HPRB Approves Public Portion Of McMillan Redevelopment

The public portion of the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant and Reservoir redevelopment has received a key approval that puts the wheels in motion for work at the 25-acre site to begin as soon as early next year.

The Historic Preservation Review Board has unanimously approved the plans for the public portion of the project from development group Vision McMillan Partners. The plans have already received the green light from planning, zoning and the mayor’s agent, and, with the nod from HPRB, VMP can move forward with its early project timeline, Urban Turf reports.

For starters, VMP will begin the permit process for 2501 First St NW, an eight-acre site that it hopes to begin demolition work on in early 2017. That phase of the project will take about a year, and will include preservation and restoration work for a portion of the site along the way.

Upon completion, work on the public portion of the project will begin, which will include a community center with a green roof, an amphitheater, a playground and a “sprayground.” Also on tap is a park that will front North Capitol Street, and plenty of green and paved spaces that will be featured prominently. 

Partners on the development team for the McMillan project include EYA, Jair Lynch, Trammell Crow, Shalome Baranes and Perkins Eastman. The project has had its share of opposition in the past, but it looks like we finally have liftoff on this much-anticipated project, which will include retail, offices and residential components, as well as a 52k SF Harris Teeter as part of the full site redevelopment. [UT]