Babe’s Billiard Redevelopment
Ground has finally broken at the site that used to house Babe’s Billiards at Wisconsin Ave. and Brandywine St., one block from the Tenleytown Metro station. An excited tweet from The Douglas Development Corporation on April 2, 2014 (“We broke ground on @TenleyViewDDC in @Tenleytown_DC! More details on what will be premier mixed-use property in #DC!”) announced to the neighborhood what it had been waiting for; a transit-oriented development with residential, retail and restaurant space.
Ward3Vision supported the application. This prime site for development along the evolving commercial corridor has been vacant too long. The project will help make the area more walkable and vibrant and will attract new residents who want to live car-free. The building will be LEED gold and have a green roof. The developer pledged to underground the utilities to the building and otherwise improve the site with landscaping, a water feature, and other amenities. In an agreement with ANC 3E (which supports the project), the developer agreed to traffic mitigation measures, such as a lease provision barring tenants from owning cars and prohibiting them from getting Residential Parking Permits. There will be no car parking space at the site (outside of one available for handicap) but the developer has agreed to secure 20 off-site parking spaces and defray part of the cost of parking for customers of the stores and restaurants. Car share and bike share stations are close by, and the developer will subsidize their use by the residents.
Ward3Vision Steering Committee Chair Tom Hier delivered our testimony at the Zoning Committee hearing on November 1, 2012. As a party in support, Ward3Vision testified that the no-parking building makes sense one block from a metro station and near shopping. Steering Committee member Ellen McCarthy testified as an expert witness on zoning that the proposal was consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
Other Ward3Vision Steering Committee members and supporters also testified as individuals at the hearing and/or wrote letters in support of the development.
To learn more about the development and view more graphics visit http://www.tenleyview.com