Groundwork to Begin on First Phase of Park Morton Redevelopment

• October 8th 2021

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Last summer, raze permits were filed for the long-delayed redevelopment of the Park Morton public housing complex east of Georgia Avenue between Park Road and Morton Street NW (map). Now, demolition is right around the corner, setting the site for construction of 195 residential units.

The first phase will deliver a five-story, L-shaped building with 142 apartments, along with six units in three-story townhouses/stacked flats. The building would also house office space for the Park Morton resident council, a community pantry, courtyards (including one geared toward children), and a rooftop lounge. The second phase will deliver 47 additional townhouse/stacked flat units.

Eighty of these will be replacement units for Park Morton residents, and the remainder will be split between households earning up to 60% and 80% of area median income. Soto Architecture & Urban Design is the architect.

The development team, which includes The Community Builders and Dantes Partners, shared at a meeting held Thursday that they expect the DC Housing Authority to move current residents out by the end of the month and that infrastructural work could begin as early as November. This will enable vertical construction by June 2022 and delivery starting in December 2023.

Meanwhile, the original first phase of the development, intended to satisfy the "build first" principle of creating new units for public housing residents before razing their homes, has been remanded to the Zoning Commission, scheduled for a hearing later this month.

Located on the opposite side of Georgia Avenue, at Bruce Monroe Community Park between Irving Street and Columbia Road NW (map), that portion of the project was previously approved to deliver a 189-unit apartment building, a 76-unit senior apartment building, and 8 three-bedroom rowhouses. Ninety of the units here would be replacement units and 111 units would be for households earning up to 60% of AMI.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/groundwork-to-begin-on-first-phase-of-park-morton-redevelopment-next-month/18803.