DC Just Loosened Alley Lot Rules — Now Comes the First Building to Use Them

• August 31st

by UrbanTurf Staff

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A new development proposed for an alley near H Street NE looks to be the first project proposed under the city's new alley lot rules. 

Developer Gallery CT LLC has plans in the works for a four-story-plus-penthouse building with 22 units — a mix of one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms, and studios — sitting atop a ground floor with eight parking spaces, a lobby, and a bike room at 1 Gallery Court NE (map).

The development team is requesting relief to allow the building to reach 40 feet — five stories including a penthouse — rather than the 25-foot matter-of-right height typically permitted on alley lots. The timing traces back to a text amendment the DC Zoning Commission had under consideration when the original development application was filed which proposed allowing alley lots in mixed-use zones to be built up to 40 feet by special exception. That amendment received final approval in July, and the applicant has now updated its case accordingly. 

In its filing, Gallery CT argues the additional height is consistent with the surrounding built environment — well under the 70-foot limit allowed in the MU-5A zone to the south, and comparable to development already happening nearby, including a former office building at 3rd and I Streets NE currently being converted into a five-story residential building. The request is likely to be an early test of how DC's loosened alley-lot rules get applied in practice — with implications for how many more small infill projects like this one could follow across the city's alley network. The project will go before DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment at the end of September. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_just_loosened_alley_lot_rules__now_comes_the_first_building_to_use_them/24948.