320 Apartments, Retail, Park and Plaza Proposed at Takoma Metro Station

• March 3rd 2022

by Nena Perry-Brown

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A heavily-debated proposal to redevelop the WMATA parking lot at Takoma Metro station is back on the boards nearly 16 years since initial plans were introduced. 

Developer EYA has begun sharing plans to redevelop the parking lot, as well as the open space and bus bays at the Metro station (map) to enable a development with up to 320 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space. WMATA's existing short-term parking would be relocated and reduced to up to 86 spaces, and there would be roughly 125 residential and retail parking spaces.

The plans for the parking lot have gone through a variety of iterations over the years, from 90 townhouses in 2006 to 210 apartments in 2013 to 193 apartments in 2015, although there was wide-ranging debate on both sides of the DC-Maryland line about what was appropriate.

DC's passage of the amended Comprehensive Plan last year provided a major boost for potential development at the Takoma site, as its designation on the Future Land Use Map was changed to facilitate medium-density commercial.

Although the default proposal for the site would make 15% of the apartments affordable, EYA is hoping to bump that up take advantage of the city's new tax abatement for affordable housing. Under those conditions, 33% of the residential space would be affordable to households earning up to 30%, 60%, and up to between 75-90% of area median income. The site is in the Rock Creek East planning area, one of the high-opportunity areas targeted for increased affordable housing production.

The new development will also create an activated retail plaza with terraced steps at the Metro entrance at Cedar and Carroll, and the park will be a more passive space, potentially with a play area. There would also be a retail loading turnaround/pedestrian-friendly paved "woonerf" off of Cedar Street, screened off from the bus area.

The developer expects to present at the ANC 4B meeting next month; WMATA will also need to approve the new proposal. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/over-300-apartments-retail-park-and-plaza-proposed-at-takoma-metro-station/19341.