81-Unit Apartment Project in Hill East Gets ANC Approval

• April 12, 2013
• 2 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

Elevation for 1550 Pennsylvania Avenue SE

Earlier this week, plans for an 81-unit apartment building in Hill East received unanimous approval from ANC 6B, reported ANC Commissioner Brian Flahaven.

Since we initially reported on the sizable development, which will be located on an irregular plot of land at 1550 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (map), the developers have adjusted the orientation of the parking garage and reduced the number of units from 83 to 81. The developers NOVO, are seeking a variance from the BZA in order to provide 30 parking spaces, rather than the required 41.

The space is currently a used parking lot. The proposed building will be near-triangular and will surround a series of existing rowhouses. The northern portion, adjacent to the rowhouses, will be three-stories high, while the southern portion near Barney Circle will rise to five stories.

In return for the approval, the developer signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the neighbors and agreed to pursue car sharing options and urge DDOT to add on-street parking on the Pennsylvania Avenue SE side of the building, said Flahaven.

NOVO will be meeting with the BZA on April 30th. We’ll keep you updated as the project moves forward.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/81-unit_apartment_in_hill_east_gets_approval_from_anc/6925

2 Comments

1. Renee Thompson said at 6:26 pm on Friday April 12, 2013:
   Ugh! That intersection at Barney Cr. is a NIGHTMARE, now I will be sure to avoid the area entirely.

1. Calvin H. Gurley said at 7:04 am on Saturday April 13, 2013:
   @Ms. Thompson. Barney Circle is not a nightmare. Since the re-routing of the Southeast/Southwest freeway has traffic circling around on 295 that area of Barney Circle and the John Phillip Sousa Bridge has seen a decrease in rush hour traffic. Even the 19th Street corridor has lost traffic that use to be used to cross the East Capitol Street Bridge to exit to Kenilworth Avenue – 295 North. The new development at the parking lot/used car lot is a burden on the exiting neighborhood. That area was developed with a neighborhood of red bricks row housings and was not planned for an additional density of a large apartment building. The wave of new developments that increase the density of neighborhoods will have a negative impact on the existing infrastructure that will be overwhelmed. Secondly, there is a negative, intangible impact on the community and its residents - to force additional housing units in an neighborhood that has been well planned and completed as to respecting the natural environment, lending ambience and calm and peacefulness for all that have lived in that area for decades. There will be an intrusion (by the overcrowding in this area) that will have consequences – health wise and will affect the peaceful mental consciousness of the neighbors. The developer should respect open green areas that were planned in each and every neighborhood. The pace to over build in every open area available does have a negative intangible impact on the existing neighborhood. There are new developments of housing in the Fort Lincoln area that can accommodate additional families…why not direct those families to that location? Developers are doing what they need to do to keep food on the table…but to turn D.C. into a high density New York City of people living on top of each other is not worth the pain neighbors will suffer. Perhaps, developers need to be retrained for a new job as a result of dwindling housing construction business in a limit amount of land available in the District. Calvin H. Gurley