First Phase of 740-Unit Development Breaks Ground at Northwest One

• November 20th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

A year after plans were shared for the 3.5-acre “Northwest One” parcel in DC, the project is moving forward.

Yesterday, the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) held a groundbreaking for the three-building, three-phase development which will deliver a total of 740 apartments and commercial space to North Capitol between K and L Streets NW (map).

CSG Urban, MRP Realty, and Taylor Adams Associates round out the development team, and SK+I Architecture is the designer. DMPED granted development rights for the site in 2017 as part of the New Communities Initiative. Roughly 540 of the apartments will be affordable, including 22 permanent supportive housing units and 211 replacement units for former residents of Temple Courts and Golden Rule Apartments, who were moved from the site in 2008. The Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) has also been heavily involved in organizing with the former residents to assert and ensure their right to return to the completed redevelopment.

The first phase will sit along L Street turning onto North Capitol, delivering a seven-story, all-residential building with 220 units, including 65 replacement units and 56 three- and four-bedroom units. In this phase, 77 units will be for households earning up to 30% of area median income (AMI) and 73 units will be for households earning up to 60% of AMI. 

"This is the beginning of a promise long ago made to neighbors in Northwest One and Temple Courts," Ward 6 councilmember Charles Allen said in a statement. "When it is ultimately complete, over 500 affordable units, including one for one replacement of housing for current tenants, will be put in place. These units will be family-sized in many cases, and modernized to reflect a more dignified place to call home in a truly wonderful neighborhood."

NOTE: The above quote and mention of WIN's involvement were added after publication.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/first-phase-of-740-unit-development-breaks-ground-at-northwest-one/17567.