Showing posts with label I.M. Pei. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I.M. Pei. Show all posts

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Chinese Ready to Take Out 2300 Conn. Ave

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The embassy of the People's Republic of China received an OK last week from the District's Historic Preservation Review Board to finally demolish its aging residential and office building for embassy staff at 2300 Connecticut Avenue.

As part of its weekly reviews of raze permits, the HPRB said Jan. 20 that the 200,000 square foot, 8-story brick building was clear for demolition.

The building, formerly the 1940's-era Windsor Park Hotel, was purchased in the early 1970's just as diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the PRC began warming after President Richard Nixon's historic visit in February 1972.



Esocoff & Associates, which has also designed 400 Mass. Ave and the Dumont, is the architect for the new embassy staff residential building, (pictured, above) which is expected to be completed in 2014.

The new Chinese embassy (pictured, left), designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, moved to its new location at Van Ness Street and International Drive in April 2009.

Clark Construction Group LLC of Bethesda is listed as the contractor for the demolition, according to the permit. The construction of the Chinese embassy using imported labor in 2008 led to some grumbling among the building trades about not using American hard-hats, though embassy construction is usually performed by the resident country's workers for security and diplomatic reasons.

Washington D.C. real estate redevelopment news.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Today in Pictures - National Gallery of Art

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The National Gallery of Art has a new exhibit: its exterior. The 33-year-old East Building is in the midst of a major renovation that recently included the removal and reinstallation of the marble veneer - 16,200 Tennessee pink marble panels with new supports. Each five foot wide, two foot high, three-inch-thick panel weighs about 450 pounds. The I.M. Pei design, completed in 1978, is not holding up nearly as well as the John Russell Pope design of the West Building. A "systemic structural failure" of the facade's design prompted Congressional emergency aid (too big to fail?) and scaffolding to protect pedestrians. On the upside, DC is treated to an architectural undressing thanks in part to an open, vertical-access scaffolding system. Work is expected to be completed by spring 2014.






Photographs by Rey Lopez. 

 Washington D.C. real estate development news

Friday, January 29, 2010

L'Enfant Plaza: Feds to Try Again?

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Stalin would be proud. Discouragingly wide boulevards, dominant central government buildings, architecture that reduces human interaction, and a monumental plaza that minimizes individual interference with state symbolism. Such is the state of L'Enfant Plaza - a wrong turn off the Mall for most visitors that conveys the feeling of having intruded into restricted space. Fear not, the government that built the plaza is going to try again.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) will begin a public examination of how to transform the area into a "model sustainable community" that will "improve mobility, urban design, and land use; and...capture, manage and reuse most of the energy, water and waste on site." Beginning on February 2nd, the urban planning body will hold public meetings to help create the 10th Street Corridor "ecodistrict."

It wasn't intended to be this way. With federal oversight, planners in the 1950's buried the old working class neighborhood in the name of urban renewal, paving farms, razing homes and history in the name of progress. With such tourist-beckoning buildings as the Department of Energy and U.S. Postal Service headquarters, L'Enfant Plaza resulted from the schemes and designs of such notables as I.M. Pei, who designed the expansive concrete, and the government, which sought to remove the messiness of humanity. According to Jane Freundel Levey, Director of Heritage Programs at Cultural Tourism DC, the area was once a place to shop or grab a bite with plenty of taverns and a vibrant nightlife.

Forget for a moment that there is no 10th Street, nor is the defined area a "corridor." The environmentally friendly rehab is still a rough concept, but one without limitations as to the scope. The task force at work on the project is comprised of such disparate organizations as DC and federal property owners, the GSA, the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Education and the U.S. Postal Service, to name just a few. Then there is the group of "directly affected stakeholders" such as CSX, JBG, WMATA, WASA, HUD, PN Hoffman, and Republic Properties, a group of owners that will form a second tier of cooperation. Can such a coalition get anything done, much less make an inviting community out of a concrete jungle? According to Diane Sullivan, Sustainability Planner for the 10th Street Corridor Task Force at NCPC, yes. "The group is generally very excited about this, they see this as a great opportunity."

