Art Deco Design Proposed for New Clubhouse at Hunting Point/Bridgeyard Apartments

The owner of the Hunting Point Apartments (now known as Bridgeyard) located at 1202 and 1204 S. Washington St., has submitted an Art Deco design for a new clubhouse, for approval from the City’s Old and Historic District Board of Architectural Review.

In its application, the owners point to other examples of Art Deco design in the City including Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy, Suburban Drive-In Laundry and George Washington Middle School.

The architect who designed the building is Faik Tugberk, whose firm is Architects Collaborative Incorporated of Bethesda, Md. The company has won awards for its designs, which include Carlyle Place in Alexandria.

Here’s more about the proposal, from the application:

The applicant is proposing to construct a clubhouse building between two existing 11-story residential buildings. As a result, approximately 50 percent of the clubhouse is hidden from view on Washington Street by the two buildings.

The proposed building is situated approximately 275’ from S. Washington Street making it less visible and therefore has a small impact on the existing streetscape. The design of the proposed building is in line with the two adjacent residential buildings and also with other commercial buildings in the area. It does not by the style, location or other characteristics, detract from, overwhelm, or otherwise intrude upon historic buildings which are found on the street. The applicant also is seeking approval of new signage on the property, on the new clubhouse and the existing buildings.

The Hunting Point on the Potomac apartment complex was built in the late 1940s and early 1950s and was originally comprised of three apartment buildings. The Virginia Department of Transportation purchased the property to construct the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, demolishing one of the buildings in the process. The Virginia Department of Transportation retained ownership of the two remaining building containing approximately 530 units.

On March 29, 2013, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) sold Hunting Point on the Potomac to the Hunting Point Apartments, LLC, which is managed by The Laramar Group, LLC headquartered in Chicago Illinois. The Laramar Group’s primary business is the ownership and management of apartment complexes and they currently own other apartments in the D.C. area.

The company is in the process of renovating its building at 1204 S. Washington. It’s received a lot of complaints on Yelp from longtime tenants about rents going up and noise due to the construction, among other things.

The company also owns and manages Broadfalls in Falls Church and Hermitage Hill in Alexandria.