Options are important to the residents at Connecticut Heights in the Van Ness neighborhood of upper Northwest. Lucky for them, they have plenty of amenities to choose from.
Apartment-dwellers who do not like high-rise living can live on the mid-rise "Commons" side. Those who do not want garden-style apartments can choose a unit on the high-rise side.
They can swim outdoors in the pool on the second-floor quad in the center of the four-building Commons complex and work out in a spacious exercise room. If they prefer to swim indoors, they can cross the street and use the pool at the Ellicott House. They can play tennis or use the spa there too, while Ellicott House residents have the same exchange privileges at the Connecticut Heights outdoor pool.
Connecticut Heights is made up of two areas connected by a common lobby and taking up one square block of Connecticut Avenue between Davenport and Ellicott streets. The high-rise building is gray brick, and the four buildings in the Commons complex are red brick. The five-building complex includes 519 apartments in all.
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On the mid-rise Commons side, four buildings are oriented around a courtyard. Two buildings face Davenport Street, two face 36th Street and the high-rise fronts on Connecticut Avenue. The Commons was built in the mid-1920s and remains a five-story building in which most apartments have hardwood floors, recently updated kitchens and bathrooms, and window-unit air conditioners. The 12-story high-rise side was constructed in the mid-1970s, and houses carpeted apartments with kitchens and baths remodeled within the past two years, and central-air conditioning.
"Some people feel better living in a high-rise, and some like being lower in garden-style apartments," said Karen Kossow, sales and marketing manager for Charles E. Smith Residential, the building's management company. "What's nice is here we can give people what they want."
Eve Bergman, 44, has had a one-bedroom apartment on the 12th floor of the high-rise side for two years, but she is now moving into a two-bedroom unit in the Commons to accommodate her newly adopted 9-year-old niece. "The mid-rise is very different and not as modern-looking as the high-rise. There are trade-offs to living in either place. I'm really going to miss the view but the kitchens are bigger and are all brand new," Bergman said.
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Moving to Washington from New York, Bergman chose Connecticut Heights because it was convenient to downtown and to I-495. She also factored in the low crime rate.
Share this articleShareBergman appreciated the natural light that spills into her apartment and the renovations at the Commons. "Everything was brand-new, and I think that's what appealed to me after years of scraping people's old grilled cheese off my stoves in New York," she said.
Tamara Rademacher also said the updated kitchens attracted her to the building. Two years ago, Rademacher, 29, her husband and two children moved from Wisconsin into the Commons side. "We knew we wanted to live in a mid-rise building, and it's nice to live on the first floor so any noise my sons make doesn't bother anyone below," she said.
The building is great for her 7- and 9-year-old boys, she said, because there is swimming year-round and a school playground across the street. Other attractions Rademacher appreciates are the windows in each room, the building's location a half-mile from the Van Ness Metro stop and steps away from a bus stop, laundry rooms on each floor, staff that is responsive to her concerns and a fitness center added last year. When she meets people who do not live in her complex, Rademacher said, she finds that none has the same amenities she enjoys.
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A big draw for Adam Arkel was the building's garage parking. Arkel, 38, lived in the building last summer while he interned for a law firm. After graduating from Duke University Law School, he landed a job in the District and moved back to Connecticut Heights in May.
"Parking was really important to me because I was an out-of-stater and wanted a safe and secure spot for my car," he said.
"I like it a lot. It worked nicely the first time around. Obviously because I was moving back permanently, my standards were higher," Arkel said. "The amenities are good, it's convenient, people are friendly and the price is good for D.C."
Resident Tamara Rademacher enjoys the outdoor pool with her son Henry, 7.Residents can work out at the complex's spacious exercise room.
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