Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation — Urban Planning Standards for the Nation's Main Street

Pennsylvania Avenue — the mile-long boulevard connecting the White House at one end and the U.S. Capitol at the other — is often called the "Nation's Main Street." By the 1960s, it had fallen into a state of disrepair: vacant lots, neglected buildings, and a streetscape that embarrassed the capital before millions of tourists and foreign dignitaries. President Kennedy famously remarked on the avenue's condition during his 1961 inaugural procession. Congress responded in 1972 by creating the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation (PADC), a federal agency with authority to acquire land, approve development proposals, and implement an urban renewal plan for the roughly 34-block development area between the Capitol and the White House. Over the next two decades, the PADC oversaw the development of hotels, office buildings, restaurants, public parks, and cultural facilities that transformed the corridor into a functioning downtown. The PADC was dissolved in 1996 when its redevelopment mission was substantially complete; its planning functions were transferred to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and the General Services Administration (GSA). The urban planning and design standards the PADC established — codified at 36 CFR Part 910 — remain in effect and govern any future development within the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Area.

Legal Authority

• 40 U.S.C. § 875 — Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation Act; created the PADC in 1972 with authority to acquire land, approve development proposals, and implement an urban renewal plan for the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Area; dissolved the PADC in 1996 upon substantial completion of its mission
• 36 CFR Part 910 — PADC urban planning and design standards; transferred to GSA and NCPC administration upon PADC dissolution; remains in effect as the binding development approval framework for the 34-block corridor between the White House and the Capitol

Key Mechanics

36 CFR Part 910 establishes binding urban planning and design standards for the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Area — approximately 34 city blocks in downtown Washington, D.C., between the White House and the U.S. Capitol, encompassing the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. Any new construction, demolition, or major renovation within the area must comply with Part 910 as administered by GSA and reviewed by NCPC. The framework operates at two levels: Part 910 establishes uniform standards applicable across all development parcels — maximum density development, historic preservation requirements (Secretary of the Interior's Standards), design excellence for new buildings, mixed land uses at street level, pedestrian circulation standards, and prohibition on uses incompatible with the avenue's ceremonial and civic character; Square Guidelines (site-specific planning documents adopted for each parcel or "square") add parcel-specific requirements for building height, setbacks, retail frontage, and parking. Development proposals are evaluated comprehensively for how they contribute to the corridor's coherent urban form, respect the Capitol and White House visual termini, honor the L'Enfant Plan's baroque diagonal street pattern, and achieve the PADC's founding mandate to treat Pennsylvania Avenue as the physical and symbolic link between the legislative and executive branches of government.

Current Rule (2026)

What This Rule Does

Part 910 establishes the urban planning and design framework governing development within the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Area — a roughly 34-block zone in the heart of Washington, D.C., bounded generally by Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, E Street to the north, 1st Street NW to the east, and 13th Street NW to the west. Any new development (construction, demolition, major renovation) within this area must comply with the standards in Part 910 as administered by GSA and reviewed by NCPC.

The regulations work in conjunction with "Square Guidelines" — site-specific planning documents that the PADC adopted for each development parcel (or "square") within the Development Area. Square Guidelines specify parcel-specific requirements for building height, setback, use mix, retail frontage, parking, and other elements. Part 910 establishes the uniform standards applicable across all squares; the Square Guidelines add parcel-specific requirements. Together they form the development approval framework for the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor.

Part 910 is organized in four subparts: General (program administration), Urban Planning and Design Concerns (factors evaluated in reviewing proposals), Standards Uniformly Applicable to the Development Area (binding design requirements), and a Glossary.

