Southwest's Hotel and Apartment Project Set for Occupancy Permits

Just a block away from the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station, the new citizenM hotel and adjacent apartment building are near completion, with Certificates of Occupancy expected to be issued today.  The project is the second portion of a two-phase redevelopment, which transformed an old firehouse and vacant lot into two hotels, first with the development of Hyatt Place, which required construction of a new fire house into the hotel at 400 E Street, SW.  Phase two, now completing, started with demolition of the old (non-historic) fire house and forensic laboratory, and replaced it with a 253-key "European-style" hotel, 58 "deeply affordable" housing units for seniors 62 and older, 136 market rate apartments and 10,000 s.f. of retail.

Development was a joint partnership between the District government, which issued an RFP in 2008 and awarded redevelopment rights in April 2009 to the E Street Development Group, which leased the land under the old fire station for a 99-year term.  The buildings add residential density to what has been a predominantly office-oriented section of southwest.  The design by FxCollaberative took advantage of the newly enacted changes to the height limit laws of DC to add additional height and activation of the roof.  The District's issuance of a certificate of occupancy, expected today, clears the way for what is expected to be an imminent opening of both buildings.

Project:  555 E Street, SW

Address:  555 E Street, SW, Washington DC

Developer:  CityPartners, Potomac Investment Properties, Adams Investment Group, DC Strategy Group

Architect:  FxCollaberative

Construction:  Donohoe Construction

Use:  136 market apartments and 58 senior affordable units, 253 room hotel

Expected Completion:  Summer 2020

Washington DC real estate development news

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 commercial real estate news

Three Teams Compete in SW Fire Sale

Officials from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development held a community forum at the now vacant H20 nightclub on the Southwest Waterfront last night to highlight proposals from three development teams vying to revitalize land currently occupied by Fire Engine Company 13 at 450 6^th Street, SW and a neighboring parking lot. The three teams present at the meeting originally submitted their proposals last June. According to Mayor Fenty, a final selection is expected “late next month.”

Each of the three teams would relocate the fire station from its current 6^th Street location to the 4^th Street corner in order to provide for better access and response time. Team 1, Potomac Investment Properties (City Partners and Adams Investment Group, formerly submitted as E Street Development), intends to“animate E Street,” according to Jeff Griffiths of City Partners. Griffiths said that his vision is for the station to occupy the lower two floors of a 10-story, 191,000 square foot office tower with a prominent fire-engine red facade, in keeping with the building’s primary use. The Beyer Blinder Belle-designed edifice would also sport 3,000 square feet intended for community use by Kid Power and the DC Central Kitchen. The building would be topped off by a green roof and feature LEED silver certification.

Phase II of construction would see another 9-story, 301,000-s.f. office tower on top of the fire station’s present 6^th Street location, with a ground floor retail base. Phase II, like its predecessor, would include a green roof and LEED silver certification. In between the two corner-to-corner projects, the team would “create synergy between the two parcels” with improved streetscape and landscaping.

Team 2 (JLH Partners, Chapman Development and CDC Companies) would place the station infrastructure on the bottom two floors of a new 103,000-s.f. office building. Bachelor number 2, however, noted its advanced scouting efforts for potential tenants, including the General Services Administration (hellooo stimulus). But the real centerpiece of their development scheme was their plans for 6^th Street, where they propose a 208-unit, extended-stay hotel adjacent to an 11,000-s.f., publicly-accessible atrium that could be utilized for arts purposes, including performances by the Arena Stage and Washington Ballet.

Team 3 (Trammell Crow, CSG Urban Partners and Michele Hagans) highlighted their ability to unify the 4th Street intersection. CSG principal Charles King said CSG had submitted a proposal for the fire station three years ago, with the intention of transforming it into a DNC headquarters or hydrogen fuel station (insert hot air joke). Further, Trammell Crow is nearing completion on its million-s.f. Patriot Plaza project across the street. If accepted, the new buildings would be thematically consistent.

