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Street façade of Portner Flats. Photo © Anice Hoachlander V Street entrance to Portner Flats.

own building might be considered undesirable. The Portner The eight-story, 93,844-square-foot Portner Flats building
Place tenants, however, didn’t want to have their new affordable includes 23 studios, 25 one-bedroom units, and—similar to
apartments scattered among a larger number of market-rate the old Portner Place complex—36 two-bedroom units and 12
apartments in a building whose amenities would be oriented three-bedroom units. The studio and one-bedroom units are for
primarily toward more affluent, often childless professionals— tenants earning 60% or less of the area median income (AMI),
they instead wanted a building of their own that would offer a while the two- and three-bedroom units are for tenants earning
package of amenities tailored to meet the needs of families with 50% or less of the AMI. Each apartment features a dishwasher
children. The tenants asked for their new building to include and microwave oven, LED under-cabinet kitchen lighting, a
the same mix of two- and three-bedroom apartments that had ceramic-tile surround for the shower and tub, a programmable
been provided by the Portner Place complex, and for their new thermostat for controlling a quiet and efficient heating and
building to be on located on the V Street part of the site, since V cooling system, access to high-speed cable and internet service,
Street is quieter than U Street. and ample closet space.
The new development achieves all these things. The The building’s community amenities include secure and
Portner Flats building faces V Street, where it sits next to the controlled access, a package locker system, laundry facilities, a
Berkshire 15 (a new market-rate apartment building designed playground, a multipurpose room, a business center, a fitness
by WDG Architecture), and across the street from the St. room, a bike room, and a rooftop deck with an event and
Augustine Catholic Church and its associated school. The lounge room and a grilling area. A resident services fund was
Sonnet, meanwhile, faces U Street, with a long wing at its rear established to maintain the building’s programs for computer
that extends back to meet a similar but shorter wing projecting training, health and wellness, financial counseling, and
from the rear of the Portner Flats building. Together, the two employment assistance. The building was designed to meet
adjoining buildings span the entire site, enclosing a street- Enterprise Green Communities standards, and its sustainable-
level outdoor space on their west side that is organized into design features earned it LEED Gold certification.
two secure courtyards, one for each building. A single garage The 11-story (plus penthouse) Sonnet, with a total of
entrance on V Street, under one end of the Portner Place 206,998 square feet, includes 288 studio, one-bedroom, and two-
building, leads to a common underground garage for both bedroom units and 15,300 square feet of street-level retail space.
buildings, with 31 spaces reserved for Portner Flats residents (Locating the development’s garage entrance on V Street helped
and management staff, and 120 for Sonnet residents. maximize the amount of retail space that could be provided
76 A FINE PAIR