Mixed-use projects in District advance

Retail, housing centers on deck for Fort Totten, Brookland in NE

Two projects that would dramatically alter two neighborhoods in Northeast Washington received preliminary approval Monday night from the D.C. Zoning Commission.

The projects would bring 1,754 housing units and nearly 400,000 square feet of retail space to Fort Totten and Brookland.

To receive final approval, the groups behind the projects, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and Abdo Development, must submit information to the commission about the community benefits they plan to provide, zoning officials said. Final action is scheduled for Dec. 14.

The Cafritz Foundation seeks to build Art Place and Shops at Fort Totten, a residential project that would include a grocery store, a children's museum, a senior center, and cultural and arts space.

The foundation wants to build on 17 acres it owns between the Fort Totten Metro station and South Dakota Avenue NE. The transit-oriented development would cost about $425 million and take eight years to build. The first phase would have a residential building with 305,000 square feet of retail space.

"We're very pleased," said Jane L. Cafritz, a member of the foundation's advisory board, of the commission's 5 to 0 vote.

Abdo Development, which has helped transform H Street NE and Logan Circle, wants to link with Catholic University to put stores, housing and restaurants directly across from the school, along Michigan Avenue and Monroe Street NE in Brookland.

Abdo's plan includes a public square and clock tower; a college main street filled with bookstores and bike shops; cafes and restaurants; and an arts building for recitals and demonstration projects.

Some residents have raised concerns about the Cafritz project, although a number of community groups and elected officials have voiced approval. The massive project will uproot residents who live in three buildings at Riggs Plaza to nearby transitional housing and will provide newer, rent-controlled apartments in Art Place.

Some of the residents said they were worried because they had not received anything in writing.

"Nothing's changed," said Sarah L. Moss, a resident of Riggs Plaza. Moss said she was not opposed to change in her neighborhood. She said she was concerned that residents are being "thrown out" without written guarantees.

Some Brookland residents have also raised concerns about the scale of Abdo's project, which calls for 825 residential units and 85,000 square feet of retail space on nine acres.

But others said the development, which also received a unanimous vote from the commission, will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.