Eastbanc Plans 90 to 120-Unit Apartment Building at 16th Street and Columbia Road

• November 19, 2015

by Nena Perry-Brown

A birds-eye view of the planned redevelopment. Click to enlarge.

Eastbanc, a developer that usually limits the geographic scope of its projects to Georgetown and West End, has plans on the boards for a 90-120 unit residential development near the intersection of 16th Street and Columbia Road NW, UrbanTurf has learned.

The 9-story, matter-of-right project would be constructed on the enclosed surface parking lot adjacent to the Scottish Rite Center at 2800 16th Street NW (map). The developer
shared plans and conceptual designs for the apartment building at an ANC 1C meeting on Wednesday night.

Click to enlarge.

A large courtyard, visible in the above rendering, would be positioned between the apartments, the Scottish Rite Center and the Unification Church in order to allow natural light into those neighboring buildings. The apartment building would have a rooftop pool overlooking Columbia Road, as well as a ground-floor gym, cafe and lounge. There would be two levels of underground parking totaling approximately 75-80 parking spaces.

The developers have been in talks with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), and have made changes to the planned streetscape in response to DDOT’s concerns.

One early point of contention is the placement of the loading dock on Mozart Place NW, a very narrow street. Per DDOT’s recommendation, Eastbanc presented the idea of restricting the use of four parking spaces on Mozart Place between the hours of 7am and 7pm to allow for a 55-foot truck to enter and exit the loading area.

Click to enlarge.

The ANC 1C Planning, Zoning and Transportation Committee recommended that in order to avoid removing any existing parking spaces, the developers reconsider widening the curb and inserting an island to facilitate trucks and other vehicles entering and exiting the parking structure — a plan which the developer says that DDOT already rejected.

Eastbanc plans to continue exploring other options for a low-impact parking and loading entrance on Mozart Place and present more-detailed and revised plans to the full ANC in early December.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/eastbanc_plans_90_to_120_unit_apartment_building_at_16th/10607