Section 10-A1600. OVERVIEW

 

1600.1The Central Washington Planning Area is the heart of the District of Columbia. Its 6.8 square miles include the “monumental core” of the city, with such landmarks as the U.S. Capitol and White House, the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, and the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Museums. Central Washington also includes the city’s traditional Downtown and other employment centers such as the Near Southwest and East End. It includes Gallery Place and Penn Quarter, the region’s entertainment and cultural center. Finally, Central Washington includes emerging urban neighborhoods like Mount Vernon Triangle and North of Massachusetts Avenue (NoMA). 1600.1

 

1600.2The area’s boundaries are shown in the map at left. A majority of the area is within Ward 2, with portions also in Ward 6. All of Central Washington is within the boundary of the 1791 L’Enfant Plan and its streets, land uses, and design reflect this legacy. The area’s grand buildings, boulevards, and celebrated open spaces-particularly the monuments, museums, and federal buildings on the National Mall-define Washington’s image as an international capital. Planning for this area is done collaboratively with the federal government, with the National Capital Planning Commission having land use authority over federal lands. 1600.2

 

1600.3Central Washington is of great importance to the District, the region, and the nation. It is the seat of the federal government, and the economic, cultural, and historic core of the region. It contains the third largest concentration of office space in the United States, trailing only New York City and Chicago. The DC Department of Employment Services reports that over 400,000 persons are employed within its boundaries. The area’s preeminence is underscored by its land use patterns; it includes more than 100 million square feet of office space (almost 25 percent of the region’s total), 2 million square feet of retail floor space, over 11,000 hotel rooms, major entertainment venues, and the second largest theater district in the country. It is also the center of the region’s transportation network, with one of the best underground mass transit systems in the world. 1600.3

 

1600.4This Area Element takes a broader view of the city center than has been taken in past plans. Historically, city plans for “Downtown” have covered the area east of 16th Street NW, north of the National Mall/US Capitol complex, and south of Massachusetts Avenue. However, most residents, workers, and visitors think of Downtown in a broader sense-including areas as far north as Dupont Circle, as far west as Foggy Bottom, and as far east as Capitol Hill. Only about half of the central city workforce is located within the city’s “traditional” Downtown. “Traditional” Downtown is also almost completely built out. Most of the District’s future employment growth will take place beyond its boundaries, in areas like NoMA and Near Southeast (in the adjacent Anacostia Watefront Planning Area). 1600.4

 

1600.5Washington’s “traditional” Downtown includes Chinatown, the arts district around Gallery Place, the retail core near Metro Center, the mixed use Penn Quarter and Mount Vernon Square areas, and concentrations of government office buildings at Federal Triangle and Judiciary Square. While these areas are distinct from one another, they all offer a blend of historic and contemporary development, a mix of uses, and largely pedestrian-friendly environments. Private office buildings, many built to the 12- to 14-story limit allowed by the Height Act, extend across much of the area. Traditional Downtown also contains many exceptional historic buildings and public spaces, including many National Register landmarks. 1600.5

 

1600.6Moving from “traditional” Downtown to the West End, the transition is seamless. The pattern of 12- to 14-story office buildings, hotels, ground floor retail space and restaurants, and historic landmarks continues almost as far as Washington Circle. There are concentrations of retail space along Connecticut Avenue, and a cluster of global financial and banking institutions (including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund) on the area’s western edge. 1600.6

 

1600.7Most of the area just north of the National Mall is federal land. This includes the “Northwest Rectangle” of government and institutional buildings between 17th and 23rd Streets, the Federal Triangle, the White House and Executive Office Building, Old Naval Observatory Hill (site of the proposed US Institute of Peace) and the Corcoran College of Art+Design. Another major concentration of office space lies on the south side of the National Mall in the Near Southwest Federal District. This area includes the headquarters of several federal agencies as well as private office and hotel complexes like L’Enfant Plaza and the Portals. 1600.7

 

1600.8On the eastern and northeastern flank of Downtown, the pattern of intense office development gives way to more varied land uses. The new Washington Convention Center occupies six square blocks north of Mount Vernon Square. A high-density residential area is emerging to the east in the Mount Vernon Triangle on land formerly used for surface parking and small businesses. After 20 years of planning, the Triangle and adjacent Massachusetts Avenue corridor between Mount Vernon Square and Union Station has become one of the densest neighborhoods in the City. Some 1,300 new units were built between 2000 and 2005 and 1,700 units are now under construction. Density on many of these sites is between 200 and 400 units per acre. 1600.8

 

1600.9NoMA lies north and east of the Massachusetts Avenue corridor. It includes an emerging office area along North Capitol Street and a light industrial area between the CSX railroad tracks and the row house neighborhoods of Capitol Hill. Office development has moved eastward into NoMA as developable land in the West End, Central Business District, East End, and Capitol Hill has become more scarce. The opening of the New York Avenue Metro station in late 2004 has made the area more attractive for investment, and many residential and office projects are now under consideration in this area. 1600.9

 

1600.10While the office market in Central Washington has remained consistently strong, the area has only recently begun to reverse a decades-long decline in its role as a retail and entertainment destination. Likewise, the 30-year old goal of creating a “living downtown” with high-density housing is finally being realized. Billions of dollars in private investment, coupled with public incentives and plans to attract that investment, have had a transformative impact since the late 1990s. The area has suddenly become “the” place to be in the region, and its first-rate restaurants, boutique hotels, and entertainment venues are attracting national attention. The promise of thousands more new residents, workers, and visitors during the next decade suggests that the best may be yet to come. 1600.10

 

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The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.