JBG Seeks Approval for Bethesda Row Development Tonight

The JBG Companies will make a return appearance before the Montgomery County Planning Board tonight to seek Preliminary Project Plan approval for both phases of their Woodmont East mixed-used development in the Bethesda Central Business District. Located at the northeast side of Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues and wedged directly on one of the last vacant parcel adjoining the Bethesda Row development, the project had previously been approved for 78,300 square feet of office space, 40,350 square feet of retail, a 225 room hotel, and 250 multi-family residential units in two towers.

In the first news to come of the project since it was first announced in 2007, JBG has apparently scrapped plans for the hotel and is seeking consent for a re-jiggered development scheme with a whopping 208,579 square feet of office space, a diminutive 9,000 square feet of retail, and 250 residential units that will, in the words of the Planning Board, continue “the successful theme of mixed retail, restaurant and office uses along ‘Bethesda Row.’” The building once intended to house the hotel will instead be utilized as an office tower and the Thymes Square restaurant next door to the site at 4735 Bethesda Avenue will be razed to make way for the development.

Planning Board staff has already granted pre-approval to all three of portions of the plan. The scenario was much the same – staff approval included – when JBG presented their plan to the Board in November 2007, shortly after leasing the property from Bethesda Row developer Federal Realty Trust. In surprise move, the Board wound up denying their application, following complaints from the community about detrimental affects to the Capital Crescent Trail system and encroachment upon the neighboring movie theater. Federal Realty Trust also tried but failed to get approval for a nearly identical project at the site just weeks before that fateful turn of events.

JBG representatives would not comment on the development until after the scheduled April 30th hearing.

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FDA Office Gets Residential Revamp in Rockville

Developers AvalonBay Communities are nearing the end of two years plus of planning for the redevelopment of the US Food and Drug Administration offices at 12720 Twinbrook Parkway in Rockville. The 32-year-old, 50, 235 square foot "office/flex industrial building" currently on site will soon be razed to make way for the Avalon at Twinbrook Station – a new, SK&I-designed residential complex that will add 240 units to the rental market.

"We've been presenting this plan to the neighborhood for the past two years and, essentially, now we’re [entering] the formal approval process. The City of Rockville was going through an entire…master plan recreation for Twinbrook neighborhood,” said John Cox, a Senior Vice President at AvalonBay, of the project’s origins. “When they created the new Twinbrook neighborhood plan, [the City] endorsed our use on the site.”

With the backing of both the local community and city planners, the development team will deliver more than two hundred apartments – ranging in size from 450 square foot studios to 1200 square foot two-bedroom "lofts" – with 12.5% set aside for affordable housing. The bulk of Twinbrook Station will top out at four-stories, but also include a portion that steps down to a three-story “townhome façade along the majority of Halpine Road.” It’s a design scheme that has allowed the developers to conceal the project’s parking garage by surrounding it with residential units on three sides – with the exception being a portion abutting the future site of 7-story office building currently in development by Uniwest Commercial Realty.

AvalonBay will soon be submitting their final site plan to the Rockville City Council for approval and is planning for construction to get underway late next summer. “I don’t believe there is a scheduled hearing date yet, but, obviously, we’ve had numerous meetings with [City Council] staff and public committees,” said Cox. “We’re thinking [we’ll start in] probably the third quarter of 2010.”

Lacey Grand Opening

District Officials Decry Condos, Celebrate Affordable Housing in Columbia Heights

A cadre of District officials, including Mayor Adrian Fenty and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, gathered in Columbia Heights today for the re-opening of the 230-unit Hubbard Place affordable housing complex (formerly known as the Cavalier Apartments) at 3500 14^th Street, NW. Spearheaded by the Somerset Development Company and the 3500 14^th Street Tenants Association, the $52 million renovation has not only reinvigorated a Washington building recently added to the National Register of Historic Places, but has secured - and ensured the longevity - of a once notorious Section 8 public housing project as well.

"Just a few short years ago, fire marshals had to stand on each floor to assure the safety of the residents. It was dangerous to walk in the halls or ride the elevators…This building has been made safe again for the residents who live here…But this time with a twist,” said Somerset principal Nancy Hooff. “It has affordable rents [and] it’s near public transportation and shopping. Smart growth, indeed.”

According to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, residents of Hubbard Place can look forward to updated amenities that include “new elevators, the creation of new community spaces and a computer lab, secure access, new kitchens and baths, windows, roof and all new common areas.” The city block-straddling development also includes a new home for the Latin American Youth Center, which provides educational and vocational services to area youth, as well as two new businesses: the Black Lion Deli and George’s Shoe Repair. In the view of Eleanor Holmes Norton, the dramatic shift in Hubbard Place's fortunes can be attributed directly to tireless efforts of the building’s residents.

“There is no way in which the city and the federal government could have done a thing with Hubbard [Place], if there had not been a determined band of residents who said, ‘We’re not going to let this place go’…I’m just pleased to see something that I can point to that [the US Department of Housing and Urban Development] has done these days,” said the congresswoman, not quite jokingly.

The local government, however, did play a prominent role in gathering the formidable sum required for the large-scale renovation procedures, as overseen by the architects of Kann Partners and the project’s general contractor, Hamel Builders. Out of the development’s $52 million budget, the Department of Housing and Community Development provided $8.5 million for the acquisition of the property, with the District of Columbia Housing Authority pitching in an additional $4.6 million for historic preservation. The building upgrades were funded primarily through $26 million in tax exempt bonds issued by the District of the Columbia Housing Finance Agency. It’s a role that District officials, like Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, were eager to hang their hat on.

“We have enough condos,” said Graham. “We can build condos where there once vacant lots surrounded by hurricane fences. But we are going to keep our diversity and we’re going to keep our low-income housing. We’re going to build new low-income housing…We’re going to do all this because we care.”

Hubbard Place is the second such affordable housing renovation opened by the city in as many weeks. Last week, Mayor Fenty presided over the grand re-opening of Jubilee Housing, Inc.’s Ontario Court project at 2525 Ontario Road, NW, in nearby Adams Morgan. New condos are being built in Washington DC.

Arlington's First Green and Gold Building

In a major coup for Erkiletian Real Estate Services' (ERES) mixed-use redevelopment of the Executive Office Building, the developer has gained both a density bonus and approval from Arlington County Board. The reason? In a first for Arlington, ERES is pursuing a LEED Gold certification for their new building - a "green" rating second only to Platinum (but who can afford that nowadays).

Located two blocks away from the Courthouse Metro at 2009 14^th Street North, the aging seven-story office complex and adjoining parking garage on site will be razed in the coming months to make way for a sixteen-story titan of eco-friendly development. At present, plans prepared by the architects of the Lessard Group call for 254 rental residential units, 8,127 square feet of office space and 4,354 square feet of retail - plus, for good measure, an additional 2,257 square feet of flexible office/retail space. Couple that with a 26,145 square foot public plaza on top of the project’s three-story parking garage -which, according to the Board, will host "a scenic overlook offering views of national monuments in Washington, DC" - and Arlington legislators have reason to be pleased as punch.

“This building has it all – high-quality housing, ground-floor retail and office space and a public plaza that will offer great views of the national monuments,” said Board Chairman Barbara Favola via press release. “We get all this in a building that is built to a Gold LEED standard. This is the sort of project we want to see more of in Arlington.”

The caveat is that while developers can aim for green standards, there is no guarantee that, once built, the project will qualify as planned. A final determination will made by the US Green Building Council based on five criteria: sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. There's no word yet on exactly what type of features Arlingtonians can look forward to bragging about once the building is completed. When DCmud last reported on the as-of-yet untitled project in December, ERES was projecting a third quarter 2009 start date for construction – shortly after they begin work another 200-unit residential building at 621 North Payne Street in neighboring Alexandria.

SE Church Bringing Affordable Housing to Barry Farm

Prominent Ward 8 church Matthews Memorial Baptist, has partnered with developer Community Builders (TCB) to expand their community servicing mandate into the realm of affordable housing. The Church – which has served the Barry Farm/Anacostia community for 85 years, boasts 1300 members, operates 60 different ministries and frequently hosts speaking engagements for local politicians such as Marion Barry - is now looking to bring a new housing project and community center to a large parcel adjoining their location at 2616 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE.

