D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 1618
1618.1 The NoMa and Northwest One Policy Focus Area includes the area roughly bounded by New Jersey Avenue NW on the west, Massachusetts Avenue NW/NE on the south, New York Avenue NW/NE on the north, and 2nd and 3rd Streets NE on the east. This 350-acre area includes the Union Station and NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro stations.
1618.2 For much of the past century, NoMa has been an industrial and warehousing area and a back-office district supplementing downtown. Its proximity to the CSX railroad and the established concentration of industry along New York Avenue NE attracted light manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors throughout the mid- to late 1900s. During the 1990s, the area was viewed as the District's best prospect for high-technology uses, and plans were developed to attract new media and biotech enterprises, as well as telecom hotels, to the area.
1618.3 NoMa's proximity to the U.S. Capitol has also made it a desirable location for government office space. During the 1980s and 1990s, office development moved steadily northward along North Capitol Street NE and, by 2000, was also moving eastward toward Capitol Hill. This trend accelerated after 2000 with the opening of Metro's first infill station at NoMa-Gallaudet U, the renovation of a historic printing plant in Eckington, the leasing of more than one million square feet at Station Place (1st and F Streets NE) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and the development of a new headquarters facility for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives at 1st Street and New York Avenue NE.
1618.4 Very few areas of NoMa remain vacant or underused today. The strong demand for downtown housing has shifted the vision for NoMa's future, and it is now an exemplary modern neighborhood of mixed-use development, rather than just technology and back-office uses.
1618.5 Planning for NoMa should also accommodate established uses. The area includes important historic buildings like the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the recently refurbished Uline Arena. It also includes active light manufacturing and wholesale uses north of Florida Avenue and east of the CSX tracks. These uses should not be driven out by rising land values and speculation, but should be retained.
1618.6 In 2006 the District completed the Vision Plan and Development Strategy for NoMa establishing more detailed policies for the area. The strategy envisions an area of high-density commercial and mixed-use development between North Capitol Street NE and the CSX railroad tracks, and a less intense and primarily residential area east of the tracks, stepping down to the moderate-density
residential areas of Capitol Hill. A similar transition was envisioned on the north, with vacant land and industrial uses north of Florida Avenue NE and west of the railroad gradually giving way to housing over the next 20 years. The strategy also envisions air rights development over the Amtrak tracks (adjacent to the H Street NE overpass) north of Union Station, helping bridge the railroad barrier and support the revival of the H Street NE commercial district to the east. The Union Station Expansion and Air Rights Development projects present a significant opportunity not only to underscore the role of the station as one of the most important regional transportation hubs in the Northeast and as one of the District's most distinctive historic landmarks, but also to reinforce the many additional roles it plays in the District. It acts as a critical center of multimodal transportation; a vital community asset to District residents; a place of civic, cultural, and commercial activity; and a national gateway to the downtown, Capitol Hill, and NoMa neighborhoods, which include mixed uses, job centers, hotels, and cultural and entertainment uses that attract millions of visitors and workers each year.
1618.7 West of NoMa, the Northwest One neighborhood is roughly bordered by North Capitol and K Streets NW, and New Jersey and New York Avenues NW. The area includes several public housing developments, including the Sursum Corda Cooperative, Tyler House, Sibley Plaza, and Golden Rule Center. In 2017, approximately 19.5 percent of households were at or below the poverty line. In 2004, Northwest One was selected as the pilot site for the District's New Communities Initiative, a District government program designed to revitalize severely underfunded public housing and redevelop neighborhoods into vibrant mixed-income communities. Subsequent planning guidance was provided through the Mid-City East Small Area Plan, which was completed in 2014. (See the Mid-City Area Element for more information.) Plans are currently underway to rebuild the Sursum Corda Cooperative as a mixed-income community, providing one-for-one replacement of existing public housing while adding market rate housing and new community anchors and amenities.
1618.8 Policy CW-2.8.1: NoMa Land Use Mix Promote NoMa's development as an active mixed-use neighborhood that includes residential, office, hotel, commercial, creative, arts, maker, light industrial, and ground floor retail uses. A diverse mix of housing, serving a range of household types and incomes, should be accommodated.