Barriers, both physical and figurative, are formidable. But according to Sullivan, all things are possible. A new Georgetown-like community worthy of a family stroll? "Nothing is off the table at this point." As a first step, the task force will create a framework based on infrastructural upgrades such as changes to the on- and off-ramps of the highway and new street grids. Once that is determined, the landowners will be included in ways to develop within the new framework. Sullivan says the resulting mixed-use district may just include new residential districts. "Part of the framework was to incorporate residential space, we recognize that right now it's largely a federal precinct, but residential is not off the boards." But of course private landowners will ultimately be able to decide how best to use their space, and all plans at this point are mere possibilities.

To wit, JBG is currently working on an impressive $40m renovation of its underground plaza, and will be presenting a plan to the task force for coordination with the broader principles of redevelopment. Bill Dowd of NCPC told DCMud there is an imperative to prevent the federal buildings from "being barriers." As to how much change is possible, the answer will not be known for some time. While NCPC's Sullivan says it will be necessary to "look beyond buildings themselves," it is not yet clear how the project will be funded. Other attempts at developing Southwest have failed, such as the ill-fated attempt to bring the Children's Museum from northeast DC to southwest. It is also unclear whether federal property owners, with an increasingly circle-the-wagons mentality, will allow radical change in their midst, or whether planners will allow I.M. Pei's plaza to be rebuilt, despite its alienating qualities, a factor that seems essential for the task force's goal of connecting the riverfront to the National Mall.

In the end, that will not be up to NCPC, as JBG owns the land, and NCPC will be providing the study but not dictating the outcome to either its private or public partners. Elizabeth Miller, Senior Urban Planner and Project Manager for NCPC, says the plaza itself "is part of our study area. We will be looking at public space but any changes to the plaza are up to the owners. Our goal is to bring appropriate parties to the table, and to look at how far should we go." But she stresses that a "redevelopment scenario" is merely one alternative, and that it is at least theoretically possible that NCPC will recommend no changes to the design.

NCPC says the timeline will be 6-8 months to get task force members up to speed, then a year or so to conduct a redevelopment feasibility study to look at a range of alternative for individual properties and the corridor as a whole. Beyond that all guesses are hypothetical. The first meeting will take place February 2, 6pm at 401 9th Street, NW.

Washington DC real estate and development news

Friday, August 21, 2009

Southwest IM Pei Apartment Sold at Foreclosure

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The View from SW waterfront is slightly less auspicious now for Fairfield Residential. A source familiar with the project has confirmed that The View, designed by IM Pei in the '60's and purchased by Fairfield in 2003, has been sold at foreclosure to Titex Marina View, LLC, an Atlanta, GA based LLC and subsidiary of Titex Real Estate Advisors of Delaware. According to SWDCBlog, in a late night, covert lit drop (notes slipped under residents' doors), Fairfield notified current residents of the ownership change and assured tenants they could continue to rent, for now.

Fairfield purchased The View, located at 1100 6th Street SW, and the adjacent parking lots neighboring the Southwest Waterfront project, and hired Esocoff and Associates to redesign the aged building as a mixture of new construction and interior renovations on the two landmarked forty-six year-old I.M. Pei towers. Another residential tower (see rendering below) was to have replaced the surface parking, but that never quite got off the ground and the parking lots are still going strong.

Fairfield modified its PUD in late 2008 because the south tower of the project had initially been planned as a condo, but market forces required financing as rental apartments. At the time, Graham Brock of Fairfield discussed the limitations of the financial system and how they had affected the project. Brock said the "existing residents in the Pei towers wanted the option of home ownership, but then we struggled to find ways to finance that building and get those residents to qualify for loans. The market changed and the deal we had come up with wasn't as strong anymore." It would appear even the rental option was not strong enough to sustain Fairfield's hold on Pei's work. In retrospect, maybe condos, now scarcer, would have been the better option.

