Friday, April 30, 2010

Anacostia's First Green Condos


A ribbon cutting today in Anacostia marked the opening of Ward 8's first "green" condos in what was once an abandoned eyesore in the community. The new Fendall Heights condos, at the corner of Fendall and V Streets, SE, adds 29 newly renovated units just blocks from the also newly renovated Frederick Douglas House. The affordable housing project, restricted to first time home buyers, was developed through a joint venture with ARCH Development, a non-profit community development organization, Fendall Partners, and $170,000 in pre-development support from the District Department of Housing and Community Development.

Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) the development team funded the installation of a living green roof to control surface run-off and reduce heat absorption for structure. Other green features include energy saving double-pane windows, pipes made of recycled plastic instead of copper and 100% energy efficient furnaces. Inscapestudio designed the reconfiguration of the building and the green elements.

The gutting and interior renovation began just about two years ago and the units should be complete by the end of June, according to Anthony R. Bolling, a spokesman for the developer. In addition to the 22 2-bedroom units an 9 1-bedroom units, Fendall Heights provides 3,000 s.f. of community space for artists studios. Condos will start at $125,000. When originally envisioned, some of the condos were intended to be reserved for artists, though none have been set aside. Bolling is confident that the units will nonetheless appeal to artists, not to mention a welcome relief for neighbors who have watched the building "sitting vacant and deteriorating for decades."

ARCH, as a non-profit developer, supported the community and the project through its Training Center. District residents, as part of ARCH's Training program, were trained in construction techniques and gained on-site experience throughout the conversion of Fendall Heights.

Washington, DC real estate development news

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why did they have a ribbon cutting if the project won't be complete until the end of June?

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