to file initial applications this month.

Definitely peruse the site, JBG knows they have a passionate community here, and so far, seem to be respecting that.”