Local
ANC to vote on Whitman-Walker project
Redevelopment of Taylor building sought
A rendering of the proposed redevelopment of the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center.
The Logan Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission, ANC 2F, was scheduled to vote Wednesday night on whether to accept a recommendation by one of its committees that Whitman-Walker Health scale back the size of its proposed redevelopment of the site of its Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center at 14th and R St., N.W.
Last week, Whitman-Walker and its partner in the joint venture project, Fivesquares Development, released details for plans to convert the site into a 155,000-square-foot, six-story structure that would include retail shops and restaurants on the ground floor, underground parking, 60,000 square feet of office space, and at least 80 residential apartments.
Whitman-Walker, which would retain majority ownership rights in the project, would use about half of the office space for its community health programs, according to Whitman-Walker spokesperson Shawn Jain. Whitman-Walker would use its share of the revenue generated by the project to sustain and help finance its longstanding mission as a community health center with a special outreach to the LGBT community, Whitman-Walker officials have said.
ANC 2F member Kevin Deeley, who chairs the ANC’s Community Development Committee, told the Washington Blade that after receiving a presentation on April 27 from representatives of Whitman-Walker and Fivesquares Development, the committee adopted a resolution with recommendations that it was to present to the full ANC meeting on May 4.
Deeley said the committee’s resolution supports the overall design concept and endorses the project’s plans for the historic preservation of the Elizabeth Taylor building and a separate building on the site. Whitman-Walker purchased the existing buildings and surrounding land in the early 1990s before the 14th Street, N.W. corridor exploded into the bustling entertainment, retail and upscale residential destination it has become.
“They approved the general concept with a few reservations,” Deeley said of the ANC committee. “They thought the concept was a little too monolithic,” he said, adding that the committee would like the project to be “somewhat less massive” in size.
Since the project was designed to be within the size and height limits mandated by the city’s zoning restrictions for that section of the city, Whitman-Walker and the developer do not need to apply for a zoning variance from the D.C. Board of Zoning.
What they do need is the approval of the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board, which is charged with making sure all new buildings in historic districts, such as the 14th Street district, are designed in a way that they respect and preserve the character of the district “without exactly duplicating” nearby existing buildings, according to a HPRB pamphlet.
Under D.C. law, city agencies must give “great weight” to ANC recommendations, but the agencies, not the ANCs, make the final decision on a proposed project such as Whitman-Walker’s.
Andy Altman, managing partner of Fivesquares Development, who attended the ANC committee meeting on April 27, said he was pleased with the committee’s response to the project.
“I actually thought it was a very positive meeting,” he said. “I thought it was a good discussion. I thought the people were very supportive.”
Altman said his development firm, Whitman-Walker officials and nationally known architect Annabelle Selldorf of New York, who designed the proposed new structure, will take into consideration all comments and suggestions by ANC 2f and the Historic Preservation Review Board, which he said has already been given copies of the plans for the redevelopment project.
“There are modifications that can be made to this design,” Altman said. “I think we’ll wait to get all the comments from the preservation office and the preservation review board and then look at what changes to make at that point,” he said.
“I think the fundamentals of the project in terms of its historic buildings and the way of the architect’s concepts are very, very strong,” Altman said.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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