Beginning in mid-April 2008, Marina View Trustee LLC and Marina View Towers LLC (co-grantors of the property with Fairfield) refinanced their $14.5 million loan with Wachovia Mutlifamily Capital, Inc. The next day, Wachovia signed over its Deed of Trust with Marina View Towers for the sum of $10 to Fannie Mae, and with it the first lien of the Deed of Trust. On July 14th of this year, Fannie Mae signed over the Deed of Trust to Tritex Marina View. On July 28, Tritex designated substitute trustees from the law firm Lerch, Early & Brewer, Chtd. Tritex has been involved in a series of large real estate transactions over the past few years, taking advantage of a commercial market that is weak, and getting weaker.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Designs Unveiled for New Smithsonian Museum

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The Smithsonian has revealed (via WashingtonPost.com) the first prospective designs for the Mall’s next museum: the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. And from the looks of things, it’s going to be the grandest one yet; proposals for the 350,000 square foot museum within earshot of the Washington Monument range from glass-encased and “table-shaped” to almost pre-historic with natural materials “rising as of out of bedrock and muck.”

Last week’s presentations at the Smithsonian included new renderings and scale models by the development teams previously identified by DCmud: Diller Scofidio and Renfro (now teamed with KlingStubbins); Devrouax and Purnell Architects/Pei Cobb Freed and Partners; Moshe Safdie and Associates (now teamed with Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates), The Freelon Group (now teamed with Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond), Foster and Partners (now teamed with URS) and Moody Nolan Inc (now teamed with Antoine Predock Architect).

Among the new revelations unveiled along with the designs were that the project’s budget, formerly reported at $300 million, which has now almost doubled to $500 million – half of which will be funded through a Congressional appropriation. The Smithsonian is also now projecting a 2015 opening for the museum, following the previously projected 2012 construction start date.

Once completed, the Museum will stand on a five-acre parcel at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW – one of the very last prime plots abutting the National Mall. A final selection on the Smithsonian’s choice of architect will be announced by a Smithsonian-chosen 11-member panel next month, to be seconded (or not) by a final approval by the Smithsonian Board of Regents. The final design will then enter into lengthy submission processes with both the Commission on Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission.

Both interior and exterior renderings of the proposed designs are available here.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Designing the Mall's Next Museum

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Smithsonian design competition, National Museum of African American history, Moshe Safdie, Moody NolanDCmud has obtained a list of architects now vying to design the newest addition to the Mall, and to the Smithsonian's downtown repertoire - the National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC), a 350,000 square foot edifice slated for construction at 15th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW. According to Museum Director Lonnie Bunch, Washington DC's newest museum will "help all Americans see just how central African American history is for all of us." Smithsonian design competition, National Museum of African American history, Moshe Safdie, Moody Nolan, National Mall

At present, there is no shortage of architects willing to take a shot at designing for what is, essentially, one the last "vacant" parcels abutting the National Mall - and also one of the closest to the Washington Monument. Current bidders on the $300 million project include Diller Scofidio and Renfro, Devrouax and Purnell Architects, Moshe Safdie and Associates, The Freelon Group, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, Foster and Partners and Moody Nolan Inc. There is no word on when a final selection will be made, but construction is currently slated to begin in February (which also happens to be Black History Month) 2012.

Those interested in scoping out the NMAAHC’s exhibits in 2009, however, will have to hit the road; the museum’s inaugural exhibition, Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits, will travel the country until work on its permanent exhibition space is complete. The collection is currently on display in Detroit, with future bookings planned for San Francisco, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chicago and Cincinnati all the way through 2011.

The museum was made possible by legislation signed into law by President George W. Bush in December 2003. The same act charted the museum under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution, and it was that body’s Board of Regents that selected the 5-acre site bounded by Constitution Avenue, Madison Drive and 14th and 15th Streets, NW to be home of the first national museum “devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life.” Having already completed a preliminary Environmental Impact analysis, the Smithsonian is currently undertaking what it labels as the “architectural programming phase” of development, during which the space and system requirements integral to a fully functioning public institution, such as the NMAAHC, will be established, and then relayed to the prospective architects for inclusion in their designs.

