In The Works: The Top 3 Developments Coming To Northeast D.C.

New City DC

New City DC is Douglas Development’s 550K SF mixed-use project at 1923 New York Ave. NE. The plan includes 18 rental townhouses and 422 apartments; a large, major grocery store; an entertainment center; a hotel with 156 rooms; a 2,900-space parking garage; an outdoor plaza; green and community-oriented space; new private roads; and a new bike trail connecting Ivy City to the National Arboretum.

Through this project, on the 15-acre triangle bounded by New York Avenue, Montana Avenue and Bladensburg Road NE, Douglas Development’s Matthew Jemal reimagines the quasi-industrial Ivy City as a densely developed destination, reinvigorated by retail and restaurants. Two anchor tenants will get 100K SF and 130K SF at a building on New York, while the rest of the retail and dining will be housed in six buildings surrounding a pedestrian plaza. Construction is underway.

MidCity’s RIA

MidCity is planning to redevelop the Brookland Manor apartments and Brentwood Village Shopping Center to provide 181K SF of retail and 1,700 residences. Last month, the D.C. Zoning Commission voted unanimously to approve the second-stage, planned-unit development application, permitting MidCity to commence construction of a 131-unit building and a 200-unit affordable building for seniors, which together comprise Phase 1.

The sites span 20 acres on the south side of Rhode Island Avenue. MidCity reduced the scope of the project by roughly 20% in an effort to appease ZC officials and Brookland Manor residents. The latter attempted to stymie the project with a lawsuit, alleging that the plan, which triples the unit count, would displace current residents and fail to provide ample housing to larger families.

Art Place at Fort Totten

The first phase of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation’s ambitious, 16.5-acre Art Place project includes a 520-unit apartment building and 105K SF of retail on South Dakota Ave.

The two-phase, 2M SF endeavor, approved in 2009, is gargantuan by Northeast’s standards and a significant display of confidence in the quadrant that should attract visitors and investors. Art Place, at completion, will boast 929 apartments; over 305K SF of retail; 170K SF of cultural and art spaces; and a 40K SF children’s museum called Explore! A 42K SF XSport Fitness, a health and lifestyle club, will anchor the development with a gym, personal training, group classes, a spa, a pool and a supplement shop. Phase 1 is expected to deliver within a few months.