Is DC's First Modular Apartment Building Coming to Petworth's Sweet Mango Site?

• September 10th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

The construction underway at the former Sweet Mango site in Petworth is a lot more groundbreaking than originally proposed.

Community Three and Rooney Properties are working on what may be DC's first multifamily project to use modular construction methods. Located at 3701 New Hampshire Avenue NW (map), Modo will deliver 17 three-bedroom units above 3,000 square feet of retail.

The steel frame of the retail podium for the development has already been erected, and four stories and a penthouse of wood construction, comprised of 44 rectangular modules built off-site, will house the apartments. The modules will come with the finishes and fixtures already complete, including the kitchen (without appliances), a built-in closet wall in the bedrooms, and storage cubbies in the unit entryways. 

The modules are being constructed in Scranton, Pennsylvania and then trucked down to the city; the Old Soldier's Home site is being used for staging while the site is made ready for the modules.

Megan Mitchell of architect Eric Colbert & Associates explained at a webinar hosted by George Mason University on Wednesday that the construction team expects to be able to set six modules in place each day. The modules will be moved with a crane and will then be articulated on-site to fit the property's triangular shape.

The project is expected to deliver in early 2021.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/is-dcs-first-modular-apartment-building-coming-to-petworths-sweet-mango-sit/17267.