Is Another Grandfamily Development on the Boards in DC?

• October 12, 2018

by Nena Perry-Brown

Last week, an eviction of a Deanwood strip mall made the news, prompting questions about the fairness of the one-day, safety-citing notice to vacate and leading one of the tenants to challenge the closure. If the developer moves forward, here are the plans for the site.

Neighborhood Development Company intends to replace the strip mall at 1100 Eastern Avenue NE (map) with 63 affordable apartments. The unit mix, affordable to households earning up to 50 percent of area median income, will be almost evenly split between one-bedroom and three-bedroom units; 5,500 square feet of retail will be on the ground floor.

The apartments will be for intergenerational families lead by grandparents, with the one-bedrooms housing active adults. This project is coming to everyone's attention shortly following the opening of grandfamily affordable building Plaza West, which caters to low-income grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

The site is zoned MU-4, allowing for by-right, moderate density mixed-use development with a maximum height of 50 feet. Judging by the rendering, the project could fit within the by-right zoning envelope and therefore potentially avoid seeking community input. MOS Architects is the designer.

The spate of development appeals which have been filed over the past couple of years has so disrupted the construction of several zoning-approved mixed-use buildings that some developers are being more cautious in attempting to preempt or avoid the possibility of an appeal. It remains to be seen how this particular conflict between developer and directly-affected business owner evolves.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/is-another-grandfamily-development-on-the-boards-in-dc/14562