Howard University Seeks Approval to Prep For Massive Redevelopment

• September 17th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

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This spring, UrbanTurf reported on plans to redevelop the Howard University-owned site between Georgia Avenue and 8th Street NW between V and W Streets, currently home to the historic Bond Bread Factory and Washington Railway & Electric Company buildings. Now, the university is seeking zoning approval which would enable that redevelopment to move forward.

Last week, the university applied to exclude the historic properties at 2112-2146 Georgia Avenue NW (map) from the Campus Plan. Approval of this application would allow for a project that would deliver roughly 450 residential units, 156 hotel rooms, and up to 300 parking spaces, as well as restaurant, retail, a park and a marketplace.

Howard received zoning approval in 2017 to extract several properties from the campus plan in anticipation of their eventual redevelopment, including Carver and Slowe Halls and a few parking lots between Sherman and Georgia Avenues. The current zoning application would add the WRECO and Bond Bread buildings to that prior exclusion. The overall campus plan covers university-owned properties under the presumption of university-related uses; Howard is also mandated to submit a new campus plan by March 2020.

The development's public park would span the block, wedging the marketplace into the site using the grade change. The retail will incorporate a student incubator, and the ground-floor is envisioned as a 24-hour destination. The project will still require further zoning and historic preservation approvals; both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Sites.

The Bond Partnership, selected in April to redevelop the site, includes the Menkiti Group, Fivesquares Development, and EDENS. A zoning hearing is scheduled for next month.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/howard-university-seeks-zoning-approval-to-prep-historic-properties-for-red/15896.