Development

“The complex, which has been vacant since 2007, will have mostly family-sized units and provide workforce development training to residents and energy savings through the installation of solar panels through the Solar for All program.”

By Prince Of Petworth


via google maps

From the Mayor’s Office:

“Mayor Bowser today kicked off Roots to Roofs Week at a revitalization groundbreaking for 220 affordable housing units at the Parkway Overlook Apartments in the Ward 8 neighborhood of Congress Heights. The complex, which has been vacant since 2007, will have mostly family-sized units and provide workforce development training to residents and energy savings through the installation of solar panels through the Solar for All program.

“The revitalization of Parkway Overlook has been in the making for over a decade, and we are proud to finally get this project moving forward,” said Mayor Bowser. “With these investments, we are making it possible for residents to return to Parkway Overlook and for more families to secure the housing and community services they need to get their fair shot.”

The $82.2 million rehabilitation of the complex, located at 2841 Robinson Place, SE, near the Congress Heights Metro Station and St. Elizabeths East Campus, will be comprised of one-, two-, and three-bedrooms and all will be affordable to households making up to 50 percent of the area median income (AMI) or about $54,600 for a family of four. Eleven units will be available for households at or below $33,090 (30 percent of AMI) and will be set aside as permanent supportive housing. (more…)

Some Major Development Coming to the Old Soldiers Home (AFRH) Seriously. Maybe. The Latest

By Prince Of Petworth


140 rock Creek Church Rd, NW across from Slash Run and the Hitching Post

Ed. Note: We last spoke about the AFRH Golf Course here.

Thanks to a reader for passing on this press release from the Department of Defense:

“The Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) hosted an Industry Day, March 19, to seek ways to leverage private-sector, multi-use development of 80 acres of Washington, D.C. property operated by AFRH to create lasting revenue for the Home.

“Our objective is to generate long-term income to support the Home’s mission of caring for our enlisted veteran residents,” said AFRH Chief Executive Officer Steve Rippe. “We’re looking to industry for creative solutions to maximize revenue to the Armed Forces Retirement Home and improve the community as a whole. (more…)

“Neighbors feel that the old C of O from 1966 classifying the home as an apartment home is no longer valid because it has been over 50 years and the house was not used as an apartment home for 30 years”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoPville,

I live in Columbia Heights and a bunch of my neighbors are struggling with a renovation. There is a home on Kenyon Street that was a single-family home for at least the last 2 decades – and likely more. Many of us old timers in the neighborhood knew the previous owner and had been in the home on multiple occasions.

A developer purchased the property in 2015 for $900,000. It needed to be gutted and completely redone

He submitted drawing/plans to the city shortly after purchasing the home, showing the property was a 4-unit building with kitchens on every floor. These plans were false. Several people have signed affidavits stating that this was a single-family home and we submitted those affidavits to DCRA. One of these people lived there up until shortly before it was sold to the developer. The house was in no way a 4 unit building, but DCRA wrote a determination letter stating that since the property was always 4 units – the developer could rehab and renovate the property as such. (so he essentially lied to get permission to convert a single family home to a 4 unit building) He received permits to do this work in the summer of 2017. The interior of the home was been completely demolished and the back ½ is missing. Now there is no way to tell how many units there were.

As a side note – but deserving of a “bullet point” nonetheless….there is one electric meter, one gas meter and tax records show it was taxed as single family home.

DCRA issued a stop work order on September 17th, 2017 because they learned that the adjoining neighbors on both sides were not served any construction documents along with the neighbor notification form that is required by the city, to give both adjoining neighbors a chance to see the plans and make sure the structural integrity of their own homes are protected.

The crux of the issue lies with an old C of O from 1966 zoning the house as an apartment house. Neighbors want the developer to build 2 units, not 4 as the city granted him, and in January of this past year DCRA retracted their permission for him to build 4, but granted him the right to do 3, even though this is now a zone where a maximum of 2 units can be built. This was their explanation: (more…)

Meet the ‘Frequency Apartments’ “a $14 million year-long 36,000 square foot gut renovation”

By Prince Of Petworth


rendering courtesy UIP

From a press release:

“Urban Investment Partners (UIP) of Washington DC has unveiled Frequency Apartments, a 100-unit luxury apartment community located in a former northwest Washington, DC office building that housed National Public Radio affiliate WAMU.

UIP acquired the building at 4000 Brandywine Street, NW, along with two other properties, from American University in 2016. The company has now completed a $14 million year-long 36,000 square foot gut renovation and a 14,000 SF addition to the building, which is just one block from the Tenleytown-American University station on Metrorail’s Red Line. UIP joined with Tenleytown Main Street to officially open the neighborhood’s newest multifamily residence.

“Frequency is our most contemporary apartment community to date,” said UIP Principal Steve Schwat. “The name is derived from its history as a radio station and recording studio for WAMU/NPR programming, including the syndicated talk shows hosted by Diane Rehm and Kojo Nnamdi. (more…)

Planet Word Museum “Groundbreaking” in the old Franklin School to be May 4th!!

By Prince Of Petworth

The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.


13th and K Street, NW

At a regularly-scheduled February 28 meeting, architect Gretchen K Pfaehler of Beyer Blinder Belle told
a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle that the “groundbreaking” for the Planet Word Museum would be May 4. The word “groundbreaking” was used metaphorically, as Pfeahler had just finished briefing the committee about the efforts to keep the building as unchanged as possible while still allowing it to fulfill its future function as a museum of linguistics. (more…)

Not a Mirage

By Prince Of Petworth


Quincy and New Hampshire Ave, NW

Holy smokes. I don’t know if it’s because I used to walk by this empty lot for 12+ years but seeing a new building going up here blew my mind. Indulge me. Holy smokes.

Plan (an eight-story, 242-unit apartment building) for Development of Martha’s Table Space Moves Forward

By Prince Of Petworth

The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.


photos from the files of DC’s Office of Zoning

The historical preservation and zoning relief necessary to build an eight-story, 242-unit apartment building at 2122 14th Street NW (between V and W Streets) received endorsement from a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street on February 20. ANC1B’s Zoning, Preservation and Development Committee heard a presentation of a revised design by the developers of the long-time site of Martha’s Table, and then heard objections from members of the community. (more…)

73-unit Boutique Hotel Planned for Dupont Circle on Connecticut Ave, Currently Home to the Gryphon and others

By Prince Of Petworth

The following was written by PoPville contributor David McAuley, founder of Short Articles about Long Meetings.


Photo of the Gryphon in July 2017 from google street view

A team of developers briefed Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont at its regular monthly meeting February 14 on its plans for the proposed “Penelope Hotel” at 1337 Connecticut Avenue NW, south of Dupont Circle. The space currently hosts “The Gryphon” bar and restaurant.


Photo by David McAuley

As currently planned, the hotel will have 73 “keys” and space for a bar/restaurant on the Connecticut Avenue. Since it is located on a wedge-shaped block, it will have entrances both on Connecticut Avenue and 18th Street.

Felipe Serpa, Development Manager at Valor Development, told the ANC the developers were close to a deal with a hotel operator and would be “back in front of you guys” when the deal was finalized.

The purpose of the briefing was to present the construction schedule and let the ANC know about possible disruptions to Dupont life, such as the closing of traffic lanes on 18th Street and when construction cranes will be used. The developers are adding an additional floor to the existing five-story building.

Exterior construction work is scheduled to begin on April and end in February 2019. (more…)

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