Urban land use intensification: Alexandria garden apartment complex

This kind of two-story, 4 unit apartment  building is pretty typical across DC.  In the run up to the 2008 housing crash, many such buildings were converted into owner occupied condos.

I have written frequently about the fact that DC was mostly built out when the population was relatively small.  So that means the buildings are small.  In most residential areas, a three-story building is "tall" because most buildings top out at two stories.

By contrast, in cities built at the same time, but with much greater demand for housing, 4-6 story buildings (tenements, apartments, large rowhouses) are pretty common.

Because "old housing" is cheaper than new housing, this contributes to DC's relative lack of "affordable housing" given present demand, the fact that new housing is built at today's prices for land, labor, and materials, and because even with additions to the housing supply, demand is still greater, so prices don't drop.

Apartments on Fort Totten Drive, Washington, DC.

But DC has a lot of fallow opportunity in adding height to all those two- and three-story buildings, adding accessory dwelling units and basement apartments where they can be accommodated, etc.

Although I would argue that attention needs to be paid especially to those areas served by high capacity and frequent transit, so that this housing draws new residents not dependent on the automobile.

(In car-dependent places, intensifying land use creates problems because at a certain point, on-site parking has to be accommodated in a structure, either above or below ground, and that's expensive.  Dedicated surface space to parking is wasteful too.)

But this isn't really happening, other than the conversion of low density commercial space to higher density mixed use, mostly devoted to housing.

The Washington Business Journal reports ("Garden-style apartment complex in Old Town Alexandria slated for massive redevelopment") on the Heritage Old Town garden apartments in Alexandria and how the complex of 242 apartments is going to be redeveloped into a denser project of 824 units.

That's new housing for 600 more households, and upwards of 1200 more people.

My only problem with it is the new design is pretty standard and unattractive.  It makes me think of the Eric Clapton song, "Why does love have to be so sad?" retitled as "why does design have to be so bad?"