1618.9 Policy CW-2.8.2: East of the Tracks and Eckington Place Transition Areas Create a production/arts and live/work, mixed-use area east of the CSX railroad tracks between H Street NE and Florida Avenue NE and in the area east of Eckington Place and north of New York Avenue. Some of this area is shown as Mixed-Use Production Distribution Repair/Residential areas on the Future Land Use Map. The intent of this designation is not to blend industrial uses with housing, but rather to retain viable industrial activities while supporting the
creation of live/work space, housing, artists’ studios, and similar uses. Mixed-use squares in the NoMa area have unique characteristics that allow for a balance of industrial, residential, and office uses. The industrial striping on the Future Land Use Map anticipates some office use. These two areas should generally not be developed as large-scale commercial office building areas. Mixed-use development, including housing, should be encouraged in both locations.
Design NoMa to accommodate a wide array of transportation options, with a particular emphasis on walking, bicycling, and improved transit connections. Improve the accessibility, functionality, and safety of the area’s street grid, introducing new streets as needed to improve circulation through the area. This should include the redesign of 1st Street NE as NoMa’s Main Street and the New York/Florida Avenue NE intersection to improve pedestrian safety, enhance access to the New York Avenue Metro station, and create a landscaped neighborhood gateway, possibly including a new national memorial.
Provide appropriate scale transitions between NoMa and existing adjacent residential neighborhoods in Eckington and Capitol Hill to conserve the fine-grained row house fabric of these communities. Service facilities, loading docks, and other potentially objectionable features should be located away from sensitive uses, such as housing.
See also the Urban Design Element and the Capitol Hill Area Element for policies on scale transitions.
Establish a unique architectural and design identity for NoMa based in part on the area’s heritage as an industrial area. This identity should preserve, renovate, and adaptively reuse NoMa’s important historic buildings.
Encourage the reduction of parking spaces to the west of the GPO building and promote the space as a redevelopment site for new mixed-use commercial and residential buildings, with ample public park or plaza space. Consider closing segments of 1st and G Streets NW, currently blocked off with Jersey barriers, to incorporate these unused portions of the public right-of-way as new and well-designed community-gathering spaces.
Prioritize Union Station’s vital role, now and in the future, as an intermodal
transportation hub, while recognizing the importance of its preservation as a key historic landmark and function as a community asset. Future expansion and air rights development projects should appropriately respond to surrounding land use and design programs and plans, including those for Downtown East, Capitol Hill, and NoMa neighborhoods.
1618.15 Action CW-2.8.A: Implement the NoMa Vision Plan Implement the NoMa Vision Plan and Development Strategy, including its recommendations for land use, infrastructure, transportation, environmental improvements, streetscape, open space, identity, and neighborhood quality.
See the Mid-City Area Element for additional information about the proposed Eckington Small Area Plan, including the North Capitol Street area between Florida and New York Avenues.
1618.16 Action CW-2.8.B: Northwest One New Community Redevelop Northwest One as a mixed-income community, including new market rate and public housing, a new school and recreation center, a library and health clinic, and neighborhood-serving retail space. Redevelopment of Northwest One should:
1618.17 Action CW-2.8.C: Mid-City East Small Area Plan Implement recommendations detailed in the MidCity East Small Area Plan as it relates to neighborhoods in the Central Washington Area Element.
1618.18 Action CW-2.8.D: Union Station Expansion Project and Rail Yard Air Rights Development
Continue participating in the Union Station Expansion Project and continue coordinating with related projects, including the H Street NE Bridge reconstruction and future air rights development projects.
Because of the Union Station air rights’ uniquely diverse surroundings—including rowhouses, historic landmarks, and dense office development—and its potential to spur other investment in the neighborhood, encourage a process that requires public participation in the review of any development application for that site.
See the Transportation Element for additional information on the Union Station Expansion Project.
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 Comprehensive Plan
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)).