Brian Flahaven

A big thanks to everyone who attended my Oct. 10 Neighborhood Town Hall at Congressional Cemetery Chapel. We had a great turnout! For those who were unable to attend, here are some brief updates on major projects happening in the neighborhood:

• Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront – On Oct. 24, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development’s Office announced that Donatelli/Blue Skye had been awarded development rights for parcels F1 & G1 at Reservation 13. DMPED and Donatelli/Blue Skye are now negotiating on an agreement that will allow the project to move forward (terms of land transfer, etc.). This agreement will need to be approved by the DC Council, most likely in early 2014. The Donatelli/Blue Skye proposal calls for two mixed-use buildings with a total of 354 apartments (248 market rate, 106 affordable) and 20,000-40,000 square feet of retail on the first floors, including the possibility of retail along the C Street extension. Donatelli/Blue Skye has also updated their proposal to remove the “traffic island” around the Stadium-Armory Metro plaza.
• 1442 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (Old KFC site) – Construction has begun on this two-story retail building at the corner of 15th and Penn Ave SE. Douglas Development hopes to have construction completed by the end of the year. As for tenants, Douglas Development has not yet signed any leases though there has been interest in the site.
• 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (Used Car Lot – formerly 1550 Penn Ave SE) – NOVO Development hopes to begin construction on this 77-unit residential building by the end of the year or in early 2014. Greg Selfridge and the NOVO team plan to hold a community meeting soon to discuss construction and its potential impact on surrounding neighbors. I’ll share information on the meeting once it is scheduled.
• 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue SE (Old Domino’s site) – Goldstar Group plans to build a 41-unit residential building at the old Domino’s site, with a mix of two bedroom, one bedroom and junior one bedroom units. While they plan to provide the required 21-parking spaces in an underground garage, Goldstar will probably have to ask the Board of Zoning Adjustment for zoning relief related to the size of the parking spaces (6-8 will have to be compact spaces). Goldstar is pushing the building as close to the 15th & Penn Ave SE intersection as possible to preserve some open space between the building and adjacent structures. The parking garage entrance will be off of 15th Street SE. Goldstar will present their plans and preliminary designs with neighbors at a community meeting in the coming weeks. I’ll share information on the meeting once it is scheduled.
• 401 15th Street SE – Goodeon Kingston, LLC has begun construction on a 12-unit mixed-use retail-residential building at the corner of 15th & D Street SE. The big news is that they have now decided to include retail space on the first floor..about 1,000 square feet. Goodeon hopes to have concrete and foundation work completed by the end of the year. The building will have the six parking spaces required by zoning.
• Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard Project – The District Department of Transportation plans to hold its second public meeting on the Barney Circle-Southeast Boulevard Project on Thursday, November 21, 6:30 pm at Payne Elementary School (1445 C Street SE). At the meeting, DDOT and their consultant, CH2M Hill, will present options for public feedback. I encourage anyone who lives near Barney Circle to attend this meeting.
• 17th & 19th Streets Safety Improvement Project – The good news is the design phase of the 17th & 19th Streets Safety Improvement Project is complete. The bad news is that DDOT has asked a consultant to do an additional environmental review of the project recommendations which will add another 6 months to the project timeline. We are now looking at mid to late 2014 for construction to begin. I plan to urge DDOT to move as swiftly as possible to complete the additional review and begin construction.

Please post any comments or questions below.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 14th, 2013 at 12:36 pm and is filed under 15th Street SE, 17th Street SE, 19th Street SE, Barney Circle, Development, Penn East, Reservation 13/Hill East Waterfront. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.