According to the Office of Planning, the 79,900 square foot site currently holds five houses and an asphalt parking lot, all of which would demolished to make way for the Matthews Memorial Terrace – a 100% affordable housing development consisting of a four-story apartment building with 100 residential units, roughly of a third of which would be reserved for seniors. Next door, a three-story community center would include a health clinic (possibly an extension of the United Medical Center – itself slated for a large-scale expansion), a community room, a bookstore/café and “a dinner room/restaurant” that, according to Bishop C. Matthew Hudson, Jr., would be “Ward 8’s second full-service sit-down restaurant.” The project is being designed by PGN Architects.

“Upon learning of my desire for the Church to provide affordable housing, Community Builders contacted me and we discussed the possibility of building…on the Matthews Memorial Baptist campus,” said Hudson at a March 5^th Zoning Commission hearing. “The partnership between the Church and TCB is represented a good match to obtain our mutual goals of creating a vibrant, mixed-use affordable rental community.”

Though still in the planning stages, organizations and individuals, including the ANC 8A, the ANC 8C, the Ward 8 Business Council, the Anacostia Coordinating Council and DC City Council members Marion Barry and Kwame Brown, have all voiced their support for the project. The next step in the approval process for the Matthews Memorial Terrace lies with the National Capital Planning Commission, which will review the development team’s proposal at their May 7^th meeting. And it looks be a straight shot, given the altruistic nature of the project.

“[The Church] continuously works to revitalize and rehabilitate the Anacostia community,” said Hudson. “The Church’s goal in pursuing this project is to allow it to further serve the community which we love and are an integral part of…I’m very proud of the many ways in which the new Matthews Memorial Terrace will be able to assist Anacostia…as it continues to grow, revitalize, [and] redevelop itself for the future.”

Lacey Condos Grand Opening

The Lacey, a new condominium in the U Street neighborhood, will have its first public grand opening party this Thursday, from 6:30-9:30pm. The Lacey is a new 26-unit condominium at 2250 11th St. designed by Division1 Architects and developed by a partnership of Imar Hutchins and Division1. The ultra contemporary project took the place of the empty lot next to the fabled Florida Avenue Grill at 1100 Florida Ave., itself a bit of a Washington institution. The catered event is being co-sponsored by Washington Humane Society.

Condos at the Lacey, now about half sold, start at $319,000 for one-bedroom units and the low $600's for two-bedroom units. The building is strikingly non-traditional, with design features like floating common hallways, glass demising walls that project light throughout the building, an ultra-quiet and hyper-efficient pistonless elevator, sliding glass interior walls, and Italian Snaidero cabinets. Four glass box penthouse units crown the project, featuring multiple private roofdecks with views stretching across Washington DC. Construction of the project, which began in May of 2007 and being carried out by Eichberg Construction, is almost entirely complete; deliveries began last month.

Washington DC real estate news

"America's Front Yard" Gets Stimulated

While the Associated Press reports that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar directed $55.8 million in federal stimulus money to restoration of the National Mall this past Earth Day, plans for making over America's designated spot for both protest and play have been brewing for quite a some time. The National Parks Service (NPS) - the government agency tasked with overseeing all things Mall-related - recently released the details of their Preliminary Preferred Plan for the 309 acre site and it envisions a few nip-tucks that (gasp) may actually require some demolition.

On that note, NPS calling is calling for both the National Sylvan Theater and Capitol Reflecting Pool (not, as they are quick to point out, the iconic Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool) to be razed. While the latter would simply be replaced by another “water feature,” the Sylvan Theater – which hosts annual Military Band Summer Concert Series and the occasional fair-weather rally - would make way for a “multipurpose entertainment facility,” full details of which have yet to be disclosed. Union Square at the Mall's eastern end would also undergo a redesign, while the deteriorating District of Columbia War and Ulysses S. Grant Memorials would get the old toothbrush and brass polish treatment. Reps for the Department of the Interior also repeatedly emphasized the need to for restoration of the Jefferson Memorial’s sea wall, which spokesman Hugh Vickery described as “crumbling” against an ever encroaching Tidal Basin.

Not to be outdone by Salazar’s show of Earth Day bravado, the National Capital Planning Commission’s (NCPC) “Blue Ribbon Panel” of landscape architects has also released its critique of NPS’ plan for the Mall. While praising the restoration maneuvers as a “heroic effort,” they repeatedly refer to the site as both “America’s Front Yard” and an “international embarrassment.” Informed by the latter, they support “a standing ban on any new memorials or museums not already in planning stages (read: the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Eisenhower Memorial) and call for the relocation of tourist services off-site – citing the long-vacant Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building as prime contender.

To carry out these long-term goals of both the federal government and the NCPC, NPS has enlisted the aid of architects Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC and landscape architects DHM Design Corporation to outline their proposed modifications. With each contributor bringing their own roll of red tape to the table, could this be a case of too many cooks in the kitchen? There’s no telling at this point, but the renovation procedures could begin as early as this coming August.

Correction: The "Blue Ribbon Panel" mentioned above as extension of NCPC is, in fact, an "independent initiative" of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). Says Stephen Staudigl, NCPC Public Affairs Specialist:

ASLA took the lead to establish the Blue Ribbon Panel that included members from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects and the American Planning Association...NCPC supports some of the ASLA panel’s key findings, such as the National Park Service’s “heroic” effort to improve the National Mall based on the public’s call for improved conditions and better services.

DC Teams with Feds for Adams Morgan Affordable Project

Mayor Adrian Fenty was on hand last Thursday for a ceremonial ribbon cutting at the newly refurbished Ontario Court housing complex in Adams Morgan – a 27-unit, 100% affordable apartment building developed by Jubilee Housing, Inc. with designs by Bonstra Haresign Architects. The $9.4 renovation of the 86-year-old edifice also includes a new 4,000 square foot home for Jubilee’s JumpStart Early Childhood Development Center in the very same building at 2525 Ontario Road, NW.

David Bowers of Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. – one of the project’s backers, along with the US Department of the Treasury, the DC Department of Housing and Community Development and PNC Bank – began the festivities by leading a prayer in which he blessed not only the residents of the newly renovated building, but the project’s financiers as well – who, according to Bowers, are “not in the building business, but the people business.” Jim Knight, Executive Director of Jubilee Housing Inc., echoed that sentiment while exploring the various funding sources used to realize the project.

“Housing advocates and city officials have come together to create a funding source that goes by the name of the Local Rent Supplement Program,” said Knight. “It ensures affordability for the lowest income earners among us….The city government [also] came together and worked to create the Housing Production Trust Fund. We’re one of the few localities in the country that has one of these resources. It has been funded in the past and it is here at Ontario Court.”

According to the Mayor’s office, the project received $3.5 million from that fund for upgrades including “new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, new carpeting, upgraded kitchens and bathrooms, installation of new security systems, new air conditioning, and new laundry equipment.”

Far from being merely a local initiative, however, Ontario Court also received a big boost from the U.S. Treasury Department via their Community Development Financial Institutions Fund’s New Market Tax Credit Program. The program, which was created in 2000 to “provide tax incentives to induce private-sector, market-driven investment in businesses and real estate development projects located in low-income urban and rural communities,” was used to raise capital for Ontario Court - a project that Mayor Fenty says is indicative of a sea change in the DC development community.

“When the market-rate housing boom was coming through the District, people said, ‘This is the renaissance of the District of Columbia. This is the city come to life,’” said Fenty. “Market-rate housing has a place, but what we’ve seen over the past two or three years, as the market has stabilized and returned a little bit to normalcy, is an appetite and patience for building what is probably even more important to the District of Columbia – and that’s affordable housing."

In the coming months, the Department of Housing and Community Development will continue to pursue such developments in the Adams Morgan area by “putting money into” renovation projects at 1703 Euclid, 1720 Euclid, 1631 Euclid and 2233 18^th Street, NW - the last two both Jubilee properties.

The Amelia Fills in Ballston

The Dittmar Company is nearing the end of work of their newest Arlington County apartment project: The Amelia.

Designed and constructed by the same in-house Dittmar team responsible for the company's numerous Northern Virginia holdings - including their most recent developments at 1325 Pierce and Quincy Plaza - the Amelia is set to include 108 rental apartments, 4,158 square feet of ground floor retail (soon to be occupied by a mattress dealer) and 147 parking spaces. Flashy it may not be (we're looking at you, pillow top provider), but it’s a surefire improvement over 816 North Oakland Street’s former use as a four-story office building and adjoining Pizza Hut – two things off the menu for tenants when they begin to relocate to the building just off Wilson Boulevard early next month.

