1618 Q Street: 7 Units from Single-family Home

There are plans in the works to convert the two-story, single-family home at 1618 Q Street NW into a three-story, seven-unit apartment building. The Dupont Circle Conservancy heard an initial presentation from the Workshop T10 design studio at its regular monthly meeting on October 8.

1618 Q Street today

The design would require an additional 18 inches of excavation in the basement.
There would be two basement apartments, two apartments each on the first and second floors, and a pop-up structure at the rear of the house. The pop-up would contain one complete apartment, and the upstairs bedroom for the second-floor front apartment.

The largest apartment would be 772 square feet, and the average apartment would be 570 square feet. The design envisions maintaining the front double-doors as the primary entrance, with an additional entrance in the rear.

The third-floor pop-up would not be visible from Q Street, the presenter said. It would be 13 feet tall at its highest point and be set back 33 feet six inches from the front facade of the building.

The pop-up would be visible from Stead Park, which the building abuts in the rear.

There would be two parking spaces behind the building.

No projected prices or rents for the apartments were mentioned, nor did the participants discuss if the units would be rentals or condos.

Desiree Holler Pollard of Workshop T10 made the presentation.

The Dupont Circle Conservancy is an all-volunteer non-profit organization, dedicated to historic and architectural preservation in the Dupont Circle Area. Its members frequently hear presentations from homeowners and developers who wish to get official blessing for major building improvements. The Conservancy's opinion is regularly heard and treated very seriously by Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle and DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), so can stop or delay renovation projects.

The presenter and the Conservancy promised to be in touch. No decision was made immediately.

15 Dupont Circle: ANC2B Supports Hotel Developers

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle voted on October 9 to support the architects Studio 3877 and hotel developers French Quarter Hospitality in their first step toward acquiring the Patterson Mansion (15 Dupont Circle NW) and turning it into a luxury hotel. The vote was 7 for, 2 against. The proposal will now be considered by DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on October 23.

ANC2B's previous deliberations on this proposal were the subject of an October 7 SALM blog post.

The Patterson Manson

A shorter presentation

Architect David Shove-Brown of Studio 3877 made a shorter version of his presentation to the full ANC. Some details are unchanged: the annex building next door to the mansion will be demolished, and a new six-story building will be built on the space. The new building will connected to the renovated mansion on the inside.

As a result of some comments from the ANC and the Dupont Circle Conservancy, changes were made to the design. The facade is now a darker color, matching more closely with the neighboring building on P Street, which is the Consular Section of the Embassy of Iraq. In addition, the mechanical penthouse is a different shape, and the loading dock will be moved to the back of the building.

The Dupont Circle Conservancy had met the previous evening to consider the proposal, a representative at the ANC meeting reported. They voted to support the massing of the proposed design generally, and endorse the use of darker materials. However, they asked that the size of the mechanic penthouse be minimized and that there be no roof deck.

"Massing" is a term of art meaning the extent to which a building's facade is in harmony with the facades of the nearby structures.

Commissioner comment

This annex will be demolished

"Some of you may think we're rushing this. This building is iconic. It's precious
to all of us. There are things in terms of the adjacent building [i.e., the new structure] we may have to give up. This is being protected at all costs," said Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06).

Silverstein also mentioned the case of Toutorsky Mansion, a building at 1720 16th Street that now houses the Embassy of the Republic of the Congo. Local objections made it impossible for a commercial enterprise to operate in the location, so it was sold to the Republic of the Congo. In 2011, the Embassy disregarded commitments it had made to preservation groups about  preserving the character of the property.

"You can't always control what you get," Silverstein said.

Other Commissioners felt they couldn't support the project.

"I feel like this is being rushed," said Commissioner Abigail Nichols (district 05).

"My great great great grandchildren are going to be looking at this. You won't be able to change it. Once it's there, it's there," said Commissioner Mike Feldstein (district 01).

Nichols and Feldstein were the votes against endorsing the project.

ANC2F to Protest Ghana Cafe Entertainment Endorsement

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle voted unanimously on October 2 to protest the application by the Ghana Cafe (1336 14th Street NW) for an entertainment endorsement to its liquor license.

(Luis Gomez Photos, used by permission)

The move came after neighbors from an abutting property on the 1400 block of Rhode Island Avenue told the ANC the Ghana Cafe had not been following the terms of its existing settlement agreement in the areas of vermin control and parking in the rear of the property.

"Don't endorse the new agreement until they comply with the first agreement," a neighbor said.