As if that wasn't enough to seal it, their Gensler-designed office building/fire station would top out at 190,000 s.f. and feature a number of upgrades for the firefighting staff, including additional truck bays. Meanwhile, their plans for a 306,000-s.f. office building on 6^th Street would include 16,000 s.f. for a mixture of retail and community purposes. Team 3 plans to secure financing for the project by sharing parking with Patriot Plaza, and said that with initial funding secured, they could begin construction as early as 2010. “We don’t enter into partnerships we can’t finish or finance,” said King.

Framework Plan Re-Envisions Downtown DC

With development occurring throughout the District of Columbia, many local and government agencies called earlier this year to establish a scheme to orchestrate continuity between Washington’s most visited areas and the up-and-coming projects now in the pipeline. The rejoinder has finally arrived. The National Capital Framework Plan (NCFP) - co-authored by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) and the US Commission of Fine Arts (USFA) - outlines several strategies to "enhance Washington's reputation as a walkable, transit-oriented, sustainable city" for residents and tourists alike. The plan focuses on four distinct areas of District development: the Northwest Rectangle, the Federal Triangle (including Pennsylvania Avenue), the Southwest Rectangle and East Potomac Park. In all, the plan highlights 5.5 million square feet of land that it aims to dedicate to 4 new museums, 75 acres of “civic gathering space,” 32 acres of recreational area, 13 acres of parkland, “numerous” memorials, federal office space and mixed-use development.

The Northwest Rectangle (defined by F Street to the north, Constitution Avenue to the south, the Potomac to the west, and 17th Street to the east), first on the docket, requires “a symbolic and physical connection” to be established between the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial. That would include extending E Street NW and establishing it as a one mile “landscaped boulevard” that would connect to the Kennedy Center, the White House and President’s Park - resulting in a new public park on Virginia Avenue NW between 19th and 22nd Streets NW. New residential and shopping areas would be installed on a deck above the Potomac Freeway, which would also allow 25th & 26th Streets NW to be reintegrated in the street grid. The infrastructure modifications don't stop there - the plan also suggests a realignment of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to free up desirable public space along the shoreline.

Over in the isolated Federal Triangle, the Plan reimagines Pennsylvania Avenue NW as space that will live up to its status as “America’s Main Street.” The Plan critiques federal installations such as the Old Post Office and the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building as not living up to their potential and suggests, politely of course, that the government simply find a new home for these tenants elsewhere in the city (no rush, any time in the next 30 days would be fine). In their stead, the plan calls for the creation of new grand mixed-use development between 9^th and 12^th Streets and a new National Aquarium (already planned to front Constitution Avenue) - in addition to other “cultural and hospitality destinations” for the area, including the Freedom Plaza, a “Federal Walk” history and arts trail and public outlets that would supply the area with some semblance of a nightlife. "Mixed-use" is also the word of the day in the Southwest Rectangle. Described accurately as an “uninviting federal enclave” - albeit one the federal government created with an earlier plan intended to "revitalize" an existing neighborhood - The Plan proposes an extensive rebuild of 10^th Street SW. Smithsonian Castle to a refurbished Overlook (current home of the Maine Avenue Fish Market), transform The new street would run from the Maryland Avenue SW, link the US Capitol to the Jefferson Memorial and serve as a gateway to the emerging Southwest Waterfront. By taking advantage of 18 acres worth of air-rights, the NCFP proposes a new “mix of office, cultural, entertainment, hospitality, and residential” development that would terminate at a newly decked out Overlook. The hope is for new street-level projects on the north side of Maine Avenue SW - across from the waterfront – including (yet another) new museum on the site. The Liberty Loan building (14th & D Streets SW), the Whitten building (1400 Independence Avenue SW) and a portion of the Forrestal complex (1000 Independence Avenue SW) are also identified as possible museum locations. Plans for Maryland Avenue consist of a new park at the intersection of Maryland and Virginia Avenues SW and the reclamation of the original street grid that is currently sliced-and-diced by train tracks and tunnels leading to Union Station.

