Valor’s Shaw Condo Project Gets Approval to Expand

• January 5, 2012
• 4 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

Rendering of P Street Residences. PGN Architects.

At Wednesday night’s ANC 2C meeting, Valor Development received approval to acquire a parcel of city-owned land adjacent to their current acquisition at 631 P Street NW. The city-owned parcel has been vacant since the 1968 riots.

Valor can now move ahead with plans to build a 65- to 70-unit condo project on the land, which spans the north side of P Street from 7th Street to Marion (map). With the newest parcel, they can execute their expanded design (the old design was limited to about 45 units) and include ground-level retail at the corner of 7th and P Street.

Preliminary plans, presented by Jeff Goins from PGN Architects, include a partially raised garage with about 40 parking spaces. The building will be four stories tall, and as Housing Complex reported earlier this week, units will range in size from 510 to 853 square feet

The initial rendering has a modern facade, which incited some criticism from the crowd at the ANC meeting, but Valor made it clear to the committee that they were happy to listen to feedback and revise their plan as the project moves ahead. About ten percent of the condos will be set aside as affordable units.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/valors_shaw_condo_project_gets_approval_to_expand/4860

4 Comments

1. Mike said at 1:43 pm on Thursday January 5, 2012:

   “The initial rendering has a modern facade, which incited some criticism from the crowd at the ANC meeting…”  Really, do we need more cookie cutter buildings that all look the same?
   DC has pretty boring, uniform architecture for the most part, and when anyone tries to do anything a little different people complain.  I think various architecture styles enhance the community, and I hope that they don’t remove what makes this project different based on the feedback of a few.

1. Eric said at 1:18 pm on Friday January 6, 2012:

   I agree with Mike.  There’s so much complaining about the boring architecture, but when something slightly more interesting comes along, the whining just continues in the other direction.  I believe that the quality of architecture in the city should be held to a certain standard, but the standard should not preclude different unique styles.  It’s just as easy to build a poorly designed traditional building as it is to build a poorly designed modern building, and I think that people forget that what they’re really trying to prevent is just that—poor design and quality.

1. roots said at 4:44 pm on Friday January 6, 2012:

   I think if someone bought the land, paid for the materials, paid for the architect, is within zoning and city laws, they should build whatever they want and however they want it to look. I hope they say “thanks for the input” and build the project with their preference.

1. Me said at 11:21 pm on Friday February 10, 2012:

   I find it interesting that valor has not been able to perform at any of their other properties? I also find it interesting that none of the adjacent property owners were present at the ANC meeting. If I owned land next to this site I would be angered with the ANC handling and failure to inform me.! This council is weak on may levels and shoud have not Approved this’!

Join the discussion