Friday, August 15, 2008

What's Happening on the 1300 Block of 14th St.?

Back in May, we received word--via that month's ANC meeting--of a project ongoing on the rather dilapidated south west side of the 1300 block of 14th St. The owner of several buildings on that block, all unoccupied and badly in need of renovation, was moving forward with plans to stabilize and renovate the the structure. The work was to begin on the interior of the structures and then move outdoors. A "temporary" fence was set up along with a large dumpster, ostensibly to handle the removal of all of the junk that was going to be hauled out of the structures during the renovation process.

That was over three months ago. Today, the fencing and dumpster still sit there, taking up space on the street and creating an eyesore, while no visible work has been done on the structures. No evidence of work crews, no detritus filling up the dumpster, and no evidence that anything is moving forward with regards to the rehabilitation of these buildings.

As the main commercial corridor through Logan, the rehabilitation of the 1300 block of 14th St.--particularly the south side--is important in order to bridge the gap (real or perceived) between Thomas Circle and downtown, and Logan to the north.

It was welcome news when we received word that the property owner of those structures was moving forward with a plan to stabilize them and, eventually, redevelop them. However, as we have become all too familiar with, inevitably permitting issues come up, or an unexpected discovery is made while excavating a structure (witness the discovery of an unmapped waterway located beneath the condo building going up at 15th and P that delayed construction for nearly a year). So--does anyone have any idea as to what may be holding up the work on these buildings? Is it procedural, structural...or did the owner simply decide to hold off for now? Inquiring minds would like to know.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know anything official about the work, but I walk by there several times a week at lunchtime and I often see workers hauling dirt and detritus from the basement of the building. They seem to have filled up several dumpsters. So while I agree that they haven't made any visible progress to the exterior of the structure, there certainly seems to be a lot of work occurring on the interior. If I remember correctly, they're working T-shirts that say Velazquez Contractors or something like that.

SydAjax said...

Not sure either. I do know that they had an issue with their scaffolding falling down onto 14th street a while ago (although it seems to all have come down now), maybe there are some safety issues with the construction? Would love to see a really good sandiwch shop there...U street really needs a good place to get a well made sub!

EdTheRed said...

South side? Um, you mean west sieeed, right? Or maybe east, but the street runs north-south, so there is no south side of the block, really.