Posts about Development
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A judge blocked construction on Adams Morgan’s SunTrust Plaza, for now
A DC judge temporarily blocked a developer from moving forward with plans to erect a 54-unit condo building on the SunTrust Bank plaza in Adams Morgan. On Friday, DC Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman issued a preliminary injunction that blocks developer PN Hoffman from beginning construction on the project, located at the corner of 18th Street and Columbia Road. Keep reading…
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Suburban neighborhoods are still struggling after the Great Recession. Here’s how we can fix that
Nearly a decade ago, the Great Recession wiped out house values across the region. Today, booming close-in, urban areas have basically recovered. But many further-out, suburban communities are still struggling. Here’s one example from eastern Montgomery County. Keep reading…
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A town center in White Oak may finally take shape
Eastern Montgomery County has long waited for the jobs and economic opportunities other parts of this affluent county take for granted. Now, a new town center and research park might finally get off the ground. Keep reading…
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Land use policy can push for an inclusive city. Ours does not.
DC’s Comprehensive Plan is a land use and policy document that is supposed to be a guide for inclusive growth in the coming decades. Unfortunately, it has too many parts that, in the hands of exclusionary and anti-development neighbors, are the means to push all of DC’s growth and change onto other, typically poorer, parts of the city. Keep reading…
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DC’s historic preservation board approves a building on 16th Street without saying “take off a floor”
“Just take off a floor” was a far too common refrain from DC's Historic Preservation Review Board in recent years. For a proposed condo building on 16th Street NW near Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, the board decided a shorter building would actually be less historically compatible. Keep reading…
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Gentrification in DC is a west-of-the-park issue, too
Let’s not forget a fundamental cause of gentrification: powerful people who use their privilege to prevent the place they live from changing, pushing the pressures of growth onto the less wealthy and less empowered. Keep reading…
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Alexandria has lost 90% of its affordable homes since 2000
Alexandria has 16,000 fewer homes that are affordable on the free market than it did 17 years ago, according to a recent report. That’s a loss of over 90% of what was available in 2000, and enough to house the entire population of Falls Church, and then some. Keep reading…
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DC’s Comprehensive Plan needs to treat displacement as a serious problem
A growing Washington, DC is a good thing, but that growth done poorly can lead to painful changes for lower-income people who have made the city their home through boom and bust. The Comprehensive Plan could manage growth in a way that doesn't pit the needs of our burgeoning population and the needs of more vulnerable residents against one another. Keep reading…
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Will parking and density concerns block affordable housing at the Hebrew Home?
The former Hebrew Home, which has been vacant for years, has seen multiple attempted redevelopments. Eight proposals are now on the table. Will some all-too-familiar concerns from a few vocal neighbors might get in the way? Keep reading…
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Wealthy residents blame wealthy residents for housing woes… but the real culprits weren’t options
Whoever at the Washington Post wrote this headline should get a pat on the back: “Wealthy DC residents blame wealthy DC residents for city’s spiking housing costs, poll finds.” It's a grabby headline for a fascinating poll, but the lead question doesn't really tell us much, because it didn't give people the important choices. Keep reading…