Dear PoPville – Diamond Cab Building to be Redeveloped in Logan Circle?

11th and Rhode Island Ave, NW

“Dear PoPville,

The building is slated to be built literally in my backyard on the east side of Logan Circle. My neighbors and I are all very receptive to the development — any neighbor will be better than Diamond Cab — but it seems like every zoning variance the developer is requesting is simply to make more money and increase density, squeezing an extra 10% – 20% of space and efficiency at the loss of neighborhood parking, permeable ground cover, etc.

Zoning regulations exist for a reason, and neighbors have come to a consensus that they should enforced.

There are also environmental concerns related to the developer’s desire to not fully remediate the contaminated soils here (the site has had ~9 underground tanks on it over the years). The developer basically says that it would be an undue burden to remove these soils, and the deeper they dig, the more contamination they expect to find. It seems to me that the if a developer knows they’re purchasing a contaminated site, then they really ought to plan to clean it up, especially if they’re planning on creating below-grade residences. The local ANC and DC agencies should look out for the public good in making sure a structure than may stand for 5 or more decades is not built on soil that is known to contain volatile gasoline and diesel residues.

This event / hearing is on Wednesday night at 7pm at the Washington Plaza and we’d encourage all interested neighbors and community members to attend.”

From momsinlogancircle:

I wanted to let fellow neighbors and parents know about plans to develop the Diamond Cab property on the corner of 11th and Rhode Island Ave. The developer, CAS Riegler, is proposing to build a 4+ story building with 40-50 condo units. They are requesting an area variance for 13 parking spaces as opposed to the 20-25 that are legally required, which will make parking extremely difficult in that vicinity. In addition, the building will have 2 retail stores adding to the parking burden. There are additional area variances and special exceptions the developer is requesting.

If you are concerned about parking in Logan and the precedence this will set for other developments in the area please attend the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2F, Community Development Committee (CDC) Meeting on Wednesday, September 25 at 7PM at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

Rendering of proposed bldg at 1101 Rhode Island