“Our first apartments will be in place by the 8th of May. Everything is ready [for that date], except that...we are waiting on Arlington County to give us permission to start moving in. We are pre-leasing at this point,” said Dittmar Leasing Consultant, Marsha Graham.

The building’s amenities are duplicitously friendly to health nuts and couch potatoes alike with a “cardio theater and strength equipment” for the former, while the more sedimentary folk can look forward to a “community room/media lounge with flat screen TV’s” and a “full service business center equipped with 24” Apple iMac computers. Interior decorum comes on the form of Corinthian countertops, “designer ceramic tile floors,” nine-foot ceilings and private balconies overlooking Oakland Park. Also in keeping with the current zeitgeist, the Amelia also Dittmar’s first foray into eco-friendly architecture.

“We are the first green building that Dittmar has built,” said Graham. “We are sound baffled and wonderfully insulated. All of the appliances are Energy Star rated, including a HVAC system...that is said to be 15% more efficient for heating and cooling.”

Rents at the Amelia are currently starting at $1625 for a one-bedroom with two-bedrooms priced from $2595 on up.

Near Southeast PUD Development Faces Re-Shuffle

Forest City Washington and Urban Atlantic (formerly known as Mid-City Urban, LLC) will go before the National Capital Planning Commission on May 7^th to face a second round of approvals for proposed modifications to their Second Stage PUD redevelopment of the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Dwellings in what is now the Capitol Riverfront. The project stems from a $34.9 million federal Hope VI grant given to the District of Columbia Housing Authority in 2001; that agency, which selected Forest City and Mid-City Urban for the project in 2003, is aiming for a mixed-income redevelopment at the Near Southeast site, with a one-for-one replacement of the 758 public housing units lost to demolition, plus 525 new affordable units and 330 market rate homes.

"It's a PUD stage two application for Squares 882, which is at 6^th and M, SE. There’s a commercial office building on the south side of that, right up against M Street and then there’s a residential building behind it to the north. The other PUD site is Square 769 at 2^nd and L Streets that is a residential building,” said David Smith, Project Manager for FCW. “Those are the only two that we need the PUD vote for, so that we can move on.”

The development team – which also includes architects from Torti Gallas, the Lessard Group and Shalom Baranes Associates – had their first hearing regarding the changes with the DC Zoning Commission (DCZC) on March 19^th. Citing the economic downturn as a contributing factor, they’re now planning to cut the size of floorplans at their four pending residential buildings along Canal Park with the intent of increasing the number of units on site.

“We are basically shifting around the density of the residential units and moving some parking…we’re above the required zoning amount [for parking]. We’re increasing it some spots and reducing it others,” said Smith. “There’s reduced parking at the office building, but there’s increased parking on another parcel.”

FCW has also been pushing for an extension of time to build a new community center at 5^th and K Streets, SE – a project that has already been pushed back several times since it was first announced. The DCZC gave the team a conditional approval for both the unit increase and parking reduction with the hitch that construction of the community center must begin sooner rather than later – in fact, a full twelve months earlier than FCW’s requested 2012 start date.

“We had asked for a certain date for the community center because of the economic times. The financing’s not there for it and we’re hoping they understand…We’ll find out what their vote is next Monday,” said Smith.

Though the sprawling, 23-acre Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded redevelopment initiative often fails to generate as much buzz as work immediately surrounding Nationals Park (including FCW’s own Yards project), progress in the Capper Carollsburg has been progressing steadily. The new Capper Senior Center and 400 M Street have already taken on tenants, while EYA’s Capitol Quarter project - featuring 137 market rate townhomes, 75 workforce housing townhomes and 86 public housing units - held a grand opening this past Wednesday. Seven hundred thousand square feet of office space is still planned to be split between 250 M Street and the Capper Senior Center’s former location at 7^th and M Streets, SE.

Corcoran Seeking New Developer for Vacant Southwest School

One of the District’s many vacant school sites will be remaining empty for the foreseeable future, now that the Corcoran College of Art and Design and Monument Realty have parted ways over the mixed-use redevelopment of the Randall Junior High School in Southwest. The split, which occurred last August after financial backing evaporated, has led the Corcoran back to square one in their attempt to convert the 800,000 square foot property at 65 I Street, SW, into two nine-story residential towers with 420 units of housing and 100,000 square feet of new college facilities. Now Corcoran will need find another development team up to the task. The school had intended to occupy the rebuilt space by 2011.

"The Corcoran is currently entertaining proposals for the building, but we’re as of now trying to move forward," said Kristin Guiter, Manager of Media Relations for the Corcoran. "We’re just trying to find an appropriate partner."

The college purchased the 50-year-old middle school from the District government in 2006 for a reported $6.2 million dollars. After teaming up Monument and Shalom Baranes Architects for the redevelopment initiative, Corcoran officials had planned to sell the site to the development team for an estimated $8.2 million, while retaining a condo interest in the property. Suffice it to say, the sale never occurred and full control of the Randall School still rests with the college.

In the meantime, Corcoran higher-ups continue to vet candidates from the DC development community for the project. Guiter tells DCmud that college currently hopes to retain the Shalom Baranes designs left over from the Monument era, but even that – along with many other details concerning the project’s future - is far from a certainty.

“It’s hard to say at this moment how we’ll move forward because of the economy and the current financial situation. It’s all TBD,” she said. “The Board is looking at proposals and we haven’t found the right partner yet, so it hard to say [when construction might begin].”

909 at Capitol Yards Opens

While the Washington Post may be increasingly skeptical about the viability of Southeast's Capitol Riverfront as either a residential or commercial neighborhood, it is certainly a strategy that developer JPI has bet heavily on. Next month, the developer will open the doors on the 909 at Capitol Yards project - their 421-unit "boutique-hotel themed" apartment building and third entry under their greater Capitol Yards development.

According to the Capitol Riverfront BID, tours of the WDG-designed complex have already begun for prospective residents and move-ins are scheduled to begin late this month. JPI is apparently targeting that hard to pin down 18-35 demographic the project with an advertising campaign that boasts of amenities like a two-story bar and lounge, yoga rooms, a “pub room” with shuffleboard (?!) and Nintendo Wiis, an in-house movie theater, a rooftop swimming pool for hosting “raucous barbeques,” and a Twitter ticker in every elevator tracking losses in the housing market (no, not really).

Should you feel the need for something more “classic and traditional” or an apartment with a little “industrial style,” JPI is directing inquisitive renters in the market around the Ballpark to the first two buildings completed under their Capitol Yards banner: the Jefferson and Axiom. Their marketing whizzes have even gone so far as to whip up a “personality quiz” to help choose from among their properties (sample response: "Call up your fav five and hit Banana Cafe for pitchers of Caipirinhas").

Though JPI still has one project in the pipeline– a 419-unit apartment building with 15,000 square feet of retail at 23 Eye Street – completion of Capitol Yards could be viewed largely as the developer’s curtain call the DC area. The Texas-based company had once targeted DC, along with New York City, as hot spots for condo development. However, after completing projects like The Byron and Jenkins Row – the latter of which is still selling four years on – the market’s prospects seem now much dimmer than they did just a few years ago and JPI has yet to announce any new plans for follow-up developments.

Correction: 909 at Capitol Yards was designed by the Preston Partnership, not WDG Architecture. WDG designed two other neighboring JPI projects, the Jefferson and Axiom at Capitol Yards.

Benning Station Yanked by DC

The much vaunted Benning Station project has lost its main tenant and developer in a recent twist that leaves its future in doubt.

Having long envisioned the Benning Road corridor in Ward 7 as one of the keystones of redevelopment in eastern Washington, DC, city planners aimed to realize their goals by not only attracting new retailers and residents to the long struggling area, but local government agencies – and the traffic that comes with them -as well. To the end, the Fenty administration has masterminded mixed-use projects, like the $108 "Downtown Ward 7" project at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE that will include large residential and retail components neighboring the new, currently under construction headquarters of the Department of Employee Services. But another project in the same vein may be in danger of falling through. And now community advocates are laying the blame at the feet of those that promoted it – namely the Office of Property Management and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

Developer (and Fenty confidant) Ben Soto and DBT Development's $55 million, Bonstra Haresign-designed project was supposed to bring a new, 132,500 square foot headquarters for DC’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) to 4414 Benning Road, NE – along with 21,000 square feet of much needed ground floor retail and a future phase that would include sixty-two residential units. Then, last month, the developer told the local ANC that he could possibly be pulling out of the project, just as news came down from OPM Director Robin-Eve Jasper that CFSA would not be relocating to Ward 7 after all.

