The Three Proposals to Transform the Crummell School in Ivy City

• October 12th 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development released the site of the historic Crummell School in Ivy City for an RFP this past April. The redevelopment of this landmark building at 1900 Gallaudet Street NE (map) and the surrounding 108,000 square-foot site will involve the exterior restoration of the Crummell School building. A few recommendations put forward in the RFP call for proposals of mixed-use projects that incorporate neighborhood-serving retail, workforce development, activated public and green spaces, art, recreational and community space, and historical references to the school and the Ivy City area.

The city announced the OurRFP finalists over the summer, and last month they presented their plans to the community. The final selection is slated for this fall and the plan is also subject to oversight from the Historic Preservation Review Board. Here are the three proposals currently being reviewed.

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A Restoration With Affordable Housing and Non-Profit Services

A development team led by Empower DC, WC Smith and City First Enterprises would mix non-profit commercial use with a 100 percent affordable housing component. The Stoiber and Associates-designed project would restore the Crummell building as a community center, owned by a nonprofit community land trust.

An L-shaped building would surround the community center and deliver studio, one, two- and three-bedroom units, 30 percent of which would be set aside for households with housing vouchers earning up to 30 percent area median income (AMI) and the remainder for households earning up to 60 percent AMI. The ground floor level would include a health clinic run by Community of Hope, a home improvement and furniture store run by Habitat for Humanity and ReStore DC, and a childcare center run by Edward C. Mazique Parent Child Center.

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318 Apartments, a YMCA and an Improved Park

Trammell Crow’s High Street Residential, Victory Housing and CSG Urban Partners have teamed up for a densely-residential proposal for the site. The first development phase would restore the Crummell School, transforming it into a 20,000 square-foot YMCA. Mary’s Center would also helm a 12,000 square-foot affordable senior apartments building on the site.

Kendall and Okie Streets would be temporary green space and playing fields while the developers improve the Lewis W. Crowe Park a few blocks away at Mount Olivet Street and West Virginia Avenue. The final phase would deliver a 230-unit apartment building with 14,000 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail on the ground floor; 17 of those apartments would be for households earning between 40-60 percent AMI. Goodwill is also a partner on the development team, and Eric Colbert and Associates is the architect on the project.

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Townhouses, a Restaurant, and More Space for Fish

The final proposal is led by Jarvis Company and Stonebridge Carras and intends to re-incorporate industrial uses to the neighborhood. ProFish’s seafood wholesale business is currently east of the site at Fenwick Street; this proposal would give them a vast amount of space on the basement level to expand their storage and processing.

The Hickok Cole Architects design would deliver a 5,000 square-foot restaurant to the corner of Kendall and Okie Streets, a commercial space on the opposite end of the site along Okie Street, and townhouses along Gallaudet Street. There would also be apartment units along Okie Street and atop the townhouses and commercial space on the lower floors. The Crummell School would also be restored into a community center and 28 spaces of underground parking would be accessible from Kendall Street.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_proposals_for_the_crummell_school_redevelopment/11779.