ANC 5A held its monthly public meeting on June 24, 2026. Commissioners present: Keith Sellars (5A01); Timothy Thomas (5A02) – Secretary; Emily Singer Lucio (5A03); Jack Hermes (5A04) – Vice Chair, Parliamentarian; Derrick Holloway (5A06); Valeria Sosa Garnica (5A07) – Chair; Elaine Alston (5A08) – Secretary; Shelagh Bocoum (5A09) – Treasurer.
Commission Business
The ANC spent money on legal services related to work opposing the opening of a cannabis dispensary in the strip mall on South Dakota Avenue in North Michigan Park. That expenditure will be reimbursed by the Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (OANC).
The ANC continues to remediate required grant reporting for funds awarded to certain organizations in ANC 5A.
ANC DC 2050 Committee
The ANC submitted a comment letter regarding the draft Future Land Use Map (FLUM). See ANC 5A DC 2050 FLUM Memo to OP (June 13, 2026).
Taylor Street Bike Lane Project
Commissioner Jack Hermes (5A04) stated that ANC 5B Chair Edward Borrego is putting together a survey to get community input on the Taylor Street bike lane project.
801 Buchanan Street NE Townhome Project (5A03) (Leila Batties, Project Counsel, Holland & Knight)
Back in 2022, the Board of Zoning Adjustment approved development of 80 three-story townhomes in addition to the rebuilding of the Kennedy School at 801 Buchanan Street NE. The property is owned by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington. Concordia Group is the developer. The school has now been completed and the old school building is in the process of being razed. (The property owner recently submitted a BZA application to reinstate approval for the project because they were not able to start building the townhomes before expiration of the order.)
A few months ago, the developer came to the community because they want to request a modification to build four-story townhomes up to 45 feet instead. Counsel stated that this change will require submitting a planned unit development (PUD) application because they need flexibility for the extra five feet. The plan received pushback from nearby residents. Over the past few months, the developer has been working with Commissioner Lucio (5A03) and nearby residents on a resolution. They reached an agreement that only the homes in the last two rows of the development will have four stories, around 38 of the homes. They also plan to reduce the number of homes from 80 to 75. Ten percent of the homes will be below market rate (around nine homes). They also renegotiated the community benefits agreement.
At the time of the ANC meeting, they had not submitted a PUD application because they wanted to get ANC support first. They said they expect to file in the next couple of weeks.
The ANC voted unanimously to support the PUD application when it is filed.
Hawaii Avenue NE Project (5A06)
This condo conversion project to convert several apartment buildings on Hawaii Avenue NE and Webster Street NE has been hanging around for a while. The property has changed ownership since the plan was originally conceived and approved. The property was the subject of a lawsuit brought the DC Attorney General against one of the previous owners. Changes to the plan were made and approved under new property ownership.
Fast forward, Commissioner Derrick Holloway (5A06) asked the ANC to support the current property owner who says that he needs help with reaching an agreement with the existing residents to relocate in order to renovate the property. The owner said that there is a relocation plan in place, but that the residents are being encouraged by outside organizations to stay put unless they receive a $50,000 payout to agree to leave. He said he tried to negotiate with the residents and then they upped the amount to $100,000. He said that the properties are in significant disrepair, that there are many people are occupying the home without a lease, and that many are squatters. He said that because of the state of the property, he cannot obtain a business license for the property. He said inspections have been done and the inspections say that the properties need to be vacated. He said that the Department of Buildings (DOB) have done their own inspections and that their inspections concur with the need to vacate but he said DOB still refuses to tag the building to force the residents to vacate. He said many of the residents are not paying rent (unclear if they are holding rent in escrow).
Commissioner Holloway requested that the ANC write a letter to the director of DOB and Mayor Bowser’s office. Commissioner Thomas suggested also sending the letter to the DC OAG and to Councilmember Parker’s office. Commissioner Holloway said he wants the letter to go to DOB and the mayor. The ANC voted to agree to send a letter to DOB and Mayor Bowser. Unclear what the letter will say.
Trucks on Hawaii Avenue (5A06)
DDOT did not attend the meeting, so Commissioner Holloway (5A06) said he will follow up with DDOT to address this issue.
Art Place at Fort Totten PUD Time Extension (5A09) (Sean Cahill, representative for the Cafritz Foundation; Christopher Cohen, Project Counsel, Holland & Knight)
The Cafritz Foundation plans to seek an extension of time to file second-stage PUD applications for Blocks C & D for the Art Place at Fort Totten project.
See Cafritz Foundation Time Extension Presentation to ANC 5A (June 2026)
The PUD was approved in 2010, and Building A was completed in 2017. Block B is supposed to be an arts and entertainment hub. Block B was eventually approved to be constructed in three separate sequences. Aldi grocery store opened in Block B in December 2024. The next Block B sequence is the housing, which is supposed to be 294 apartments, 30 of which will be artist studio/maker spaces. They are still seeking financing for the housing component. Mr. Cahill said that a dog run, which is one of the proffered community benefits, will deliver with the housing in the second sequence.