“[The] reason the CFSA lease was being pulled was that they had found a ready-to-move in space… in Ward 5, specifically NoMa,” says Sylvia Brown of the ANC 7C04. “The DC City Council passed legislation two weeks ago giving developers in that area a $50 million tax break for the next two years. When you look at the fact that Ben Soto has designed the Benning Station project for CSFA with no additional monies requested and he’s not asking for any tax subsidies, that move to NoMa contradicts what the city says about needing a ready-to-move-in space.”

The news not only raised suspicions of community advocates, but was also an unexpected surprise. Soto himself had reportedly spent $11 million of “pre-development investment” funds to ensure the CSFA’s occupancy. Furthermore, according to the Ward 7 Citizens Coalition, the Benning Station project had already received numerous letters of interest from potential retailers, including CVS, TGIFriday’s and “other neighborhood serving retail” and has been tailored specifically to meet needs of the CFSA – making occupancy by another tenant unlikely, even as the project nears the end of the District-led approval process.

“Just this morning, it was before the Board of Zoning because it needs to have some zoning variations and it’s gotten the approval of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, as well as the Department of Transportation,” said Brown. “This is a project that had acquiesced to the CSFA’s needs for an additional 50,000 square feet. How can you…negotiate that additional space to meet your particular needs and then pull out at the last minute?”

Director Jasper will be on hand to answer that question herself, when she attends a public forum concerning the future of Benning Station this evening, Wednesday, April 22^nd, at the Kenilworth Recreation Center at 4300 Anacostia Avenue, NE. The meeting will begin at 7 PM.

Social Safeway Set for Demolition Next Month

Following last year's announcement that Georgetown's old school "Social Safeway" at 1855 Wisconsin Ave, NW would disappear (temporarily) in 2009, now executives at the supermarket chain say the aging facility will meet the wrecking ball as soon as it closes up shop once and for all on April 26^th.

"Demolition will start immediately [following the store closing]," said Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. "We plan to have it done for a March 2010 opening." In the meantime, shoppers at Safeway are stocking up on discounted food as if there were light snow in the forecast.

But fear not, valued customers. As stated above, the new and improved Social Safeway is planned to open next year with a 21^st century design - courtesy of Torti Gallas Architects - and a new floorplan that will largely abolish the current store’s massive and congestion-prone parking lot. By reclaiming part of its underutilized footprint, the from-scratch storefront will bare more resemblance to CityVista’s so-called “Sexy Safeway” rather than it’s former incarnation. Muckle tells DCmud that the new building’s design is the result of a lengthy approval process that the company underwent with locals and DC authorities.

“We had a number of visits with [the Old Georgetown Board] and [the US Commission of] Fine Arts. We went back a couple of times as there were some revisions requested along the way. But I don’t recall there being anything wildly out of line or that needed to be redrawn significantly,” he said. “We did spend a lot of time with the ANC, so I think we can say safely that the ongoing conversation really made the process much less challenging.”

In the meantime, renovation procedures take a much more low-key tactic at the "Not So Safeway" at 1747 Columbia Road, NW. That store will remain open when it goes under the knife (as early as early next month) and, although the store will forgo demolition, the end result will be much the same as in Georgetown.

“Under the current situation, [we couldn’t close the store]. We would have liked to, but if we’re not able to that, we’ll do the in-place remodel. It will be a complete interior renovation and decorum upgrade,” said Muckle. “It will look like…our other upgraded Safeways, of which there are now nine or ten in the area.”

Spectacular Adams Morgan Loft

Luxury Hotel Sought for Georgetown Canal

Commercial real estate developer ICG Properties announced this week that it is seeking to redevelop the former headquarters of the American Trial Lawyers Association at 1050 31^st Street, NW through a joint partnership with Castleton Holdings. The Washington DC-based developer's goal for the prominent Georgetown location? An "ultra-luxury hotel" with top-tier retail.

"[We are looking for a] high-end, luxury hotel operator," said David C. Stern, a principal with ICG. "There’s an opportunity for a fantastic restaurant presence on the Canal side of the building…In keeping with its location in the heart of Georgetown, it’s going to be a high-end project."

In its current incarnation, the five-story building hosts 50,000 square feet of space with two-levels of underground parking and views of the C&O Canal, the Potomac and the surrounding Georgetown area. According to Stern, the development will doing little to alter that – at least, externally.

“It won’t be a demolition. The hotel renovation would be primarily interior renovation work,” he said. “We haven’t selected a project architect yet…It’s very preliminary right now. Decisions like the operator, financing and the hotel architect haven’t yet fallen completely into place.”

That, however, hasn’t scared them from locking down a timeline on the project. Stern says his group is negotiating with an unnamed hotelier and is planning to begin construction by the end of the year. "They are not currently in the District, but, like many other groups, they are very interested in starting operations [here]," he said.

"Given the fact that it’s primarily an interior renovation project, it would be a 12 to 18 month period for construction,” said Stern. “Our goal would be to open in the first quarter of 2011." Presumably by then a hotel operator will have been selected.

Adams Morgan Fixer-Upper Gets Fixed-Up

The Kalorama / Adams Morgan neighborhood will soon have one less dilapidated tinderbox for neighbors to revile. Located at 2110 19^th Street, NW, the three-story apartment building at the site has gone from bad to worse over the past half-decade. Luckily for area preservationist aficionados, however, renovation (if you can call throwing out everything except the facade a renovation) is currently underway and, once completed, this real estate ugly duckling will emerge a swan - courtesy of DC apartment developer and management company Keener Squire Properties and the architects of Eric Colbert and Associates.

Originally known as the The Hilltop, residents of the then 15-unit tenement - described by The Washington Post at the time as a "badly deteriorated building" - were bought out of their leases in 2005. Another District development company, Nicol Development, then tried their hand at culling 22 condominiums out of the building shortly thereafter and summarily failed, leaving nothing but a condemned husk of a building in what was (ironically enough) one of the District’s more desirable neighborhoods. But then 2007 happened, and Nicol lost control of four local projects, this one to the lender. The property had been informally floated above $5 million by Nicol, then more formally listed at $3.8 million but still no takers. Cut to the summer of 2008, when Keener Squire was able to pick it up at the “fixer-upper” special rate of $2.1 million.

“My client bought it at auction,” said architect Eric Colbert. “Someone had tried to develop it a while back, but they didn’t know what they were doing and wound up abandoning the project…It must have been at least five or six years [since people lived there.]”

That's about to change. Keener-Squire is currently projecting a 12-month timetable for a complete renovation of the once-roughshod apartment complex. The building’s original 25,000 square foot shell will receive an extra 5,000 feet during the course of the build-out, allowing for a total of 35 new residential units and two new floors. Keener-Squire’s in-house general contractor, Wayne Construction, is overseeing work at the site. Sources say the building is being designed as rental apartments, but, as always, market forces will ultimately dictate the final outcome.

Donohoe Galvanizes Bethesda Development in the Woodmont Triangle

The Donohoe Development Company is in the early design and planning stages on what looks to be the largest mixed-use project to hit Bethesda since Bethesda Row went and upped the area’s chi-chi quotient a few basis points (see this month’s issue of Forbes for proof). Now, on the other side of town, in the decidedly less dapper (but getting there) Woodmont Triangle area, Donohoe has teamed with WDG Architecture to realize Woodmont Central: a multi-phase, mixed-use project that will bring office space, retail and, yes, apartments to Wisconsin Avenue and beyond.

Within the next few years, Phase 1A, as Donohoe is calling it, will be the 8280 Wisconsin - a commercial complex with 80,792 square feet of Class A office space, along with 10,820 square feet of ground floor retail, at the corner of Battery Lane and Wisconsin Avenue. At present, it's the site of a Texaco that boasts the area’s only car wash. Unfortunately for area auto buffs, both will be razed prior to build out. It will, however, be the first sign of new development at the very same intersection that had previously been slated to host the now indefinitely on hold Trillium Condominiums.

In a first for Woodmont Triangle development, Donohoe's office building will be followed by Phases1B and 2 - but not at the same site. It’s a split that will allow the development team to benefit from a recent amendment to Bethesda zoning statutes. Said Jad Donohoe, Donohoe's Development Director:

[The parcels] are three blocks apart, but in the same project…Back in 2006 there was an amendment to the Bethesda Sector Plan for the Woodmont Triangle. For the first time it allowed this transfer of density between sites that aren’t contiguous or are even across the street from each other…It’s a new idea and the thought was that because there is such fragmented ownership in that section of Bethesda, this would be a way to bring the density needed to make more of a Bethesda Row-type of experience. If you look at what Federal Realty Trust did on Bethesda Row, those things have been happening on that side of Bethesda for 10 years. By contrast, Woodmont Triangle has been kind of struggling. This is the solution and it’s one of the first projects to take advantage of that provision.

