Recommendation
The staff of the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) has reviewed revisions to the permit submission for a proposed new residential and retail building to be located at 750 Maine Avenue, SW, on Parcel 4 of the Southwest Waterfront development area known as the District Wharf (case number SL 15-103). We regret that these revisions were not forwarded to complete the CFA review prior to the issuance of a permit for construction, as required under the Shipstead-Luce Act. We also regret that the design now under construction only marginally responds to the Commission of Fine Arts’s advice from its meeting of 16 April 2015 (letter attached), particularly the advice to simplify the design of the building façades. However, staff finds that the selection of bricks of similar color and texture for Masonry Types 1 and 2 helps to mitigate the complexity of the façade designs.
With the authority delegated by the Commission at its meeting of 16 April 2015, we recommend approval of the permit submission of the proposed new building, as documented in materials received and dated 3 April 2015 and supplemental materials received and dated 27 June 2017 and 21 July 2017. If there are any additional changes please contact the staff to determine if additional review will be required. As always, the staff is available to assist you with future submissions. Note: Any subsequent modifications to the approved design, including those made during DCRA technical review, must be resubmitted to the Commission for approval.
Note: This recommendation was dated 8 August 2017.