The District of Columbia (“D.C.”) has a relatively long history of being known for its trees, stemming back to the planting of 60,000 trees initiated by the last Governor of D.C., Alexander “Boss” Shepard in the 1870s. While his tenure was brief, his vision of D.C. being the “City of Trees” endured as tree planting efforts were continued by the Federal Government, National Park agencies, citizens, and leaders such as Lady Bird Johnson. (See City of Trees by Melanie Choukas-Bradley 3rd Edition.)
Today, the goal of preserving and increasing D.C.’s tree population continues. One of D.C.’s top sustainability goals is to increase the tree canopy of the city from 35% to 40% by 2032. (https://doee.dc.gov/service/canopy-3000.) In furtherance of this goal, updates to the Urban Forest Preservation Act, as set forth in the Sustainable D.C. Act of 2014, were enacted formally into law by Mayor Muriel Bowser in in 2016. (D.C. Code § 8-651 et seq.) “Sustainable D.C. 2.0” (http://www.sustainabledc.org/in-dc/sdc2-0/) continues to prioritize green space and trees and incorporates both into its climate mitigation strategies, along with strategies related to energy efficiency, healthy communities, and increased access to nature.
The D.C. Code now sets forth specific laws to protect “Heritage” and “Special Trees” that are governed by District Department of Transportation (“DDOT”), as will be explained below. (https://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Common/DCMR/RuleDetail.aspx?RuleId=R0020859.)
However, these are not the only tree protection laws that developers must be aware of – the 2016 Zoning Regulations set forth even stricter tree protection standards for certain residential neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are those that the D.C. Government considers important for tree canopy, air quality, soil protection and erosion, storm water management, and cultural significance.
Below are four types of tree-related issues to be aware of when planning a development project in D.C. Knowing how these four issues apply to a specific project will save both time and money and will help ensure the overall viability of a proposed project, as just one relatively large tree in an inopportune place can have an immense and costly impact on a project. Read more ›
It all started in 1894, when the famous architect Thomas Franklin Schneider designed and constructed the Cairo. At 164 feet tall, the Cairo was the first residential skyscraper in the District of Columbia (the “District”), causing an uproar among the District’s residents. The concern was the safety of the structure of such buildings and the ability to fight flames in the event of a fire. In response, the District’s Board of Commissioners passed a regulation limiting the height of all future residential buildings. By 1899, Congress passed a law, amended in 1910, commonly known as the Height Act, limiting the height of District buildings to 130 feet.
The District hotel market is hot. Statista.com states that 9.58 million people in the U.S. visited Washington, DC overnight within a period of 12 months and that, in 2014, Union Station was the fourth most-visited tourist attraction in the world, with 32.9 million visitors. Here are four areas where developers, asset managers or private equity funds can look within the hospitality industry and seek to deploy a high risk-return strategy by renovating and repositioning existing hotel assets: 
