Last Days for Former Library, Residential Planned

-
The former R.L. Christian Library; 1300 H Street NE.
The little R.L Christian library building --at 1300 H St NE-- hasn't operated as a library since 2009; and now its days of just existing are about to come to an end. A raze notice was recently posted to the site and a new mixed-use (residential & commercial) building will take its place.

The "temporary" library kiosk was one of many set up by the District in the 1970s and 1980s to increase access to the library system  for neighborhoods without a dedicated, permanent library. The kiosks were thought to have an initial life span of about seven years. After shuttering the R.L Christian in '09, the District sold the property in 2014. The site is 10,800 square feet and adjacent to a DC Streetcar stop.

1300 H St NE. Source: Maurice Walters Architect
A trio of developers including Insight Property Group will convert the parcel into 55 foot tall, 4 story, 33 unit residential building with 5,900 sq feet of retail. This is the same company that paid $10M for Murray's site + $12M for the adjacent self-storage site, and converted those properties into the Apollo apartment building. The current timeline has delivery of 1300 H Street NE scheduled for late 2018. It appears that there will be six affordable units at <80% and <50% AMI. They're looking to obtain LEED Silver certification.

If you're nearby and still looking for a library, try Rosedale Neighborhood Library, located at 1701 Gales St NE. It's great!
1300 H St NE. Source: Maurice Walters Architect.
1300 H St NE. Source: Maurice Walters Architect.

Popular posts from this blog

300 Unit Tower Proposed Near Hechinger Mall

-
Image
Rendering of 1625 Benning c/o Valor Development. Valor Development is looking to construct a 303 unit apartment building across from Hechinger Mall on Benning Road NE. PGN Architects are the architects for the project. A. Morton Thomas and Associates are acting landscape architects and civil engineers. Bozzuto will ultimately mange the property. The "Valvaere" would be located at 1625 Benning Rd NE, consolidating nine parcels including what is now Trinidad Baptist Church and attached surface parking lot. The Valvaere will actually be comprised of two buildings; a nine story, 90 foot tall building facing Benning Road, and a 3 story, 38 foot tall building facing 16th St NE. About 7,000 sq ft of ground floor retail is incorporated into the plans. 100+ on-site parking spaces would be provided in a below grade parking lot. There will be over 100 bike storage spaces as well, protected, inside the building. Bird's eye view of Benning Rd. Rendered with Google Earth©...
Read more

A Langston for Langston, But Not That One

-
Image
Carver Langston has a new mural! The narrative features an abstract sort of geometric nature theme, switches to a sunglasses-decked woman representing Northeast DC, transitions to a male historical figure, then to a montage of pencils, an image of hands on a typewriter, then finally returning to the geometric nature theme to cap it all off. It's lovely, bold, colorful, and we deserve more murals like this in Carver Langston. But there's just one thing about this one... As you may know, on paper, Carver Langston is really two neighborhoods. Carver is the triangular shaped part of the neighborhood north of Maryland Ave NE, going up to the Arboretum. Langston is the part of the neighborhood south of Maryland, going down to Benning Road. Carver's namesake is a person most of us learned about in elementary school, George Washington Carver . Carver was one of America's top intellectuals and inventors of the early 20th century. Langston takes its name from the ...
Read more

Uniqlo, Juice Press Coming to Union Station

-
Image
The retail scene at Union Station has been getting quite a makeover for the past five years, having adding major brands such as Keihl's, Walgreens, H&M, and Shake Shack. Legal Seafood is building a full service restaurant on the second level, and now signage is up for two new additions. Popular Japanese casual clothing outlet Uniqlo is set to open this fall in a rather large space on the ground level. The store will be across across from Verizon; where the Swatch watch shop and FYE music stores were located. The first Uniqlo store in the U.S. only opened in 2006, and they've already grown to 48, not including this location. Tysons Corner is home to the only other in the DC area. Uniqlo enjoys a solid following and carries clothing for children (including babies), women, and men. I have heard lots of applause for the intimates/underwear selection . Juice Press is a New York City import and is opening its first DC store in Union Station, just like Uniqlo....
Read more