Georgetown’s West Heating Plant redevelopment hits a snag

Since 2013, there have been plans to demolish all or parts of Georgetown’s dormant West Heating Plant industrial site, located at 2900 K Street NW. Ever since, the developer has visited the Old Georgetown Board multiple times with renderings and plans that have yet been successful.

According to The Georgetown Dish, the Old Georgetown Board recently told the project team that its design proposal should more closely deal with preservation. “In particular, board members focused on the difference between rehabilitating an existing building with historic features and reinterpreting such a building for a new use,” reported The Georgetown Dish.

Current plans for the project consist of building a six-story, 60-unit condo building with an adjacent public park. The proposal also plans on replacing the existing skin of the building facades with more windows and expanding several side doors.

In an interview with The Current, Richard Levy of the Levy Group said, “From our perspective, what they’re looking for is not in the community’s interest [and] is not in fact buildable.”

One critic of the proposal, Jim Wilcox of ANC 2E, said that the project violates the D.C. Comprehensive Plan. It also allegedly jeopardizes a sewer line underneath the existing building. Despite Wilcox’s concerns, the ANC 2E voted in support of the concept design.

After the proposal receives approval from the Old Georgetown Board, it will require review from the Commission of Fine Arts, the Historic Preservation Review Board, and the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation.

There is no timeline set yet for the project.

• Old Georgetown Board Rejects Heating Plant Proposal [The Georgetown Dish]