The Banks—an apartment building under construction across the street from the Wharf—comes with the standard amenities for a luxury DC development: Roof deck with fire pits and grilling stations, pet spa, fitness center. But its ground floor retail space is a bit unusual. Rather than a trendy new restaurant, the Banks will boast a private preschool called the Goddard School, and a new location for Riverside Baptist Church.
Riverside Baptist has stood on the site since the 1960s. It sold a portion of the land for the Banks to the apartment’s developer PN Hoffman, which agreed to provide a new church so that Riverside Baptist could continue to be a fixture in Southwest DC. The inclusion of a preschool is also a response to community need.
Though the Banks isn’t scheduled to open until next month, leasing begins today. Rents range from $1,800 to $6,500 a month. The 173 units range from 420-square-foot studios to 1,170-square-foot residences with two bedrooms, plus a den. Though the building is not directly on the riverfront like the apartments that are actually within the Wharf development across Maine Avenue, some units come with water views. The communal rooftop space also has a view of the Washington Channel, the Washington Monument, and the Capitol dome.
Studios Architecture designed the building, which is midcentury-modern inspired, and intended to fit among the other modernist architecture of Southwest DC.
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