The NCFP aims to integrate East Potomac Park into the fabric of daily life in the District by making it more than just a golfing and jogging destination. This would be primarily achieved by improving connections between the Park and the city proper through the construction of a canal by Buckeye Drive SW, a new Jefferson Memorial Metro stop, and a new foot bridge at P Street SW “to improve boat, pedestrian and bicycle access.” Additionally, the area surrounding the Memorial would be expanded and improved by eliminating the numerous “infrastructure barriers” dividing the park. Along the shoreline, the waterfront esplanade presently on site would be raised and widened so as to showcase memorial sites (like Hains Point), maritime areas and natural wetlands. The Plan also recommends the inclusion of stops for proposed water taxi service that would connect Nationals Stadium, the Southwest Waterfront, Alexandria, Georgetown and National Harbor. The area which the Plan identifies as the most ripe with potential, however, is the northern side of the park on the Washington Channel, being dubbed Potomac Harbor. Envisioned as the location of “new low-scale, one to two story, development,” Potomac Harbor would host cafes and water-based recreation activities that would serve as a complement to the numerous mixed-use projects occurring directly across the river.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

3 Teams Bid for SW Firehouse Site

If you've ever dreamed of living out your childhood fire fighter fantasy by sliding down a brass pole to get to your office, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) has good news for you. DMPED recently received three responses from local development teams concerning the District's redevelopment proposal for two sites at 4^th & E Streets SW - including turning the current home of Fire Engine Company 13 at 450 6^th Street SW -- into a mixed-use development.

The proposals come from three differing alliances of local developers. JLH Partners, Chapman Development, and CDC Companies comprise the first team; Trammell Crow, CSG Urban Partners, and Michele Hagans as the second; and Potomac Investment Properties, City Partners, and Adams Investment Group (together calling themselves E Street Development Partners LLC) the third.

The proposals for the site include plans for rebuilding the 34,000-s.f. Engine 13 station (either on site or within a two block radius), up to 465,000 square feet of office space, a 130-208 room hotel, and the inclusion of ground level retail. According to a statement released by the OMPED, two of the submissions include “proposed community space,” while one set out plans for “an 11,000 square foot atrium-covered public indoor park.” This jives with the District’s insistence on seeing a community center incorporated into any prospective design. The proposals presumably align with the initial RFP’s insistence that at least 35 percent of any contracts go to certified local, small or disadvantaged businesses, and that at least 51 percent of the new jobs created by the project go to District residents.

The projected construction would also envelop the second site included in the District’s RFP – a 19,000 square foot vacant lot bounded by 4^th Street, E Street and the Southwest/Southeast Freeway. Deputy Mayor Neil Albert's choice should be known by December, the District's deadline for selecting the best team. Groundbreaking could take place as early as summer 2010.

Located behind the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) First District headquarters, this marks the second such construction project the District has planned for the block. After their last location proved too expensive, the MPD building at 415 4^th Street SW will undergo demolition in order to make way for a new, 240,000 square foot Consolidated Forensics Lab (CFL) - construction of which is expected to begin in December. BIDs for that project are due to the District’s Office of Property Management by November 7^th.

Axis

Streetcars on H Street

If you were in the H St NE area today, you might have run into a bit of a snag. District Department of Transportation (DDOT) announced in a traffic advisory that construction and installation of street car rails continues along H St NE. The construction is part of an ongoing street improvement through the Benning Road/H Street Great Streets Project. DDOT spokesman John Lisle indicated they are proactively laying the tracks in concrete during the road improvement so that DDOT does not have to dig up the road again once the issues surrounding the street car are resolved. Forethought, how refreshing. So, street cars next week?

Not so much. The street car element of the $65 million Great Streets project still has some unresolved conflicts, and the cars still gather dust in the Czech Republic. According to Lisle, there is still no final plan on where the cars will turn around to continue their loop. Also, the city's ban on overhead wires in the downtown area means DDOT will either have to find a way to power the street cars without overhead wires or have the law changed to allow them. Lisle said the Benning Road project is set to continue for two more years and anticipates the street car line will be running from 3rd and H St NE to Benning Rd and Oklahoma Avenue, NE, by 2011. Others are less optimistic about the timeline.

