IMAGE COURTESY OF WEST STREET ACQUISITIONS, LLC
A project to bring 180 new housing units to the Braddock Road Metro Station neighborhood, which city council voted against in March, could be reconsidered and ultimately move forward.
The request by West Street Acquisitions, LLC to build a large multifamily residential building across West Street from the Braddock Road Metro Station was denied in a 4-3 vote by City Council in March. The project had been deferred multiple times before finally making it onto the March 13 city council docket, due to issues surrounding the ownership of two alleys on the site, plus stormwater and sanitary concerns. Additional concerns about the scope of development and outreach to neighbors led four council members to vote against the project in March.
On April 27, city council will consider a resolution to vacate the March 13 vote, clearing the way for the council to reconsider the development. Such a move is very rare.
The land is currently occupied primarily by single-family homes along West Street and Wythe Street.
According to a memo from City Manager Mark Jinks to the City Council: "At the City Council legislative meeting on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, during the oral reports, Councilman [Canek] Aguirre indicated that he understood that the developer has been addressing the concern regarding the lack of contact with the adjacent ARHA development and requested that a motion to rescind the vote be placed on the docket for City Council’s consideration on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. ...
"The result of a motion to rescind is that the question of whether to approve or deny the requested land use applications is back on the table for consideration."
Aguirre was one of the council members who had voted against the development, and if the city council votes anew on the development and Aguirre votes in favor of it, the development could move forward. Before voting in March, Aguirre said, “I will not be supporting this because I will be voting out of protest due to the fact that essentially the folks that are going to be most impacted by this are the abutting neighbors... [who] have in my opinion been ignored. There have been attempts, I think they’re mild attempts. We’re talking about putting a 7-story building right next to 2-story structures, maybe 3-story."
In March, Aguirre was joined in opposing the project by Council members John Taylor Chapman, Amy Jackson and Mo Seifeldein.
Mayor Justin Wilson, Del Pepper and Vice-Mayor Elizabeth Bennett-Parker voted in favor of the application.
The project could include 14 affordable housing units.
