Grocery Store, Fitness Center or More: The Plans for a 14th Street Bus Garage

• March 18, 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

As Metro takes inventory and decides the future of its various properties, the 14th Street bus garage is the next redevelopment opportunity in the pipeline.

Constructed in 1907 at 14th and Buchanan Streets NW (map), the bus garage is in disrepair and has unsafe conditions, including falling concrete. Consequently, WMATA plans to shut down the bus garage, preserve the façade, and raze and replace the remainder of the structure with a new building that will also create up to 55,000 square feet of one- or two-story retail along 14th Street. 

Once rebuilt, the garage will continue to house and offer a service station for WMATA buses, a fact that came as a disappointment to many in the community. 

Potential developers who attended an informational meeting concluded that the site wasn't suited for residential development, but several other options are possible.  A retail broker will manage the new retail space, which could accommodate inline retail, an urgent care facility, fitness center, and small production businesses, or one larger tenant like a small grocery store.

The new building will be certified LEED Platinum and will feature public artworks on one or more façades. There will also be below-grade customer parking, along with parking for WMATA and retail employees.

WMATA will select a contractor for the work in August, and demolition work is anticipated to begin in the late summer or early fall of next year. If everything remains on track, construction would begin in the summer of 2021 and complete in 30-36 months.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-plans-for-a-rebuilt-14th-street-bus-garage/15146