And take advantage they shall. Currently the home to a surface parking lot and "some old two-story buildings", the corner of Rugby and Del Ray Avenues will eventually host The Gallery at Bethesda - a high-rise with 457 rental apartments (including 51 MPDUs), 9,051 square feet of ground floor retail and public park that Donohoe describes as being comparable in size and scope to the nearby Veteran’s Park. "It’s really going to be one of the few green spots there in the Woodmont Triangle for public space,” said Donohoe.

Though still “a couple years away from breaking ground,” Donohoe speculates that "The Gallery will be home to approximately 900 new Bethesdans, with occupancy beginning in 2013. 8280 Wisconsin will deliver in late 2012." The team's first project plan was filed with the Montgomery County Planning Board in January and they're currently scheduled to make a second appearance before the Board on April 23^rd. Bethesda real estate is for sale.

Argent Resurrects Condos in Silver Spring

A lot can change in two years. But since beginning construction in 2007 at 1200 Blair Mill Road in Silver Spring, Perseus Realty, LLC’s plan for the building nearing completion at the site, The Argent, seems to be much the same as it was pre-economic doldrums. Representatives of the developer have told DCmud that the project will “definitively be condos” – a first (and perhaps last) for metro area development in 2009.

The $37 million, JSA Inc.-designed building will boast 96 units - ranging from 600 square foot efficiencies to 1,430 square foot two-bedrooms – on nine stories. Part and parcel with the Argent’s "urban oasis" atmosphere are amenities including art deco flourishes, nine-foot ceilings, an “elegant rooftop patio,” a front desk receptionist and a 4,200 square foot public park on the grounds, featuring landscaping by Mahan Rykiel Associates and a sculpture from local artist Mary Ann E. Mears.

“We’re planning to open with decorated models by the end of May. There’s not a certain date, but that’s what we’re shooting for,” said Barbara Causey of the Mayhood Company.

The Argent and its development team are apparently not brushing off the state of the market entirely; initially priced in the $400,000s before construction, Causey says that Perseus is currently reevaluating their asking price for a piece of the development, and "expects [final prices] in three to four weeks."

In the meantime, Clark Construction is working diligently at the site in order to have the building up and running in time for what is sure to be a (not so) brisk summer sales season.

Logan Circle Wardmans Revamped for Affordable Housing

With $8 million worth of renovations now largely complete, the R Street Apartments have gone a long way in proving that green building practices and affordable housing are not mutually exclusive. Purchased by tenants in 2007 through the Tenant Opportunity Act, the new owners’ first order of business was to form a partnership with the National Housing Trust-Enterprise Preservation Corporation (NHT) and the Hampstead Development Group (HDG) - one that would ensure the restoration, revitalization and environmentally sound character of their five historic buildings at 1416, 1428, 1432, 1436, 1440 R Street, NW in the District's Logan Circle neighborhood.

After two years of renovations, the apartments will meet, if not surpass, those goals. The 241 units in the 97-year old complex were initially constructed by famed DC developer Harry Wardman with architect Albert Beers and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. According to NHT, the laundry list upgraded amenities now available at the site include “new solar reflective roofs, new kitchens and bathrooms with energy star appliances and low-flow water fixtures, rain barrels to harvest water, an upgraded security system, American Disability Act accessible units and free high speed wireless internet access,” in addition to a slew of open community space and a new, energy efficient HVAC system.

The eco-friendly overhaul at the R Street Apartments is second its main raison d'etre: affordable housing in an ever more gentrified (read: increasingly expensive) Northwest neighborhood. Under the terms of the project’s restructured rate system, only 6 of the newly minted units will be renting at market-rate with varying “tiers” of affordability below that – starting for residents making 60% area median income (AMI) all the way down to 30% and below - compared to the 30% AMI cap that had been in place prior to the renovations and ownership change. Per the terms of the Five Voices of R Street Tenant Association’s agreement with the NHT and HDG, the apartments shall remain affordable for the next forty years.

Making sure they last that long, however, didn’t come cheap for the government. Together, the two development partners raised a total of $24.5 million for the purchase and renovation of the properties via Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, federal Low Income Tax Credit equity, tax-exempt bonds, a Department of Housing and Community Development acquisition loan, a $50,000 Enterprise Green Communities Grant and a healthy smattering of “owner capital.” According to Michael Bodaken, President of the National Housing Trust, it was well worth the effort and expenditure.

“By 2010 more than 10,000 affordable apartments could be lost in the city as owners contemplate exiting government programs and raising rents…[The R Street Apartments] could easily have been converted to condominiums or higher priced rentals, but by maintaining their affordability, we are safeguarding the well being of the families and seniors who call R Street home,” said Bodaken in a press release announcing the project’s grand re-opening.

A ceremony highlighting the development’s new lease on life is currently scheduled for April 17th at 11 AM. Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Kelly, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans and members of the R Street Tenant Association and development team are all expected to be in attendance. Remarks to the public will followed by a tour of the revamped apartments and a reception. Shelby Apartments, DC.

Anacostia to Get its Own Boathouse Row

With the District-led attempt to bring development to Southeast DC's Poplar Point now stalled for the foreseeable future, both the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) and the Office of Planning (OP) have now turned their collective bureaucratic eye across the Anacostia River and towards a section called Boathouse Row.

In the spring of 2008, the District agencies assembled a team to consider options for the riverfront, which has now gone public with a Planning Study for the stretch of land that runs along M and Water Streets, SE on the Anacostia’s west bank. As is, the site - largely overlooked by development next door at the Capitol Riverfront - is currently home to half-a-dozen maritime operations, including a cadre of "yacht clubs," the former Anacostia Marina, and installations servicing the DC Department of Public Works, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the DC Water and Sewer Authority. Rehoboth Beach it won't be, but for the local government, redevelopment at Boathouse Row represents a shot at making the Anacostia River a recreational destination again for the first time in half a century.

The outcome of the study hinges on the proposed dredging of the polluted and endangered river – a procedure that has yet to be budgeted or approved by the DC government. As such, the team presented two concepts for the site – one contingent on a clean-up, the other not.

Concept I, which assumes dredging will in fact take place, would see the Anacostia Community Boathouse Association expand its location underneath the 11^th Street Bridge, while the other boat clubs along the riverbank will be permitted to build-out “either perpendicular or parallel to the shore.” The team envisions three open “community spaces” at intermittent points along the river with amenities like canteens and bike rental kiosks, in addition to a revitalized and expanded Anacostia Marina for motorized watercraft.

Concept II, “a response to the possibility that dredging the Anacostia River will not take place,” assumes that the river will remain impenetrable to boats of any significant size. The locations of the various yacht clubs would be reconfigured, while the Sewer Authority’s work station would be relocated off-site in order to provide for a “continuous waterfront edge.” This plan too calls for three large community spaces along the river, but improvements to the Anacostia Marina would be significantly downsized and it would be outfitted to service only non-motorized boats.

No matter which route the District takes at Boathouse Row, neither will be realized soon. According to the report, “Several District infrastructure projects will need to be completed before improvements to Boathouse Row can be implemented.” That includes renovations to the 11^th Street Bridge, completion of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative’s Riverwalk Trail and the possible relocation of the Federal Channel. At present they’re projecting those procedures to run until at least 2014, with implementation of either concept expected to be complete by 2020.

It should also be noted that control of Boathouse Row currently sits with the National Park Service; a formal transfer of the land to District government is planned for later this year. The entire Planning Study can be read in its entirety at the ODMPED homepage. homes are for sale in washington dc.

Freelon to Design African American History Museum

The Smithsonian Institute announced today (via their insanely popular Smithsonian Channel Blog) that the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond in association with SmithGroup have been selected to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture. To be constructed at 15^th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, the 350,000 square foot museum will stand on the very last vacant parcel of the National Mall.

Since the prospective designs went public last month, the winning team has gone on to beat out a formidable list of competitors that included Diller Scofidio and Renfro and KlingStubbins; Devrouax and Purnell Architects/Pei Cobb Freed and Partners; Moshe Safdie and Associates and Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates), Foster and Partners and URS and Moody Nolan Inc and Antoine Predock Architect.