The neighbor said they had filed a formal complaint about the Ghana Cafe to DC's Alcoholic Beverage Control Board (ABRA).

The proprietor of the Ghana Cafe said he had been complying with the settlement agreement. He said the ANC had no reason to protest the entertainment endorsement and was just protesting for the sake of doing so.

Prior to the neighbor's complaint, it was indicated, ANC2F had had a amicable negotiation, with the Ghana Cafe agreeing to certain limitations on hours of entertainment operation, types of entertainment, and hours of loading and unloading.

What sort of entertainment Ghana Cafe might provide was not discussed.

The ANC authorized its liquor licensing affairs committee to negotiate with the Ghana Cafe about the issues of pest control, parking, and noise from the property's ventilator. If the problems are resolved, the ANC will withdraw its protest.

ANCs often officially protest attempts to renew or modify liquor licenses as a way to maintain leverage in negotiations, but eventually withdraw their protests if an agreement is reached.

The Ghana Cafe is in the middle of the block of 14th Street that will be the prime target of ANC2F's planned rat summit, which will take place on October 17 at 7pm at the Washington Plaza Hotel (10 Thomas Circle).

Park at 14th Owner: ANC2F Agreement "Handcuffs"

Mark Barnes, co-owner of The Park at 14th Nightclub (920 14th Street NW), compared his settlement agreement with Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2F/Logan Circle to handcuffs and "an electric collar". He wants it terminated. He made the comparison at ANC2F's monthly meeting on October 2.

The request was the subject of a September 25 SALM blog post.

ANC2F listen to Mark and Ann Barnes

Barnes makes his case

Barnes, appearing with his wife and co-owner Ann Barnes, told the committee the club had a long track record as a reliable member of the community. He feels the club is no longer an unknown quantity.

"The neighbors said they didn't know who I was," Barnes said. As a result, he "had to wear an electric collar for six years".

Meanwhile, Barnes continued, his club had generated $6 million in revenue for DC and had not one liquor-license-related violation within 1000 feet of the club.

"We don't think there's a reason to have an electric collar," he said. "Everything we can do, we do."

As an example, Barnes said his staff washed his and neighboring buildings every night, to counteract the effects of public urination, even though there are  neighboring clubs that contribute to the problem but do nothing. This is because the neighboring clubs were not obligated to enter into settlement agreements.

Later in the meeting, ANC2F Chair Matt Raymond (district 07) said it had been the ANC's practice for several years to allow bars and restaurants in the downtown business district (below M street) to operate without settlement agreements. The rationale is there are no residential neighbors to be bothered by late-night noise and other by-products of liquor-serving establishments.

ANC Commissioners asked Barnes if there were specific provisions he objected to.

"No, I don't like handcuffs," Barnes said.

The third party to the agreement

The third party to the settlement agreement is 1400 K Co, LLC, owners of the abutting property. They were represented at the meeting by John Patrick Brown of the law firm of Greenstein DeLorme & Luchs.

"My clients are opposed to terminating the agreement," he said.

Brown went on to say the agreement covers important issues. The most important of these was the "cure provision", which outlined the process by which the two parties can resolve disputes.

"I disagree with the handcuffs of Mr. Barnes," Brown said.

Brown said there had been 25 "investigative incidents" connected with the club in the last six years.

"This includes four assaults on police officers," Brown added.

"This had nothing to do with me," Barnes replied.

Following this exchange, there was some discussion between Barnes and ANC Commissioners. Barnes said he had been a good neighbor. As an example, he said he sent staff out to wash the dumpsters daily.

ANC Commissioner Walt Cain (district 02) noted this practice was specifically called out in the agreement.

"If the settlement agreement is lifted, would your practice change?" Cain asked.

"No," Barnes replied.

In conclusion, Barnes said the settlement agreement had already cost him $50,000 in lost revenue during the last Presidential inauguration, because he could not stay open as late as his competitors.

"We've proven we're model," Barnes said.

Further negotiations

The ANC voted unanimously to send the matter back to ANC2F liquor licensing affairs committee for further negotiations, but not before a member of the community in the audience made an accusation.

"What I hear is bias against Mr. Barnes," she said.

ANC1B Homeowners May Face Renovation Catch-22

A motion passed by Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 1B/U Street at the very end of its October 3 monthly meeting may create a Catch-22 situation for some area homeowners who are seeking to renovate.

