Northwest Washington residents have protested a proposed $30 million condominium that they say would be the most densely packed Wisconsin Avenue building from Georgetown to the Maryland border.
A commercial real estate company, Akridge, has proposed putting up a 70-unit condo with 13,200 square feet of street-level retail on the site of a former Buick dealership at 5220 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The company has asked the District for a variance to raise the area’s height limit from 50 feet to 79 feet and increase the density to nearly three times what’s allowed for the area.
Opponents say Akridge’s project is too high, too dense and would set a precedent for over-development. The complex would dwarf Wisconsin Avenue, congest the street and put pedestrians and residents at risk, they said. A group called Alliance For Rational Development plans to protest at the site of the project Saturday.
“We’re certainly not against developing the site,” ARD spokesman Paul Fekete said. “We just want the project to keep with the character of the neighborhood.”
The D.C. Zoning Commission should make its decision on the variance request at a hearing Thursday.
Akridge spokeswoman Mary Margaret Hiller said the stores, condos and sidewalk improvements would substantially enliven the block, which includes the Friendship Heights Metro stop.
“We are very proud of this project,” Hiller said. “We feel it is the right project for this location.”
The Sierra Club’s D.C. chapter has endorsed their plans, saying in a press release that the number of environmentally friendly features will set “new standards for green urban development.”
Neighbor Tom Hier also supports the project, described it as an attractive addition the block. He said it will fill the lot which he called “a broken tooth on the face of an urban street.”
The condominium will feature 60 to 70 one- and two-bedroom units, about 1,200 square feet each, priced at about $800,000. Six units will be sold at a lower cost as affordable housing.
