A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Post: Burnham Place (Union Station)
Today's Post features a story that mentions the Akridge air rights deal for "Burnham Place" (over the tracks) at Union Station.
4 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I heard this on the radio this morning and my first thought was that I hope they are going to demolish the H St bridge over the tracks. Doubt it though given the work that's just being completed on the Union Station parking garage.
They are never going to take down that bridge. But with buildings on either side of it across its whole length it will not appear to be as great a barrier as currently. If they could incorporate a pedestrian tunnel somewhere into the design of this project that would also help.
Washington Business Journal has an article too. "Akridge plans to build offices, a retail center including a medium-sized box store, residential towers and a hotel. In addition, the developer will work on public improvements such as the intermodal transportation at Union Station." They also say 18 months for "entitlement process," then a year for design, and then 3 years for the platform. That's 6 months longer than the Post said. See http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/09/25/daily70.html
The real problem with that bridge is that it is ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Why can't we get some nice bronze buffalo or stone pillars? How about some greenery to soften it? I can think of a dozen design changes that would make it more welcoming to pedestrians.
Right now, its bare bleakness is incredibly off-putting.
4 comments:
I heard this on the radio this morning and my first thought was that I hope they are going to demolish the H St bridge over the tracks. Doubt it though given the work that's just being completed on the Union Station parking garage.
They are never going to take down that bridge. But with buildings on either side of it across its whole length it will not appear to be as great a barrier as currently. If they could incorporate a pedestrian tunnel somewhere into the design of this project that would also help.
Washington Business Journal has an article too. "Akridge plans to build offices, a retail center including a medium-sized box store, residential towers and a hotel. In addition, the developer will work on public improvements such as the intermodal transportation at Union Station." They also say 18 months for "entitlement process," then a year for design, and then 3 years for the platform. That's 6 months longer than the Post said. See http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/09/25/daily70.html
The real problem with that bridge is that it is ugly. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Why can't we get some nice bronze buffalo or stone pillars? How about some greenery to soften it? I can think of a dozen design changes that would make it more welcoming to pedestrians.
Right now, its bare bleakness is incredibly off-putting.
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