DC-based developer Akridge has posted comprehensive details and images for the $30 million condominium complex it hopes to build in Friendship Heights at 5220 Wisconsin Ave. NW, just south of the metro station between Harrison and Jenifer Streets NW. The site is now home to a flower store and a used-car lot and auto body shop. The planned building would house up to 70 condo units (seven percent reserved for affordable housing), and offer 13,200 square feet of street-level retail, plus two levels of underground parking. Units (one and two bedroom) are expected to be between 1,100-1,300 sf, with an average price of $800,000. The structure would include a five-story traditional-style brick section facing Wisconsin Avenue to help mesh it in with the existing streetscape, with an additional two stories of glass set back from the street. The southern part of the structure will taper down to three stories on the southwestern side. There will also be an open courtyard at the center of the building, which is planned to be LEED Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), with "green" features such as a roof that stores and filters storm water and the recycling and reuse of 50% of all construction materials waste. In addition to this building, Akridge plans to upgrade the existing yet foreboding PEPCO substation to the south of this site by restoring its façade, fixing the sidewalks around it, and adding windows for artwork displays. Akridge hopes to start construction on this project later this year, assuming its proposal is approved by the DC government.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Akridge Posts Details, Images for 5220 Wisconsin Avenue Project
DC-based developer Akridge has posted comprehensive details and images for the $30 million condominium complex it hopes to build in Friendship Heights at 5220 Wisconsin Ave. NW, just south of the metro station between Harrison and Jenifer Streets NW. The site is now home to a flower store and a used-car lot and auto body shop. The planned building would house up to 70 condo units (seven percent reserved for affordable housing), and offer 13,200 square feet of street-level retail, plus two levels of underground parking. Units (one and two bedroom) are expected to be between 1,100-1,300 sf, with an average price of $800,000. The structure would include a five-story traditional-style brick section facing Wisconsin Avenue to help mesh it in with the existing streetscape, with an additional two stories of glass set back from the street. The southern part of the structure will taper down to three stories on the southwestern side. There will also be an open courtyard at the center of the building, which is planned to be LEED Certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), with "green" features such as a roof that stores and filters storm water and the recycling and reuse of 50% of all construction materials waste. In addition to this building, Akridge plans to upgrade the existing yet foreboding PEPCO substation to the south of this site by restoring its façade, fixing the sidewalks around it, and adding windows for artwork displays. Akridge hopes to start construction on this project later this year, assuming its proposal is approved by the DC government.
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8 comments:
Anything to change the architecture of the area is an improvement. Wisconsin has the worst facades this side of Manassas, largely because a small group of close-the-gate types vocally protest anything new in the area, unless the density is so low that it doesn't pay to build. Hopefully the new comp plan will give the city a tool to override such irrationality. Go Akridge.
yeah, transit-oriented development is the way to go, and the people who are holding this up even give NIMBYs a bad name
This has always been an odd stretch of Wisconsin, so based on what Akridge is proposing I only see good things. Too bad the movie theater a block south is now gone ... though Paul's Liquors is still across the street (a good selection there) ....
Absolutely what I want and where I want to be. Hopefully, the DC powers-that-be will understand this project will pull new DC residents (and taxpayers) in from suburban Maryland; people like me who live in a single family home in Chevy Chase, Maryland who want to live in a walkable area near Metro without moving too far from current neighborhood. The anti-anything crowd has taken the Montgomery County Council, slowing down (and raising prices) of projects proposed for "downtown" Bethesda. Please tell me this will happen and soon.
How do we make this happen and now?
The NIMBYs in that stretch of DC have taken a political beating, with the election of Mary Cheh and the appointment of a Smart Growth advocate as Director of the Office of Planning.
This project should be the first of many to change the landscape of upper Wisconsin Avenue from drab to robust. This should be one of the many great gateways into DC and should be a center for neighborhood serving retails between the Cathedral and the DC Line.
This is an awful idea for traffic and will create a lack of public resources such as parking. Awful.
This has to be one of the best projects in DC because of how embarassing this stretch of Wisconsin has become. The lack of growth in between Frienship Heights and Glover Park has caused numerous stores to close, and the retail there now hardly even can serve the immediate neighborhoods. I hope this is the first of many projects on this stretch of road. We need as much density around areas well served by public transportation as possible
NO ARCHITECTS USED!!!
The sad thing about new developments is that no thought at all goes in to the architecture. They just get pre-fab pieces and paint them different colors. There is no pride at all involved. Just ugly lego like buildings (if you want to call them that). There is no foresight or research done at all before hand. Lots of long term issues need to be considered. The mentality is "get her done". Very sad indeed.
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