D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 1614
1614.1 The Mount Vernon District includes the blocks adjacent to and including historic Mount Vernon Square and the more recently developed Mount Vernon Triangle area on its east. Located at the crossroads of New York and Massachusetts Avenues NW, the Mount Vernon District provides a transition between the lower-scale residences of Shaw on the north and the high-density commercial areas of downtown on the south. The area experienced disinvestment and was underused during the late 20th century. Much of its building stock was abandoned or demolished, and large areas were converted to parking or became vacant. The area has undergone a turnaround since 2000 and is currently one of the District's most active development areas.
1614.2 Mount Vernon Square itself was designed to be a focal point in Washington, DC's ensemble of great civic landmarks. Its focus is the 1902 former Carnegie Library building, an elegant historic structure that is now used by the Historical Society of Washington, DC and is the home of a new global Apple flagship store. Facing the north edge of the square is the 2.3-million-square-foot Washington Convention Center, completed in 2003. To the southwest, sits CityCenterDC, a 10.2-acre, mixed-used development and one of downtown's largest commercial, residential, and office developments. Immediately northwest of the square is the Marriott Marquis, a 1,175-room hotel, which complements the convention center functions. Large-scale office buildings occupy other sides of the square, framing it as a great public space.
1614.3 In 2004, OP prepared a design workbook for Mount Vernon Square to enhance the square's identity as the heart of a new urban neighborhood. The workbook explored alternatives to make the square more accessible to pedestrians, more active and animated, and more visually dramatic. Its recommendations include enhancing L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the City of Washington's bowtie parks along Massachusetts and New York AvenuesNW, improving access to the square, using placards to formalize the identity of Mount Vernon Square as an urban center, and re-inventing the square itself as a 21st-century landmark.
1614.4 East of Mount Vernon Square, the 30-acre Mount Vernon Triangle is bordered by Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York Avenues NW. An Action Agenda for this area was developed in 2003. Since then, the District also completed the Mount Vernon Triangle Transportation and Public Realm Design Project, leading to major streetscape investments, and supplemented this work in 2018 with the Downtown East Re-Urbanization Strategy to further guide its transformation to a thriving and livable mixed-use neighborhood. Projects like Sovereign Square, the Meridian, and 555 Massachusetts have redefined the area and generated momentum for additional development. A 55,000 square foot Safeway grocery store and more than 600 housing units have been constructed under the City Vista
Project at 5th and I Streets NW, and more new units are in the construction or planning stages nearby. While office uses are present, the emphasis is on housing, with supporting retail and cultural uses.
1614.5 The Mount Vernon District provides an important opportunity to draw residents from outside Washington, DC, and to attract residents looking for a unique urban experience not available in other Washington neighborhoods. The expected population growth will require the improvement of public facilities, parks, streets, transit, infrastructure, and community services. It will require ongoing planning to preserve historic resources, respect the fabric of adjacent communities, and ensure that new uses are compatible with and connected to their surroundings. As Mount Vernon Triangle and Mount Vernon Square evolve coordinated public and private investment will be needed to create economic value and to ensure that a quality environment for visitors, new and existing residents, and workers is created.
1614.6 Policy CW-2.4.1: Re-envisioning Mount Vernon Square
Improve Mount Vernon Square as a center of cultural activity, a memorable civic landmark, and a crossroads between downtown on the south and the historic Shaw neighborhood on the north. The square's function should be reinforced by encouraging active ground floor uses and prominent entries on the blocks that front it and promoting high-quality architecture and streetscape design on its perimeter. Redesign of the square itself should be explored. Such a design should retain it as an important civic open space but modify pathways, landscapes, paving patterns, street furniture, lighting, and access points to make it more usable and inviting.
1614.7 Policy CW-2.4.2: Emphasizing the Avenues and Visual Axes
Emphasize and reinforce the historic elements of L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the City of Washington in the planning and design of the Mount Vernon District. This should include the creation of more dramatic and well-lit gateways along Massachusetts and New York Avenues NW, capitalizing on the 8th Street NW view corridor (mitigating the effects of the TechWorld bridge), creating a park-like promenade along the K Street NW axis (on both sides of the square), and reinforcing the continuity of 7th and 9th Streets NW as access points to the square.
1614.8 Policy CW-2.4.3: Convention Center Area Land Uses
Encourage land uses around Mount Vernon Square that capitalize on the presence of the Washington Convention Center. Such uses include hotels, restaurants, retail, and entertainment uses. Convention-related hotel construction should be focused on vacant or underused land immediately adjacent to the convention center to minimize impacts on the surrounding neighborhood.
1614.9 Policy CW-2.4.4: Mount Vernon Triangle Residential Development
Continue developing the Mount Vernon Triangle (east of Mount Vernon Square) as a high-density residential neighborhood. Zoning incentives for this area should encourage the production of housing, as well as local-serving ground floor retail, arts, and small office uses. Public and private sector improvements to parking, infrastructure, transit, and other community services and facilities should be provided as development takes place.
1614.10 Policy CW-2.4.5: Creating a Sense of Community in Mount Vernon Triangle
Foster a stronger sense of community in Mount Vernon Triangle by including affordable housing, as well as market rate housing; providing family-oriented amenities such as larger housing units and parks; encouraging small-scale cultural uses and small businesses; and preserving historic landmarks within the area. The 5th and K Streets NW area should be emphasized as the area's neighborhood center, and the 3rd and K Streets NW area should be emphasized as its residential core.
See also the Near Northwest Area Element and the Urban Design Element for additional policies regarding development along the edges of Central Washington.
1614.11 Policy CW-2.4.6: Mount Vernon District Parks
Improve the network of public open spaces in the Mount Vernon Square and Mount Vernon Triangle areas to meet the needs of residents, workers, and visitors. Special attention should be given to enhancing the bow-tie shaped park reservations on Massachusetts and New York Avenues NW and improving Cobb Park, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and H Street NW, to serve the recreation and open space needs of the surrounding community. Support the efforts of the Mount Vernon CID in providing more active, programmed uses in Mount Vernon Square itself. This requires coordination with NPS and NCPC. Eventual transfer of park management responsibilities to the District should be pursued for these spaces.
1614.12 Policy CW-2.4.7: Creating Pedestrian-Oriented Streets in the Mount Vernon District
Promote active, pedestrian-friendly streets throughout the Mount Vernon District. Place a particular emphasis on improving K Street NW as a major east-west pedestrian route, with wide sidewalks and abundant street trees and landscaping. Pedestrian amenities should also be provided along 5th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Streets NW to improve the connections between the Mount Vernon District and the Gallery Place and Chinatown areas to the south.
1614.13 Action CW-2.4.A: Parking Management Program
Develop and implement parking management programs to buffer residential areas from spillover parking associated with the convention center, downtown office and retail growth, new attractions on the old convention center site, and elsewhere
on the northern edge of downtown.
As one of the only District-owned park spaces within the area, Cobb Park should be prioritized as a centrally located and welcoming urban park for the surrounding communities. If Cobb Park is found not to be a viable location for a park, another space of equal or bigger size within the neighborhood should be improved with the same objectives. It should be designed and constructed to be an iconic neighborhood gathering space to adequately meet the open space needs of the rapidly growing neighborhood. Special care should be made to improve pedestrian access at street crossings. Streetscapes at surrounding sites should be enhanced to extend the experience of the park beyond its immediate borders.
SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996, effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996, effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).