D.C.'s Board of Zoning Adjustment last month approved a new affordable complex on East Capitol Street near the Benning Road metro. The project, called Carver Terrace, includes affordable apartments for seniors and new affordable rowhouses with no age restriction.
The project is being built on the site of the now-demolished George Washington Carver Apartments in Marshall Heights. The triangular site is bordered by East Capitol Street SE on the north, 49
th Street SE on the east and 47
th Street SE on the west.
The Carver 2000 Tenants' Association, the association representing the building across the street from the proposed project, is Chapman Development's partner on the project. Many Carver 2000 tenants lived across the street before the George Washington Carver Apartments were torn down.
At the February 10 hearing before the Board of Zoning Adjustment, Erin Carter, a 29-year resident of the now-demolished project, spoke in favor of Carver Terrace:
We as a board and members of the Tenant Association have been working diligently on this project for 15 years, and it seems like every time we think that we're making progress, something happens.
Something comes up, and sometimes I stop and I think. I said, is this really going to happen. Are we really going to get this senior building? Are we really going to get the housing that we worked so hard for?
A lot of times I go to the site where I used to live in the evening. I park where I used to park at. I get out of my car and look at where I used to live at. I said now wait a minute. I should be able to walk into a house. But all I see now is this empty lot.
We want to move into our homes. We want to see our homes because we're not getting any younger.
After Ms. Carter's testimony, despite lingering concerns from the District Department of Transportation, the board quickly approved the project (with the caveat that the developer will have to conduct a comprehensive traffic study and implement any traffic-demand management plans DDOT suggests).
Plans as designed by architects Grimm + Parker call for the three-story, 143,000-square-foot building to have a total of 178 affordable units, divided into 171 one-bedroom units and seven two-bedroom units. An underground parking garage in the basement level would have 120 spaces. The units will be set as affordable to those making 60 percent of the area median income.
Building amenities include a patio, courtyard garden, community area, media room and coffee bar.
The project also includes 21 three-story, for-sale affordable rowhouses.