WATKINS ALLEY

Watkins Alley will offer a cool mix of 44 vintage-industrial townhouse-style condos, flats, lofts and a single Federal-style carriage house on an historic alleyway. The breakdown of units by type is; 30 townhouse-style condos, 8 flats, 6 loft residences and 1 alley carriage house. Residences range in size up to 2,500 square feet. Structures will be connected to the garage by an overhead bridge in order to be considered one building for zoning purposes. The north portion of the Property closest to E Street will contain a block of ten 4 story, townhouse-style condominiums with recessed fourth floors. Seven of these will front to E Street, and three will be along the western side of the property perpendicular to the others. The three on the western side will be built around a large courtyard opening to the alley. Their floor plans offer two or three bedrooms. Initial purchasers of these units without rear windows will be given the option of locating the kitchens at either the front or rear. The south portion of Watkins Alley, surrounded by the historic alley system, will contain another block of 20 townhouse-style condos. These units also will be four stories with a recessed fourth story. These units will be oriented in two parallel rows facing each other with a large central pedestrian and recreational mews. These floor plans will contain three or four bedrooms. Connecting the north and south blocks of townhouse-style residences will be a five-story building of 15 flats and lofts with floor plans offering one bedroom, one bedroom plus den, or three bedrooms. Across the alley to the west from the large parcel of the Property, the small parcel will contain a small three-story, single-family, one-bedroom townhouse (carriage house). Watkins Alley will include 45 underground parking spaces located under the south block of townhouse units. It will be accessed from the block’s west side via the 25-foot alley to the west of the property. The north block of townhouse units will include a landscaped courtyard, the central mews in the south block of townhouse units will be landscaped, the project includes green roofs and nearly every unit will have outdoor space, either a roof deck or a balcony. The project is designed for LEED Silver certification. Pedestrian access will be via E Street and the alley. Pedestrians from E Street will be able to pass into the north block courtyard through a passageway in the center of the building. This passageway will be open to the public at all times. Pedestrians may also access through the alley from the east either from E Street or G Street. Residents in the condo building will have access from E Street to an enclosed hallway leading to their units and elevators. Bicycles similarly will be able to access the project from either E Street or the alley system. Vehicle access will be from the 15′ wide north-south alley from either E or G Streets, then west along the alley to the south of the property, and then enter the parking garage. The alley carriage house parking will be located in the garage under the south block of townhouse-style units. The Watkins Alley Planned Unit Development (PUD) is constructed around an historic alley at 1309-1323 E Street and 516 13th Street. The project adds to other new residential development in the neighborhood, such Foulger-Pratt’s 328 unit Beckert’s Park mixed-use apartment building at 415 14th Street set above a new Safeway supermarket, Insight Property Group’s 153 unit redevelopment of 1339, 1343-1345 and 1351-1355 E Street and Ditto and Insight’s Buchanan Park. OPal LLC completed Cluss Alley Car Barn, lofts in an 1890 warehouse on C Street and New Union Garage, three condos in a 1906 car barn at 645 Maryland Avenue NE. Watkins Alley totals of 87,703 gross square feet. No less than 10% of the total residential area would be ADU/IZ designated, with three townhomes and two flats designated as Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) units. One unit would be designed to accommodate a senior tenant and would feature, grab bars and lever door handles. The project provides a total of 45 underground parking spaces and 48 bicycle spaces in a secure room in the underground parking garage.