Page 61 - ArchDC_Spring 2020

The Highline, at right, with other buildings under
construction nearby. Note the park between the
building and the railroad tracks.

Street-level view.
Photo © Maxwell MacKenzie Architectural Photographer Photo © Maxwell MacKenzie Architectural Photographer

Rooftop pool.
Photo © Maxwell MacKenzie Architectural Photographer

The dramatic demographic shifts that spurred DC’s Project: The Highline,
economic decline in the late 20th century and its 320 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC
resurgence in the early 21st have been magnified in the
changing fortunes of certain specific neighborhoods. Architects: Eric Colbert & Associates, PC
One example is Union Market, an area that was totally Interior Architects: Akseizer Design Group
unfamiliar to many Washingtonians just a few years Landscape Architects: Lee and Associates Inc.
ago, but is now a booming commercial, retail, and Structural Engineers: Tadjer Cohen Edelson Associates
MEP Engineers: Interface Engineering
residential hub centered around a trendy food hall of Civil Engineers: CAS Engineering-DC, LLC
the same name. General Contractor: Clark Construction Group
Built in the early years of the Great Depression,
Union Terminal Market (as it was originally called) shuttered by city authorities. Despite the construction
replaced the old Center Market on Constitution of a new enclosed farmer’s market—today’s food hall—
Avenue, NW, which was demolished to make way for the complex attracted fewer and fewer retail customers.
the National Archives Building. Sited between Florida By the early 2000s, the area was a gritty remnant,
and New York avenues and between 6th Street, NE, largely overlooked despite its proximity to Gallaudet
and the railroad tracks leading to Union Station, the University, two major avenues, and a busy rail corridor.
new complex consisted of a group of low-rise utilitarian Nowadays, Union Market is a symbol of DC’s
structures that provided stalls for farmers and other urban renaissance. Anchored by the food hall, specialty
vendors. By the 1960s, many of these structures were shops, restaurants, and a pop-up movie theater, several
in violation of health and building codes and were

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