A Slightly New Look for the Residences Planned at Walter Reed

• April 4th 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

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A few weeks ago, Walter Reed’s master developers presented designs to the ANC 4B Design Review Committee for the residential buildings that will serve as a gateway of sorts to the site. Tomorrow, the Hines, Urban Atlantic and Triden team will present a refined design to the full ANC in hopes of gaining its support for an upcoming Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) hearing.

The three-part residential development at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Aspen Street NW (map) would deliver up to 280 rental units above roughly 23,000 square feet of retail and 70-80 condominiums, including several two-story townhouses that front Aspen Street. The development would also deliver over 300 parking spaces across 2.5 below-grade levels.

In accordance with the site-specific WR-3 (Walter Reed) zoning, the Torti Gallas Urban-designed buildings will measure 70 feet high or five stories above Georgia Avenue. With the site being considered a historic district, each building is intended to be modern while harkening back to the architectural character of the campus and the surrounding neighborhood.

“Building A” is a red brick structure sited squarely at the intersection; at last month’s meeting, ANC committee members and other neighborhood stakeholders requested to see some sort of artistic element at the corner and a stronger aesthetic for the retail spaces at the street level.

“Building B” is a blond-colored, pavilion-style building that will also contain apartments and descends an extra floor along Aspen due to the pronounced grade change. The District Department of Transportation is expected to widen Aspen by an additional 20 feet on the north side of the street. The red-bricked “Building C” will contain the condo units.

Additional comments from the committee included the desire to see the base of the building accentuated further, the shape of the octagonal bays either reconsidered or shifted further down the buildings’ facades, and the desire to see strong retail signage and signage that will brand the intersection of neighborhoods.

In total, the 66.2-acre Parks at Walter Reed redevelopment will deliver 2,100 residential units, 250,000 square feet of retail and 14 acres of open space in addition to, among other things, a hotel and conference space, artist live-work maker-space, affordable housing for veterans and seniors and an emergency center from Howard University Hospital.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a_redesign_for_residential_portion_of_walter_reed_redevelopment/12407.