When Forest Hills Connection covered the Park Van Ness community meeting earlier this month, we focused mostly on the question we’ve been hearing most from our readers: When will the Connecticut Avenue sidewalk adjacent to the project reopen? (Answer: Partially, at year-end; fully, by this time next year)
The April 7th presentation by Saul Centers and Clark Construction covered a lot more than that. Jason Elliott, Clark superintendent for the project, went over the remaining phases of exterior work.
- May 1 through July 15: Installation of large pieces of precast concrete on the face of the building
- Now through August 31: Installation of underground utilities
- July 1-Spetember 15: Installation of brick and cast stone walls and windows
- July 15-August 15: Demolition of remaining existing sidewalk and grading the new one
- And from August 15 through December 31: Installation of a partial sidewalk, construction of planter walls, reinstallation of the Yuma Street traffic light and streetlights, resurfacing portions of Connecticut Avenue; installation of curb and gutter and restriping of Connecticut Avenue crosswalks at Yuma, and adding tree boxes, trees and landscaping.
That will leave us with a 6-foot portion of sidewalk until the rest of the 30-foot public space fronting the new building is completed. You can see the presentation slides here.
A six-foot-wide portion of sidewalk, shown as reddish pavers in this rendering, is to open to pedestrians as of December 31st. (courtesy of Torti Gallas & Partners)
When Park Van Ness is complete, the mixed-use project at the former Van Ness Square (and before that, the Chevy Chase Ice Palace) will consist of 271 apartments, ground-level retail and underground parking. Plans presented to ANC 3F in April 2013 predicted a 30-month construction schedule and completion in winter 2016. The demolition took longer than expected, however, and work has been delayed at times by weather, so a spring 2016 opening is more likely.