Washington DC real estate development news

Friday, August 01, 2008

Marina View - New Towers Likely in Fall

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Fairfield Residential will go before the DC Zoning Commission late September for approval of PUD modifications for their Marina View Towers apartment project. One of several developments along the Southwest waterfront, including Southwest Waterfront, Arena Stage and the Waterfront Mall, Marina View, at 1100 6th St., will deliver apartments, public spaces, and a restaurant at completion. Redesigned by Esocoff and Associates, Marina View will be a mixture of new construction and interior renovations on the two landmarked forty-six year-old I.M. Pei towers. Under the PUD modifications submitted July 3, Marina View will now be completely rental, a change from the developers original plan to make the South Pei tower a condominium building.

Graham Brock, Project manager at Fairfield Residential, said changes in the market led the developer to convert to rental units. "We planned condominiums for the South Pei tower because existing residents in the Pei towers wanted the option of home ownership, but then we struggled to find ways to finance that building and get those residents to qualify for loans. The market changed and the deal we had come up with wasn't as strong anymore. So we met with the residents again and I think everyone came out whole."

Work is already underway in the 128-unit North Pei tower; the developer had to bifurcate all of the systems and transfer tenants; all residents are now in renovated units and the developer is completing the opposite side of the building. Brock said they hope to start work in the South Pei tower in the coming months and complete the historic renovations in the next six months.

As for the new towers that will replace two surface parking lots and climb to 112 feet, Brock said depending on the market, condos could become a possibility, but for now, they too will be apartments. Construction will likely start in the fall on the South tower, which will deliver 156 units and is the only building of the four that will offer ground-floor retail. Brock said it will deliver 8,500 s.f. with 5-6,000 s.f. reserved for a restaurant. The 168-unit new North tower will follow once the South tower's parking garage is completed.

The project will also include amenities such as a small public park on 6th street and 12,000-15,000 s.f. amenities building that will include a pool, gym, lounge, and business center.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Two New Marina Views for Southwest

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The urban renewal of the 1950s left Southwest a forgotten section of DC, but recent projects are bringing new excitement and livability to the area. One such project is Fairfield Residential LLC’s Marina View Towers (click image to see rendering of project layout). The developer is renovating the two existing Marina View Towers at 1100 6th Street SW and adding two additional residential structures, a development that will be a mix of apartments, condos, a large central garden, and 8,000 s.f. retail space. Designed by I.M. Pei, the two original towers are of historic status and, thus could not be demolished; instead, they will undergo complete interior renovations. The north existing tower will become a 128-unit apartment building while the southern tower will be converted into a 120-unit condominium building. The final piece of the project is a 12,000-15,000 s.f. amenities building for residents that will include a pool, gym, lounge, and business center.

Taking the place of the two towers’ surface parking lot will be two new 112-foot towers each with approximately 145 rental apartments. Designed by Esocoff and Associates, both buildings will offer parking for residents, the north tower with three underground levels and the south with four; the new south tower will also include 8,000 s.f. of retail space.

Also being redeveloped in the developer-described “oasis” that is Southwest is the former Waterside Mall into “Waterfront” a mixed-use development that will share a driveway with Marina View. “It (Southwest) is not a hotbed because there are not a lot of available sites. There are the Forest City renovations, PN Hoffman, and Bernstein are working on projects in the area as well, but I do think in the next two years we will start to see a lot of cranes up in our section,” said Graham Brock, Project Manager at Fairfield Residential.

Brock added that while development in the area is picking up, the market will have a large influence on the final outcome of the project. “No one wants to sink each other. We all understand that a critical mass needs to be reached to support retail, we have to build to allow retail to succeed,” he said.

This critical mass will include the 12,000 s.f. of the project that are currently allotted for affordable housing, a number that may increase as current residents decide whether or not to stay in their units. Current residents can choose to be bought out by the developers, to buy a condo, or to rent an apartment at the project’s completion. The Planned Unit Development states what the values for the condo and rental options would be as a benefit to the city based on how many tenants stay in each option.

While plans are currently contingent upon the PUD and votes for the various conversions, the northern tower is tentatively scheduled to break ground later this year with completion in 2008; renovations on the southern tower are slated for summer 2008.
 

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