Mount Vernon Triangle Historic District

Yesterday the Historic Preservation Review Board approved the creation of a small historic district in the heart of the new "Mount Vernon Triangle" neighborhood. It's a district of 24 buildings that faced severe demolition threats given the amount of development in the area. It comprises the west end of the square bounded by 5th Street NW on the west, the mid-block alley on the east, and K (north) and I Streets (south).

Developing a brand for the neighborhood through signage, banners, etc.

Anti-preservation measure a block away (400 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW) from the newly minted Mount Vernon Triangle Historic District. This "demolition" by Trammell Crow was likely embarked upon with the advice of legal counsel. Photo by Peter Sefton.

Peter Sefton (www.victoriansecrets.net) led the effort. The DC Preservation League submitted the application. A group of us (I wrote the architectural descriptions for four of the buildings) did the work, although Peter did the most. Click here for a Powerpoint Presentation about the historic resources in that area of Mount Vernon Triangle. I don't have photos handy of the buildings that I did...

And last night, the Zoning Commission denied the application to extend the previously approved Planned Unit Development application for Square 749 (bounded by the 200 blocks of K and L Streets, NE, and the 1000 blocks of 2nd and 3rd Streets NE). I am not ready yet to put up my testimony (which was never given, because they denied the extension because of the substantive nature of the changes to the underlying application) but I have some serious concerns about the project, particularly with regard to design.

I have put together a little flickr slide presentation on some of the issues presented by the site and the developer and the project as proposed.

So it isn't all "Agony of Defeat" (note that this blog entry was written primarily in response to what I saw as under-representation of the public interest with regard to the Square 749 project).