Overhead Service? DC's Pro Tennis Team Confirms Plans to Play Atop Union Market

• April 15th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Earlier this month, UrbanTurf reported on developer EDENS's efforts to seek approval to use the roof of Union Market as an elevated park, potentially to host tennis matches. Now, those plans are being confirmed.

On Friday, the Washington Kastles announced that the team will indeed play its 2019 season atop the Union Market building at 1309 5th Street NE (map). The team would play seven matches in late July in front of a 700-seat stadium, and the announcement also hints at the rooftop venue hosting the team for the foreseeable future. 

"Kastles Stadium at Union Market will be the perfect home court for our franchise and will connect people from all walks of life throughout the region," Kastles owner Mark Ein said in a statement. 

Simultaneously, EDENS filed a new zoning application last week to seek zoning review for the building to have an interim recreational use on the rooftop. The application requests that the Zoning Commission expedite the review and consolidate the process to one hearing, which is unsurprising as the developer has only a few months to erect the 8,000 square-foot rooftop park.

"The Interim Conditions have a highly seasonal component, and the Applicant is eager to get those improvements underway in time for the upcoming spring and summer seasons," the application explains. "The planning to incorporate these uses and the time required for implementation is significant and must begin expeditiously." Opening night of the Kastles's home season will be July 15th.

The rooftop park will have concessions from area restaurants and will have a variety of premium seating packages in addition to general admission, although all tickets being sold now are for the season rather than for individual games. It is also worth noting that a crowd size of 700 is a fraction of the capacity of venues the Kastles usually played home games at, where games were played in front of crowds of 2,200-3,500 people.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/overhead-service-dcs-pro-tennis-team-confirms-plans-to-play-2019-season-ato/15263.