Former Schoolhouse on Park Road To Be Converted to Nine Apartments Atop Commercial

• August 8th 2016

by Nena Perry-Brown

The former NationHouse school building at 770 Park Road NW (map) will be converted into a nine-unit apartment building with commercial space by developer District Quarters, according to documents filed with the Board of Zoning Adjustment last week.

The structure, currently three stories plus a basement, will have a three-story addition appended along Sherman Avenue. There will be two bi-level commercial spaces on the basement and ground floors: one at the corner of Park Road and Sherman Avenue occupying 2,802 square feet, and the second occupying 1,417 square feet fronting Park Road. John Linam is the project architect.

Proposed commercial uses include retail, arts, services or dining. A total of 8 surface parking spaces will also be created alongside a rear loading and trash area, all accessible from Sherman.

Of the nine residences, two will be loft units on the basement and street levels; a 1,762 square-foot unit will have its own entrance on Sherman and a 1,604 square-foot unit will have a private rear patio. A third, 1,888 square-foot loft unit will be on the second and third floors; the remaining six apartments will all enjoy bay windows and range from 846-1,504 square feet in size.

The building was constructed in 1911 on the cusp of the Columbia Heights and Park View neighborhoods where New Hampshire Avenue bends to change into Sherman Avenue. The structure housed a pan-African cultural center and private school from 1974 to 2012; it has been vacant since then.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/plans_to_convert_former_schoolhouse_to_9_apartments_atop_commercial/11532.