Archdiocese Seeks to Revive 80-Townhome Plan In North Michigan Park

• July 6th

by UrbanTurf Staff

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For decades, the Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Institute served children with disabilities on a leafy stretch in North Michigan Park. Now its old building sits empty — and the plan to redevelop it is getting a second shot at approval.

The Archdiocese of Washington is asking DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment to sign off, again, on an 80-townhome community at 801 Buchanan Street NE. The Board already approved this exact project back in early 2024, but the developer missed the window to pull a building permit — mainly because, until mid-2025, there was no builder actually signed on to do the work. So now the Archdiocese is back, asking for the same green light a second time.

Right beside the old Kennedy Institute site sits its replacement, the Conway Education Center, which opened earlier this year and serves students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and other developmental needs, along with a child care center for infants through preschoolers. Selling off the land for townhomes is how the Archdiocese plans to pay off the debt from building it. 

As for what's actually getting built: 80 townhomes split into 12 small clusters, each two or three bedrooms, with brick-and-hardy-plank exteriors, flat roofs made for rooftop decks, and one- or two-car garages. The design was planned alongside the school next door, and includes a walking path through the site anticipating future development at the neighboring Providence Hospital property.

The community isn't hearing about this for the first time, either. Neighbors weighed in extensively back in 2022, and the developer's promises from that round are carrying over into this filing: $25,000 toward a fund that helps offset rising property taxes for lower-income homeowners nearby, another $25,000 for the city's affordable housing trust fund, $10,000 for a local scholarship fund, about 40,500 square feet of public green space, and a rule that new residents won't be eligible for residential parking permits.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/archdiocese_seeks_to_revive_80-townhome_plan_in_north_michigan_park/24783.