Studies
The North Capitol Crossroads Existing Conditions Report (2024) is a technical document to establish a comprehensive body of knowledge about North Capitol Crossroads. The report’s quantitative data presents an understanding of the area’s critical issues by affirming the boundaries to be studied and documenting the contemporary community context, significant existing assets, planning, development and land use issues, socio-economic conditions, the area's historical context of racial segregation, displacement and community culture, access and infrastructure, and the area's civic and cultural assets. This report provides a baseline of information that can be used to inform future design visions for the area.
The North Capitol Cloverleaf Urbanization Study (2021) is a critical milestone in achieving numerous policy goals outlined in the District’s Comprehensive Plan, which envisions transforming the area around North Capitol and Irving Streets into a connected, well-designed, and multi-modal neighborhood.
North Capitol Street is a corridor that has long awaited new development. The North Capitol Streetscape Guide (2019) will help define the public space associated with this development in a way that respects its importance as a neighborhood place and its prominence in the plan for the city of Washington.
Reimagining North Capitol Crossroads (2024) is a transformational vision for the area surrounding the McMillan Reservoir. The report draws from the history of the area and the stories and perspectives of its residents. It contains guiding principles for connecting neighborhoods, expanding access to the site, leveraging area institutions, and prioritizing equity and diversity as the District prepares for future development in the area. Community voices were centered through a series of oral histories and the District Crossroads podcast miniseries which includes interviews with neighborhood residents, activists, artists, universities, and public space stewards.
The North Capitol Cloverleaf Feasibility Report (2009) contains four chapters detailing the Public Process, Exiting Conditions and Opportunities, North Capitol Gateway Corridor Improvements, and Short and Medium Term Improvements, respectively. The first chapter on Public Process outlines the public participation model used during this study. The Existing Conditions and Opportunities Analysis documents and analyzes the overall transportation and land use context of the study area in its historical context. The North Capitol Gateway Corridor chapter focuses on the long term improvements to the corridor to realize the appropriate character and gateway experience for the Corridor, including the explication of options for the replacement of the cloverleaf interchange. The final chapter on Short and Medium Term Improvements lays out a series of solutions that may be incorporated to ease community traffic and transportation concerns during the interim period before larger area-wide transportation studies can be performed and implemented.
Site Plans
The 25-acre former McMillan Reservoir Sand Filtration Site, located at North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue, NW, is to be redeveloped into a mixed-use project that shall include historic preservation, open space, residential, retail, office, and hotel uses. The goal is to create an architecturally distinct, vibrant, mixed-use development that provides housing, employment, retail, cultural, and recreational opportunities for District residents.
The 2020 Campus Master Plan identified nine capital projects as critical for Howard University to achieve its academic, research, and student life priorities over the next decade. The nine Capital Projects deemed by the University as needed include: Intercollegiate Athletic Center, Center for Arts and Communications, Howard University Union, Health Sciences Complex, STEM Center, Apartment-Style Residences, Medical Office Building, Howard University Hospital and Fusion Building.
The proposed central campus total land area within the HU boundary remains approximately 86 acres, with 58 buildings that combined equal 8.5 million square feet, resulting in a current Floor Area Ratio of 2.17 for the Central Campus.
The Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) in Washington, DC submitted for Commission review and approval a second amendment to its campus master plan, which was approved by the Commission in July 2008 and initially amended in 2018.
AFRH maintains a 272-acre campus with more than 100 buildings and ancillary structures, which provide residences and related services for approximately 600 eligible retired and former members of the Armed Forces.
The original master plan for the campus was approved in 2008 for a total of 4.3 million square feet of development. The master plan was amended in 2018 to include the decommissioned boiler plant in Zone A, increasing the square footage by 36,000 and changing the Zone A boundary.
The 2022 proposed master plan amendment largely focusses on changes to Zone A including an overall increase in density of 500,000 square feet to a total of 4.9 million, minor changes to the street layout to maintain key views and create better access, changes to the residential types to include townhouses, an improved terminus of Scale Gate at the Forwood building and the Mess Hall, a decrease in the overall parking onsite and changes to the type of parking.