Senior Cohousing or Family-Sized Units -- The Plans to Redevelop the Hill East Boys and Girls Club

• November 3rd 2017

by Nena Perry-Brown

After releasing the Eastern Branch Boys and Girls Club at 261 17th Street SE (map) for an OurRFP in April, the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) is looking forward to finding a developer for the site — especially after extending the submittal deadline to ensure greater competition for the site.

Two proposals are now on the table and both prospective development teams met with the Hill East community recently to present their proposals to redevelop the site. UrbanTurf summarizes those proposals below.

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Capitol Hill Cohousing for Seniors

Century Associates, Eco Housing Corporation and Keystar Real Estate are proposing to adaptively reuse the existing property to deliver a mixed-use cohousing community for seniors. The interior of the building would be retrofit into 29 independent living units of various sizes and two apartments for caregivers.

The exterior skin and massing would be retained, with a green roof and solar panels added. Employing universal design principles, the plan would deliver private dwellings with shared common areas to encourage interaction and communal participation in places like the dining room, lounge with television, music room and game room.

The unit mix will include six one-bedrooms (one for households earning up to 50 percent of area median income (AMI), one for households earning up to 80 percent AMI and four at market rate) and 23 two-bedrooms (three for households earning up to 50 percent AMI, four for households earning up to 80 percent AMI and 16 at market rate).

EDG Architects is the designer for the team and Capitol Hill Village is a nonprofit partner.

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Family-Sized Units For-Sale or For-Rent

Morningstar Community Development, affiliate contractor MCN Build and designer CGS Architects are also proposing an adaptive reuse of the existing building, creating 31 apartments that skew larger than typical new developments.

The area on-site which was already excavated to accommodate a pool will be converted into space for below-grade parking; there will also be two community spaces on this lower level. Above will be 8 one-bedrooms, 12 one bedroom plus dens, 9 two-bedrooms and two, three-bedroom units.

If the 31 apartments end up being rentals, three will be for households earning up to 30 percent AMI, seven will be for households earning up to 50 percent AMI and the remainder will be market-rate. If the 31 apartments are listed for-sale, five will be for households earning up to 50 percent AMI, five will be for households earning up to 80 percent AMI and the remainder will be market-rate.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_plans_to_redevelop_the_hill_east_boys_and_girls_club/13205.