The Van Ness Days Inn intends to sell its adjacent parking structure for redevelopment

The parking structure behind the Van Ness Days Inn. (2023 Google Street View image)

The owner of the Days Inn property at 4400 Connecticut Avenue wants to sell the parking structure behind the hotel for redevelopment, and is seeking ANC 3F’s support on the first step toward clearing the way for a sale: Reducing the number of parking spaces it must provide for guests.

Speaking on behalf of the property owner at ANC 3F’s September 17th meeting, Shane Dettman of the law firm Goulston & Storrs said the hotel will request that the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) “extinguish” a parking covenant that dates back to the 1960s, when the hotel was built. Regulations at the time required the hotel to have 78 parking spaces for the guests in its 155 rooms.

“Under the regulations today,” said Dettman, “the same exact hotel would trigger a parking requirement of 33 spaces, but that could be reduced down to 17 spaces because we’re within a half a mile of a Metrorail station.”

Dettman said the Days Inn can fulfill today’s zoning requirement on the main hotel lot, with room to spare for guests and staff. There are 41 parking spaces beneath the hotel and in the surface parking lot on the corner of Connecticut and Yuma Street.

In the year through August, guest vehicles occupied 26 spaces per day, on average. In addition, eight to ten employees drive to work and park on the lot, but Dettman said they are not on site at the same time.

ANC 3F commissioners will decide at their October 15th meeting whether to lend their support to the Days Inn request. The BZA hearing is scheduled for November 6th.