A Look at the 400 Units Planned in Historic Takoma, and the 1,200 in the Works at Walter Reed

• April 28th 2021

by Nena Perry-Brown

DC's Takoma neighborhood could have quite a few active construction sites in the coming years, compensating for a lack of new housing construction in neighboring Takoma Park and Shepherd Park. On the other side of Georgia Avenue, the old Walter Reed campus is also poised to deliver some major components this year.

Below, UrbanTurf jogs our memories on the residential pipeline for upper Georgia Avenue and Takoma.

In case you missed them, here are the other neighborhoods we have covered so far this year:

• The Nine Developments Expected to Redefine Rosslyn
• Four Units Here, 70 Units There: The Georgetown Residential Pipeline
• What’s Next, and When, for The Wharf
• The 23 Projects on the Boards For Downtown Bethesda
• The 1,900 Units on the Boards Between Tenleytown and AU Park
• The 2,700 Units (Eventually) Slated for Navy Yard
• 1,900 Units Down, 1,900 to Go: The Status of the South Capitol Street Pipeline
• The 15 Projects and 870 Units on the Boards Around Shaw, and What’s Up Next
• The 240 Units in the Works in Adams Morgan
• The 250 Units Still in the Pipeline Along 14th Street
• The Last 75 Units Headed to the H Street Corridor
• On-Campus and Off-Campus: The Howard University Rundown

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6928 Maple Street

Last September, Petra Development presented plans to the public for a 50 foot-tall project at 6928 Maple Street NW (map). The 68 units would be affordable to housing voucher recipients, and the unit mix would be almost evenly split between one-, two-, and three-bedrooms. There would also be 23 long-term bicycle spaces and 7 secured surface parking spaces, including some dedicated to carshare.

The house at 6950 Maple Street NW (map), a Takoma Historic District-contributing building currently home to arts education nonprofit Rhizome, would be relocated to the southeast corner of the site and is expected to retain a commercial use. Petra Design Studio is the architect; a historic preservation review concept application still needs to be filed to get the ball rolling.

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218 Vine Street

Across the street, Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners and non-profit Housing Up broke ground in March on this 129-unit affordable senior project. Eighty percent of the units in the five-story building at 218 Vine Street NW (map) will be affordable to households earning up to 60% of area median income (AMI) and the remainder permanent supportive housing for households earning up to 30% of AMI. The building will also have 39 below-grade parking spaces and ground-floor support services. KTGY Architecture + Planning is the designer is a partner.

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225 Vine Street NW

Montage Development Group and Rosewood Strategies secured approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) to deliver a four-story, 30-unit building at 221 and 225 Vine Street NW (map). The development will likely include 2-3 inclusionary zoning units at 50% and 80% of AMI, and there will also be some surface parking. A raze permit application for the contractor building on the site is under review. Square 134 Architects is the designer. 

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300 Carroll Street NW

A few steps further down Vine, another project would span the block between 325 Vine Street NW (map) and Carroll Street, delivering 160 units across five stories. The development would refresh the one-story commercial strip across the street from the Takoma Metro at 300-308 Carroll Street NW (map) and would also restore and reuse the Victorian house-apartment-hostels above. SGA Cos. is the developer/architect.

The development will include 16 inclusionary zoning units, 23 parking spaces, and 53 bicycle spaces, and the unit mix will span studios to three-bedrooms. Current commercial tenants like the restaurant Spicy Delight are expected to remain. HPRB approved the design a year ago, and the developer got permits to do soil testing around the same time.

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The Arbor

Raze permit approvals are still under review for the former 7-Eleven at 218 Cedar Street NW (map). Neighborhood Development Company is planning a 55 foot-tall building that would deliver 36 condos above 9,000 square feet of office and/or retail space. The units would be mostly one-bedrooms, and 10 percent of the residential square footage would be inclusionary zoning units. The project will also include 14 bicycle and 12 vehicular spaces of garage parking. Square 134 Architects is the designer.

