New Church, Residential for 18th & Church St NW

Corner of 18th and Church St today. The current church is to just off to the left of the photo.

Developer CAS Riegler and Dupont's St. Thomas' Parish Episcopal Church are close to finalizing plans to build a 56 unit residential development and new church at the corner of 18th and Church Streets NW. Redevelopment plans for the land at this corner have been active for several years, but the project looks to have cleared major hurdles of design, zoning, and financing to the point of moving to the pre-construction phase.

St. Thomas members currently meet in what was the parish hall. The parish hall comprised much of what remained after the original church building was destroyed in a 1970 arson fire. The area where the sanctuary once stood still belongs to the church, but currently operates as a park that is open to the public.

All of that area would be filled by the new development, which would result in 56 residential units (comprising about 2/3 of property) and a new church (comprising 1/3 of the property). The residential portion would be adjacent to, but separate from the church. The church portion would be the westernmost third of the property fronting 18th Street NW. The new building would rise 70 feet tall, making seven floors, in addition to an underground parking level. 

If you live nearby, the ANC2B is hosting a public input session for all manner of construction related issues on this Wednesday, October 7.

The following images are from a preliminary submission to the Board of Zoning Adjustment (submitted August 28, 2015). The architects are Hickok Cole Architects, who also prepared these images.

Rendering of viewpoint looking southeasterly at project from 18th St NW. Image by Hickok Cole Architects.

West elevation (fronting 18th St NW). Image by Hickok Cole Architects.

South elevation (fronting Church St). Image by Hickok Cole Architects.

Remember the Third Church of Christ, Scientist Building?

Remember the Third Church of Christ, Scientist building at 16th and I Streets NW? The iconic brutalist structure was torn down last year to make way for an office tower by JBG.

 

The new building will have 128,000 square feet of office space, mostly occupied by a law firm. About 12,000 square feet will be occupied by the Third Church of Christ, Scientist (yep, the old building was just too big). They plan to include a worship area, reading room, auditorium and administrative spaces. Once complete, there will be a cool sculptural glass entrance for the church on the 16th Street side of the building. And another 4,000 square feet will be occupied by retail tenants on the I Street side, all unknown at this point. 

The project should be finished by December of this year.

Demolition of Third Church of Christ, Scientist building - February 2014.

Construction of 900 16th St office building project by JBG - August 2015

Third Church of Christ, Scientist

The Third Church of Christ, Scientist building at 16th and I Streets NW is in the process of being torn down. Local company JBG and a partner are rebuilding on the site. The new structure will be in the form of a 9 story, 141,000 sq ft office building with first floor retail.  

Photos: 5th Street, Chinatown

St Mary Mother of God, 727 5th St NW

Unitarian Church

On 16th.

Should This Church Be Designated "Historic?"

Under normal circumstances, having your place of worship labeled as "historic" would be a sought after honor. In a city with the Church of the Presidents, National Cathedral, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Islamic Center and "Lincoln's Church," the bar has been set pretty high regarding famous houses or worship. However, with our insane, unflappable real estate market and rabid architectural oversight, the term "historic" may not make sense this time around. At least according to the Third Church of Christ, Scientist.

The church and its congregation want to raze the now historic structure at 16th and I (two blocks from the White House, on the 42 bus route) and build a new center of worship on the site. They are officially tenants. The owners, a development company, ICG Properties, want the same, and also want to build an office tower on the adjacent land. The new designation from the Historic Preservation Review Board essentially means the building and the land it sits on are untouchable for alteration or demolition. I don't know. Its pretty ugly to me. The Board argues that the church building is a prime example of a now extinct architectural style popular in the 1950s and 60s called "brutalism." Yeah, well, its an accurate term. A strain of modernism. Its what gave us such a beautiful SW quadrant and many federal government buildings downtown. The church argues that its members should be able to replace the deteriorating, unfit building if it pleases. Hopefully, this issue can be decided with some common sense, but for now, it looks like the Third Church of Christ, Scientist and the developer/owners have lost this round, and maybe the fight. Read more on the Post, and pick up the latest Dupont Current for more on this story.