Perspectives of urban development - Ivy City

Approaching Ivy City, west, on New York Ave, you first notice the stacked multicolored shipping containers, a tribute to the neighborhood’s industrial past. The parts of Ivy City that hug New York Ave are a mix of old and new, of residential and industrial, and of fortified grand structures and open parking lot.

This description is largely accurate for the all of the neighborhood. Walking down any Ivy City block, you see a hodgepodge of residential, commercial, and industrial cityscapes. Several blocks of row houses, some abandoned, others with a fresh coat of paint, while others are completely new structures. Hecht’s Warehouse Apartments were opened a few years ago, and attracted a middle-class tenant. Ivy City’s commercial sector is mainly new business. There is an older liquor store, and a take-out food restaurant that appears to be out of business (it is never open during the hours on the storefront sign). There are a number of restaurants geared toward a middle-class crowd. Ivy City Smokehouse (founded 2016), was featured in Zagat DC’s “10 Most Important Openings” for 2016. The top floor of the restaurant offers fresh seafood, smoked earlier that day (if you go to Ivy City in the morning, you can see and smell the smoker in operation), while the bottom floor is occupied by supplier ProFish, which sells daily fresh catches by the pound.

Across the street, Ari’s Diner is located on the ground floor of the renovated Hecht’s Warehouse building, as are the restaurants Dock FC, and La Puerta Verde. All are owned by Ari Gejdenson, who saw an opportunity when he heard of the Hecht development project. The industrial parts of Ivy City are interwoven throughout, and many of these old warehouses are home to the area’s thriving distillery collective. Five distilleries have opened in Ivy City over the last 6 years. Green Hat Distillery was the first to reopen after Prohibition, and operates with small to medium batch vodkas and gins. Tastings are free and open to the public.

Ivy City is filled with the typical noises of any city. Cars engines, horns, and the occasional bird (though there aren’t many areas for city “wildlife” to thrive). More often than not, you hear commotion of construction. The area is home to a number of capital investment projects. For example, a large L-shaped construction site on Fenwick and Okie streets will be a series of boutique shops.

As I’ve spent time at Ivy City, my thinking toward it has evolved. I originally saw some of the redevelopment project as completely positive. While the investments have really put Ivy City “on the map” it has also risen local rents by over 20% from 2011 – 2015. For low income residents, this jump makes relocation the only viable option.

I think my goal with this case study will be to find ways to foster inclusion of the original residents of Ivy City. I’m not sure what this would look like, but it will be a top priority.