270-Unit Residential Project on the Boards For Union Market

• March 14, 2016
• 3 Comments

by UrbanTurf Staff

Rendering of 500-530 Morse Street NE

It seems as though every month a new residential development is proposed for the area around Union Market.

Late Monday, LCOR filed plans with the Zoning Commission for a 270-unit residential development with almost 20,000 square feet of retail for 500 and 530 Morse Street NE (map), a site adjacent to Gallaudet University and in front of Union Market. As proposed, the development will include underground parking for 160 to 245 cars. SK + I Architectural Design Group is the project architect.

Rendering of retail planned for 500-530 Morse Street NE.

The developer also included a smaller, alternative option in the plans, which would include 207 residential units, 14,400 square feet of retail and 124 to 189 parking spaces. The development site is currently home to two commercial buildings and parking lots.

If you are keeping count (and we are), this puts the number of residential units coming to the Union Market area at almost 1,500.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/270-unit_residential_project_on_the_boards_for_union_market/10986

3 Comments

1. Fried Green Tomatoes said at 1:15 pm on Tuesday March 15, 2016:
   Good. With the city running out of land, we need as much residential as we can fit.

1. Enzo said at 4:53 pm on Tuesday March 15, 2016:
   What is going to happen to the historic Little Tavern site? (Currently Subway)? It would be nice to preserve the building and have it incorporated with the large buildings (visually enriching with various scales and historic preservation). I don't want this place to begin looking like NOMA, but I encourage maximum density, though. With limited information here, I don't see much creativity in the renderings. Georgetown and H street still have their Little Tavern buildings. It would be nice if Union Market could have one to maintain that connection throughout the city. (This image is the same Subway on 6th Street, taken in 1988) https://www.flickr.com/…/photolist-8svS2S-7DPKoR-7DPKpM-7EJ… There's actually a blog on the Little Tavern locations. Ours (6th Street) is No. 27 http://dinerhunter.com/little-tavern-locations/

1. skidrowedc@gmail.com said at 8:42 pm on Tuesday March 15, 2016:
   If rendered in quality materials, I suppose this design could become a respectable "background" building, a fairly anonymous block of space providing some ordinary apartments and standard retail. (With some unexpected curves way up at the top, a boon perhaps to across-the-street apartments but unnoticed by the solid majority of passers-by.) One could certainly do worse. But, knowing how much effort a development like this requires, it's hard for me to understand why the players--architect and developer in particular--wouldn't want to try for something more engaging.