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One of Dantes Partners founder Buwa Binitie's favorite buildings is New York's Flatiron building, so when he thought about potential designs for the small, triangular Mount Vernon Triangle site DC selected his firm to develop, he knew where to start.
Dantes filed its plans this week for the Capitol Vista project, a 104-unit affordable housing building with 3,200 SF of ground-floor retail, which the development team modeled after the New York City icon.
"That was the first thing that came to mind when we went after this site, was how could we create a modern-day version of the Flatiron building in a way that makes it iconic, both architecturally speaking and as a programmatic use," Binitie said. "We felt it was only fitting given the location that we sort of take a little bit from the Flatiron and inject our own modern approach to it, with glass and some of the other features."
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The Mount Vernon Triangle site, at 888 New Jersey Ave. NW, is just a block from the Capitol Crossing development and halfway between Union Station and Gallery Place. Such a desirable location could command top-of-market rents, but Binitie saw a need for well-located affordable housing.
"There’s a lot of pent-up demand for affordable everywhere," Binitie said. "What you typically don’t see is creating affordable housing product in a highly desirable neighborhood."
Binitie said he is ready to break ground as soon as the Zoning Commission approves the project, which he hopes will be a smooth process.
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