67-Unit Logan Circle Condo Project to Break Ground in June

• February 6, 2014
• 16 Comments

by UrbanTurf Staff

The Logan Circle condo project that will be built on the site of a 13th Street car wash will break ground in June and deliver in late 2015.

As we reported in January, the Mr. Wash, the adjacent Jerry Chan’s Carry-Out and a garage at 1309-1313 13th St. NW (map) will make way for the six-story project, developed by The Holladay Corporation.

Representatives from Holladay told a crowded room at the monthly ANC 2F meeting on Wednesday night that the project would break ground in June, and take approximately 15-18 months to complete.

The 67-unit development, designed by Eric Colbert, will consist of studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms. There will be five inclusionary zoning units, as well as 27 parking spaces and 26 bicycle spots.

The project is matter-of-right, so the developers did not need any zoning ordinances or historic approvals. But that doesn’t mean that it’s been totally smooth sailing. A group of neighbors was on hand Wednesday night to voice their frustration and concerns when it came to the views and light that the new building would block, and the possible issues that could arise as a result of the construction.

Among other projects, Holladay Corporation developed The Matrix on 14th Street and the Car Barn on Capitol Hill.

Similar Posts:

• 14th Street Trader Joe’s To Open March 21
• Parking Holds Up Planned Micro-Units in Logan Circle

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/67-unit_logan_circle_condo_project_to_break_ground_in_june/8092

16 Comments

1. Mike said at 6:23 pm on Thursday February 6, 2014:
   "A group of neighbors was on hand Wednesday night to voice their frustration and concerns when it came to the views and light that the new building would block" - LOL, The people who bought places overlooking an alley don't really have much grounds for complaint. If they wanted a protected view a condo in an alley was not the right choice. I'm glad to see this lot developed.

1. RC said at 6:34 pm on Thursday February 6, 2014:
   @Mike -- +1000

1. Chat Networth said at 6:44 pm on Thursday February 6, 2014:
   ^^^Seriously^^^ +1,000,000 These people should be grateful their property values are about to sky rocket. Sell and move!!! A car wash in my mind is similar to a brownfields site.

1. U Street Buzz said at 6:55 pm on Thursday February 6, 2014:
   Losing their view and direct light is a drag for these condo owners, I'm sure, but it's part of city living. What is a real bummer for many, though, is the loss of the car wash. And if they are breaking ground in June why did the car wash have to close last weekend?

1. Samish said at 8:26 pm on Thursday February 6, 2014:
   I completely agree re the owner complaints, but it should be noted the neighbors complaining appear to be those who own the townhomes behind all of this, who will lose any light from that direction once a tall condo building goes up. It doesn't make me feel differently, but the complaints are not coming from the taller buildings overlooking the alley.

1. Mike Corrector said at 11:52 pm on Sunday February 9, 2014:
   Mike, You seemingly know a lot of nothing about everything. Did you take into account the means and methods the Holladay Corporation may have taken to influence the right of way for their development plan(s)? For example, were they cited by those that they influence for knowingly and willfully commencing work before permissable to do so--allegedly because it was merely a formality and their approval was "in the bag". Do you live in the community facing this development? I am sure you would feel differently if someone built a double wide that towered over what one can only assume is your single wide trailer.

1. Renee M. Finley said at 2:46 pm on Monday February 10, 2014:
   Very good project in a great location. I am sorry about the loss of views, however, one of the most basic rules when buying real estate is to look at the surrounding properties and determine what could go on around you in the future. For example an adjacent vacant lot or lot with a low rise building could be future loss of views.

1. Chet Wentworth said at 4:54 pm on Monday February 10, 2014:
   Is they liked the view so much, why didn't they buy the car wash...Renee makes an excellent point above. Be grateful that eye sore is gone and your prop value is going to increase.

1. Renee Corrector said at 6:23 pm on Monday February 10, 2014:
   Let's try to not oversell it Renee. What exactly is your barometer reading for a "VERY GOOD project in a GREAT LOCATION"? I don't doin the sincerity of your regret but, this is not about views. Let's change the narrative-what are your thoughts on how to solve for what may be future proceedings resultant from the loss of Vitamin D attributed to this proposed development? The purported chicaneries that lead to the developer garnering approvals aside, there is a compelling reason the parcel in question was previously subject to a height restriction--the restriction came at a time when officials weighed the benefits of human health and welfare above gross over-expansion. This proposed project may increase infections, heart disease risk factors, diabetes multiple sclerosis, and some types of cancers (especially colorectal cancer). So, before folks such as yourself that do not live in the surrounding area and are not directly impacted by its build get too sanctimonius and offer us a lesson in remedial real estate 101, I might suggest you do some research as the parcel in question had a height restriction at the time the residents acquired said properties. This coupled with the business practices and influenced that may have lead to these restrictions being upended to make way for this development and the role of Vitamin D in these conditions should set you up for having a knowledgeable conversation on this subject in the future.

