The JBG Cos. has already made an indelible mark on the U Street corridor, but that mark is about to get much, much bigger.
The Chevy Chase-based developer has filed applications to raze roughly half of the 1300 block of U Street, across from The Ellington, to clear the way for its planned eight-story mixed-use project. Five buildings will be demolished totaling roughly 19,000 square feet of space — 1306, 1310, 1314, 1318 and 1322 U St. NW.
The new building, approved by the Zoning Commission last June as part of a planned-unit development, will feature 165 apartments and ground floor retail, including a new space for the Rite Aid pharmacy currently located at 1306 U. The Rite Aid is still open while much of the rest of the block has been cleared out.
JBG officials say they expect to start the two-year construction in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The community benefits package — a required part of any PUD — is extensive, providing $150,000 to improve the Harrison Recreation Center, $150,000 to upgrade the Garrison Elementary School field, $150,000 to seed a U Street Business Improvement District, $15,000 to install a “resilient play surface” at Westminster playground, $10,000 to sponsor a Camp Barker Memorial Plaque and $125,000 to mitigate traffic impacts.
The latter will include $55,000 to install a Capital Bikeshare station at Garrison Elementary, $30,000 to install 60 custom bike racks on north-south streets off of U, $30,000 to add 20 new street lights and $10,000 to enhance crosswalk markings.
JBG’s place on the U Street corridor is unmistakable, from its Trader Joe’s-anchored Louis at 14th, to The District at 14th and S, the ongoing Atlantic Plumbing redevelopment at Eighth and V, and its two new mixed-use buildings at Eighth Street NW and Florida Avenue NW.
