Washington Business Journal - Michael Neibauer

The District and a team of private developers have finalized long-awaited plans to replace public housing in the Park View neighborhood with a pair of mixed-income projects.

The existing 174-unit Park Morton, a 12-building, garden-style public housing project bounded by Georgia Avenue, Park Road, Warder Street and Lamont Street NW, is one of four developments that comprise the city’s troubled New Communities initiative. Launched in 2005 under Mayor Anthony Williams, the goal of New Communities was to replace public housing units one-for-one and integrate those units into new, mixed-income neighborhoods.

But Park Morton — like Barry Farm, Northwest One and Lincoln Heights— has been slow to take off, despite its prime location a few blocks south of Petworth Metro station, east of Columbia Heights and north of Howard University. In the meantime, per DCHA, Park Morton’s low-rise buildings have “deteriorated to a point that requires redevelopment versus renovation,” while other items, such as site layout, security and amenities, are “not meeting the needs of residents and need to be addressed in the redevelopment process.”

This week came signs of progress. The District, the D.C. Housing Authority and private developers Dantes Partners and The Community Builders (as Park View Community Partners) submitted plans to redevelop both Park Morton proper and nearby Bruce Monroe Park with mixed-income projects. The two developments, designed by Torti Gallas Urban, will provide 147 replacement public housing units. The remaining 27 (for a total of 174) replacement units were built into The Avenue at 3506 Georgia Ave. NW, a project completed in 2012.

The proposed 273-unit Bruce Monroe project, on a nearly 2-acre site (formerly Bruce Monroe Elementary School) bounded by Irving Street, Georgia Avenue and Columbia Road NW, will be constructed first. It is planned to include 189 apartments, 76 senior units, and eight, three-bedroom townhomes, plus 4,545 square feet of community service space. In addition to the 94 public housing replacement units, another 108 will be set aside for households earning up to 60 percent of the area median income. The site will be anchored by a 1-acre park, expected to feature a community gathering space, a playground, basketball court, dog park and community garden.

While some current Park View residents have sought to save Bruce Monroe Park from new construction, the District, which owns it, maintains that the park was constructed five years ago as a temporary amenity pending a development plan. Bruce Monroe, D.C. has said, "offers an opportunity to use public land for public good."

Park Morton proper, owned and managed by the D.C. Housing Authority, will be redeveloped with 183 units — 53 public housing replacements, 40 units affordable to households earning up to 60 percent of AMI, and the remainder market-rate. The buildings will be a mix of apartments, townhomes, semi-detached homes and stacked flats. There will be a central park with open lawn, rain gardens, a pavilion and playground. And Morton Street, through the site, will be extended east to Warder, eliminating a cul-de-sac that only serves to isolate and separate Park Morton residents from the surrounding community, according to the zoning application.

The project, per the application, “protects affordable housing, improves economic integration, engages residents in community decision-making, decreases crime through proven crime reduction strategies, and creates opportunity through better jobs, education, training, human services, and other programs.”

In terms of phasing, Park View Community Partners will construct the 273 units at Bruce Monroe first, then the 126-unit Park Morton multifamily building, and finally the 57 Park Morton townhomes and stacked flats.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2016/05/the-pitch-to-replace-park-morton-public-housing-in.html