Photo by army.arch

It’s been a year since D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty shut down the Franklin Shelter, and while homeless advocates are still fighting in court to get the historic Franklin School reopened as a shelter, the Fenty administration is moving ahead with its redevelopment plans. As Ruth Samuelson recently reported over at Housing Complex, the Franklin School RFP seeks “Highly-qualified development teams with experience in planning, financing, building, and operating small to medium scale mixed-use, commercial, hotel, residential, or retail use development projects and experience in working with community stakeholders are strongly encouraged to respond to this RFP.” The Business Journal followed up today with a story of its own.

Samuelson thinks the property is “destined to become a boutique hotel,” and that seems about right. Considering its location, size and stunning exterior, it’s hard to imagine what else it could possibly be. The Fenty administration has already turned down proposals to turn the building back into a school (of the charter variety), so the city does appear to want something commercial in here. Are there any museums out there looking for a new home?

Don’t necessarily hold your breath on an answer on this property any time soon, of course. As Jonathan O’Connell notes, “… Fenty is making it available during a time when frozen lending has made it difficult for developers to finance major rehabilitation or construction projects.” Not to mention all the historic preservation hoops any potential developer would have to jump through for this building, which once housed D.C.’s first high school and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.