The Height of Buildings Act of 1910 was an Act of Congress passed by the 61st United States Congress on June 1, 1910, to limit the height of buildings in the District of Columbia, amending the Height of Buildings Act of 1899. The new height restriction law was more comprehensive than the previous law, and generally restricts building heights along residential streets to 90 feet (27 m), and along commercial corridors to the width of the right-of-way of the street or avenue on which a building fronts, or a maximum of 130 feet (40 m), whichever is shorter.
Background
In response to the construction of the 164-foot (50-meter) Cairo Hotel in 1894, D.C. Commissioners issued height regulations for buildings in D.C., limiting their height to 90 feet (27 m) for residential and 110 feet (34 m) for business, or to the width of the street in front, whichever was smaller. The original Height of Buildings Act, passed by Congress in 1899, removed the front street restriction, but reaffirmed limiting buildings to 90 feet (27 m) on residential streets and 110 feet (34 m) on business streets. It also made an exception for buildings on business streets 160 feet (49 m) wide, which were permitted to be 130 feet (40 m) tall.
Description The 1899 act was amended in 1910 creating Chapter 6, Subchapter 1, Section 5. Section 5 added the restriction that the height of any building would be limited to the width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet (6.1 m) up to a maximum of 90 feet (27 m) on residential streets, 130 feet (40 m) on commercial streets, and 160 feet (49 m) on a small portion of the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue between 1st and 15th Streets Northwest opposite the Federal Triangle. The act has since been amended eight times, of which five amendments made exceptions for specific buildings: St. Matthew's Church in December 1910, the Harrington Hotel in June 1924, the National Press Club Building in April 1926, the United Masonic Temple in April 1930, and finally the Georgetown University Hospital in March 1945. The other two amendments included raising the height maximum on residential streets by five additional feet, and permitting residential buildings to have ten instead of eight floors.
Tallest buildings in District of Columbia
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, completed in 1959, was granted an exemption to the law by the District Zoning Commission. At 329 feet tall, the National Shrine stands as the tallest building in Washington, D.C., excluding the Washington Monument (555 feet (169 m)) and the Hughes Memorial Tower (761 feet (232 m)). When the original act was passed in 1899, the Old Post Office Building was grandfathered in, and remains as the tallest high-rise federal building in the district. One Franklin Square is the tallest commercial building in District of Columbia and the fifth highest building overall. Completed in 1989, its twin towers rise to 210 feet (64 m) and above the main roof line, which reaches the district's height limit of 130 feet (40 m).
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