A plan to build some transit-oriented development at Takoma Metro has been in the works since 2000. After a lull of at least 5 years, it’s back on the front burner. Developer EYA has devised a totally new plan that may address the objections neighbors raised to the previous plan last decade.

Image from Google Street View via WMATA.

The original concept involved 90 townhouses across most of the site and creating a “village green” of more active, but smaller, open space. Residents didn’t like losing that much open space, and also argued that 2-car garages would foster too many car trips for a project right at a Metro station.

Image from EYA via WMATA.

EYA now proposes a much more compact development — a 5-story, “approximately 200” unit condo building that’s almost entirely on the footprint of the existing parking lot. According to a presentation on the WMATA Board agenda for this Thursday, the large open space on the southeast side would stay mainly as is, though pedestrian “desire lines,” where people cut through the site today, would become real paths.

Image from EYA via WMATA.

The bus bays would remain where they are, and expand to have 1 new bus bay and 1 “layover bay” for a bus to wait between runs. Metro would build a bike station that can hold 105 bikes.

The current surface parking lot has 141 short-term spaces, but according to WMATA documents, the lot is rarely more than 50% full, so the new project’s garage would include 100 metered Metro spaces along with some resident parking.

Photo by the author.

Why did people oppose the previous plan?

The first time I visited Takoma, on a WalkingTownDC tour, the tour guide stopped at the Metro parking lot, and held up a photograph of the old commercial street that was once here, long before the Metro station.

She opposed the previous EYA proposal, and made some strong points about its weaknesses, such as the 2-car garages. However, she also talked about Takoma’s “small town” feel, and seemed at some level to oppose the idea of more neighbors. The question lingered in my mind: how many were opposing the plan because of its flaws, and how many out of resistance to building anything or adding new residents at all?

The new building will bring a similar number of residents or maybe even more, but provides the 2 things residents asked for most strongly: more open space, and fewer garage spaces.

There is a community meeting on July 16 for residents to hear more about the plans and discuss with WMATA and EYA. As residents get to see more details, we will be able to understand if this is truly a better design than the old one.

This plan keeps a lot of open space, but instead of small blocks of townhouses, it’ll be one large apartment building. From the massing sketches, it looks like just a parking garage will face the Metro station. For better or worse, smaller condos will probably be less attractive to families, which have been strongly drawn to the Takoma area. The Metro presentation says that “mid-rise development has occurred surrounding the site bringing into question … the suitability of townhomes for the site.”

Image from EYA.

This new plan provides a good opportunity for those who want better TOD to push for a plan that builds what would be best for Takoma. As the process continues, perhaps they can find other ways to make the plan even better, as long as that doesn’t just mean shorter, smaller, or housing fewer people.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.