The X2

One DC built environment issue I have yet to fully figure out is why east-west travel is so difficult. Natural north-south barriers like Rock Creek Park combine with man-made ones like train yards and an awkward street grid to make cross town travel more difficult than it needs to be. It's frustrating that each major east-west route is so susceptible to bottlenecking or congestion. One of the more recently problematic east-west thoroughfares has been H Street NW near the Capitol Crossing project. Here, in just a few blocks' span, H Street crosses or runs parallel to Massachusetts Ave, 4th Street, 3rd Street, and an interstate highway, 395. The intersections here have always been a mess, but add to that a total reconstruction of H Street and Mass Ave in conjunction with decking over the interstate, and simultaneously building 2.2 million square feet of office, retail, and residential buildings adjacent to the intersection. This has been the scenario for the last ~two years...

Walking by 501 H Street NE, I always peek into the construction pit to check on the progress -- and wonder why it's so deep. The plans from the developer, Douglas Development, call for 28 residential units, including studios, one BRs, one BRs + den, and two BRs. But, why so deep for a building with just 28 units?  Parking? Nope. There will only be 5-6 on-site parking spaces for the building, all of which will be on the ground floor. Subterranean apartment rental units? Hopefully not. Storage? Not this time.  The real reason: retail. There will be three floors of retail in the building, totaling 22,000+ square feet, impressive for a lot that is just 9,800 square feet. Almost a third of that retail square footage will below grade. The below-grade level of retail will have 15 foot ceilings, hence the deep dig. The first floor will have 16 foot ceilings, and second floor will have 15'6" ceilings, still plenty tall. Floors 3-6 will be comprised of residential units....

Now closed H Street Connection shopping center, bottom left. The Washington Business Journal recently reported that raze permits have been issued for H Street Connection at 801 H Street NE. The now closed strip mall was two blocks long (8th-10th Street) and housed 37,911 sq ft of retail stores including Bank of America, McDonalds, Rent-a-Center, 7-11, Subway, Rainbow, Sports Zone, Game Stop, and anchor tenant Rite Aid. H Street Connection opened in 1987. It is set to be replaced by a residential building with ground floor retail. Rappaport is the main developer and they are planing to build an eight story, 419 unit building with 469 parking spaces (below grade and surface). The ground floor will be comprised of 44,700 sq ft of retail that renderings indicate could include up to 11 separate businesses. At this time, the development is just known as 901 H Street. Construction should begin soon after razing and the building is scheduled to deliver in 2019. Looking west fr...