I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again — exterior facade costs are absolutely marginal compared to the cost of the land, the foundation, internal construction, electrical wiring, plumbing etc. It’s a rounding error. You do not dissuade construction by having standards for these things, any more than having other mundane building code requirements like sidewalk encroachments.

In fact such constructions DO happen and are priced comparably to the luxury apartment developments you find in Navy Yard or boutique developments in places like H Street.

For example: https://www.bozzuto.com/development/development-portfolio/chevy-chase-lake-phase-i/