Crummell School site rendering, courtesy of DMPED
A D.C. neighborhood that’s been undergoing development has finally received word about what’s happening to one of its historic landmarks.
The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development announced today that it selected development team Ivy City Partners to transform a 108,000-square-foot site in Ivy City that centers around the Alexander Crummell School.
The historic school will be surrounded by an open community space, urban garden, farm, retail and commercial spaces, plus the expansion of Profish, the D.C. seafood company that operates the Ivy City Smokehouse. The site will also have apartment and townhouses that will offer 320 rental units—more than 60 of which will be designated as affordable.
“Many Ivy City residents have waited decades—and some, a lifetime—for the renovation of the Crummell School site as a community hub,” Peta-Gay Lewis, Ivy City’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, told DCist. “Three outstanding proposals were submitted, but today everyone can be proud that the District has selected a project that not only achieved their benchmarks for the site, but more importantly, the community needs were heard and will be included in the site’s redevelopment.”
Ivy City Partners has no concrete plans for what will become of the school. The development team says it will work with the community to activate the space. Lewis says that her constituents would like it to have recreational and job training offerings, among other things.
The Crummell School was built in 1911 and educated black students until 1972. It’s been vacant for the past 30 years. In 2012, the D.C. Preservation League added the Crummell School to its annual list of the city’s most endangered places, which includes places deemed to be most threatened by demolition, neglect, or inappropriate alteration. A day before the list published, a D.C. judge issued an injunction against the city’s plans to park charter buses in a parking lot next to the school. Judge Judith Macaluso found that city officials broke the law, including by not seeking input from the area’s advisory neighborhood commission, the Washington Post reported at the time.
The Crummell School is part of a pilot initiative that Mayor Muriel Bowser established so that communities can provide feedback early on during D.C.-led development projects. Groups were required to present their plans to Ivy City residents, which happened at several community events this year.
Ivy City Partners, which is comprised of Stonebridge Carras and Ocean Pro Properties, bested two other entities—one of which was a team that included activism group Empower DC and health non-profit Community of Hope.
Another preference stated by the community, Lewis said, was that the city retain ownership of the school, instead of a developer or other entity owning it. Ivy City Partners was the only proposal that adhered to this request.
Dubbed by The Washington Post as “the next cool D.C. neighborhood you have never heard of,” Ivy City has seen the openings of a MOM’s Organic Market, several distilleries, Ivy City Smokehouse tavern, BicycleSPACE, 110 loft-style units at the restored Hecht Co. Warehouse, a Nike Factory store, a Planet Fitness, yoga studio, and more over the past two years.