Today's street closures, with more Friday, will allow workers to lay tracks at the intersections. In addition, the eastbound curb lane on H Street, NE between 3rd and 5th Streets will be closed to traffic for the next day. On Friday, the intersection of 7th and H Streets, NE will be closed from 9 am to 5 pm, as well as the eastbound curb lane on H Street between 6th and 8th Streets. Have patience, its in the name of progress.

2011 Year in Review

Looking back on 2011, the year may be known in the real estate world as a year of binge-buying and construction of apartment buildings, or the year Walmart came to town, at least on paper. But with Washington DC's population growing and construction financing available, the city added many new restaurants, apartments (though condos still lagged) and even some office buildings. Here's a look at some of the many developments that shaped the year:

14th Street Rules
14th Street saw developers lining up in swarms as JBG broke ground on District Condos (Jan 10) and quickly leased up retail in the future building (pictured below), showing the commercial strength of 14th Street, though the building later converted to rentals, showing the relative strength of the apartment financing market. Nearby, Georgetown Strategic Capital readied to build Utopia at 14th & U, though JBG took that up too. Level2 Development got support for 144 units across the street on the 1900 block of 14th, UDR got underway on its 255-unit apartment building replacing the Nehemiah Center, Douglas Development got approval for 30 units on the 2200 block, Habte Sequar started work on his 30 unit project at 14th & R, while PN Hoffman began converting the Verizon building across the street into 40 condos. The Irwin neared final approval for 60 units on lower 14th Street, and Furioso put up a design for a 42,000 s.f. office in the 1500 block.

Virginia, Towering Above Others
Virginia went big this year: Dittmar submitted plans for 500 apartments in Virginia Square (Jan 11), though construction has not yet begun. The beltway's tallest building - at nearly 400 feet - got underway in Alexandria, another just a hare shorter got closer in Tysons Corner, both barely eclipsing the Rosslyn tower that poked above ground (pictured, left) just a few days ago. JBG contributed with its 474-unit Rosslyn Commons groundbreaking (Jan 6).

There was finally a kick start for Buzzard Point (Jan 17), thanks to Duane Deason, who is planning the first residential project in the largely forgotten area, with zoning approval secured in August. Not too far away, Camden Properties began their residential project on South Capitol (June 13) giving the area some momentum. A new bridge and streetscape on the way for South Capitol gave the area even more buzz.

Columbia Heights saw nothing like the boom that hit it in previous years, but Chris Donatelli began adding another building next to his two centerpieces at 14th & Irving.

Getting Malled
It was a busy, if controversial year for the Mall: Eisenhower drew the most attention as Frank Gehry, the chosen architect, put forward 3 plans for a tribute. One was selected, but public discontent with the starchitect's vision was strong, and one arts group put forward its own competition. The winning vision was displayed, briefly. Three areas of the fading Mall were designated for a redesign (Oct 26). Rogers Marvel Architects was chosen as the designer for President's Park South (July 7), while DC residents begged for the reopening of E Street, and The Disabled Veterans' Memorial got nearly ready for construction near the U.S. Capitol (Oct 5). The Martin Luther King Memorial progressed from dirt piles to completion, opening this summer (Aug 12), and the African American Museum of History and Culture got nearly off the ground. Not to be outdone, Latinos pursued sites nearby for another museum on ethnicity and race (July 2).

NoMa boomed, again. Its second hotel, a Hilton, opened in April, Mill Creek Residential broke ground (March 18) on 603 rental units, Skanska purchased a lot in January and planned its largest office building in the DC area (Aug 10). Camden started off 320 units of housing in September, and MRP let slip that they intended to kick off Washington Gateway at NoMa's northern edge (Aug 29) after years of waiting. StonebridgeCarras started digging for phase II of Two Constitution Square (May 12) for 203 residential units and then broke ground on Three Constitution Square (Oct 18) on spec, like its predecessors. NoMa East, however, continued to idle.

