IBG’s Plans for the Specialty Hospital Apartments

• January 27, 2012
• 7 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

IBG’s rendering of 700 Constitution

Last night, IBG Partners, who developed Yale Steam Laundry, met with community members to discuss initial plans for their proposed apartments in the now vacant south wing of Specialty Hospital at 700 Constitution Avenue NE (map).

Most of the meeting focused on the exterior changes that would be made to the building, which will ultimately need to be approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board. IBG plans to rip out many of the additions on the front of the building and in the inner courtyard, as well as the ramps and stairs facing 8th Street. In their place, they will create bay windows and will install an addition along the inner wall facing the courtyard. In doing so, they will increase the usable space without increasing the total square footage — taking 21,000 square feet out and creating 21,000 new square feet.

Right now, IBG is estimating that the project will consist of 140 apartment units, but that could drop to 130 or lower, based on market information. The building would have some partially below-grade “English basement” units, and a community member at the meeting spoke up in favor of seeing two and three-bedroom apartments that could accommodate families and older residents.

“Don’t just create one-bedrooms for twenty-somethings!” said the attendee.

IBG said that the building would have a 24-hour front desk attendant, and a two-level parking garage will likely be created, though the design won’t allow for anywhere near 140 spaces. Parking and traffic were a big topic of discussion, and IBG said that extensive traffic studies would be completed before a final plan was in place.

The developer is in the early stages of design and permit gathering and estimates that construction will start at around this time next year and then take 18 months to complete. To keep the community abreast of all developments, they have launched a website called 700 Constitution.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/ibgs_plans_for_the_specialty_hospital_apartments/5002

7 Comments

1. xmal said at 10:17 am on Friday January 27, 2012:

   Uh . . . there are already plenty of two- and three-bedrooms for families in the area—-they’re called rowhouses!

1. aaron4uva said at 11:24 am on Friday January 27, 2012:

   +1 There are also plenty of single people in their 30’s, 40’s, and beyond who would make great neighbors but only need a one bedroom unit.  What a short-sighted comment by the attendee.  Also, three bedroom units usually have much less demand and are very hard to lease-up.

1. Rentalspike said at 5:31 pm on Friday January 27, 2012:

   @aaron - well duh, 3BRs at $2500 a month and higher, sure.

1. webdoyenne said at 12:22 pm on Saturday January 28, 2012:

   Uh…I’m a 60-something who downsized from a 3/2 house into a 1-bedroom apartment. Son/family wanted a house. I wanted to be closer to my work.

   Age-ist assumptions benefit no one.

1. CapHill said at 1:46 am on Sunday January 29, 2012:

   This will turn the area into another 20 something year old ghetto like Adams Morgan and DuPont circle. This type of density is not appropriate for Capitol Hill and needs to be relocated to more urban parts of the city like Georgia Ave.

1. Whoa_now said at 10:43 am on Monday January 30, 2012:

   CapHill-I hope that was a joke. Throwing out Adams Morgan already?

   Currently this space is wasteful, ugly and a blight on capitol hill. There really isn’t much other use for this building. I live 2 blocks away and I’m happy it will be redeveloped…Parking may be an issue. I wish for underground parking..maybe 75-100 spaces.

1. anon said at 11:09 am on Monday January 30, 2012:

   I don’t know a single downsizer who’s interested in anything less that 2 BR unless they have no prospects of out of town grandkids visiting.  The appeal for apartments for seniors is lower maintenance than a rowhouse, no stairs, and turnkey for those who wish to travel for extended periods.  However, I suspect that market is more interested in condo/coop than rentals.

   I also suspect the easiest way to fill that space in the rental space is going for the density of small units.  A 2+ bedroom unit will not necessarily bear twice the price or have comparable demand.

   Hopefully they’re respectful of the neighboring church with regards to massing and light.

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