The burden of a historic district home

Homeowners: first go here

Then go here

The motion applies to local homeowners whose homes fall into one of the area's historical preservation districts. At least three historic districts -- the U Street Historic District, the LeDroit Park Historic District, and the 16th Street Historic District --  fall in whole or part within the boundaries of ANC1B. If a home is located within one of these districts, a long list of home improvements -- especially improvements visible from the outside the home -- are subject to review and approval by DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).

The motion, championed by ANC1B Chair Tony Norman (district 10), requires homeowners get ANC1B endorsement of their planned improvements before, not after, they approach the HPRB. If homeowners don't do so, it is implied, then ANC endorsement will be withheld.

This order (ANC first, then HPRB) is the order in which homeowners are supposed to approach the city bureaucracy. Homeowners, however, are sometimes confused by the process and unable to get clear guidance on how to proceed.

A problem might occur when a local homeowner, unversed in local law but desiring to be compliant, approaches the HPRB first. In some cases, the HPRB has issued approvals conditional on ANC endorsement.

The Catch-22

So, a homeowner, wishing to obey the law, may find him- or herself in the position where there is approval from one part of the DC government conditional on endorsement from a second part of the DC government, but the second part of the DC government will not give endorsement, not because of any objection to the project itself, but only because it was not consulted first.

Commissioner Norman made the motion at the October 3 meeting, minutes after ANC1B unanimously voted to approve the proposed renovation of a house at 2241 12th Place. (The details of the renovation were the subject of an SALM blog post on August 28.) The homeowner of 2241 12th Place is someone who approached the DC bureaucracy in an incorrect manner, and received HPRB approval contingent on ANC endorsement, which he received.

Although he had already received his approval and would not be directly effected by the new policy, the homeowner, after hearing the motion, pleaded with Norman to do outreach to HPRB first to insure that future well-meaning homeowners would not find themselves in a bureaucratic bind. Norman and the ANC made no indication that they would do so.

In addition to being Chair of the ANC as a whole, Commissioner Norman is also Chair of ANC1B's Design Review Committee. This Committee frequently deals with HPRB applications before the full ANC votes on them.

HPRB: non-cooperation previously noted

Last year, ANC 2B/Dupont Circle passed a resolution criticizing the HPRB for its lack of coordination with ANCs. It said that the HPRB

is the only regulatory board that does not currently send a notice document directly to ANCs for each application within the respective ANC that will be on the board’s agenda. This is contrary to the practice of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, the District Department of Transportation Public Space Committee, the Board of Zoning Adjustment, and the Zoning Commission.

This practice, the resolution said, prevents ANCs from carefully reviewing HPRB applications and from providing timely and thoughtful opinions.

Given ANC1B's decision and the HPRB's history of poor communication, it seems like only a matter of time before a historic district homeowner will find his or her renovation ensnared in this Catch-22. It will probably cost some poor unsuspecting homeowner time, money, and aggravation.

14th & Wallach: ANC1B Unanimous in Favor

Madison Investments and allies completed their trip through the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) system on October 3 when ANC 1B/U Street voted unanimously to support its projected mixed-use building at 14th and Wallach Streets NW.

From August 19 design committee meeting

ANC1B will produce documents in support of the development when it appears for consideration before DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA).

Details about the nature of the multiple zoning reliefs and other contentious issues are available here.

Efforts at outreach

Sia Madani of Madison Investments made one last appearance before ANC1B to outline his efforts to get community sign-on to the project. Efforts included community outreach to, and soliciting letters of support from, "almost every single Wallach Place resident" and two neighborhood associations. Flyers about the project were also delivered to every house within a four-block radius of the project site.

Parking was a prime concern. As a result, future residents of the building will be restricted from getting residential parking permits. There will also be 36 spaces of bike parking.

Wallach Street residents also were eager to see commercial operations other than restaurants and bars on the first floor retail space. To that end, discounted rent for retail stores will be offered. There have been expressions of interest from two pet stores, a yoga studio, and a pilates studio. Members of the community urged Madani to encourage a hardware store to open.

Madani repeated the intention to own the building and rent out units, as opposed to selling it as condos.

"We're going to own this as an apartment building," he said.

Other locals on the project

Several attendees spoke up in favor of the proposed development. In addition, Commissioner Zahra Jilani (district 12), in whose district the development will be, read statements of support from other members of the community and ANC Commissioner Emily Washington (08), who was unable to attend the meeting.

Jilani also read a statement from the U Street Neighborhood Association. It does not support the proposal for a variety of reasons. They include the negative impact of the building's design and height on community space.

