926 N Street NW Starts Demo Preps for New Construction

Reatig Architecture have begun transforming the (The United House of Prayer owned) property at 926 N Street NW. The property sits at the N Street NW access to Blagden Alley. Demolition has began earlier this week, the construction being done by (contractor) Monarc Construction.

According to Greg Melcher (ANC Commissioner 2F06 & President of Blagden Alley, Naylor Court Association - BANCA) stated in a recent blog post that

"I think the community and ANC enjoyed a positive give and take on the design which has been approved by HPRB and DCRA"

I haven't seen any renderings yet, but here are some details;

• 926 N Street NW will be approximately 23,000 sf and 4 stories (50' tall).
• There will be six 1 BR apartments and nine 2 BR apartments for a total of fifteen rental apartments.(Two of the 1 BR units will be IZ (inclusionary zoning which targets a certain income based on the surrounding average income) and the remainder will be market rate).
• There are five units each on the 2nd through 4th floors (four of the five fourth floor units will have rooftop access rooms with private roof terraces.)
• The ground floor will have approximately 1750 sf of leasable space on the northeast corner abutting the alley. (There is not a tenant scheduled yet but the space will be appropriate for small retail uses like a café, bookstore or exercise studio.)

• The apartment entry lobby will be on the ground floor with its on entrance from N Street on the west side of the façade.
• The rear of the building will extend to approximately 17' away from 926 N Street Rear (this is the largest building in Blagden Alley with the large half round window that faces North towards N Street)
• The slab-on-grade ground floor will not extend the full length in order to allow for a private parking court for 8 cars with gated access from the alley directly adjacent to 926 N Street Rear's north wall.
• The building is scheduled to be complete by June 2015.

At the recent BANCA meeting, some concern was raised over traffic patterns (in the alley) and the impact on foot and vehicular traffic. Of special concern, when the construction phase reaches scaffolding within the alley, which will probably include some time of alley closing. Monarch are reviewing its options to minimize the inconvenience to residents. A traffic plan has actually been formulated and I am attempting to get this from DDOT, for publication shortly. 

Based on the Information at the BANCA meeting here is the projected construction schedule;

5 weeks demo forecast, a little longer than you would expect, but Reatig Architecture and Monarch are mindful of ajoining buildings, so care is being taken not to cause any unnecessary damage to these structures, this stage will also include significant sub level shoring up.
Weeks 6 - 7 will see the hook-up of utilities, followed by Miller & Long putting in new slab on grade.  Miller & Long will be using the Infinity System - slab/frame/load bearing - which will take approximately 13 / 14 weeks (till they reach roof level)
Following this, Monarch will install the scaffolding. This will be erected on the Northern sector (N St NW) and the Eastern sector (Blagden Alley). There will be some closure to vehicle traffic...but not pedestrians, at this time. 

More on this as the project progresses