Market Madness: Kettler Pitches Massive Union Market-Area Development
If there’s a hotter neighborhood for development in D.C. than Union Market, we’re hard pressed to name it.
Nov. 2 was a big day for the neighborhood, as two developers pitched a pair of projects that will bring more than 1,300 residential units, a hotel, office and gobs of new retail to parcels north and south of Florida Avenue Northeast.
McLeanbased Kettler Inc. submitted plans with the Zoning Commission to redevelop a nearly 5acre site south of New York Avenue, north of Fourth Street and on either side of Morse Street NE. Located less than two blocks west of Union Market, the Kettler project will feature four new buildings totaling up to 975 multifamily units, 67,215 square feet of ground floor retail and two Office towers totaling 303,395 square feet.
FoulgerPratt Development LLC, with partners Juster Properties and Clear Rock Properties, followed Kettler with its proposal to redevelop 301331 N St. NE, south of Florida Avenue NE in NoMa, with 370 residential units, 175 hotel rooms, office space and ground-floor retail.
The two sites are less than a quarter mile from each other.
According to a statement submitted with the Kettler rezoning application, the project will “significantly improve the area” by replacing “outdated” industrial uses on the site with buildings that feature “exceptional design” and active uses that “increase the vitality of the neighborhood.”
The site includes multiple warehouse properties, only one of which is owned by Kettler. Douglas Development, owner of 350 Morse St. NE, and the multiple owners of 300 Morse have all authorized Kettler to advance its development plan. Douglas acquired 350 Morse in June 2013 for $14.5 million.
Kettler’s Market Terminal, per the application, will include two new public parks. The first, at the southwest corner of the property, will feature a community gathering area with terraced public gardens, park space, a water feature, and a retail anchored pedestrian plaza linking Market Terminal with the burgeoning Union Market neighborhood. The second public park, part of the project’s second phase, will provide a passive green space to the north of the property, and will act as a buffer between Market Terminal and New York Avenue.
The “proposal to replace the existing one story wholesale buildings with new mixed-use, mixed income buildings constitutes a significant urban design benefit,” the application states. “This is particularly significant given the Subject Property’s location in the Florida Avenue Market district and its proximity to numerous new and exciting development projects.”
The 1.5acre FoulgerPratt site is home to a single-story industrial supply retail store, a three-story self-storage building and surface parking lots. The project, per the application, will “activate a prominent block,” preserve and repurpose a historic building, and replace an “underutilized automobile oriented retail site and storage facility with new high-quality construction and design.”
The historic building in question — historic for its “unique style and representation of the industrial past of the neighborhood — is the self-storage facility, which was constructed in 1931 for National Capital Press. FoulgerPratt
will apply to designate the building as a landmark and repurpose it as ground floor retail and two floors of office.
The overall project will consist of four buildings, including the self-storage facility. The easternmost building, at 331 N St. NE, will be an 11 story, U-shaped residential tower with 275 units and ground floor retail. At the southwest corner of the site, FoulgerPratt proposes an 11story, 175key hotel. And fronting N Street will be a 94unit residential building with additional retail.
“The Project will create a truly transit oriented urban mixed-used community that will add new housing, retail, offices, and a hotel to an exciting and transforming neighborhood,” the application states.