A member of the Shaw Dupont Citizens Alliance asked that the developers be extra vigilant in connecting with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) on the issue of denying resident parking permits to building residents.

Of the twelve members of the ANC1B, seven were present to vote unanimously for the project. They were: Chair Tony Norman (10), Jeremy Leffler (02), Sedrick Muhammad (03), Ricardo A. Reinoso (05), Dyana Forester (06), James Turner (09), and Jilani.

15 Dupont Circle: Move Fast or No Deal

"We are under pressure from the seller. If I don't move fast, they will sell it to someone else," said a presenter to a committee of Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2B/Dupont Circle on October 1.

"Everything inside me says go slow on this," said ANC2B Commissioner Mike Silverstein (district 06). "We have to walk a very fine line."

The Patterson House

The property is 15 Dupont Circle NW. This Italian neoclassical mansion, known as the "Patterson House", is on the DC Inventory of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by Stanford White in 1903 and for many years was the home of the Washington Club. The asking price on the property is $26 million.

The proposal

The development proposal, presented by architect David Shove-Brown of Studio 3877 and Ronnie Ben-Zur, CEO of French Quarter Hospitality of Atlanta, Georgia, is to turn 15 Dupont into the front part of a hotel. An adjoining two-story annex building on P Street will be demolished. In its place, a new six-story  building in a completely dissimilar modern architectural style will be constructed. The plan is that the new building will connect in its interior to the old building.

But first the concept must be approved by DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) in October and a handful of special exceptions, waivers, and zoning variances must be obtained from DC's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) on December 3. If the developers don't have all the approvals they need after the December 3 meeting, the sale is off.

An ANC does not have the authority to stop or accelerate proposals of this type on its own, but an ANC endorsement is given "great weight" by the HPRB and BZA. A statement of opposition can be enough to delay or even derail a project. A statement of support makes the going easier.

This annex would be demolished

The presenters said the Patterson house would be "restored to its original glory". The first floor would contain hotel reception, a bar, a library, and lounges. The second floor would have three banquet rooms and a ballroom. There would be a total of forty guest rooms in both the historic building and the new building, plus a roof-top patio and a green roof.

Overall, 75 percent of the interior of the old building would be preserved, the presenters said. Ninety percent of the interior would be preserved on the first two floors.

Criticism from the committee

There were many aspects of the proposal for the new glass-and-steel building that the committee did not like. This generated a long discussion.

"This proposal puts so much glass on P Street," one committee member said. "It will have a negative impact."

There was a suggestion to take two levels off the front (i.e., the P Street) side of the building and make the building taller in back.

"Pushing it two floors back is not practical," a presenter said. "We are not likely to get a height variance."

An abutting neighbor in attendance said, "We would oppose a height variance."

Commissioner Leo Dwyer (district 07) continued to advocate for a height variance, and offered to lobby on the presenters' behalf if it became necessary. The presenters expressed no enthusiasm for the proposal.

Dwyer is the chair of ANC2B's Zoning, Preservation, and Development Committee (ZPD), which held the meeting where the proposal was made.

Dwyer and others had serious criticism for another part of the project. As currently planned, a mechanical penthouse, would protrude from the top of the new building and over the old building. It would be clearly visible behind the old building from all over Dupont Circle, according to illustrations provided by the presenters to the ZPD Committee.

"Get rid of the obvious penthouse on the west side," Dwyer said.

The presenters said this would be impossible, because the building could not be made any taller and because the mechanical penthouse could not be moved.

Wanted: a hotel everyone can live with

Toward the end of the discussion, the presenters said, "The intent is not to anger the neighborhood. The intent is to have a working dialog with the community."

All parties were conscious that a hotel -- as compared to a private club or an embassy -- would be the only way that the general public would be able to see and enjoy the interior of the building.

"An embassy, we lose nearly all control," said Commissioner Silverstein.

There was no motion at the ZPD committee to either support or oppose the proposal before any DC government body.

The next stop for the prospective buyers is the HPRB on October 23. The subject of the HPRB will be the proposed new building's "massing". Massing, explained on page 7 of an HPRB .pdf document here, is the extent to which a building's facade is in harmony with the facades of the nearby structures.

"The massing of a new building should be compatible with the massing of existing buildings," the HPRB document, titled "New Construction in Historic Districts", says.

If that hurdle is cleared, then the prospective buyers will make a separate request for ANC2B support of their BZA application. Details of the exceptions, waivers, and variances being requested are available on page one of a BZA word processing document available here.