Monday, March 31, 2008

Work @1220 H

IMG_5197
After years of life as decrepit vacant 1220 is finally going to bounce back. A crew has recently been at work on the location, and they are not only framing the inside, but building out the back in a big way.
IMG_5196

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw this recently. Can anyone shed any light on what's happening there?

Drew Ronneberg said...

From what I can tell the construction exceeds what is permitted as a matter-of-right for lot occupancy, and no special exceptions or variances have been granted for the property.

If someone is interested in retrieving the plans from DCRA, you will probably find that what is being built does not match what is on the plans.

ANC 6A's ED&Z committee would like to recruit new members who can help the rest of the ANC follow up on issues like this. If you are interested, please email me.

Drew Ronneberg

Alan Page said...

I believe the word on the street is that it will be an African restaurant...I have no info on what region/nation from which the cuisine will originate though...

inked said...

Soul Searcher, I too thought I had heard pan-African restaurant, but then I heard about a pan-African restaurant going in at a different location [reliable source on this one] so I thought I had confused the buildings.

Anonymous said...

Drew, unless I'm overlooking something, there's no lot occupancy cap for a commercial use, even in the H St Overlay.

I have a vague recollection of seeing a special exception app for a property in this area. (As I recall, the relief was fairly technical -- FAR and the like.) Can't recall whether it was this specific parcel or not.

Drew Ronneberg said...

Eck,

They have a maximum lot occupancy of 70%. Underlying zoning permits 60% in a C-2-A (Section 772.1), but the H Street Overlay permits up to 70%. They are over that.

Drew Ronneberg

Anonymous said...

Drew, I think we're talking past each other: you're referring to the residential use limits on lot occupancy, while I have in mind (and expressly mentioned) commercial uses, which have no corresponding limit.

In short, we can't say whether this is over matter-of-right or not without knowing what use is planned.