Shaw had its day, again and again, as Four Points (officially, anyway) got to work on Progression Place (Feb 5), while the CityMarket at O got underway (pictured, below) two months after the Giant closed. New designs were released for the Wonder Bread buildings (Aug 30) Jefferson Apartment Group bought Kelsey Gardens (Oct 27), promising a quick start of removing the eyesores. Finally, Two more Marriotts were planned next to the Convention Center (June 22).

Take Me to the River
Construction was everywhere in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood in southeast with the construction of Canal Park (Feb 15), and a new bridge (Nov 21). Foundry Lofts opened to the public, reconstruction of the boilermaker building got underway for the area's first retail component, work on the Harris Teeter and apartment building commenced and Florida Rock demolition finally began. Other waterfronts made progress too as plans in Old Town and southwest DC inched along.

Elsewhere around the city, the CityCenter mega-project got underway in April, still without a tenant; GW faced a public outcry over its plan to demolish historic rowhouses on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Wisconsin Ave. Giant finally got the financing to go forward with the residential and retail project, then beat off the NIMBYs, and Dakota Crossing was purchased, facilitating a big-box retail development where a forest now stands. Tenleytown got an unsightly library, finally (Jan 19) and new school, Eastbanc unveiled its designs for the West End (Apr 8), and the Bozzuto/Abdo team broke ground for the 2nd big project in Brookland.

Bethesda, and its Northern Neighbor
In Bethesda, Bainbridge got to work on its 17-story apartment building, while the Trillium site was sold to StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital (Mar 9), injecting the moribund project with hoped-for new life. Way up north in the neighborhood that no one can agree what to name, White Flint (aka North Bethesda, aka Rockville) got ready for a building boom as JBG and LCOR beefed up residences (1275 by LCOR) planned for the ongoing construction sites and Federal Realty planned 1725 residences. JBG already has the tallest residential building in Montgomery County, which it plans to surpass with its next phase (pictured, at right).

Projects that wanted to be on the 2011 list but will now have to dream of the 2012 list: anything in Fort Totten, Skyland redevelopment, Arlington's first LEED Gold apartment building, reconstruction of Babe's Billiards, the Florida Avenue / Capital City Market, the Adams Morgan hotel, the Akridge and Monument Half Street projects in southeast, and Howard Town Center, to name just a few.

DC's Development Pipeline in 2009

Developmentally speaking, 2008 was a big year for the District of Columbia. While it was the annus horribilus for real estate, it did witness the opening of eagerly anticipated projects like CityVista, Union Row, and of course, Nationals Stadium, to name a few, and saw other big ticket developments like the Southwest Waterfront project and The Yards stride further toward realization.

Still, many District-solicited projects await the green light to begin construction, in the process of selecting a team or are still up for grabs. Here's a breakdown of those projects and where they stand for 2009.

Available Proposals:

In one of their more unique offers, the Office of the Deputy Mayor Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) is currently seeking a developer to take control of a 13.5-acre concrete manufacturing facility at 1515 W Street, NE. The site is currently operated by the District Department of Transportation, which plans to vacate the facility by August. Any new tenant will be required to submit to a ground lease agreement for a minimum of 10 years. Proposals for the “Develop and Operate a Concrete Plant Solicitation” are due by January 9th.

As previously reported, ODMPED is currently seeking a development team to revitalize two long-abandoned properties at 400-414 Eastern Avenue and 6100 Dix Street, NE, in the Deanwood neighborhood. The city government is looking to redevelop the properties into an affordable housing complex with a local retail component. Proposals are due to ODMPED by February 16th.

