Cedar Hill Gets HPRB Approval

Another step! The Cedar Hill townhouse/condo project at the corner of W and 13th Streets is on track to finally start construction... soon.


On W Street looking towards 13th.

"The Board approved the design in concept, with delegation to staff of further review, with the conditions that the V Street building be limited to two stories of height; the applicant satisfactorily address the issues raised in the staff report; and that the applicant careful revise and develop the balcony details on the Type 2 houses, the stairs, the siding on the Type 3 houses, and the width of the alley and the continuation of the 13th Street sidewalk and vegetation along it."

Still awaiting word from Stan Voudrie of Four Points, LLC as to when exactly this will start. Last I heard, the HPRB approval was one of the final steps before construction.

Cedar Hill Residential Aiming for Fall Start

Didn't think I was allowed to post these renderings yet since they're not 100% final - but now that Urban Turf has, I'll go ahead and do so. As you know, Four Points and Comstock homes have partnered up to build 32 duplex-style condos, seven three-bedroom townhomes, and one re-built "historic" single family house on the big now-empty lot at the corner of W Street and 13th, just a half block up from Uniontown Bar & Grill.


view looking up W Street towards 13th Street


the interior of the block will have a bit more contemporary styling


you can see that one condo/townhouse will be located on V Street

Although these renderings aren't 100% final -- the developers hope to present to the Historic Preservation Review Board in September -- they are a pretty good representation of what will be built at the site. New multifamily residential in Anacostia ... Finally!

W Street Project Named "Cedar Hill"

Well, things are finally becoming more official at the corner of W and 13th Streets SE. The developer's sign heralding their long-awaited townhouse and condo development is finally up, and the official name for the project: Cedar Hill.



The development is being built by Comstock Homes in some sort of partnership with Four Points. Four Points is also the development partner for Curtis Companies, who owns a majority of "downtown Anacostia" along MLK Avenue.


looking NW at the 13th and W intersection


looking NE up W towards 13th Street

The development's name, Cedar Hill, is the name of Frederick Douglass' hilltop estate just one block away at W and 14th. Although it seems a but odd for the name to be the exact same, I don't really foresee any major problems. These townhouses and condos will integrate with the neighborhood rather than being any sort of private enclave, so I can't imagine the name even sticking once all the units are marketed and sold.

Yes friends, brand new townhomes and condos for sale in the $200s. And on the same block as Uniontown and Big Chair Coffee. I don't think these will have much trouble selling.

W Street Townhomes & Condos Financed!

It's been a long time coming, but Four Points' W Street townhomes and condos project (likely to be called something like Cedar Hill Row) has finally received financing! Stan Voudrie of Four Points, the developer, gave me the good news today that his company has entered into a joint venture partnership with a publicly-traded regional homebuilder to begin construction in 2011. Final building permits still need to be issued, and a formal announcement about the deal is expected early next week.


a slightly outdated aerial rendering - Click to Enlarge

Located the corner of W Street SE and 13th Street SE, the development is the first significant new-construction residential project in Historic Anacostia, and is on the same block as Big Chair Coffee and the under-construction Uniontown Bar & Grill. The project is comprised of 32 condo units, 7 townhouses, and a rebuilt single-family home that will replicate a structure that sat on the site until it was demolished last year.

This is amazing news for the neighborhood because until now one of its greatest deficiencies is its lack of housing diversity. You either buy a condo in an old mid-century low-rise apartment building conversion, a total fixer-upper, or a houseflip (and those aren't all bad ... wink wink). People like options, and this project will help fill in some of the gaps.

flip flops in february

yesterday was a glimpse of spring: perfect temperature, warm breeze, kids playing, ground thawing.


a roofer admiring his work: restoration doesn't stop on saturday


the could-be park next to Ketcham School. a wasted space that we need to open for public use.

Anacostia got a new mural last week. Inherently temporary, it is painted on plywood and nailed around the site of the Anacostia Gateway Government Center (future home of DDOT), it displays DC landmarks, sports team logos, and quotations:


true statement.


it's a bright welcome from the 11th Street Bridge


sure, all of the painted landmarks are either in NW or surround the mall, but they bring a touch of whimsy and cheer


the old signage is removed from the historic Anacostia Bank, reflecting AEDC's move to the gateway building


Big Chair Coffee - the teaser. their facade is also about to be majorly upgraded with a more historically-appropriate storefront.


future site (with this house to be completely restored) of the W Street Townhomes, below


the above house is the smaller one to the left


a certain character is lost when wood multi-paned windows are replaced with the simpler vinyl variety, and when little things like porch details are removed


a perfect day to paint a porch or two


the word on the street alley was that a dog was loose. high-tailing it outa there!


a quieter scene: three kids playing milk-crate basketball on a newly bricked and sanded alley.

photos by DG-rad, rendering courtesy of Four Points

Anacostia in 1921

The past is not a package one can lay away.

~Emily Dickinson

Click image to Enlarge

This aerial photo from June 26, 1921 shows Anacostia before much of the post-war redevelopment and unfortunate tear-downs in the neighborhood.

1. The U-Street cut-through, before poor planning eliminated the road (formerly called Jackson Street) and the houses that once graced it!

2. The once-human-friendly block that is now the decrepit grocery store and an unnecessarilly large parking lot. I wonder what that larger u-shaped set of buildings was...

3. The current home of a now-empty lot and a corrugated-metal warehouse / health care center thing. Any idea what those two larger (and probably very cool-looking) buildings were?

*Update: the large building on that site was the old Van Buren School, a neighborhood landmark.

4. The residential block - on both W Street and Pleasant Street - that is now the Union Temple baptist church and its ridiculous parking lot.

photo for graphic courtesy of the Washington Post his, via Proquest.

weekend pictures

I'm not sure how long this sign has been in the window, but I noticed for the first time that they are specifically advertising for a restaurant at Anacostia Gateway.



Good thing this house is being restored/significantly replaced during the W Street condo and townhouse project!



Salvation Army building update: bricks are going up, and they look really nice. I'm eager for the scaffolding to come down so we can get a real view of the positive impact on MLK. Right now it still has the look of a hulking mass of cement.







It is really too bad that these potentially beautiful houses (just a few doors down from Salvation Army) look like this. I have reported them a few times to the abandoned property people - hopefully their owners are at least getting ridiculously taxed until they fix them!

W Street Project

current view

Local development company Four Points, LLC has finally won approval from the DC Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) to move forward with their major project at W and 13th Streets, SE. It is incredibly exciting to see residential infill development finally come to Anacostia, a neighborhood that we all know has limitless potential for regeneration and growth.


future greatness


what it looks like now

I attended one of the HPRB meetings a couple months ago when Four Points was presenting, and at the time was glad to see that the board was being very strict about the design of this project. Because it is in the Anacostia Historic District, there are many guidelines that have to be followed to uphold and strengthen the current aesthetic.

The project will have a total of 24 buildings with 40 housing units. There will be 16 buildings with 32 condo units, a rebuilt single-family home that is a replica of the structure that currently sits on-site (see photo below), and 7 townhouses.


abandoned house to be rebuilt as single-family

Four Points will not be applying for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification, and none of the buildings will have roof-decks, despite the potential for really awesome views.


view of interior alley dwellings


site plan