Revised Plans for 1319 South Capitol Site

A presentation was made during Monday’s ANC 6D virtual meeting by Jefferson Apartment Group and Fortis, the new team which will be developing a site adjacent to Camden South Capitol apartments and across the street from Nationals Park at 1319 South Capitol Street. The majority of the site is currently used as a parking lot. Plans include an 11-story multifamily rental building although the number of units was not revealed during the presentation – a story in Bisnow from when the site was sold indicates there will be up to 320 units. Previous plans for 1319 South Capitol project under a different developer included less apartment units. Current plans for the project also incorporate some of the historic townhomes on South Capitol and N streets. Four of the townhomes on N Street will be converted into two Affordable Dwelling Units while two on South Capitol Street could become either commercial or residential units. The end units on both streets will be demolished to widen the alley access from N Street and provide a dog run for the apartment building adjacent to the alley entrance on South Capitol Street. The main entrance to the building will be on South Capitol Street adjacent to the alley entrance. 

View from N Street.

View from Syphax Village.

The corner site where Capitol Liquors is located is owned by a separate entity, as well as two rowhomes on N Street and one on South Capitol Street. These parcels will be developed separately as an 11-story apartment building with two levels of retail. There are two other rowhomes on South Capitol Street not included in the JAG/Fortis development and will remain, including a private home and South Capitol Smile Center dentist practice. 

Rowhouses on N Street

Rowhouses on South Capitol Street. 

Alley entrance on South Capitol Street and access to lobby.

The development team will go back before the ANC later this fall to seek their approval as they go through the Zoning Commission process.  Construction of 1319 South Capitol is expected to start in the first half of 2021. 

Renderings courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle

Colada Shop Opens at Wharf

EaterDC reports that Colada Shop has opened today at the Wharf.  The Cuban-theme cafe is located on the corner of Maine Avenue and Pearl Street (10 Pearl Street). Colada Shop serves breakfast and all-day items as well as coffee, tea, and cocktails - the Wharf menu can be found here.  Hours of operation are as follows:

• Sunday: 9am - 8pm
• Monday: Closed
• Tuesday: Closed
• Wednesday: 9am - 8pm
• Thursday: 9am - 8pm
• Friday: 9am - 9pm
• Saturday: 9am - 9pm

Mixed-Use Development Planned for 7-Eleven Site

I’m coming out of hiatus to report on plans that emerged for the northwest corner of South Capitol and M streets, considered to be the gateway to Southwest. JBG Smith applied with the Zoning Commission to develop a two-phase project on the site called 5 M Street, with a mix of uses including residential, ground floor retail, and potentially office. The site includes most of the block bounded by Half, L, South Capitol and M streets and will replace the 7-Eleven and parking lot currently on the site. New York-based Ruben Companies controls the northeast corner of the block (where the KFC/Taco Bell used to be) which is not part of the proposed project – an office building was planned for the 1101 South Capitol parcel, but the project website is no longer active. 

While the east side of South Capitol Street between the freeway and the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge has filled up with multifamily buildings (and Nationals Park) in recent years, not much activity has occurred on the west side of the street. Camden South Capitol and the Capitol Skyline Hotel are the only large-scale buildings currently on the west side of the street, but more development is planned for the empty lots along the corridor. In addition to 5 M Street and 1101 South Capitol, a two-building development is planned to the north between K and L streets by Ruben Companies and the site north of Camden South Capitol was purchased recently by JAG to develop as a multifamily project. 

Current plans for 5 M Street include an L-shaped multifamily building along Half and L streets with 371 units and an office building along M and South Capitol streets with approximately 226,000 SF of space and over 25,000 SF of ground floor retail. The project is planned in phases – the office building with ground floor retail will be constructed first and the multifamily building after. The developer is asking for flexibility to change the proposed office building to multifamily depending on market conditions, which would increase the total number of units between the two phases to 688 units along with a slight reduction in the amount of ground floor retail. 

According to the zoning application, the Gensler-designed project includes a “modernist concrete and glass palette for the towers” to tie in with buildings in the Southwest and Navy Yard neighborhoods, as well as industrial elements due to its proximity to Buzzard Point. The entrance to the office (or multifamily) building will be on M Street while the other multifamily building will have its main entrance on L Street along with street access to units along Half and L streets. The multifamily units at 5 M Street will be all market-rate since current zoning does not require the addition of inclusionary zoning units, but the additional density requested for penthouse-level residential and commercial uses will require a donation to the city’s Housing Production Trust Fund. 

The ANC will review the project over the coming months, but at an initial meeting with the developers, the commissioners indicated they were not pleased with the concept design, as they felt it was in direct contrast to the surrounding neighborhood, particularly the former 2-3-story sanitary housing south of M Street on Carrollsburg Place and Half Street. Below are some renderings of the proposed development. What are your thoughts on the plan and design? 

S. Capitol & M (office option)

S. Capitol & M (multifamily option)

M and Half (office option)

M and Half (multifamily option)

South Capitol (office option)

South Capitol (multifamily option)

Renderings courtesy of Gensler

St. Matthews 2019 Christmas Tree Giveaway and Holiday Party

St. Matthews Lutheran Church will be having its annual Christmas tree giveaway tomorrow from 10AM - 1pm at 222 M Street in the courtyard.  There will be live Christmas music, gingerbread house-making, and free refreshments from Sacred Grounds Cafe. Trees are still available - to reserve a tree, call 202.800.4600 or 410.375.5053.

SW Community Center Request for Volunteers

The following message is from the SW Community Center:

A new SW Community Center is coming to Waterfront Station! Are you a member of the community who is interested in learning about the new Center? Do you want to become involved? If so, read on! We are seeking two different types of volunteers. 

