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Two city treasures will be transformed into “loft-like” condominiums over the next couple of years. The police station at 525 Ninth St. NE and the firehouse at 1341 Maryland Ave. NE will keep the basic lines of their old exteriors while they experience a complete overhaul of their interiors. Nine households will live in the two buildings.
Last year, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development awarded the $3.3 million development contract for the two buildings to the Argos Group, a local real estate development firm headed by Gilberto Cárdenas. Cárdenas appeared at the September meeting of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6A with Troy Urman, an architect from SORG Architects, which Argos commissioned to design the buildings.
Urman told the ANC that the new designs don’t “violate the envelope of either building.” He says they’ll keep their same size and shape, and they’ll be restoring them “to their original beautiful details.” Both two-story buildings are currently vacant.
Police Precinct Number 9 was built in 1932 on Ninth Street. SORG plans to replace all windows and doors, reopening several bricked-up windows to build big bay windows, letting in the sunlight. They’ll also remove chipping white paint to expose the natural brick underneath. And they’ll landscape the adjacent alleyway with a sunken garden and walking path.
Old Engine House 10 goes back even further. It was originally built in 1895 and enjoys DC Historic Landmark status. In addition to replacement of doors and windows, architects also plan to replace the firehouse garage doors with a partially glazed wall that simulates the original configuration. They plan to add garden areas and a privacy wall on the side yard. Residents of both buildings will have off-street parking spaces.
Developers are hoping to begin construction before their target date of April 2010. They’ll be working on both buildings simultaneously and expect construction to take a year.
The ANC initially supported the Argos plan partly because they liked that Argos was keeping the units large, to accommodate families. Each building will have two units reserved as “affordable.”
The ANC spoke unanimously in favor of the removal of the curb cuts in front of the building, so that those spaces would be open for street parking. Commissioner Bill Schultheiss emphasized that he represents all his residents in asking for the curb cuts to be removed. Cárdenas said that some people on the Historic Preservation Review Board would like to keep the cuts as they are, to preserve the historic vehicle entrance.
Cárdenas and Urman also announced that schoolchildren from Prospect Learning Center (920 F St. NE) and Miner Elementary (601 15th St. NE) would shadow the entire process to learn about building and design. Prospect students will focus on the police station, while Miner students will participate in the firehouse process.
Though the developer didn’t ask them to take any action, the ANC voted to support their application before the HPRB – with strong encouragement to close the curb cuts.
The ANC Wants a Say on Valet
The ANC dropped its protest of a liquor license for a new restaurant about to open on H Street. The commissioners decided instead to sign a voluntary agreement with Drew, a new Afro-Latino fusion restaurant, about noise mitigation. Drew will be opening at 1245 H St. NE, in the space formerly occupied by Hills Instant Carpet Service.
The second floor will have a rear deck, and the total capacity is 96 people on three floors. So the ANC was concerned about noise.
At a recent meeting of the Alcohol Beverage and Licensing Committee, ANC commissioners and community members asked Drew owner Andrew Alak and his colleague, Nate Bush, a few questions, and some of their concerns were alleviated.
The new establishment has an entertainment endorsement, but they’re planning only to have “light jazz, background music and an occasional soloist.” They’ve insulated and soundproofed the sections of the building that would be close to residential properties, and they’re not planning to have entertainment on the back deck. They say they don’t plan to have speakers on the back deck either.
Drew also plans to have valet parking, using U Street Parking, the same valet company used by several other establishments along H Street. However, the ANC has some concerns about how valet parking is handled along the corridor.
The District Department of Transportation started issuing valet parking permits in August to businesses that offer valet service four or more days a week. Some regulations and procedures accompanied the new permits – including a rule that valet companies cannot park in public space, including on-street parking. Neighbors often complain that valet parkers do take up street parking. Commissioner David Holmes says some of his residents’ biggest complaints revolve around inappropriate valet parking.
The ABL Committee set off a debate within the ANC about interagency jurisdiction with its recommendation that the ANC add compliance with the new DDOT valet parking requirements to its standard voluntary agreement that it negotiates with area establishments.
Commissioner Nick Alberti, who sits on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, was concerned that it was inappropriate to add parking regulations to a voluntary agreement. The voluntary agreements with liquor licensees are enforced by the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration – and Alberti argued that ABRA was not trained to recognize valet parking violations. He said ABRA would only know of a violation if DDOT or another city agency first enforced the regulation and informed ABRA of the violation.
Besides, he said, DDOT is the “big stick.” ABRA is only able to mete out penalties of $250 for the first offense and $500 for the second. He said some establishments would happily consider such small fines the cost of doing business.
Schultheiss said he liked putting valet parking in the VA as an expression of the ANC’s wishes. He said it would be easier to negotiate that way than in a separate agreement.
Chair Joe Fengler said he was sensitive to the concern that “ABRA cannot be the master of all DC law” but also supported putting the item in the voluntary agreements. He said it’s a demonstration upfront of the ANC’s expectations.
Voluntary agreements normally exist to negotiate concerns between establishments serving alcohol and neighbors concerned about either traffic impacts or disturbance of “peace, order and quiet.”
Over Alberti’s objections, the ANC voted to include valet rules in the agreements. |
