Here is a new year roundup with the status of a few neighborhood development projects to the best of my knowledge.
Onelife Fitness is open at 5198 South Dakota Avenue NE as of today January 10, 2022. I am excited both to have a pretty nice gym in walking distance and to finally have an anchor in place for the first phase of Art Place at Fort Totten (called the Modern at Art Place) that was completed in fall 2017 (hooray!).
Pictures of the gym below
As for the second phase (called the FEZ at Art Place), at a public hearing on December 13, 2021, the DC Zoning Commission voted (5-0-0) to approve the developer’s application for a modification of significance (this was filed after Meow Wolf dropped out of the project). Just waiting for the official order to come down and then we can expect to see construction activity begin for the second phase. The second phase will consist of a food hall, Aldi grocery store, Explore! Children’s Museum, immersive arts space and performance venue, additional retail, 294 residential units (with 30 reserved below market-rate for artists and 3 additional units reserved below market rate for other individuals), and 494 vehicle parking spaces. The developer is also extending 3rd Street NE in front of the Aventine apartment building.
2. Chick-fil-A
Construction continues for a Chick-fil-A on the corner of 3rd Street and Riggs Road NE. Last update we received on this was that the restaurant will open sometime in March 2022. There has been talk about having a job fair. Stay tuned.
Anyone passing by the corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE can see the townhomes at Riggs Park Place under construction. The 90 townhomes make up the first phase of the project. Just a few homes remain to be sold, and the first move-ins should be coming this spring. The second phase will consist of a multifamily building with approximately 90 rental units reserved as affordable housing for seniors and a few units of permanent supportive housing, along with about 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The second phase is not expected to get started until 2023. See this December 2021 update from EYA.
DC Public Library officials have been keeping us up to date with periodic construction reports on the rebuilding of the Lamond-Riggs Library. The new library should be opening sometime in spring 2022. The interim library is open at 395 Ingraham Street NE.
I have heard rumblings that some residents want to name the rebuilt library after a longtime resident who passed away in 2018. Interesting fact: The original library was designed by African-American architects who were brothers, Charles Bryant and Robert Bryant. Their firm Bryant and Bryant lives on in successor firm Bryant Mitchell. It is my understanding that Robert Bryant and his wife Shirley Bryant lived in Riggs Park on 4th Street NE (and Mrs. Bryant still lives there today).
From DC Public Library:
Local architects Bryant and Bryant designed the current Lamond-Riggs Library in 1979. The $2M library opened in 1983. Both Bryant brothers, Charles and Robert are now deceased and their legacy lives on through Charles Bryant II, also an architect.
If the library is going to be named after anyone (and I have my thoughts about naming buildings after people), how cool would it be to be named after these two historical figures who are responsible for the original library as well as a number of other buildings around the city (see Washington Post obituary and The American Institute of Architects obituary of Charles Bryant).
The extension of the MBT from Brookland to Fort Totten is almost complete. View the project website at https://www.metbranchtrail-forttotten.com. The last little (and most complicated) bit that will curve around the green line tunnel at Fort Totten Metro still needs to be done.
In late 2021, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) presented on the full design for the next phase, the Fort Totten to Takoma extension. The project website for this phase is https://metbranchtrail.com/met-branch-trail-fort-totten-to-takoma. A traffic signal was installed at 1st Street and Riggs Road NE just before the end of the year, but it is not clear if it is actually operational, as it remains a blinking red. (Note: The light became active on January 14, 2022). This traffic signal was expedited ahead of the rest of the Fort Totten to Takoma extension. A bike signal will be added later.
DDOT has also started design of the final piece of the MBT from Blair Road to Piney Branch Road. View the project website at https://metbranchtrail.com/blair-rd-to-piney-branch.
6. 6101 Sligo Mill Road NE
We covered this project in these posts. The plan was for the developer to tear down the existing vacant building and construct a new one with 50 rental units. The developer started holding community meetings, and then DC’s Office of Planning (OP) said not so fast. Apparently, OP does not want the building torn down and has asked the developer to see about preserving at least some of the building (it is an attractive old building). The developer previously stated it has taken so long for this building to be developed into housing because its layout is not conducive to housing. In response to OP’s concerns though, the developer is reworking its plan to see if they can preserve some of the building. For right now, things are in a holding pattern.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 