“[We] set up a poll on the Smithsonian Channel Blog asking readers who they think should win and although the Moody Nolan was the clear favorite, another design took home the win,” said Filippa Fenton of Smithsonian Networks. So much for democracy.

According to the Smithsonian, the selected “bronze-tiered design” (aka “the corona”) represents a “melding of cultural symbols, traditions and movements” from “the working landscapes of the American south to the crowns of Nigerian Yoruba artifacts.”

Construction of the $500 million complex is currently scheduled to begin in 2012. For a detailed look at Washington’s soon-to-be newest museum, check out the swanky virtual tour of the design, courtesy of the Smithsonian.

Dupont Apartment Building Reopens After Renovation

In keeping with its past success in buying and renovating historic but neglected apartment buildings, Urban Investment Partners (UIP) is putting the finishing touches on their $1.8 million renovation of the Absecon Apartments - now named The Shelby - in Dupont Circle. Located at 1706 T Street, NW, the Shelby is just one of the century-old rental properties in the area that's been blighted by years of mismanagement and poor upkeep. According UIP’s Steve Schwat, the condition of the building took even the seasoned real estate professionals by surprise.

"When [buildings] are fully furnished have a nice young couple living in there, they don’t look so bad. But everything in the building is at twice its expected useful life,” said Schwat. “[At T Street], we had units in the basement that were built but never permitted…It was just crazy in there - holes in the floor, holes in the walls. It was as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”

Luckily for prospective renters and the neighborhood in general, the developer - working in tandem with Bonstra Haresign | ARCHITECTS and their in-house general contractor, Urban CM – has succeeded in completely overhauling the once dilapidated building and its 24-units. Said Schwat: "The entire building was renovated, we performed selective demolition, all new electric, all new plumbing, all new separately controlled HVAC, granite counters and stainless steel appliances. It’s pretty much condo-grade finishes, but it’s a rental building."

Additionally, UIP has taken it upon itself to reincorporate original elements of the building’s façade that vanished from lack of upkeep over the intervening decades. As a contributing site to the Strivers Historic District of Dupont Circle, the development team will be outfitting the Shelby with a steel and glass version of its original awning. Other architectural flourishes, along with a new front entry door, will round out the renovation for what Schwat calls an “Ian Schrager, boutique hotel kind of feel." The Shelby is currently leasing up with occupancy set to begin on May 1^st. Open houses for potential residents are scheduled for April 17th, 18th, and 19th, 9-5 each day. For more information call 202-244-3811.

UIP is doing much the same with two other concurrent rental renovations in the District: at The Macklin at 2911 Newark Street, NW and a second at 1921 Kalorama Road, NW.

Archstone Ponders More Residential for National Gateway

Of all the large-scale projects in development at the National Gateway, Archstone-Smith's "luxury residential towers" in Potomac Yard has been the least talked about - despite the 1.5 million square feet of LEED certified office space currently going up in the same neighborhood. Now the developer is seeking an "extension of time to...submit a building permit for two land bays and park concept design plan" from the Arlington County Board at their April 25^th meeting.

Archstone acquired a large swath of the Meridian Group’s National Gateway project for an undisclosed sum in May 2007 with the intent of bringing 691 residential units to the site. But Archstone has yet to move soil in their 135,402 square foot parcel bounded by Jefferson Davis Highway, Potomac Avenue and Crystal Drive, nor has an architect been formally linked to what is being called the “Archstone National Gateway,” though permitting records indicate that they have taken on Tishman Speyer as a development partner.

"We’re still in the drawing stage, but we should have something by the end of the month as far designs and proposals go," said Joshua Custer, Archstone-Smith's Marketing Coordinator. In all, planners hope for an eventual 1500 residential units with the recently opened 386-unit Camden apartments and 479-unit Eclipse condominiums, which began sales in 2005 and still have nearly 100 condos left to go. Ouch.

As for other adjoining pieces of the National Gateway pie, Camden Property Trust has already delivered there, while another nearby parcel was sold off to Marriott International for development under their Renaissance and Residence Inn brands is already well into construction.

For Meridian’s part, they are well on their way to realizing the 1.5 million square feet of office and 200,000 square feet of restaurants and retail included in Phase I of their National Gateway. That project is set to deliver this coming November.

Washington DC real estate news

Homes near the Pros in Capitol Heights

The Redskins may (still) disappoint, but the same can’t be said of the impact that construction of their newest home at FedEx Field has had on the surrounding Prince George's County community. The area has been awash in new retail and commercial development since the Skins came calling in 1997 and, now, a handful of developers are aiming to transform Capitol Heights into the District’s newest suburban commuter enclave.

First and foremost, the Glenwood Hills development at Central Avenue and Addison Road is currently set for a large-scale expansion, per a recent approval by the Prince George's County Planning Board. The project - the first phase of which boasted 90 single-family homes, 117 townhouses and a "central recreational pod" - was sold by the original owners, Avanti Properties Group and Upshire Realty Advisors, to Berman Enterprises in 2006. Now, the new management is planning to get underway on 63 new single-family homes and 134 duplexes in February 2010. The new homes will range in size from 1,873 to 3,596 square feet. Berman has also presented the Planning Board will a proposal for Phase III that is planned to include another 45 single-family homes, along with 144 “multifamily dwelling units.”

Closer to the DC line, the Beazer Homes Corporation is set to proceed on a single-family development. Their Brighton Placedevelopment on Rollins Avenue is planned include 68 single-family homes and 60 townhouse units, ranging in size from 2,100 to 3,000 square feet. Construction has yet to commence on home one, but the developer has priced the standalone units from the mid-$300s with the townhomes starting in the mid-$200s.

Townhouses are also the order of business for the Villages at Peppermill, a project from Structures Unlimited and Foster Communities that broke ground in 2006 on a 20-acre plot with the already established 50s-era Peppermill Village development. While the 96 homes at Central Avenue and Cindy Lane are still aiming to reach their proposed 2010 completion date, a few details have fallen by the wayside in the interceding months since the project was first announced. Namely, both a proposed community center and police substation with the development have been nixed by the developer.

That, however, hasn’t stopped Structures Unlimited President Kareem Abdus-Salaam from pushing for more development in the Capitol Heights area. Two weeks ago, he was one of the local entrepreneurs involved with Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson’s proposal for the land transfer from Metro to the County to make way for a new 24,000 seat DC United Stadium at the site of the current Morgan Boulevard Station. If that $195 million dollar project comes to fruition (something which the District government couldn’t pull off at Poplar Point), perhaps it will wind up finishing what FedEx Field started more than a decade ago.

New Mixed-Use for Arlington Strip Mall

Fairfax-based development company Walnut Street Development (WSD) hopes to bring some needed mixed-use development to their backyard. Just across the county line, the company has teamed with architect Ann Ardery for a mixed-use makeover of an Arlington strip mall at 2515-2525 Lee Highway.

The three to four story project aims to deliver 22 new apartment units, along with 13,000 square feet of retail. The 22,643 square foot lot currently hosts a one-story, 4,500 square foot edifice whose sole retail contribution is now a 7-11 and adjoining vacant storefront. WSD’s project plan also calls for a “predominately underground garage” with 73 parking spaces and a LEED silver certification. Though the developer has yet to specify what kinds of retailers they’ll be courting for the project, they have assured local residents that some sort of “convenience retail” – ala the current Sleven at the site – will be included.

The project’s dimensions have shifted somewhat since it was originally submitted to Arlington County in 2004; the project’s first incarnation called for 24 residential units with a diminutive 3,750 square feet of retail. Through meetings with the Planning Commission and Transportation Commission, as well as presentations to the residents of the neighboring Cleveland House Condominiums and the North Highland and Lyon Village Civic Associations, not to mention market forces, the project has re-emerged with stronger emphasis on the planned retail space. The project goes back before the Arlington County Board again April 26^th.

In the meantime, WSD is also well underway on at their Residences at Old Town Square development. That project, located at the former site of the Fairfax City Library, will contain 80 new condos in two buildings and is scheduled to deliver later this year.

First NoMa Hotel to Open Next Week

NoMa’s first hotel, the new Courtyard by Marriott at 1325 2^nd Street, NE, will open its doors to the public on April 15^th, according to the NoMa BID. The 8-story, 218-room project represents a number of firsts for the burgeoning development district: not only will it be the first new hotel to open along the greater North Capitol Street corridor, but it is also the District’s first majority Hispanic-owned hotel and Marriott’s first metro area entry under their revamped Courtyard brand.

