This post was written by Hatchet Staff Writer Amy D’Onofrio.
The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A voted at a special meeting last week to support a bid to install a boutique hotel in the historic Stevens Elementary School building on 21st and L streets NW.
Three of the five commissioners present at the meeting voted to support a proposal from the Peebles Development Corporation and the Morgans Hotel Group to turn the former school building into a boutique hotel with 44 parking spaces. The school, which closed in 2008, was built in the mid-1800s as a public school for black children.
Three potential developers have been selected by the city to compete for the space, and each presented a unique plan for the historic building at an ANC earlier in June. Commissioners reviewed the proposals and passed a resolution in support of the Peebles project, but the D.C. government will ultimately decide what replace the old school.
The two other projects that did not receive much support from the commission were a proposal from Moddie Turay Company and Kimpton Hotels that would create a boutique hotel in conjunction with retail and office space and 151 parking spaces, and a proposal for a 190-unit apartment building with 9,000 square feet of retail and 90 parking spaces from Equity Residential, the developers behind the 2400 M apartment building.
The apartments, popular with students, are too dorm-like, Commissioner Rebecca Coder said – something the other commissioners agreed with.
“[The building] doesn’t add anything to the community,” Commissioner Asher Corson said.
Though the commission can only offer recommendations to the city on the redevelopment of the school, their comments will be taken into consideration when the city chooses between three proposals. The ANC will still be able to comment on the proposal again before the final decision is made on the project.
The Commission is expected to submit their recommendations to the city before July 2, though the Foggy Bottom Association did get an extension of the deadline for comments to the city until July 10.
– Gabrielle Bluestone contributed to this report.
