The 1,300 Units Planned for Mount Vernon Triangle and Chinatown

• May 17th 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

As UrbanTurf continues updating the status of the residential development pipeline around the DC area, we turn our attention to the Mount Vernon Triangle and Chinatown neighborhoods, where development seems slow-going. Some projects, like the Museum Square apartment redevelopment, are on hold indefinitely as the residents gain ground in efforts to take control of their building. Overall, however, a lot of projects are in motion, as seen below.

In case you missed them, here are other neighborhoods we have covered thus far:

• The Approximately 2,000 Units Planned For Tenleytown/AU Park
• The Residential Rundown For Connecticut Avenue
• Whole Foods, A Church and 970 Units: The Shaw Development Rundown
• The 4,500 Residential Units Planned for NoMa
• The 4,500 Residential Units Headed to Union Market
• The Adams Morgan Development Rundown
• The 14th Street Corridor Development Rundown
• The 725 Units on Tap For the H Street Corridor
• From Nobu to Dominos: The Development on Tap for Georgetown and West End
• The 1,700 Units on Tap For Downtown Bethesda

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SLS Lux Hotel & Residences

The city’s future location of the SLS Lux Hotel & Residences is still in preconstruction, having just cleared key zoning approvals last year. Peebles Corporation and SBE subsidiary, Dakota Development, are leading a development team that will construct a 12-story building on city-owned land at 901 5th Street NW (map). The development team also includes Walker Group and MacFarlane Partners; WDG Architecture is the designer.

Atop what will likely be a Jose Andres restaurant on the ground floor, the SLS hotel will have approximately 175 rooms across floors 2-8; roughly 48 residential units will sit on floors 9-12. A 5,500 square-foot ballroom and other amenities will occupy a cellar and mezzanine level. A parking level below the cellar will provide 92 vehicular and 28 bicycle parking spaces.

Part of the penthouse has been approved for use as a bar or restaurant; the roof will also have a pool and terraces for both hotel guests and residents. As part of transportation demand management agreements, all hotel guests will be provided with free Bikeshare passes and all condo buyers will receive a complimentary 3-year membership to either a car- or bike-share program.

If the units are delivered as rental apartments, all lessees in the first ten years would receive a transportation stipend of either one year’s worth of Bikeshare or carshare membership or a $100 Smartrip card credit. As part of the deal to develop the city-owned parcel, the development team will also build affordable housing off-site in Anacostia and improve Milian and Seaton Parks.

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613-617 H Street NW

Next door to the newly-delivered Pod DC micro-hotel, Monument Realty has greatly scaled-down plans for a mixed-use development at 613-617 H Street NW (map). Earlier this year, zoning officials approved a nearly 110 foot-tall building that will incorporate the existing three-story building on the site, delivering ground-floor retail, retail and/or office use on the second floor, and over 60,000 square feet of office space on floors 3-9. An underground parking level would accommodate 43 vehicles. DCS Design is the architect on the project.

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606 H Street NW

Across the street at 606 H Street NW (map), property owner On Leong Tong Church Community is seeking historic preservation review for a plan to append a seven-story addition to the existing four-story building. Previously-constructed rear additions would be demolished to make way for the mixed-use development, which will expand the footprint of the building from 905 to 2,500 square feet on each floor.

Although the details are still sparse, the Studio Crowley Hall-designed building would have retail on the ground floor, assisted-living units on the second floor, retail or restaurant use on the third floor, and some combination of residential and/or office space on floors 4-6. The Church would occupy the top floor and there would also be a roof deck.

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455 I

In a few weeks, Equity Residential will begin delivering the 176 residential units at the Hickok Cole-designed 455 I development. The project involved the adaptive reuse of a two-story auto shop and two 4-story rowhouses at 455 Eye Street NW (map) to construct a mix of studio to two-bedroom units, lofts and townhouses. Amenities include a lounge, courtyard, gym, pet care, and rooftop pool and BBQ area. A Prathers on the Alley restaurant with patio seating is also slated to open on the ground-floor this fall.

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Mount Vernon Place

Meany & Oliver Companies, The Wilkes Company and Quadrangle Development continue to build their multi-building Mount Vernon Place project in the heart of the neighborhood. Most of the planned construction will be office space, with plans for the sites at 300 K Street NW, 950 3rd Street and the future DC Bar headquarters at 901 4th Street that will deliver later this year.

Another major office development will be the expansion of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee building at 251 H Street NW, which is beginning to move forward following a court decision last fall. The project will also deliver additional residential units on the following sites:

• Lydian

This 14-story development will be a sister building to the Lyric Residences, delivering 324 apartments at 400 K Street NW (map) next spring. There will be 26 studios, 220 one-bedrooms, 26 one-bedroom plus dens and 52 two-bedrooms atop 13,410 square feet of restaurant and retail space on the ground floor and 59,000 square feet of underground parking. Amenities will include a rooftop deck with pool and spa, cyber cafe, pet grooming areas and fitness center.

• The Cantata

A partnership with Mount Carmel Baptist Church to develop The Cantata at 801 3rd Street NW (map), a two-phase project that will deliver a total of 351 residential units. The SmithGroup JJR-designed project will create additional space for the church’s programming. Twenty percent of the units will be set aside as affordable; amenities will include a gym and rooftop pool.

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Plaza West

The city has partnered with Henson Development Company, Golden Rule Plaza and Mission First Housing Development Corporation to deliver a development that will create 223 units of affordable rental housing for households earning up to 60 percent AMI. A large portion of the development at 307 K Street NW (map) will house inter-generational “grandfamilies”, led by low-income grandparents raising their grandchildren. The grandfamilies will reside in a separate area of the building with a separate entrance and more-tailored amenities, including a library, playroom and fitness room. Other amenities will include 9,500 square feet of outdoor space with a basketball court and garden; there will also be 51 below-grade parking spaces.

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Plaza West

Next door at the former Henry’s Soul Cafe site, developer Habte Sequar and PGN Architects plan to construct a 14-story hotel and residential building at 317 K Street NW (map). Sequar’s Lima Hotel will deliver 200 rooms across the first eleven floors, while the top three floors will contain 30 apartments. Forty-two parking spaces will be spread over two underground levels.

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Capitol Vista

After being awarded development rights to the triangular, 9,648 square-foot city-owned event parking site at New Jersey Avenue and Second and H Streets NW (map), development leader Dantes Partners is seeking approval for a planned-unit development that would deliver a 104-unit affordable apartment development. The unit mix for the Grimm + Parker Architects-designed building will deliver 21 studios, 52 one-bedrooms and 32 two-bedrooms.

Sixteen units each would be set aside for households earning up to 30 and 50 percent of area median income (AMI), and the remaining 72 units would be for households earning up to 60 percent AMI. A 3,200 square-foot retail space and resident bicycle parking would be on the street level; no vehicular parking will be provided. Amenities will include a club room and fitness center.

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925 5th St NW

Peebles Corporation was also recently granted historic preservation approval to construct 40 condominium units at 925 5th St NW (map). The WDG Architecture design will incorporate the existing single-story facade, adding nine stories and a penthouse. The ground floor will either be a residential amenity or retail.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/1300_mvt_chinatown_rundown/12571.