Reply to So much for "vibrant" --boring apt. building architecture going up right and left on the Avenues

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m with you except for Mazza Gallerie. I grew up less than a mile away and walked by it almost every day, and that thing looked like a fancy marble prison from the get go which was always part of the problem. And when eventually it was renovated and the windows were added, the tenants were the ones who paid.[/quote]

I thought it was weird as a kid, but it grew on me over time and the atrium! The atrium was pretty rocking. The whole thing was awesomely 60s. [b]What will go up--little boxes, made of ticky tacky?[/b][/quote]

Off Wisconsin Ave NW, across from Sidwell Friends, in 2023? No. Four apartment buildings with 690 units total, a bunch of office space, a bunch of retail space, and an underground garage with 1,300 parking spaces.

And for what it's worth, those "little boxes, made of ticky tacky" in Daly City, California, now sell for $1.1 million or more, because the Bay Area has a severe housing shortage, because they made it really difficult to build more housing.[/quote]

I don't love the design of most of the buildings in the development at the old Fannie Mae site, but the construction seems of better quality.  Contrast that with the project rising next door which is mostly constructed of lumber.  The design is boring and tacky and it's not even a little set back from Wisconsin.  If it lasts 50 years, it will be a surprise.  [/quote]

Why should it be set back from Wisconsin?[/quote]

Even a small setback from the lot line would have provided room for another layer of street trees.  The former building was set back just a little bit. Most buildings in that area have at least modest setbacks which provide a little greenery and light.  It avoids the canyon effect that unfortunately one sees on Wisconsin around Macomb.  [/quote]

The setback is exactly what makes Wisconsin ave so pleasant. I'm not sure what developers have against a smidge of openess and green space. Once its gone, its gone.[/quote]

What are you even talking about?

DC has very generous setback requirements - on Wisconsin Avenue it is 130 feet between the building restriction line on each side of the street which happens to be the tallest building you can put up and there in essence is no way to get around the requirement which is more generous than any other local jurisdiction or city in the Northeast.

The "setback" is not changing for any of these buildings.

Relatedly what greenspace on Wisconsin Avenue are you even referring to?[/quote]

4000 Wisconsin (now known as the Residences at Upton Place or some such pretentious name) has been moved closer to Wisconsin Avenue.  It sticks out like a sore thumb as one walks or drives north on Wisconsin.  More cheap-looking "Urbanism" with all of the inspired design of an airport hotel.[/quote]

The building across the street, though - meaning 4005 Wisconsin - wow, that's some amazing architecture. Truly inspirational, high-quality design.[/quote]

You mean the post office?  At least no one notices it.  And when the USPS lease is up, the property is likely to become part of the Sidwell Friends campus, so the building won't be there for decades.[/quote]

In 2 years, nobody will notice 4000 Wisconsin.[/quote]

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