2035 2nd Street NW, Washington DC
- Parker Flats at Gage School
- Size: 118,500 SF
- Budget: $23 Million
- Completed: 2008
Erected in 1904, The Gage School building sat vacant for decades. The dilapidated building was unattractive and served as a magnet for illegal activity, but Howard University recognized the potential of this former DC public school building’s rich architectural details. It selected Urban Realty Advisors to purchase the property through a competitive bid process in 2004.
Urban Realty Advisors hired a design team led by Bonstra Haresign Architects (“Bonstra”) to rehabilitate the old building and to construct two new buildings on the site. Bonstra worked to create a beautiful new product that still fit into the neighborhood. To do this, it mimicked the style and scale of the surrounding townhouses in the design of the new buildings. Bonstra planned the three buildings around a central landscaped courtyard that could serve as a nucleus for the buildings’ residents.
Parker Flats at Gage School consists of 92 units ranging in price from the mid-$200,000s to the mid $500,000s. The Washington Business Journal named this project “Best Rehab/Renovation/Reuse” in its “Best Real Estate Deals of 2007” edition. Parker Flats was also one of twelve recipients of the “Distinctive Residential Architecture” awards presented in 2007 by Washingtonian Magazine, in association with the Washington Chapter of the American Institute of
Architecture.
The total project costs for Parker Flats were $35 million. Completed in 2007, the building has served as a catalyst for positive change in LeDroit Park. Residents of LeDroit Park/Bloomingdale have yet another reason to be proud of their historic neighborhood. Once an eyesore, Parker Flats is now a structure that contributes to the beauty of 2nd Street, NW.
The success of Parker Flats has demonstrated to other businesses that it can be both financially profitable and socially rewarding to invest in the rehabilitation of historic LeDroit Park.
