On Thursday, December 10th, at the Tarboro Road Community Center, the DHIC team unveiled the draft Master Design Plan for the revitalization of Washington Terrace.  The presentation came after a year-long engagement process that involved a series of resident, community and stakeholder meetings, design workshops and information sessions.

The initial phase of the plan includes construction of 162 rental apartment homes for individuals and families of low- to moderate-income.  Building types will be a mix of garden apartments and townhomes with one-, two-, and three-bedrooms.  The new apartments will be energy efficient and will include washer/dryer hook-ups.

Externally, attention was given to the relationship of the buildings to the street; the visibility of parking and services; and the use of public spaces.  Related to the street network, the plan includes a more urban grid that creates and realigns existing streets.

Additional features of the master plan include:

• Leasing/management offices
• Community clubhouse w/ multipurpose room for programming and activities
• Resident business and fitness center
• Laundry facilities
• Children’s play areas
• Recreation and green space
• Community garden
• Childcare center

The second phase includes a seniors complex with 80-85 units of affordable housing, with a mix of one- and two-bedrooms.  The building will have secured access, interior corridors, elevator, and self-contained amenities such as a fitness room, community space, business center, and more.

Phase 1 is scheduled to begin in early 2016 and completed by 2018 and tax-credit financing for Phase II seniors housing will be approached in January 2016.

We would like to extend a special thanks to our Washington Terrace residents and the community at-large for your participation in the civic engaged master planning process.  Your input has been invaluable to this process.  We also thank the City of Raleigh for initial funding and commitment to affordable housing and to our private partners Wells Fargo and Enterprise Community Partners for the pre-planning grants that helped to jumpstart the process.  We would also like to thank our design team JDavis Architects, 1over1, and Crowder Consulting.

For more information about the Washington Terrace Master Planning Process, please call (919) 832-4345 x 3031.