The Bike Estate – EDENS project

Rendering of EDENS project, which span 4th Street NE in Union Market

The Bike Estate scours local blogs and government websites for information about bike facilities in new, recently opened, or planned residential or commercial buildings. The following is recently-filed development applications with the D.C. Zoning Commission.

UrbanTurf reports that the EDENS project, an expansive development in Union Market and pictured above, will offer public access to it rooftop and a total of 222 bicycle parking spaces.

According to the plan documents, the first level of the garage will include a secure bicycle storage room capable of accommodating 185 spaces. Residents will have separate bicycle storage from office and retail users, and all bicycle parking is located conveniently at the entrance of the top level of the garage.

Plans for garage bike parking (EDENS)

The plans call for an additional approximately 37 short-term bicycle parking spaces located in public areas around the property. Showers and lockers will be provided for cyclists who commute to the project for work.

The building will include approximately 360 units, retail, and up to 250 vehicle parking spaces. The highlight of the project includes public access to a 28,800 sq feet of space with a quarter-mile walking and jogging path and multi-use recreational space that can be used for events.

Plan for roof top recreational area (EDENS)

Around the site, a pocket park will be built and contain fixed and movable site furnishings, dining areas, planters and other streetscape elements to hold sidewalk events and the daily use for residents, visitors, and office workers. On Street bicycle parking will also be available on or near sidewalks surrounding the site.

The Bike Estate – Providence Place

Rendering of the proposed Providence Place development

The Bike Estate scours local blogs and government websites for information about bike facilities in new, recently opened, or planned residential or commercial buildings. The following is recently-filed development applications with the D.C. Zoning Commission.

Progressive National Baptist Convention is the entity behind a unique and innovative residential development in an area of the District that typically is excluded from such change. Providence Place will be a five-story 100-unit building with one to four-bedroom units for residents making 60 percent of the area median income — or $65,520. Unique for construction in this area, the property will contain elements like bicycle parking and additional pedestrian amenities that help create links to the community. The property is currently an 18-space parking lot.

Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2018 with an anticipated completed date of March 2020.

Image: Providence Place

The apartment will contain secure indoor bicycle parking, as well as short-term exterior bicycle parking amenities to accommodate and encourage bicycle use. Adjacent to the Marvin Gaye Trail and Watts Branch Creek, the building will have to a partially below-grade parking facility with 34 long-term spaced dedicated to bikes and 48 vehicle parking spaces and associated loading facilities. Six (6) short-term bicycle parking spaces in public space, which meets or exceeds the amount of parking required by District code.

Areas of interest nearby.
Image – Progressive National Baptist Convention

Thirty-five of the units will be replacement units for the Lincoln Heights and Richardson Dwellings properties located immediately north of the site. The building will be comprised of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and 4-bedroom units. Eight of the nine 3-bedroom units and all of the 4-bedroom units will be replacement units.

Rendering of Providence Place

The project includes a significant amount of public space improvements, including shade
trees and ground plane planting, decorative planters for seasonal display, street lights, and will be partially powered by solar panels. The All adjacent curb ramps and crosswalks will be improved to current DDOT accessibility standards if they do not currently comply.

Additional amenity spaces include primary and secondary residential lobbies, a business and fitness center, and a community room that will be made available to building residents and the broader community. The roof terrace on the lower northernmost roof level will made available to all of the building residents, and will provide spectacular views of the District’s skyline.

The Bike Estate – Southern Hills Apartment Redevelopment Includes Bikes in its Plan

Artist conceptual drawing of a redeveloped Southern Hill Apartments.
Image: Southern Hill Apartments

The Board of Zoning Adjustment has scheduled a hearing September 3, 2018 for the a special exemption to dramatically redevelop over 9 acres of the Southern Hills Apartments. As part of this redevelopment, the apartment complex plans to add a total 98 bike parking spaces and other amenities that will hopefully encourage bicycling in an area that has few secure bike parking options.

Current aerial view of Southern Hills Apartments and the adjacent Oxon Run park and amenities.
Image: Google

In a community that has few bike options, the Southern Hills Apartment Redevelopment plan includes an investment in bike infrastructure. Located less than a block from Oxon Run, which has a recently rebuilt trail and other amenities, the Southern Hills Apartments are located in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Ward 8.

The $90 million project will demolish the existing seven-building apartment complex and construct 42 town homes, five multifamily buildings with a total of 213 units, and an approximately 25,000-square foot community service center which will include a learning center, job training, child daycare, and arts and music centers, as well as space for community-based start-ups, recreation, and community meetings. The resulting redevelopment will serve households earning an average of 15 percent of the Area Median Income.

While the project will add additional vehicular parking, increasing from 120 to 147 spaces, the applicant states that the increase is a requirement of zoning regulations and will only slightly increase vehicle trips. Pedestrian connectivity through the site will be improved, including an ADA-accessible route between 3rd Street and 4th Street SE that does not currently exist.

The Community Service Center contains showers and secure bike parking
Image: Southern Hill Apartments

According to Southern Hills applicant statement, the project include new 98 short and long-term parking for residents and visitors. Long-term bicycle parking will be located on the ground floor of each apartment building and in the basement of the community center. The project will create at least 82 long-term bicycle parking spaces, including 72 secure, long-term residential spaces and 10 long-term community center spaces. Bicycle storage for the townhouse units is expected to be accommodated within each individual home. The project will at minimum meet these requirements and the community center will also provide shower facilities and lockers for employees.

The project will also add eight short-term bicycle racks that will accommodate 16 bicycles. These short-term spaces will include inverted U-racks placed in high visibility areas along the perimeter of the site. is willing to work with the District Department of Transportation in selecting locations for the racks in public space.

The Southern Hills developers worked collaboratively with the Southern Hills Tenant Association over a 3-year period. The Tenant Association is made up of existing apartment residents achieve community and design elements. The result is the replacement of all apartment units, a better use of green space, a larger number of family units, and reorienting units and overall density to directly face the street.

The Bike Estate – 1900 Half Street SW Adds Vehicle Parking but Still Provides an Adequete Number of Bike Amenities

Rendering of changes to 1900 Half SW and adjacent bicycle and pedestrian trails
(Douglas Development Corporation)

The Bike Estate scours local blogs and government websites for information about bike facilities in new, recently opened, or planned residential or commercial buildings. The following is recently-filed development applications with the D.C. Zoning Commission.

According to UrbanTurf, Douglas Development’s Buzzard Point Project will add additional residential units and parking spaces to its Southwest Waterfront project at 1900 Half Street SW.

The application to the D.C. Zoning Commission requests an increase in the number of vehicle parking spaces from 246 to 280 as a result of an increase in the number of certain amenities for some residences. They also propose to increase the total number of affordable housing units from 10 to 11.

Regarding bicycling amenities, the plan includes 217 bike parking spaces, with 159 residential interior and 22 residential exterior space; and 29 retail interior and 7 spaces retail exterior spaces. The current riverwalk design, which includes accessible green space, bicycle and pedestrian paths remain unchanged.

The architectural plan shows most of the secure bike parking is located on the ground level, near many of the project’s amenities. Also shown in a bike repair station.

Below are renderings of the 10 foot bike and pedestrian trails. Plans suggest that that bike trail would connect with the current Anacostia Riverwalk trail and the new protected bike lane that runs next to the D.C. United Soccer stadium.