Bigger, Greener: Skyland Files Another Zoning Amendment

Skyland - the very name implies the ever distant horizon - is back for another zoning review to fully entitle the project, this time to fit Walmart into the equation.

The most recent change regarding the large ‘town center’ complex is a PUD amendment that was submitted late last week by the development team behind the project. The original PUD was approved by the Office of Zoning in September 2010, but that was before Walmart signed on as the development’s anchor store last fall. The inclusion of the mega-retailer necessitated a number of changes to the plan—though nothing particularly substantive, according to the application. “The proposed PUD modification application is NOT proposing significant changes to the approved PUD project,” reads the document.

That means the development will continue to include 450-500 residential units, some of which will be townhomes and/or affordable housing, and retail space will increase only slightly, from 311,000 s.f. to 342,000 total s.f.

The most serious change appears to be a decrease in the number of parking spaces needed. The total number will be down by about 300 “which meets one of the Office of Planning’s goals,” Matt Ritz, a vice president at William C. Smith &. Company, pointed out.  Smith is one of the members of the development team, along with The Rappaport Companies, Harrison Malone Development, the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, and the Washington East Foundation.

Other changes include lowering the height of parts of the building Walmart will occupy, slightly reducing the number of townhouses, and topping a section of the project with solar panels and a green roof, rather than with a final layer of parking as originally planned.

The revamped development should include slightly more green space, and the application hints at more ‘green’ elements to come: “Walmart has several sustainable goals for this project which will be achieved by the following features: use of water efficient faucets and toilets; implementation of an energy management system; high-efficiency HVAC design; LED lighting; sun shading devices on the roof; and a construction waste stream management program."

Ritz is hoping the project will get a hearing with the Zoning Commission before the end of the year and a public hearing sometime around March 2013. But it’s all up in the air. “The dates are with a grain of salt,” he said. “It’s all contingent on the Zoning Commission.” And the company is still a very long way from soliciting construction bids.

Still, as slowly as it’s going, there is definitely movement occurring at Skyland. In September, the city celebrated the start of a demolition process of some of the buildings in the existing shopping center. And of seven legal cases that were pending in early 2011 - all linked to the city's use of eminent domain on the project--only one is still unresolved.

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Rappaport Hits Minor Setback on H Street

It's back to the drawing board for developers and architects working on Gary Rappaport's H Street redevelopment project. The Rappaport Companies' Parcel Seven Associates, LLC has been planning a large mixed-use redevelopment project running on the south side of H Street between 8th and 10th for over three years now. The rather enormous project, stretching two full blocks and replacing an outmoded single-story shopping strip, is expected to begin work on part of the 52,000 s.f. of retail and 400-odd residences within about two years, but save the 2nd half for much later. Developers endured the requisite series of conversations, meetings, and compromises, and were finally able to bring both DDOT and the ANC (6A and 6C) on board. But the Zoning Commission was not entirely wooed by the long line of witnesses pleading for approval of the obligatory zoning change at Monday evening's public hearing, and unanimously decided to delay final action until September 27th. This gives the architects and developers until Friday, September 3rd to officially respond to requests made by the Zoning Commission, and opponents of the project until September 10th to retort and fault Rappaport's modifications.

There were a number of minor issues with the plan in the eyes of the Commission, but the major hold up was the appearance of the project's closest neighbor in opposition to the project. This was not the first time developers had heard this family's concerns, and Rappaport insisted that they had labored to accommodate the neighbor's concerns about building height and traffic flow. But the strong reservations communicated by the 8th street neighbor were not mitigated to the extent the Commission expected, so Zoning requested more careful consideration of their concerns, particularly the family's anxiety over the likely increase in large trucks turning into the alley around the corner of their home.

One Zoning member requested that the architects refine the pavilion design on the opposite corner, at 10th and H Street, to generate a bolder and more interesting beginning to the rest of the building, while also tying together and re-enforcing the entirety of the design. "It lacks the kind of stylings and flavor of the rest of the building," he lamented. Another panel member was disappointed that the amenities package was rather light when weighed against the aggressive amount of FAR being pursued by the project (4.0 FAR of residential and 6.0 FAR of commercial space). The entire Commission also expressed their interest in seeing a slightly more aggressive phasing timeline; at present, phase two construction would not begin for about seven years thereafter, a timeline "that will depend upon the rate of absorption" of Phase 1, according to Rappaport.

But don't mourn for the Rappaport Companies, a somewhat retooled design should afford the developers the PUD they've been seeking, and panel members were generally optimistic and encouraged by the scope and direction of this project. A final action ruling later this fall does not serve as a serious threat to their hopes of beginning construction in 2012.

The process of give and take is not new to Rappaport; the project was even bigger before it was first rejected by the Commission in 2008. Over the last two years, the design team, including project architect Torti Gallas, has appeased the community by situating the massing of the buildings in the middle and the back to better negotiate changes in the roofline (ranging from 50 to 90 ft.) and blend the new building into the existing facade. The once uniform design has also been reformed to feign the appearance of multiple, distinct buildings strung together, replicating the nature of street frontages on the rest of H Street. The architects have offered large setbacks for the bottom floor retail stores to provide for maximum pedestrian traffic flow and the potential for outdoor dining terraces.

Other amenities being supplied to the community include landscaping and improvement of public space. The project will also look to minimize traffic congestion, and encourage environmental responsibility in achieving a LEED Silver Certification upon finished construction. Parcel Seven has also agreed to support a proposal for the creation of a Historic District for H Street NE. Moreover, a small portion of the residential units will qualify as affordable housing. And while one Commission member pointed out that several of these "amenities" are actually requirements (killjoy), the project seems to have convinced the majority of the community that its arrival is much more of a positive contribution than a hindrance.

The public record on this case will be reopened in late September as the developers attempt to appease the development site's most immediate neighbor, as well as reassure the Zoning Commission that their project is ready for construction to begin.

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