The amenities that go along with Courtyard’s conceptual makeover include a lobby with separate “welcome pedestals” (instead of a traditional front desk) and a 52-inch LCD screen that provides guests with items like local weather readings and directions to nearby attractions. Dining options are supplied by a new restaurant entitled The Bistro (Tagline: Eat. Drink. Connect.) featuring free wi-fi and a 24-hour in-house convenience store called The Market – a name that Marriott has miraculously been able to trademark. A gym, business center, swimming pool, green roof, 2,800 square feet of meeting space and a direct connection to the New York Avenue Metro station round out the project. An Au Bon Pain location occupying just some of the project’s 10,000 square feet of street level retail has already opened for business; the other retailers set to share space in the hotel have yet to be publicly disclosed.

The Finvarb Companies are the majority stakeholder in the project via Marriott’s Diverse Ownership Initiative. Other investors include Dave Wilmot of Harmon, Wilmot, Brown and Bagwell, LLC, Craig Welburn of Welburn Hospitality, Thomas Hopkins and Dr. Barron Harvey.

Fenty Takes Out Trash in Deanwood

Deanwood's trash transfer facility/recycling center was demolished this week as Washington, DC Mayor Fenty announced the District’s intent to redevelop the site as mixed-income housing. The raze of the 32,000 square foot, one-story building located at 5201 Hayes Street, NE officially kicks off the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development’s (ODMPED) search for a development team for the property, which they say can accommodate "up to 232 units of housing."

"Today’s demolition is a big step forward for one of our most important projects in our New Communities Initiative. The development of new housing in the Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings neighborhood is a top priority of my administration’s plan to revitalize the Deanwood community in Ward 7," said Fenty via press release. The RFP is available online and proposals for the project are due on July 6^th by 4 PM.

The trash processing facility was purchased by the District in December 2008 and stands just blocks from a previously solicited ODMPED project at 4427 Hayes Street, NE. That development, also branded as part of Fenty’s New Communities initiative, is set to include 26 new residential units and 9 “replacement housing units” for area residents displaced by renovations at the Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings complex. The Mayor announced on March 27^th that Blue Skye Development has been selected to head up that project.

Factory 202 Gets Mixed-Up in Southeast?

Forest City Washington's (FCW) aggressive development of the Capitol Riverfront via The Yards project is still keeping pace with its brisk timetable, but one component in particular might be getting a little retooling before it sees the light of day. The SK&I-designed Factory 202 project - a renovation and expansion of the Navy Yard industrial building formerly occupied by Federal Protective Services - had initially been inked as a 271-unit condo project. Now, whether due to the enduring pain of the condo market or saturation from competing projects in the area, FCW is exploring the possibility of a different development scheme for the property.

"We're currently evaluating whether it will be all residential or include some mixed-use retail," said Gary McManus, Marketing Manager for FCW.

Another contributing factor to the planned renovation and two-story addition to the historic warehouse/factory - still slated for a 2011 completion - is the fact that the property remains in the hands of the General Services Administration (GSA). Said McManus:

That’s former federal land…GSA actually owns that site and we’re partnering with them...When we actually begin development of a new building or redevelopment of one of the existing buildings, we buy that parcel from GSA at that point. But…nothing is happening on that building yet, we haven’t bought [it].

As such, a definitive start date for project has yet to be scheduled. Nonetheless, work continues on several other mixed-use Yards projects. The Park at the Yards is under is construction, while the adjoining “Lumber Shed” renovation, new retail pavilions and stainless steel spire all recently received approvals from the DC Zoning Commission and National Capital Planning Commission. Meanwhile, the Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street, SE continues to court retailers for what (one day) will be space along the linchpin of the Capitol Riverfront boardwalk.

Portico Nears Full Occupancy in Silver Spring

Patriot Realty’s Portico project in Silver Spring – since rebranded as the Portico at Silver Spring Metro – appears to be doing good business in a housing market gone kaput. The A&R Meyers and Associates-designed building at 1203 Fiddler Lane usurped what had been a long vacant parcel whose only claim to fame was being straddled by Cuban and Scottish (MacDonald’s) restaurants. Now, since opening its doors to the public on November 15^th of last year, the 12-story building once planned as a condo is succeeding in its conversion to rental units.

According to the Portico leasing office, 82% of the building’s 151-units are now occupied. Of course, that could be chalked up to the fact that they’re offering two months free rent to tenants (how’s that for an amenity), but could also have to do with timing. In the two years since Patriot broke ground on the Portico, other Silver Spring projects once pursuing similar timelines – 1050 Ripley, Midtown Silver Spring and the Transit Center Towers, to name a few – have seen their timelines extended ad infinitum as developers struggle to secure financing.

That’s left a big hole in Silver Spring urbanista-friendly housing market that Patriot has seemingly filled with flourishes like in-house billiard and yoga rooms, a wireless internet lounge and a mini-theater that screens movies and sporting events. Plus it’s a block from the Metro – an advertising point so strong that the developer renamed the project after it.

Rents in the Portico are currently starting at $1550. Patriot Realty did not respond to DCmud’s inquiries concerning the project.

A New New York for DC

Details regarding the Bozzuto Development Company's once mysterious New York Avenue project have finally surfaced. Now teamed with WDG Architects, the developer is pursuing at least one, if not two residential developments along the burgeoning Mount Vernon Triangle strip that also includes recent developments such as Yale Laundry and CityVista.

The so-called New York Avenue Apartments (let’s hope that's a placeholder) is planned to stand 13-stories tall at 460 New York Avenue, NW and include 87 residential units for a total of 85,555 square feet of new District development. The project's 9,059 square foot lot is now mainly vacant, with the exception of a non-contributing building at the intersection of New York Avenue and L Street, NW that will be demolished to make way for the project. A historic building next door to the site "that by virtue of alterations and its serious structural deficiencies has lost its integrity" will include 6 of the planned apartments and receive a full renovation.

Bozzuto Development Company President Toby Bozzuto told DCmud the company has also made tentative plans for an abandoned warehouse across the street that is also under their control.

Per the development team’s presentation to the local ANC 2C last year, WDG will utilize masonry, stone, glass, and metal for the building’s façade, along with “projecting bays” running from the third to eleventh stories. According to documentation from the developer, “The project will serve as a bridge between the historic rowhouses along 5^th Street and the new Yale Steam Laundry project.” A ground floor fitness center and two levels of below grade parking will reportedly round out the development.

Though the PUD project’s timeline has been elongated due to snags with another governing ANC (the project's location is flush to the boundary between two zones) and market declines in general, Bozzuto said it would be "terrific to start...in 2010."

Team Selected for SW Fire Site

There’s a new bright red fire station in the works for Southwest Washington. Deputy Mayor Neil Albert and DC Fire Chief Dennis Rubin joined Mayor Adrian Fenty today to announce the official selection of E Street Development for the redevelopment of two parcels adjoining Engine Company 13 at 450 6th Street, SW.

The development team – a partnership between Potomac Investment Properties, City Partners and Adams Investment Group – will construct over 500,000 square feet of new office and retail space on two District-owned parcels between 5th and 6th Street, SW. In addition, their mixed-use complex will also house a new, state-of-the-art, 22,000 square foot fire station that, according to the Mayor, “comes at no cost to the District of Columbia.”

“As you look around the station, you can see its great need of heavy maintenance, if not replacement,” said Rubin. “We feel like the time is right and that this is a great opportunity.”

The two Beyer Blinder Belle-designed projects will also be LEED certified and host a bevy of public service uses, including space for Kid Power DC and a café hosted by the DC Central Kitchen. Both Fenty and Deputy Mayor Albert pointed to their inclusion as deciding factors in their choice of E Street over two rival proposals from JLH Partners, Chapman Development and CDC Companies, and Trammell Crow, CSG Urban Partners and Michele Hagans, respectively.

“The E Street Development team stood out because not only of their ability to be visionary, but to provide certainty to the government,” said Fenty.

Michael Gewirz, President of Potomac Investment Properties, followed up on exactly what type of “certainty” his company would be providing to the project. “Some folks have asked what our concerns are given the current economic climate. I can say this: we wouldn’t be standing here if we weren’t capable of doing this project,” said Gewirz. “Right now, we’re just going to work as hard as we can with the Deputy Mayor’s office.”

