D.C. Takes New Step To Advance 5M SF Armed Forces Retirement Home Development
The 5M SF mixed-use development planned at the Armed Forces Retirement Home has taken its first public step forward in more than a year.
The D.C. Office of Planning filed an application Friday with the city’s Zoning Commission for the unzoned site spanning 80 acres of underutilized land on the federally owned property near the intersection of North Capitol and Irving streets NW.
A development team of Urban Atlantic and Madison Marquette won a bid to build a major mixed-use project on the property in 2019.
Located on the southeast portion of a 272-acre campus, the proposed development is set to include office, residential, retail, hotel, medical, and research and development facilities. The Master Plan was approved in 2018 and was updated during the summer of 2022, which was also the last public update on the project.
In its application to the Zoning Commission dated Friday, the Office of Planning breaks up the 80-acre parcel into seven specialized zoning designations: AFRH-0 through AFRH-6, with each having its own height maximum and allowable uses.
Zones AFRH-4 and AFRH-5 — planned for residential and mixed-use — would have building heights up to 100 and 120 feet, respectively. Meanwhile, AFRH-0 is planned for open space and small buildings up to 15 feet tall that would be used for food and beverage sales, public restrooms and other retail and service uses.
AFRH-1, AFRH-2 and AFRH-3 are proposed as medium density areas, with residential and mixed-use buildings and heights capping out at 65 and 75 feet. The AFRH-6 zone consists of the campus's existing historic buildings.
The redevelopment site today is mostly vacant land with some older buildings, some of which would be demolished or repurposed. The next step in the process is a review by the Historic Preservation Office and the Historic Preservation Review Board.
A representative from the D.C. Office of Planning told Bisnow in an email that a public hearing for the map and text amendments is anticipated to take place in early 2024.
Under the plan, the developers would ground lease the property from the federal government. The deal was designed in that manner to provide the veteran’s home with a steady stream of income, since it does not receive dedicated federal funding.
There are 100 buildings on the larger AFRH site, which have the capacity to accommodate 600 veterans, according to the Master Plan. The property also features health-related facilities, chapels, a convenience store, a post office, laundry facilities, a barber shop and beauty salon, dining rooms, a golf course and fishing ponds.
Nearby on North Capitol Street, EYA and Jair Lynch have begun to move forward with the long-delayed, 25-acre mixed-use development at the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant site.
