Late last week, a zoning commission meeting brought the RiverFront on the Anacostia project one small step closer to fruition.
The 1.1-million-square-foot mixed-use project, which was designed by
SK&I architects and is situated on the Anacostia River just south of Nationals Park, had a hearing in front of the DC Zoning Commission Thursday night. While commissioners were noncommittal, requiring supplemental information from
Florida Rock Properties (FRP) and
Mid-Atlantic Realty Partners (MRP), the developers, the coup was a letter of support from the local ANC commission covering the site.
The zoning commission originally approved plans for the 5.5 acre site
back in 2008, but the developers proposed
last year to change the project’s first phase from office space to 300-350 residential units, given the current dismal situation for office space in the neighborhood. A
February 2012 hearing didn’t go well—the commissioners all but told the developers to start all over with the designs—but
John Begert with MRP Realty said this one seemed a little better, though he didn’t draw any conclusions. “We feel like our presentation went pretty positively, and that’s kind of all you know,” he said.
The commissioners tasked the developers with sending in additional information, including clarifications on the project’s roof plan and how an alley running through the development will be designed. The developers will submit the information within two weeks, but the commission may not make a decision until later this year or even early 2013.
Still, support from the ANC was good news. "After presenting at multiple monthly ANC meetings and working with the ANC and my SMD’s Citizens’ Development Advisory Committee, the development team presented a final plan this month that we were happy to support,” wrote ANC 6D commissioner
David Garber, whose district includes the site, in a letter dated September 20. “The elements of this most recent plan that we hope you will join us in specifically supporting are its engaging architecture, creative and usable public space, ground floor and roof-top retail, and the promised play installation designed specifically for children that is noted in the plan but will be laid out as part of a future phase of the PUD.”
The project’s first phase is a nine-story building that will feature almost 19,000 square feet of retail space and a small amount of affordable housing; 8 percent of its residential units will be priced at 80 percent of the area median income. The project will also include an expansive public section: picture wide green lawns, wetlands-type areas that act as bio-filtration mechanisms for stormwater management, and tree covered spaces, as well as a marina that could accommodate up to 50 boats.
The project, a former concrete plant, is set at the foot of the South Capitol Street Bridge, and has been in the works off and on since 1998. The developers have more plans for the property, but subsequent phases are several years down the road.
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Georgetown's Washington Harbor is coming back to life. A flood devastated the retail pavilion in March of 2011, when high water in the Potomac filled the parking garage and nearly submerged several restaurants, but restaurants have since been revamping and only one retail bay remains vacant. With several anchor restaurants on the lower level having reopened last month, the harbor is slowly returning to its former glory, or perhaps better, as the fountain - never the best part of the complex - has been reconfigured into a winter ice skating rink. Owner MRP Realty expects work on the complex to be completed by Thanksgiving.
