EDENS Seeks Two-Year Extension for Expansion of Union Market

• November 10th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

EDENS is looking to extend approvals that would add office or residential stories to the Union Market building (map). 

In 2015, the Zoning Commission approved a planned unit development (PUD) that would add five floors above the existing building, delivering a total of 112,000 square feet of office or residential use, a 42,000 square-foot movie theater, and 62,400 square feet of market space. This approval was extended in 2017, and again in 2019 as the rooftop became an activated outdoor space.

Although a blanket approval extension enacted earlier this year in light of the pandemic allowed the project to bypass expiration this month, the development team is opting to seek a two-year extension, giving them until May 2022 to file for building permits.

The application cites the pandemic, in part, for why the project is delayed:

"The unprecedented social, economic, and public health interruption created by the COVID-19 pandemic have unexpectedly changed conditions affecting the development of the Future South Building to a degree beyond the Applicant’s control....In sum, the Applicant cannot move forward with a speculative project that relies heavily on use types that have come to a near-complete standstill even in existing buildings in light of the social distancing requirements and infection precautions in place as part of the pandemic."

The application also notes the need to coordinate construction with adjacent developments, including the companion North building, which would also deliver a public plaza along Neal Place and replacement parking for both buildings. That parking is identified as essential to the success of a residential addition above the Market; meanwhile, the developer has also experienced difficulties in securing financing or finding a willing development partner for office use. 

EDENS is expected to present to ANC 5D this evening; a zoning hearing has not yet been scheduled.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a-two-year-extension-sought-for-expansion-of-union-market-building/17512.