BZA approves 11‑story addition at 471–473 H Street NW after brief delay for revised paperwork

The District of Columbia Board of Zoning Adjustment on Sept. 24 approved an application to add an 11‑story apartment building behind two historic row buildings at 471–473 H Street NW, voting 3–0 after the applicant filed an amended self‑certification requested by the board.

The decision, on application 21328 of H Street DC LLC, grants a special exception from penthouse setback rules and an area variance from the rear‑yard requirement to allow the new rear addition and associated penthouse elements. Vice Chair Carl Blake announced the board would hold the hearing open so the applicant could amend its self‑certification; the board later reconvened, deliberated and approved the request.

The board’s action matters because the project repurposes two historic buildings to residential use and concentrates the new massing to the rear of the site, a design the applicant said was necessary to preserve the historic façades while creating 48 affordable apartment units in a downtown D4R zone.

Zach Williams, land‑use counsel for the applicant, told the board the Commission of Fine Arts and the Historic Preservation Review Board had already provided conceptual approvals and the design preserves the exterior of the two historic rowhouses while locating new density behind them. “This is an interesting application and interesting site because of the historic nature of the buildings, but also we’re in the downtown zone, which obviously supports density,” Williams said during the hearing.

Office of Planning staff recommended approval. Michael Jurkovich of the Office of Planning said OP’s report supports both the penthouse setback relief and the rear‑yard variance and that OP’s findings would not change once the self‑certification was corrected.

In deliberations Vice Chair Carl Blake said the narrow lot width, the historic building footprints and the requirement to preserve those façades create a practical difficulty that would make the project economically unviable without the requested relief. “The historic preservation constraints, as well with the narrowness of the width and shallowness of the lot, do create a practical difficulty,” Blake said.

The roll call vote was 3–0–2 to approve, with Vice Chair Carl Blake, Board Member Krishan Smith and Chairman Anthony Hood voting yes and one member not participating. The board directed the Office of Zoning to issue the order reflecting the board’s findings and the amended self‑certification that the applicant filed in the record.

The project now moves to the Office of Zoning for issuance of the final order; the approval requires the applicant to comply with any conditions identified in the order and to obtain the required building permits prior to construction.