NOTE: The name and ground-floor uses of this project have been updated since publication.

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The Parks at Walter Reed

While a couple of deeply-affordable projects have already welcomed residents, some of the most prominent pieces of the redevelopment of the 66-acre former Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus are nearing completion: the Children's National Hospital campus is working through its punch-list, additional affordable senior units are being retrofit into historic Abrams Hall, and Whole Foods may open next year. 

Eventually, over three million square feet of development will deliver, master-planned by Hines, Urban Atlantic, Triden and architect Torti Gallas Urban, including more than 2,100 residential units; 150,000 square feet of retail; two charter schools; office, hotel and creative space; and 14 acres of green space. And this will include additional adaptive reuse projects, including a power plant slated to become a brewery and a firehouse and gas station slated to become arts spaces.

Here's the latest on the next residential components:

• The Vale

Next up to deliver is The Vale at Georgia Avenue and Aspen Street NW (map), where move-ins will begin at the 301 apartments this summer. The building also has 18,300 square feet of ground-floor retail and will share 215 below-grade parking spaces with...

• The Brooks

The 89 condos at The Brooks are on the market, and units are now delivering. The unit mix goes up to three-bedrooms and includes loft units; buyers will get a year of free access to the amenities at The Vale, which include a saltwater pool with cabanas. Prices start in the low $400s, and there is a unit for a household earning up to 50% of AMI and seven of the units are for households earning up to 80% of AMI. Urban Pace is administering sales.

• The Hartley

On the other side of the central lawn fronting Georgia Avenue between Elder and Dahlia Streets, The Hartley (and its 42,000 square-foot Whole Foods) is anticipated to deliver next year. Above the grocer, there will be 291 market-rate and 32 affordable units, and plans also call for up to 18,000 square feet of additional retail. The building will have at least 300 below-grade parking spaces, shared with...

• Building O

The six-story Building O is expected to deliver 90-100 condos above creative retail next year; Hickok Cole is the architect. This building will also front the lawn, as will...

• Building P

This six-story building will deliver 60 traditional and co-living residential units above roughly 24,000 square feet of retail next year; it also shares garage space with the above two buildings.

• Building QRS

Last month, HPRB approved the design concept for Building QRS, which will replace two buildings off the southwest corner of Georgia Avenue and Dahlia Street NW (map). This 1.5-block-long site will deliver up to 320 rental units and 24,000 square feet of commercial space across five stories.

Up to 11% of the residential space will be affordable to households earning up to 50% and 80% of AMI, and some of the storefronts along Georgia Avenue will house live/work units and "outward-facing" building amenities, such as a café, a yoga studio, and co-working space. The development will also provide 240 below-grade parking spaces; BKV Group is the architect.

• Parcel WXY Townhouses

Instead of proceeding with the plans for 58 townhouses on Parcel WXY, the development team filed a new concept application in February for 50 townhouses along a central mews. Located on Aspen Street between 14th Place and Luzon Avenue NW (map), the townhouse-unit buildings would be in clusters of five or three, each 16 feet wide with interior one-car garages.

The units would be 2-3 stories, with two- to three-bedrooms, plus attic/loft and outdoor terrace. Four of the townhouses will be affordable dwelling units (ADUs) for households earning up to 80% of AMI. 

Additional townhouses and two-over-twos are also planned for the opposite side of the development along Fern Street.

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Firehouse Block Redevelopment

Although the firehouse at 5760 Georgia Avenue NW (map) was not among the city-owned sites that were previewed for a request for proposals (RFP) last month, a redevelopment of the block could still be in the works. Marcus Asset Group and Neighborhood Development Company, which jointly own most of the commercial block from 5756-5810 Georgia Avenue NW (map), have proposed a development that would deliver 300 or more apartments above neighborhood-serving retail, including a 22,000 square foot grocery store. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/400-units-in-historic-takoma-1200-at-old-walter-reed/18186.