New House on W Street

Another new house is sprouting up on the 1500 block of W Street, just a half block up from the Frederick Douglass estate. This house also went through the Historic Anacostia Design Review Committee, so it'll be interesting to see how the exterior finishes turn out.



We (back when I was still living in the neighborhood and co-chair of the committee) suggested that the builder - who also built the new white houses on 14th Street last summer - add more windows the the back of the house, but that didn't happen.



Also, the house extends to the property line on both sides, which is why there are no windows there.



It's a unique block, because only one side of the street (the side the house is on) is within the historic district. Just across the street are some pretty bombed out looking apartments and a vinyl behemoth at one end. And hey, it's just about three blocks up from Uniontown Bar & Grill!

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a slightly outdated aerial rendering - Click to Enlarge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.

Good Thing: Another New House

I don't think Martha has picked up this piece of news just yet, but ... new houses in Anacostia? It's A Good Thing. (that is, unless the builder does a slapped-together job, then it's a bad thing)



District Properties has been snatching up vacant parcels in the neighborhood over the past couple years and has been turning out some good additions to the hood. Their interest came at about the same time as the creation of the Historic Anacostia Design Review Committee, so the houses have been required to meet a more stringent building code than in years past.



This house is on 14th Street just across from the über-lovely Frederick Douglass estate. To it's right is another house done by the same company, although it's original facade was preserved during the process.

[editor / design review co-chair's note: clearly both of these houses are completely white. blah. their next house on W Street will have some color.]

Interested in checking it out? It's for sale for $265,000.

New House on 14th

This new house on 14th Street is making a lot of progress. Built by the same company as the next door neighbor, it also has wood clapboard on the front and should fit into the neighborhood quite nicely.







This house is nice because it fronts the Frederick Douglass house and lawns, is on a decent-sized lot, and is a little wider than many of the older homes in the neighborhood.