And they’ll have plenty to work on in the coming months, as the City has yet to decide whether the property will be sold or leased to the E Street team. Albert said the final details concerning the land transfer will hammered out in the next three to four months with a groundbreaking set to occur within the year. In the meantime, Engine Company 13 – the unit tasked with monitoring aerial comings and goings at the White House – will remain open and operational until completion of their new facility.

Though no mention was made of the Mayor’s ongoing scandal concerning (ironically enough) a fire engine donated to the Dominican Republic, city officials were keen on pointing out the extent of the development currently underway in the blocks surrounding 6th Street. The large-scale office development, Constitution Center, is under construction directly across from the fire station’s present location, while its new spot a few hundred yards away will adjoin the District’s new Consolidated Forensics Laboratory. Washington DC real estate

Olde Towne Gaithersburg is New Again

It's no secret that Gaithersburg has a bit of an image problem. It may be Maryland's fourth largest city, but it also lacks the basic accouterments young professionals seek for a live-work environment: restaurants, nightlife, shopping, movie theaters and the like (and the City Fathers seem to agree). Local developer Keystone Real Estate Investments LLC is the trying to rope in that demographic by using a tact usually reserved for the inner city: demolishing affordable housing projects in the Olde Towne city center and replacing them with a slew of rental apartments targeted at the twenty-something set.

Keystone's first act in this arena will be the Residences at Olde Towne - a 191-unit, two-building development scheduled to be built at the current site of the Diamond House and Diamond Acres apartments at the intersection of Water and Diamond Streets. Described as having an "upscale hotel"-type feel, the project has already been unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Planning Commission and pinned down a March 2011 start date.

Betting on success, the developer has already lined up a sequel a few blocks away. The Suites 355 will land at the base of old town's main drag, Frederick Avenue, and go even bigger: 268 “multifamily” units in a four-story building. The Suites, too, will replace an affordable housing development, the Executive Gardens, and, the way Keystone sees it, there could not be any more of an improvement.

“It is the blighted conditions of these [buildings] and the nearby area that cause these apartments to be deemed affordable housing, as there are no legal requirements for these apartments to be rented at affordable rent amounts,” says the developer. “The new 459 apartments on the two sites will include 69 Moderately Priced Dwelling Units…as required by the city’s Affordable Housing Ordinance.”

Though plans for the Suites 355 have yet to be filed with Planning Board officials, company reps have met with the Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council as recently as March 16^th to discuss their application. Both of the projects in Keystone’s portfolio will be designed by DVA Architects, and both will be aiming for a LEED certification.

Mr. Eisenhower, Mr. Gehry Go to Washington

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission has announced that they have selected architect Frank Gehry to design the forthcoming Eisenhower Memorial in downtown Washington. Situated on a four-acre Independence Avenue parcel and straddled by the likes of the National Air and Space Museum and Lyndon B. Johnson Department of Education Building, the prominent location will now host Gehry's first ever project within the District.

After tossing his name into the ring late last year, Gehry's as-of-yet undisclosed design has beaten a slew of potential candidates - including principals from Perkins and Will, Krueck and Sexton, Rogers Marvel Architects, Moshe Safdie and Associates, Natoma Architects and PWP Landscape Architecture – for the chance to lay out what the Commission is calling “a unique and engaging landscaped plaza type memorial, with an integral sheltering element to welcome visitors throughout the year and interpretive elements to bring the Eisenhower legacy to life.”

District residents, however, can look forward to more of DC’s famed downtown road closures once work starts. In keeping with the plans to make the Memorial “a unified, defined square,” the stretch of Maryland Avenue, SW currently bisecting the site will be scrapped in lieu of the congressionally mandated and approved Memorial.

The design phase for $90-120 million project is expected to last until 2013, with construction planned to begin shortly thereafter.

Howard Scraps Plans for LeDroit Park Development

Howard University 's Community Capital Projects division (CCP) has abandoned plans for their “New Homes at Historic LeDroit Park” project, according to University officials. Nonetheless, they don’t seem too keen on telling the neighbors.

Located at the corner of 5^th Street and Oakdale Place, NW, directly behind the Howard University Hospital, CCP had been advertising on the long vacant lot by boasting a laundry list of members on their development team, including Sorg and Associates as architects, Essex Construction Inc. as “construction consultants”, Howard President H. Patrick Swygert as “development sponsor” and Riggs Bank as a co-sponsor.

Curiously, Sorg and Associates told DCmud they have never heard of any such project, Swygert resigned his post as University President almost a year ago and Riggs Bank merged with PNC in 2005. What gives?

“The lots are being marketed for sale,” said Kerry-Ann Hamilton, Howard’s Media Relations Manager. “The University is not developing the parcels in question.” Curiously enough, however, they didn’t respond to inquiries regarding the cost of the mysterious parcel, which has yet to be advertised - in any capacity - as being for sale.

Thinking perhaps the project’s fortunes were tied to the University’s once ballyhooed LeDroit Park Initiative, DCmud questioned the head of the Initiative, Maybelle Taylor Bennett of the Howard University Community Association. She declined to comment on the status of the “New Homes” parcel or the Initiative as a whole – which is the product of a partnership between the University and (hard swallow) the Fannie Mae Foundation. Suffice it to say, the Initiative’s plans for “a new mixed-use Town Center on Georgia Avenue that will include community-serving retail and apartment housing” are probably not imminent.

UPDATE: Howard has since directed DCmud to the Menkiti Group, who is currently listing the 4,420 square lot at 2025 5th Street, NW for $430,000. According to their site, it is the "last remaining parcel from the HU/LeDroit Revitalization initiative."

The Millennium Arrives in Pentagon City

General contractors BE&K Building Group will top out construction today on Kettler’s 21-story Millennium at Metropolitan Park project – the second installment of what is planned to be an ambitious 8-phase, 10-building development in Pentagon City. The project’s first component, the 399-unit Gramercy, opened in 2006.

Once completed in April 2010, the Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue-designed building will feature 300 rental apartments with high-end amenities including “a rooftop pool, spa, fitness center and party room,” in addition to a first floor library and business center. More than 7,500 square feet of ground floor retail space will round the initial construction. Work on a “central park planned to serve residents of the entire Metropolitan Park complex” will begin in the project’s next phase – which Kettler’s Jamie Gorski told DCmud in February is currently scheduled to go to ground later on in 2010 with a late 2012 delivery.

New Capital for Capitol Gateway?

Almost a decade after it was first announced, the District’s Marshall Heights neighborhood, bordering the Prince George's County line, may soon receive its long overdue shot in the arm. Developers just last week filed an application with the District government to demolish the abandoned towers on the site (or, in the words of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the "unclaimed" property). The Capitol View Plaza public housing complex and neighboring 14-story building, at 5901 and 5929 East Capitol Street, SE will soon be razed to make way for a 110,000-square foot retail center and mixed-income housing.

In 2000, under the administration of former DC Mayor Anthony Williams, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allotted a $30.8 million grant under its Hope VI program to the redevelopment of Capitol View Plaza's 12-story tower - then designated public housing for the elderly and disabled - across from the Capitol Heights Metro. Though the project had initially been scheduled to proceed in 2003, this is the first public sign since 2007 that the redevelopment remains on the District radar.

"5929 we purchased from HUD because it was foreclosed upon. Then we had some issues with FHA when we purchased the building because we had a financial gap. We decided it wasn't worth taking the risk if we didn't have a way to close that gap," said DCHA's Kerry Smyser of the delays. "FHA provided an upfront grant of about $12 million, but you have to use it on their footprint and there's more to do on that site than just to do with that building."

Indeed there is. Originally dubbed “New East Capitol” by the city government, the project has now been twinned with neighboring Capitol Gateway residential project, produced by the A&R Development Corporation and the Henson Development Company. Phase I of that development has delivered “nearly 240 duplexes, townhouses and single-family homes” to an area once notorious for its violence; time and development have gone a long way in imbuing the immediate area with a suburban je ne sais quoi.

That, however, is merely prologue to the 3.4 million square feet of office space, 1450 residential units - including 669 condominiums - and 300,000 square feet of retail space slated to spring up on both sides of East Capitol once construction of the Gateway project begins. Just last year, the development team confirmed that Shoppers Food & Pharmacy will be opening its very first DC branch, a 61,000-s.f. Shoppers Food Warehouse, as part of Capitol Gateway’s mixed-use component...someday. According to Smyser, DCHA is not currently projecting a timeline for construction, nor is A&R committing to a schedule. In total, the cost of the ambitious project is expected to exceed $1 billion.