Key Provisions

• § 910.1 — Policy: Pennsylvania Avenue must be developed as a physical and symbolic link between the White House and the Capitol, reinforcing both the ceremonial character of the avenue and its role as a functioning mixed-use downtown corridor; new development must respect the avenue's scale, historic character, and prominence in the capital's urban design
• § 910.11 — Comprehensive urban planning and design: all new development must be conceived as an integral part of its surroundings — the Mall, the Federal Triangle, and Washington's downtown — and must not create isolated structures incompatible with the development area's scale and character; development proposals are evaluated on how they contribute to coherent urban form
• § 910.12 — Development density: land must be developed to the fullest appropriate extent to enhance the city's economic life and tax base; new development must achieve maximum allowable density while meeting urban design and historic preservation goals — the PADC's planning philosophy rejected both overdevelopment that overwhelms historic character and under-development that wastes the corridor's economic potential
• § 910.13 — Urban design of Washington, DC: Pennsylvania Avenue's role as the ceremonial processional route between the White House and the Capitol must be reinforced; new development along the avenue must respect the visual termini (the Capitol dome and the White House) that give the avenue its civic power; L'Enfant Plan relationships and the city's baroque diagonal street pattern must be honored in siting and design
• § 910.14 — Historic preservation: the Development Area lies almost entirely within the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site; rehabilitation of historically significant buildings must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation; demolition of contributing historic structures requires a finding of infeasibility before the approving authority will permit it; the PADC adopted a Historic Preservation Plan identifying contributing historic buildings within the area
• § 910.15 — New development design: all new development must represent the best contemporary architectural and urban planning concepts; developers must retain architects of demonstrated ability; historic context must be respected without requiring historical pastiche — modern architecture is acceptable if it achieves design excellence; contextual relationships (height, scale, setback) to adjacent historic buildings are required
• § 910.16 — Land use: development within the area must provide mixed uses — retail, cultural, entertainment, residential, and high-quality office — to create a lively and varied street environment; exclusively office or residential developments that eliminate street-level activity are discouraged; specific land use requirements for each parcel are in the applicable Square Guidelines
• § 910.17 — Pedestrian circulation: a comfortable, stimulating pedestrian system must connect the development area with the Mall and Washington's downtown; weather protection (arcades, canopies, awnings) at street level is encouraged; curb cuts and vehicular access must not interrupt the pedestrian realm; underground pedestrian connections between buildings are encouraged
• § 910.31 — High architectural quality (uniform standard): every development must maintain a uniformly high standard of architecture; great care must be shown in the architectural treatment of all facades visible from public spaces, not just primary street frontages; cheap or temporary materials are not acceptable in a corridor of national significance
• § 910.32 — Historic preservation (uniform standard): rehabilitation of historically designated buildings must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards; the approving authority reviews rehabilitation proposals for compliance with these national preservation standards; alterations that destroy character-defining historic features are not permitted
• § 910.33 — Off-street parking: off-street parking as a principal use is prohibited within the development area; parking is only permitted as an accessory below-grade use within a mixed-use development; this prohibition reflects the PADC's determination that surface parking lots and parking garages are incompatible with the Pennsylvania Avenue streetscape
• § 910.34 — Accessibility: every development must incorporate features making it accessible to people with physical disabilities; standards track the American Standard Specifications for Accessible Design
• § 910.35 — Fine arts: original artworks (sculpture, murals, decorative windows, fountains, tapestries) should be incorporated into each development; the PADC encourages commissions for original works of art rather than reproductions; public art is expected to be of professional quality and contextually appropriate
• § 910.36 — Energy conservation: all new development must be designed for economical energy consumption; the DC Energy Conservation Code and its implementing regulations set minimum standards; PADC's own energy guidelines supplement the DC code requirements

How It Affects You

If you own property or are developing within the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Area: Part 910's urban planning and design standards apply to your project. Before submitting permit applications to the DC Department of Buildings, you must work through GSA and NCPC for federal consistency review. The standards are binding — not advisory — and proposals that do not meet the architectural quality, historic preservation, pedestrian circulation, and mixed-use requirements will not receive approval. The Square Guidelines for your specific parcel contain the detailed setback, height, and use requirements that govern your site. Hire an experienced DC-area preservation architect early; the review process involves the NCPC, the DC Historic Preservation Office, and potentially the Commission of Fine Arts (which has jurisdiction over DC federal projects), and the combined review timelines are long.

If you are a historic preservation professional or interested in Washington DC's built environment: Part 910 represents one of the most ambitious federal urban renewal and historic preservation programs in American history. The Pennsylvania Avenue corridor of the 1960s included some of the most significant historic commercial buildings in Washington — the Evening Star Building, the District Building, the Old Post Office Pavilion (operated 2016–2022 as Trump International Hotel; the Trump Organization sold the lease in May 2022, and the property has since operated under successor hotel branding), the Willard Hotel, and numerous smaller 19th-century commercial buildings. The PADC's plan successfully preserved most of these, integrated them with new mixed-use development, created major public spaces (Freedom Plaza, Western Plaza/Pershing Square), and reconstructed the Avenue's streetscape. The planning standards in Part 910 codify the design philosophy that produced this transformation: active retail frontages, pedestrian-scale design, historic preservation as a prerequisite rather than an afterthought, and rejection of the isolated office tower form that was demolishing urban fabric across American cities in the 1960s and 1970s.

If you work on federal urban development or Capitol Hill real estate: The Pennsylvania Avenue corridor is one of the most tightly regulated development zones in the United States — subject to DC zoning, federal historic preservation law, the Part 910 standards, National Capital Planning Commission review, and Commission of Fine Arts aesthetic review. The layered regulatory structure creates significant complexity for any proposed change, but it also ensures that development on the Nation's Main Street meets a standard appropriate to its prominence. GSA manages several major properties within the zone, including the J. Edgar Hoover Building (FBI headquarters) — long a redevelopment target because its brutal modernist architecture is inconsistent with the corridor's character — and the Old Post Office Tower.

Statutory Authority

This rule implements:

• 40 U.S.C. § 875 (Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation Act of 1972, § 5) — grants the PADC authority to prescribe regulations governing urban planning and design standards for the Development Area; establishes PADC's authority to review and approve development proposals; requires PADC to develop and adopt a plan for Pennsylvania Avenue consistent with the purposes of the Act; upon dissolution of PADC in 1996, its regulatory authority transferred to successor agencies

Recent Rulemakings

Part 910 was promulgated in the 1970s during active PADC development of the Avenue. The PADC was dissolved by Congress effective 1996 (Public Law 104-99), with its regulatory functions assumed by GSA and the National Capital Planning Commission. No substantive amendments to Part 910 since dissolution — the planning standards are stable. The regulations govern a now-substantially-complete development area; new development activity within the zone is incremental (renovations, interior conversions, small-site infill) rather than the large-scale square redevelopment that defined the PADC era.

Pending Action