Woah, Central Union Mission No Longer Coming to Georgia Ave and Park Morton Developer Selected

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Details from Park View ANC Rep Cliff Valenti:

“Good news! The Park Morton redevelopment contract was awarded to Landex. Even better news is that they are purchasing the property on Georgia Avenue currently owned by Central Union Mission. This frees the mission up to pursue the Gale School on Mass Avenue for an emergency shelter, and they will no longer be land owners at 3506-3512 Georgia Avenue. We really owe Councilman Graham and Mayor Fenty a round of applause on this. Back in June after Landex, Neighborhood Dev. Corp, and Penrose presented their plans to ANC1A I thought they had the second best deal (I preferred NDC only because it was 50/50 owner/renter), but I think with some of the modifications they have made to the plan sense then Landex really is the best option for the neighborhood. The following are my notes about Landex from the ANC1A meeting back in June:

Landex building design looks great, and they are proposing a 9,000 square foot park at the center of the development. I loved their economic model of 30% low income, 35% work force, and 35% market rate income levels for housing, I do not like that they are developing 100% of the units as rental.

If I understand this correctly, all of the above still applies but 30% of the units built will be owner occupied. Additionally, the 499 units to be built does not include the property they are acquiring from Central Union Mission.”

A rendering can be seen at DC mud. Thanks to all who sent me emails about this. Totally wild. Remember the discussions we had about the Central Union Mission here and here? Nevermind. How do the Landex plans sound?

Press release from Mayor Fenty after the jump.

“Fenty Announces Selection of Development Team for Park Morton

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on Wednesday announced the District has selected a development team led by Landex Corp. to transform the Park Morton housing complex into a $130 million New Community with more than 500 units of new housing for residents at all income levels.

“We are building a stronger, healthier, safer Georgia Avenue,” said Mayor Fenty. “And this team has the vision and the capacity to do just that at Park Morton.”

Currently, Park Morton consists of 174-units of low income housing managed by the District of Columbia Housing Authority. Last year, as a first step in implementing the Park Morton Redevelopment Initiative plan, the District issued a competitive solicitation seeking development partners to rebuild Park Morton into a mixed-income new community where each public housing unit will be replaced – one for one – with a new unit in the project. The new development will also include a mix of new market-rate and workforce housing units.

Park Morton is bounded by Georgia Avenue to the west, Warder Street to the east, Park Road to the north and Lamont Street to the south. It is one of four designated New Communities across the District. The others include Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road in Ward 8; Northwest One in Ward 6 and Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings in Ward 7.

In addition to the physical development project, the New Communities model also calls for supportive social services – a human capital program – focused on health care, adult education, employment, youth development, and public safety programs.

The District selected the Landex team based on several criteria including its vision for the site, its financial capacity, past experience and community feedback. Landex specializes in rebuilding distressed urban housing and has successfully completed projects in cities along the East Coast including federal HOPE VI redevelopment projects.

In the coming weeks, the District, lead by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, will begin exclusive negotiations with the Landex team. A ground breaking for the first replacement units will occur next year.”