No sooner had the dust settled in Dupont Circle and U Street from the debate over the Utopia project at 14th and U, or the furor over the Room and Board purchase of 14th and T, than controversy erupted on the next block. Earlier this year, JBG acquired the former Whitman-Walker Clinic at 14th and S, along with the adjacent, non-historic buildings making up that block of 14th. They plan a seven-story building with 120-130 apartments above ground-floor retail:

The historic Whitman-Walker building is at the left, which will stay and become the residential entrance to the entire building. The project is separated from the townhouses on S and Swann by an alley, which runs straight from S to Swann and joins another alley lengthwise through the block. The developers plan to locate the loading docks and underground parking entrance in the alley, building 90 parking spaces instead of the required 105.

In addition to the parking variance (technically a “special exception”), the developers are seeking three others: to exceed the lot occupancy by three percent (78% instead of 75%), to slightly exceed the setback requirements from the ARTS overlay in that area, and to get an exemption from the ARTS overlay limit of 25% restaurants by linear feet.

Similarly to in Cleveland Park, the ARTS overlay area (which includes most of the commercial areas of 14th and U Streets, Florida and 7th, and P Street in Logan Circle) limits restaurants to 25% of the linear feet. With all the restaurants on U Street, that number is up to 24%, meaning this building couldn’t lease to new restaurants.

At last night’s Dupont Circle ANC meeting, several residents spoke against the project. Most talked about the historic two-story townhouses on S Street. According to resident Tom Coumaris, the houses were built in 1804 1864, well before the rest of the neighborhood, from old trusses from the 11th Street bridge. The trusses were too small to reach across a whole house, forcing the builders to construct large joists in the middle. Resident Jim Bogden explained how many of them lack cement between the bricks, with only lime and sand sealing the cracks.

Of course, we don’t want the construction to make any houses fall down, and the builders better take adequate care. But at the same time, this isn’t a persuasive argument to block the project, despite the wishes of many of the residents who spoke. Coumaris disputed the wisdom of putting parking and loading in the rear, given the existing curb cut on 14th and the historic lack of traffic in that alley. This illustrates the danger of making an exception for one unique alley: everyone will argue that they are unique, and should therefore push all garage traffic onto the main street, where the cars will conflict with other pedestrians, instead of their alley.

But the Dupont Circle ANC didn’t agree this time. Chairman Ramon Estrada introduced a resolution to approve all of the requests except the restaurant issue. Some other Commissioners felt that, while they supported the variances, they were unhappy that the developers waited so long to come to the community. The Utopia project team had attended almost a year’s worth of ANC and community meetings before going to the BZA. Because of this, the ANC voted to oppose all four variances (and special exceptions).

This project will also go before HPRB in December. The Dupont Conservancy voted to oppose the design for aesthetic reasons. They felt (and I agreed) that it has too much glass in front, which doesn’t relate well to the historic building. Something still modern but with more brick would fit better with the surroundings.

I hope HPRB makes some design changes to yield a more attractive building. But I also hope they don’t start “sculpting” down the mass of the bulding. It already pulls back in the rear at the higher floors, to avoid looming over the smaller nearby houses. That’s appropriate. But a seven-story mixed-use building at 14th and S will be a good addition to the neighborhood, and the rear loading and parking entrance the right design.

Update: The following night, CSNA (the neighborhood association for the U Street area) raised similar objections to the glass and the short advance notice.