1. If you have experience as an impartial facilitator or a marketing/communications background, the Community Engagement & Communications Committee (8-10 members) might be just the right place for you! Please click here to provide a short statement of your interest by December 31, 2019.
2. If you want to make sure that you, your organization, or your neighbors have input into what you want to see in the SW Community Center, consider signing up as an ambassador here to help us get the word out about the community engagement plan, once it is finalized. 

Would you like to receive updates on our progress? Stay tuned! Once this first Committee is up and running, we will have a website and email distribution list where we’ll share relevant materials and announcements and will begin hosting meetings, focus groups, surveys, etc., to make sure you are an integral part of the SW Community Center! 

About the SW Community Center: 

ANC 6D negotiated with Brookfield Properties (formerly Forest City) for a new Community Center at Waterfront Station as part of a Community Benefits Agreement. The ANC partnered with SWNA for a meeting earlier this year to hear from the community about its broad vision for the SW Community Center. Since then, a new non-profit organization called The SW Community Center has been formed and recently announced its founding Board of Directors. Joining the Board of Directors are Shannon Vaughn, Will Rich, Gail Fast, Evelyn Lugo, and Ambassador Mattie R. Sharpless. The Board is ready to begin a sustained community engagement process in the first quarter of 2020 in order to help bring the SW Community Center to fruition.

Rendering courtesy of Brookfield Properties

St. Matthew's 2018 Christmas Tree Giveaway

This year's Christmas tree giveaway at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church will be held this Saturday in the courtyard of the new church building, located at 222 M Street at 1pm.  Access to the courtyard is through a wood gate along Delaware Avenue, south of M Street.  If you'd like to reserve a tree, send an email to office@stmatthewsdc.org or call 202.484.3189. Trees are free to those who cannot afford them, but for those who are able, a donation to St. Matthew's to support the soon-to-form Southwest Youth and Children's Choir is appreciated.

During the giveaway, an Open House will be held with refreshments and tours of the new building from 1pm - 3pm.  The dedication ceremony and first service at the new St. Matthew's will be held on January 20, 2019 at 2pm and is open to the public.  Meanwhile, residents started moving into the neighboring Valo apartments last month.

Demolition Begins at 1900 Half

Fencing is up and interior demolition is now underway at 1900 Half Street, an office building that once housed DHS. Once complete in 2020, 1900 Half will be transformed by Douglas Development into a 453-unit rental apartment building with 16,542 SF of ground floor retail. The Anacostia Riverwalk will be extended through the project to the east. This marks the second office-to-residential conversion underway in the burgeoning Buzzard Point neighborhood – River Point began its transformation earlier in the summer. Meanwhile, work continues at Peninsula 88 condos next to Riverpoint. By the end of 2018, construction should be underway at the planned affordable housing project at 1st and Q streets.  

Rendering courtesy of Antunovich Associates

Plan Submitted for Cambria Hotel & Suites

An application has been submitted for the planned Cambria Hotels & Suites at the corner of Half and Q streets in Buzzard Point. Currently, the property contains eight rowhouses and a two-unit building. Cambria is a limited-service, upscale brand and the Buzzard Point property would be the second to open in the District after the one located on 9th and O streets NW in Shaw. The proposed nine-story hotel will have the welcome lobby, meeting space, and a restaurant on the ground floor with outdoor seating; 154 rooms will be located on floors two through eight; and a fitness center, meeting space, and a rooftop terrace will be placed on the top floor. The main entrance to the hotel will be on Q Street. Parking will be limited to eight surface spaces on the northern end of the property, which faces an alley. There will be limited parking due to the narrowness of the site. Loading will also be done on the northern end of the property. 

In a couple of years, the north size of Q Street will look a lot different. The Cambria project is on the same block as the first phase of an affordable housing project – raze permits have been approved for the existing building at the corner of 1st and Q streets. The Washington Business Journal reported last month that Donohoe Cos. Inc. was brought in as a partner with Michigan-based Kouza Cos. on the hotel development. Construction is now expected to begin on the hotel in the second half of 2019, with completion in 2021.

Renderings courtesy of BBGM

Construction to Begin Soon on The Kiley

Financing has been secured for The Kiley, a planned apartment project by UIP behind Capitol Park Tower at 4th and G streets according to Bisnow. The project has been in the planning stages over the past few years and went through several iterations before receiving approval from HPRB in early 2016. HPRB approval was needed since the adjoining Capitol Park Tower was landmarked as historic, as well as the landscaping. Now planned as 315 units, construction on The Kiley will start in about four months, after the existing parking lot behind Capitol Park Tower is demolished. Therefore, delivery of the new apartment building will likely be in late 2020.

Rendering courtesy of WDG

Dentist Practice Opens on South Capitol

Last week, Capitol Dental Associates opened an office on the 1200 block of South Capitol Street, next to Grand China carryout. According to their website, Capitol Dental Associates offers the following services:

• General and cosmetic dentistry 
• Root canal services 
• Pediatric dentistry 
• Crown, Bridge, Denture and Implant services

This is the second dental practice to open or relocate to Southwest in the past year.  Last year, a dental practice moved within Southwest to Waterfront Station.  The fate of South Capitol Smile Center on the 1300 block of South Capitol is in limbo depending on how the planned residential development next to Camden South Capitol moves forward. The townhouse where the dental practice on M Street at Carrollsburg Condominium was for sale earlier this year.

The hours of operation for Capitol Dental Associates are as follows:

• Monday - Thursday from 9am to 7pm 
• Friday - Saturday from 9am - 3pm