1. 6genwash said at 4:56 pm on Tuesday February 11, 2014:
   Units in the Iowa have gone up 400 to over 500% in the last 15 years. This development will decrease the units facing it, not increase it.

1. Fred Ames said at 1:58 am on Wednesday February 12, 2014:
   This project was put through with no hearing, and an existing height restriction waived by a process that stinks of bribery. It's being cheered on by a repellent corps of Ayn Rand caricatures whose vitriolic excess merely illustrates their lack of worthwhile human qualities and their love of corruption for its own sake. These idiots, like their Nazi forebears, can't even imagine a valid objection to the tyranny of majorities. Corruption, bribery, greed, vulgar exhibitionism, cruelty, cowardice, passive agression, lack of intellect, and a spineless tropism toward the cheap, the nasty, and the superficial--combined with an almost psychotic worship of the police and a healthy dose of <em>schadenfreude</em> as well as delusions of grandeur. These are the characteristics of Logan Circle's "vibrant community." The whole thing is straight out of Petronius. Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in real communities can only stand on the sidelines and laugh incredulously.

1. Jerry Chan said at 8:15 pm on Wednesday February 12, 2014:
   @Fred Ames: wow. your "eloquent" rant is nothing but absurd and laughable. There is no corruption here - just a by-right project designed by a mediocre architect next to a row of hideous 1980's townhouses that are owned by unreasonable and uneducated folks (in terms of real estate and property rights)

1. Lavar Jacobs said at 8:48 pm on Wednesday February 12, 2014:
   "This proposed project may increase infections, heart disease risk factors, diabetes multiple sclerosis, and some types of cancers (especially colorectal cancer)" This is the craziest thing I have ever heard.

1. Right Said Fred said at 9:09 pm on Wednesday February 12, 2014:
   @Fred: Further to your post and similar posts on a local site, I reached out to Holladay Corporation for comment but they have not returned my call. Have you had a similar experience? Ostensibly, they appear to be a legitimate business but they do not offer a public facing e-mail address which by all rights is a bit odd for a corporation in the public domain. I would love their thoughts but not sure how to engage them in record if the exist in anonymity.

1. Dear Jerry said at 11:58 pm on Wednesday February 12, 2014:
   @Jerry Chan, to be fair I think Fred Ames is simply looking for the opportunity to be heard. Perhaps his post would not even exist and we would not be having this conversation if the ANC, Holladay, et al had been a bit more transparent. Reaching out to the residents of the Iowa less than twenty four (24) hours before a meeting on a project you have been in discussions about for months leaves folks to write their own narrative. Now before everyone jumps in and says the meeting was posted on some little-known website an it's up to the community to sign up for alerts or troll the website every day to ferret out update that impact their homestead, I will remind you that the folks you are asking to slog through that have to work for a living at real jobs--ironically jobs that pay the taxes that support an administration that obviously has total disregard for common sense. Oh, and did I mention these same hard working tax paying citizens now get to come home to what will now be like a grotto--sounds bright and cheery huh? Who wouldn't want to embrace that? Wouldn't it be simpler to not be dubious?C Come out from the shadows ANC and Holladay - if you acted on good faith like a good neighbor by reaching out to the community that you elected to represent or seeking to be part of would generate transparency and develop authentic trust so folks (like Fred) don't feel disenfranchised. Your actions speak volumes and the optics of your actions here leave an impression of disrepute. As elected officials and as a corporation that stands to benefit from community investment each of you should be unassailable leaving no doubt for Fred and others about your activities and actions.

1. Jerry Chan said at 6:59 pm on Wednesday March 5, 2014:
   @Dear Jerry, AGAIN....It's a BY-RIGHT Project. That ANC meeting you referenced was just a COURTESY visit. The developer didn't have to do it. And if you were involved in your community, then you would have known it was an agenda item well in advance of the meeting date. And if that's not the case, then why didn't the Iowa residents reach out to their ANC when they heard about the project back in December? - Jerry Chan (RIP)