Holland & Knight Receives Two Awards from the District of Columbia Office of Planning Historic Preservation Office
Washington, D.C. – November 17, 2010 – Holland & Knight is pleased to announce that the firm was recently honored by the D.C. Historic Preservation Office at its eighth annual Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation. The firm was part of two development teams that won the following awards:
State Historic Preservation Officer's Award: Holland & Knight D.C. attorneys Carolyn Brown and Whayne Quin, and Steven E. Sher, Director of Zoning and Land Use Services, represented the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) in winning approvals for a major addition to its headquarters building, designed by celebrated architect John Russell Pope, on the National Mall. The regulatory hurdles were daunting; APhA needed to buy land from the federal government adjacent to its property at 23rd Street and Constitution Ave., N.W., which triggered an alphabet soup of governmental reviews. The Pharmacists underwent rigorous scrutiny of the "Section 106" review process of the National Historic Preservation Act and they had to secure separate design approvals from the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and the D.C. Mayor's Agent for Historic Preservation. The project also required rezoning and obtaining approvals for a planned unit development from the District of Columbia Zoning Commission. Holland & Knight successfully ran the labyrinth of the required federal and local municipal approvals, with the new building dedicated on November 13, 2009.
Residential Project Award: Holland & Knight D.C. attorneys Christopher Collins and Kyrus Freeman obtained the land use approvals necessary to allow an important historic building to be incorporated into a successful new downtown residential project. The historic two-story coal delivery building is important because it was originally designed in the early 20th century by John A. Lankford, D.C.'s first African American architect. The building, located at 1450 Church Street, NW, had been abandoned since the 1968 riots after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The new $9 million, 27-unit project, called Citta 50, includes the complete restoration of the historic Lankford building and a sensitive incorporation of the building into a new modern seven-story residential development.
Each year, the District of Columbia Historic Preservation Office honors significant contributions by individuals, organizations and businesses for promoting historic preservation in the District of Columbia.