Since 2013 has come to a close, let’s take a brief look back at the major events that shaped the year in Southwest and what is in store for 2014.
The Wharf
Arguably the largest development project in Southwest took a major step forward in 2013 when the Zoning Commission
approved the Stage 2 Planned Unit Development (PUD) application for phase one of the
Wharf. While ground breaking was supposed to occur by the end of 2013, the timeline has slipped to 2014 since a financing agreement has not been made public yet. Meanwhile, the houseboats at the
Gangplank Marina were
moved this fall to make way for construction and businesses along the waterfront were given notice to vacate within five months.
Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront
Apartment Wave Hits Southwest
Leasing
began in April at
Camden South Capitol, the first new rental apartment building to open in Southwest in decades. So far, more than half of the units at the 276-unit building have been leased; however, the ground floor retail space at South Capitol and O streets is still vacant. Camden hopes to attract a restaurant to the space, located across the street from Nationals Park.
In addition, leasing was supposed to
begin on December 2 at the East tower of
Sky House, the adaptive reuse of the former EPA towers at Waterfront Station, but it was
delayed by a month to January 2. There are a total of 266 units at the East tower, located at 1150 4th Street, with 20% set aside as affordable housing for residents earning up to 50% of Area Median Income. A second 264-unit tower will open in spring 2014 at 1151 4th Street.
Waterfront Station
Aside from Sky House, other activity is underway at
Waterfront Station. The last retailer to open along 4th Street was Z-Burger back in 2012. Since then, it was
learned in May that the two vacant storefronts on the northern end of 1101 4th Street have been leased by restaurateur Atul Bhola to open Masala Art, an Indian restaurant. This would be the second Masala Art restaurant – the other restaurant is located in Tenleytown. Building permits are stuck on the windows and visible work on the tenant build-out
began in November. It is rumored that the restaurant will open in June 2014. This leaves two vacant retail spaces at Waterfront Station – one each at 1100 and 1101 4th Street.

Meanwhile, planning is underway for a residential building by Forest City and Vornado on the vacant northwest parcel next to the future Masala Art. A
PUD was filed in late 2012 and the project went through the zoning approval process in 2013, with PUD approval received in September. The 360-unit building will have all market-rate units and approximately 5,300 square feet of ground floor retail space. There will be 12 two-level townhouse units with private entrances on Makemie Place and along a private drive to be built to the north of the project. Construction may begin sometime in 2014.
Rendering courtesy of Waterfront 1001 4th Street, LLC
Town Center East
In June, HPRB designated both multifamily buildings at Town Center East and the grounds as
historic. The buildings, located on 3rd Street between K Street and M Street, were designed by I.M. Pei and built in 1960-61. The owners at Waterfront Tower, along with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, applied for historic designation in response to a PUD
submitted by The Bernstein Companies to build two large multifamily buildings on the parking lots of the existing Pei buildings and a smaller building on the courtyard separating the two existing buildings. After the HPRB designation, the Bernstein Companies altered their plans and among several things, removed a small building that was to be built along 3rd Street. After reviewing the changes, the ANC reversed their prior
disapproval with the PUD and offered
conditional support in September.
Rendering courtesy of Maurice Walters Architect, PC
Randall

A
contentious proposal to build a charter high school for KIPP DC kept the future of the Randall Recreation Center site at South Capitol and I streets in limbo. Back in the fall of 2012, the District government
announced that Randall would be one of 32 playgrounds across the city that it would improve during the 2013 fiscal year. In addition, the plaza area facing I Street would be upgraded with a skate park and fountains. The project was put on hold while the KIPP proposal was being vetted, but ultimately, the city decided against the KIPP proposal. It’s unknown at this point when the playground and plaza area will be improved, but presumably it will happen sometime in 2014. Meanwhile, some limited programming was implemented over the summer at the recreation center, which has been underfunded and underutilized for years. More
robust programming is now underway, which started
this week.

Next door to the pool and recreation center, Telesis/Rubell have been advancing their plans for the Randall Junior High School site. According to the
revised PUD, a non-profit contemporary art museum from the collection of the Rubell family will be located in the original 1906 center building - the first floor of the museum will be used as a community cultural space that is open to the public, with an art gallery featuring local artists, 100-seat auditorium, library, bookstore, café, and meeting space. The upper two levels will house the museum exhibits. Other arts-related uses will be located in the west wing – perhaps a culinary incubator. A destination restaurant with outdoor seating will be in the east wing (both wings were built in 1927). Behind the center building, a new three-story addition will house additional exhibition space for the art museum. Two 12-story towers with 550 residential units will wrap behind the historic buildings and courtyard. The courtyard will be open to the public and six commercial spaces may be created on the ground level facing the courtyard containing artist studios. Twenty percent of the residential units will be set aside as affordable to households earning up to 80% of AMI. The ANC gave
qualified support for the PUD and the Historic Preservation Review Board approved the project in November, while the Zoning Commission generally showed support for the project at the hearing in December. The PUD is likely to receive approval during the first half of 2014 with construction on the first phase (including the historic buildings and at least one of the residential buildings) either in late 2014 or 2015.
Rendering courtesy of Bing Thom Architects