Washington City Paper by Andrew Giambrone
The most centrally located site involved in the District's decade-old New Communities Initiative is finally looking for developers.
The D.C. government has released a solicitation for construction teams to undertake the Northwest One project located on two vacant lots at North Capitol Street between K and L streets NW. The site contains 3.5 acres of land, including where the Temple Courts Apartments—a subsidized complex that came down in 2008—once stood. In accordance with the request for proposals, developers must build more than 210 affordable housing units to ensure those that had been in Temple Courts are replaced on a "one-to-one" basis, a principal of NCI. The initiative seeks to revitalize distressed public housing. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office says former residents of Temple Courts and Golden Rule, replaced by the SeVerna on K site, will be given priority to move back.
"This is an opportunity to develop a project that doesn't just increase affordable housing opportunities but does so in a way that serves the very residents who made this project possible and who will continue to make this neighborhood so vibrant," the mayor says in a statement.
The solicitation follows a community-input process run by the Deputy Mayor's Office for Planning and Economic Development called OurRFP, which showed that residents want family-sized units as well as retail options on the site.
Touting the Ward 6 location, the solicitation says:
The Development Parcels are located just blocks from Union Station and the United States Capitol. The property has excellent multi-modal transportation access due to proximity to multiple Metro stations, bus and circulator lines that have made the Development Parcels prime real estate. Additionally, the development parcels are located between two burgeoning neighborhoods known as NoMa and Mount Vernon Triangle. The Site is within blocks of three full-service grocery stores (Safeway, Harris Teeter, and Walmart), as well as several restaurants, and retail establishments.
As for the amount of affordable housing expected to be built, DMPED says applicants "should assume a minimum of 211 replacement units target to households with a range of incomes at/below 30% of Area Median Income." (The AMI last year was approximately $110,000 for a family of four.) "However, the ultimate development program will be determined through further analysis and planning to reflect the income levels of former residents of Temple Courts and Golden Rule, and as a result there may be a need for replacement units offered to households above 30% AMI."
The District plans to select a final development team by the spring of next year, with applicaitons due Dec. 15. The solicitation can be accessed here