The data center permitting and entitlement review process might be getting more difficult in Northern Virginia. Home to nearly 300 data centers, Northern Virginia has become known as “Data Center Alley.” Scattered across Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William counties, these data centers handle more than a third of the world’s online traffic. And the demand for more data centers is rising, fueled by AI-related needs, growing industrial and manufacturing demand, general electrification, and buildout of EV charging infrastructure. About The Author

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the writing has been on the wall that downtown D.C. could use a breath of fresh air. With office vacancy rates skyrocketing, the Bowser administration has made no secret of its desire to resuscitate downtown D.C. as a livelier mixed-use neighborhood. One of the primary aims of this policy goal is to encourage the conversion of office buildings into residences. From a land use perspective, this is a bet on “if you build it, they will come.” But the market has been slow to embrace the conversion process. About The Authors

It is a New Year for D.C. zoning and we are all wondering what 2023 will bring given the recent changes at the Department of Buildings. As of October 2022, the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) was officially dissolved and split into two new agencies – the Department of Buildings and the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. The move comes two years after a D.C. Council vote to dissolve the DCRA. Under the new structure, the updated Department of Buildings is charged with issuing building permits, conducting inspections, and enforcing the building code and Zoning Regulations while the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection oversees licensing and regulating businesses.  About The Authors

If the COVID-19 pandemic was not already difficult enough on the D.C. real estate development community, recent proposed legislation by the D.C. Council might make developing condominiums in the city more challenging. On September 17, 2020, the D.C. Council’s Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization held a public hearing on two bills that will impact the processing and adjudication of structural warranty claims for the District’s condominium buildings: The Condominium Warranty Claims Clarification Amendment Act of 2020 (Bill 23-0623) (Claims Clarification Act) and the Condominium Warranty Amendment Act of 2020 (Bill 23-0601) (Warranty Amendment Act). The Claims Clarification Act, which was generally supported by members of the development community, proposes a formal process to resolve condominium warranty claims. Specifically, when…

Dr. Robert Redfield, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during his testimony before a Senate subcommittee on September 16 that wearing face masks may be more effective than a vaccine at protecting against COVID-19. What is surprising is the authority tasked with enforcing public health requirements for face masks in the District–the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration. About The Authors

As part of the initial flurry of administrative and regulatory changes in response to the ongoing pandemic, the Zoning Commission (Commission) took emergency action to approve a text amendment to the Zoning Regulations extending the validity of approval orders that otherwise would expire between April 27, 2020, and December 31, 2020. The amendment applies to orders from the Board of Zoning Adjustment approving a special exception or variance as well as orders from the Commission approving a first-stage planned unit development or any contested case such as a consolidated planned unit development.  About The Author

On July 1, 2020, the Board of Zoning Adjustment (Board) reversed a decision by the Zoning Administrator (ZA) allowing the by-right conversion of an existing dwelling unit into an eight-unit apartment house in the RA-1 zone.   The crux of the appeal in BZA Case 20226 concerns the ZA’s interpretation of Subtitle U §§ 401.1 and 421.1 in the Zoning Regulations, which govern multiple dwelling uses in the RA zones. Under Subtitle U § 401.1, multiple dwelling uses are permitted as a matter-of-right in all RA zones except for the RA-1 and RA-6 zones. Whereas, in the RA-1 and RA-6 zones, Subtitle U § 421.1 dictates that special exception relief is required for “all new residential developments, except those comprising…