Social Justice Public Charter School is finishing up construction for its permanent home in the last remaining warehouse at 3rd & Kennedy NE. Tz’ikin Cafe has opened a pop-up coffee shop in the space formerly occupied by the pharmacy in Building A at 475 Ingraham St NE. Mr. Cahill said that Menomale is still planning to open in Building A. He said that the Foundation is in talks with Miskiri Hospitality to open a restaurant in Building A as well. He said that the Foundation is also in talks with national retailers but that he could not discuss them because they have signed NDAs.
They are seeking a time extension in order to secure financing for the remainder of the project. They are requesting a two-year extension. They will need two waivers for this request, one to file a third time extension request (the regulations state that a party can have up to two extensions) and another to request a two-year extension (the regulations state that subsequent extensions are limited to one year).
They are eligible to file the time extension request starting July 1, 2026.
Current deadlines to file second-stage PUD application:
- December 31, 2026 (for eitherBlock C or D)
- December 31, 2030 (for remaining block)
Proposed deadlines to file second-stage PUD application:
- December 31, 2028 (for eitherBlock C or D)
- December 31, 2032 (for remaining block)
Given that the Foundation is seeking two waivers for this time extension, it seems seems warranted for the ANC to submit a formal response to the extension request to establish shared expectations on things like the dog run (unclear why it needs to be delayed years along with the rest of the project), the installation of roughly 10 EV charging stations which are supposed to be installed in the garage that has already been constructed for Block B, proactively maintaining the vacant lot on South Dakota & Kennedy, and proactively communicating with the community (and not in a condescending manner). If the time extension is filed over the summer, then the ANC will likely have to call a special meeting to address the request because they will have 30 days to submit a response.
Ward 5 Council Report (Andrianna Lovelace, Constituent Services Coordinator to Councilmember Zachary Parker)
Councilmember Parker held his regular public safety call on June 24, 2026. (The slides and recording are now available).
DPR held a Ward 5 capital projects update meeting on June 4. Additional funding for the park space at South Dakota Avenue & Riggs Road NE will be available in August 2026.
On June 10, Councilmember Parker sent a letter to UDC President Maurice Edington, PhD, regarding plans for the Lamond-Riggs campus.
The Parks Main Street Jazz Series continued on June 25.
Commissioner Elaine Alston (5A08) said there is an issue with people smoking marijuana near North Michigan Park Recreation Center. The site director will be alerted.
Ward 5 Mayor Office Report (Lacy Davis, Ward 5 MOCR)
The Caribbean American Heritage concert was held June 26 at Sycamore & Oak.
The BBQ Battle was held downtown on June 28.
Mayor Bowser invited residents to join her at annual July 4th parades in Capitol Hill and in Palisades.
Commissioner Lucio (5A03) mentioned something about a condemned building in her SMD.
Commissioner Sellars (5A01) raised the issue of gravel in the bike lane on Riggs Road NE. The gravel has been there since the bike lane was constructed. He also raised the issue of the vacant old union building on 1st Place NE.
Commissioner Alston (5A08) stated that she wants the bikeshare station on Decatur Street NE next to Faith United Church removed.
A resident asked for assistance with getting DC Water to clean the storm drain on Delafield by the McDongald’s because it overflows with each heavy rain.
Commissioner Jack Hermes (5A04) said that the community has not been getting any updates about the marijuana dispensary planned for the strip mall on South Dakota Avenue in North Michigan Park. Ms. Lovelace said that she will get Councilmember Parker to get an update from ABCA.
Commissioner Updates
Commissioner Sellars (5A01) stated that he had a good SMD meeting with Shayna Scott, National Park Service Deputy Superintendent for Rock Creek Park. DDOT Ward 5 liaison Kisha Anderson was supposed to attend the SMD meeting as well but did not make it. She plans to attend an ANC 5A01 SMD meeting planned for July 15. Commissioner Sellars also said he had a walkthrough with DPW along Eastern Avenue NE to address abandoned cars.
Commissioner Timothy Thomas (5A02) stated that Urban Atlantic is in the process of pulling permits for the redevelopment of the Boys Town campus. Sounded like he said something about how there is an issue with getting title but did not quite understand. He said they hope to break ground soon.
Commissioner Thomas also stated that the Dollar Tree store cleaned up its property a bit but that conditions reverted back quickly enough with overflowing trash again. He said the nail shop will be investigated by the Department of Health because they allegedly do not have anywhere to dispose of their trash. (Kind of hard to understand what he was saying).
Chair Sosa Garnica (5A07) stated that the deadline to submit feedback to DDOT on the all-way stop at Fort Totten Drive & Hamilton Street NE was June 29.
The ANC is now on summer break. The ANC will not meet again until September unless a special meeting is called.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 