Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Borf building pop-up



1644 North Capitol Street NW, down from Engine Company 12:

What will the finished third floor addition to the existing 2-story Borf building look like?


Photo courtesy of Eckington resident JT Engelhardt.

12 comments:

Daniel J. Hopkins said...

Why is it called the borf building? Any relation to the graffiti artist? (I apologize in advance if this is a stupid question)

Sean Hennessey said...

daniel,
a few years back, the BORF collective ran an artspace out of here. heres a post about one event:
http://bloomingdaleneighborhood.blogspot.com/2007/05/borf-in-bloomingdale.html

Scott Roberts of Bloomingdale said...

and the name "Borf building" stuck!

John W DC said...

Yes. A few years ago Borf leased out the space and would have monthly shows. It was funny to have our neighborhood overrun with teenage punk rockers.

Apparently the owner of the building offered it to Borf for free rent but in exchange for some plumbing and interior work.

ted said...

Does anyone know what is supposed to be going into the popped-up Borf building?

Buoniconti Sisters said...

The pop-up looks ridiculous. Does anyone know the final plans? Is this the look that the community is hoping for? unimaginative pop-ups that reduce historic buildings to jokes.

I honestly hope there is a final plan that we can review. Perhaps this is an abberation.

ted said...

Sarcasm is difficult to express on the internet, but I consider this a job well done in that department.

As for the pop-up, I will reserve judgment until it is finished. There is a chance, however, small, that it will be one of the rare tasteful pop-ups.

KD said...

I hope you're right ted. Always thought the BORF building was such a great space and was saddened to see the historic charm ruined with this popup. I'm not seeing how you can preserve the look of the facad with an extra floor. You would think the developer could take their pick of the several other spaces on N. Capitol with the square footage they were looking for.

Mike said...

Sadly this is following the trend of all redeveloped buildings on North Cap. Aside from the firehouse which I believe is restricted by historic considerations, I can't think of a single major rehab that doesn't look like crap.

J.T. said...

I agree with Mike. I think North Capitol Street's physical "improvements" have really screwed it in the long run, making it more ripe for a teardown and rebuild rather than preserve and enhance. This pop-up looks to be another step in that direction.

J.T. said...

https://twitter.com/jtedc/status/89118901933314048 check out new facade. I am pleasantly surprised. Does anyone know what the plans are for future use/occupant yet?

K3 said...

The older permits say "mixed use". A newer one says "two family" flat (or something like that).

This parcel is zoned C-2-A: "Permits matter-of-right low density development, including office employment centers, shopping centers, medium-bulk mixed use centers, and housing to a maximum lot occupancy of 60% for residential use and 100% for all other uses, a maximum FAR of 2.5 for residential use and 1.5 FAR for other permitted uses, and a maximum height of fifty (50) feet. Rear yard requirements are fifteen (15) feet; one family detached dwellings and one family semi-detached dwellings side yard requirements are eight (8) feet."

The zoning map lists the owner as Joseph T. Scheve, 1801 Harbinger Trail, Edgewood, MD 21040-1812. The property tax database lists the owner as Joseph T. Scheve Nellie Hubbard P.R.

Its 2012 assessed value is $249,000. The land itself is assessed at $85,000. For some reason, this is about HALF what standard rowhouse land in the area is worth!

Its Use Code is "42" ("Structure used primarily for ground-level retail sales; row, attached, or detached; with/without other uses; with/without living quarters.").

Its Tax Class is "commercial".