The Plan To Revive The H Street Corridor

• June 12th

by UrbanTurf Staff

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What will it take to get the H Street Corridor back on track? A new report from the DC Office of Planning has some ideas.

The preliminary findings and recommendations from the report paint a picture of a commercial strip caught between a strong cultural identity and a tough market reality. According to the report, total visitation along H Street NE fell 20% between 2019 and 2025, dropping from 5.9 million annual visits to 4.7 million, with the eastern segment between 12th and 15th Streets hit hardest, down 36% over that span. Ground-floor retail vacancy now sits at 26%, double its 2020 rate and nearly twice the regional average, with the Arts sub-district posting the highest vacancy at 31%.

The study points to a combination of factors: limited new residential development (just 39 multifamily units delivered between 2021 and 2025, compared to 1,567 in the prior five years), restrictive zoning that limits ground-floor uses, and a public realm that the report describes as designed for moving through rather than lingering in.

To address these challenges, the report's preliminary recommendations span four categories.

On the public realm side, ideas include adding tree canopy and landscaping, and replacing the corridor's cobblestone strips with landscaped buffers. The study also calls for new plazas or pocket parks at corner sites, particularly at gateways like 3rd Street and the "Starburst" intersection at 15th Street.

For economic development, the study floats a pilot "Creative Expression Zone" on the 1300 block, along with improvements to the liquor licensing process to support nightlife and live music venues. It also recommends connecting local businesses and arts non-profits to existing DC grant programs. 

On land use and zoning, the report suggests revisiting the 6,000-square-foot threshold that triggers zoning special exception review. It also explores allowing greater building height in the Retail and Arts sub-districts — potentially up to nine stories in Retail and six stories in Arts — while acknowledging that under current market conditions, buildings over seven stories are difficult to finance.

The Office of Planning emphasized that these are preliminary ideas with a final report expected in September. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_plan_to_revive_the_h_street_corridor/24727.