DC wants to see storefront retail on this Eckington block. It’ll get a self-storage facility instead.

The shrinking size of residences in Washington, DC is boosting demand for more self-storage facilities in the city limits. That's at least what one developer wants residents of Eckington and NoMa to believe when it comes to a new storage facility that it plans to build in their neighborhood.

Foulger-Pratt plans to build a 144,000 square foot self-storage facility at 72 Florida Avenue NE, a plot that stretches from Florida Avenue to nearly Q Street next to the Sirius XM building. Due to the odd size of the lot, it claims that the proposal is the best use for the land in the rapidly developing, sought-after Eckington and NoMa neighborhoods.

In its application to the DC Office of Planning, the developer argues that the storage facility “contributes” to city and neighborhood goals by creating a new “storefront” establishment on a block where multiple District plans and studies call for a more pedestrian-oriented and mixed-use environment.

Foulger-Pratt adds that the project “supports” the further redevelopment of the area, which includes both the nearby Eckington Yards and Eckington Park projects, by creating space for new residents to store their stuff.

What does DC want?

The District government has set out its vision for this corner of Eckington and NoMa multiple times in recent years. The block of Florida Avenue in question is designated a Main Street mixed use corridor, which is defined as one with older commercial storefronts, under the city's comprehensive plan.

The comp plan encourages preserving and enhancing the street level of bulidings on Main Street mixed use corridors, emphasizing improvements to the pedestrian environment when redevelopment occurs. Foulger-Pratt cites this in their application, arguing that by shrinking the curb cuts at 72 Florida Avenue NE and building a pedestrian-friendly storefront, their plan keeps with the Main Street mixed use guidelines.

But DC goes further in defining what it wants in this location. In the Mid-City section of the comp plan, which includes the block in question, the city calls for upgrading and restoring vacant and disused sites around the intersections of North Capitol Street, Florida Avenue NE and New York Avenue NE with “active” uses that keep with the area's status as a “commercial center for the surrounding Bloomingdale, Eckington, and Truxton Circle neighborhoods.”

The developer's proposal does little to put an active use on the site. Margaret Kimball, a representative of Foulger-Pratt, assured nearby residents at an Eckington Civic Association (ECA) meeting in May that the project would create little day-to-day traffic due to the long-term nature of self storage.

What's more, the Ward 5 Industrial Land Transformation Study spearheaded by Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie endorses self-storage facilities as a use for disused industrial land - the site in question is zoned for light industrial - but recommends that the ground floors of such buildings be used for as commercial storefronts or maker economy businesses that make goods on site.

“Self-storage facilities would be an appropriate use for the upper floors of a multi-story facility,” according to the report that was published in 2014. But Foulger-Pratt's plans include only parking and loading on the ground floor of its proposed storage facility.

Florida Avenue needs improvement

There is no doubt that streetscape improvements for pedestrians are needed on the block of Florida Avenue NE from New York Avenue to North Capitol Street. On the north side of the street, pedestrians first walk along the fence to a FedEx shipping facility and then past the barren brick wall of the Sirius XM building before reaching the site of the proposed storage facility.

The streetscape improves slightly after the storage facility site, with the under construction Lexicon development, which includes ground floor retail fronting Florida Avenue, followed by a number of rowhouses that extend almost to North Capitol Street.

Any additional retail or street-facing businesses would help activate this section of Florida Avenue NE, which is slated for significant improvement in the coming years. The DC Department of Transportation is evaluating alternatives for a redesign of “Dave Thomas Circle” where Florida Avenue and New York Avenue meet, two of which include razing the Wendy's restaurant on the south side of the street and replacing it with new green space.

Currently, the site of Foulger-Pratt's proposed storage facility is home to the leasing office for the Lexicon.

The self-storage facility is a prime opportunity to create new streetfront retail, or even just keep with the maker economy goals for the area and provide a new retail and workspace for a small business.

Foulger-Pratt can build what it wants

The developer can build the storage facility as proposed with little city or neighborhood input. The facility fits within the zoning rules and height limit of the site, allowing Foulger-Pratt to go forward with it as a “matter of right.”

This includes creating an entrance to the storage building off of First Street NE at Q Street that has the potential to increase traffic on what are currently quiet neighborhood streets. Nearby residents expressed concern with the new entrance off First Street NE, which renderings show is where the majority of parking and loading docks are located, at the May ECA meeting. They asked the developer to make Florida Avenue the primary entrance to the property.

Acknowledging the by-right nature of the project, Eckington residents have been encouraged on neighborhood message boards to submit comments to the Office of Planning that urge Foulger-Pratt to “explore ways for the first few floors of their new development to better serve our neighborhood,” including coffee shops, coworking spaces or other possible uses.

Many residents on these message boards do not want a new self-storage facility to begin with, citing the existing CubeSmart facility two blocks away at the corner of Eckington Place NE and R Street NE.

The Office of Planning, which closed the public comments period on August 21, says that it is working with the developer to make the project “as compatible with the area as possible.”