One of the bigger projects currently on deck with the city government is the redevelopment of several “excess” schools, closed due to recent budget shortfalls and threadbare facilities. These include Backus Middle School, Grimke Elementary School, Hine Junior High School, the Langston School, M.M. Washington High School, the historic 1911 school building of Randle Highlands Elementary School, Rudolph Elementary School, the Slater School, the unoccupied portion of Slowe Elementary School, Stevens Elementary School, and Young Elementary School. The sites will not be put to their former use; any plans will be considered, provided they exhibit a “creative vision for development or reuse” and “an understanding of neighborhood context.” A pre-bid conference will be held January 9th, proposals for the redevelopment of any or all of the facilities are due by February 27th.

ODMPED has also “amended and restated” their solicitation of offers for the Park Morton public housing project redevelopment that had been previously announced in September of last year. Proposals for that project are now also due by February 27th.

Proposals Submitted:

Bidding recently closed on three vacant parcels the District intends to re-appropriate as parking lots: 463 I Street, NW (available for 24 months until construction commences on Donohoe’s Arts at 5th & I project), 2 Patterson Street, NE and 33 K Street, NW (formerly the demolished Temple Courts public housing complex).

Proposals were received in September for two District-owned parcels at Fourth/Sixth and E Streets, SW – one piece of which is intended to house the Metropolitan Police Department’s new Consolidated Forensic Laboratory.

An announcement is anticipated soon regarding proposals submitted in October for the Hill East Waterfront/Reservation 13 project, which is intended to include more than 5 million square feet of mixed-use development and an extension of Massachusetts Avenue, SE – the latter of which is already underway. As of November, the District had narrowed down the contenders to competing four development teams.

The so-called “Lincoln Lots” – two V Street, NW parcels adjoining Shaw’s historic Lincoln Theatre – were also the subject of an RFP that closed this past September. ODMPED was seeking “developers to assist in repositioning real estate associated with the [theatre] to complement and benefit the ongoing operation of the Lincoln.”

Development Partners Selected:

Of the projects solicited by ODMPED over the past year, the majority have already been snatched up by development teams. These include Blue Skye Development, in concert with the Mayor’s New Communities Initiative, for an abandoned apartment complex at 4427 Hayes Street, NE; Donatelli Development and Mosaic Urban Partners for two parcels at 3813-3815 and 3825-3829 Georgia Avenue, NW; Blue Skye Development and the Educational Organization for United Latin Americans for the abandoned Tewkesbury building at 6425 14th Street, NW; Argos Group for two District-owned Capitol Hill properties at 525 Ninth Street, NE and 1341 Maryland Avenue, NE (aka Old Engine House 10); Donohoe Companies for the Arts at 5th & I project in the Mount Vernon Triangle; Donatelli Development and Blue Skye Development for the $108 million mixed-use project adjoining the Metro station at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE; the William C. Smith & Co., Jair Lynch Companies, Banneker Ventures LLC and CPDC for the $700 million, 1600 unit Northwest One New Community that also includes retail, office and medical components; Clark Realty for the massive, $2.5 billion redevelopment of Southeast’s Poplar Point community; and, lastly, Washington Community Development Corporation and Banneker Ventures, LLC for the transformation of Deanwood’s dilapidated Strand Theatre into a mixed-use retail and office complex.

That New Condo Smell: Coming Soon to a Parking Lot Near U

According to Bonstra/Haresign Architects, construction will soon begin on a 31 or 32-unit, mixed-use condo development at 1638 14th Street in the 14th Street Historic District. This yet-unnamed, 7-story, 30,000 s.f. condominium will be built atop a 6,000 s.f. parking lot at the corner of R and 14th Street NW.

Bonstra/Haresign architect David Baker tells DCMud the project was "on hold for over a year, but now it's moving forward thanks to a new owner." That would be Habte Sequar, officially Loford LLC, who also built Renaissance Condos near Logan Circle in 2008 and the Josephine at 440 Rhode Island Avenue, which were intended to be completed by now but have not yet begun settlements.

The condos are "in the permit stage right now. I guess [the groundbreaking date] all depends on when we get final approval," but, says Baker, "the owner is interviewing general contractors" and has an optimistic "early spring" groundbreaking in mind.

Assuming April showers bring May condominiums, 14th Street residents are in store for 3,000 s.f. of ground floor encased behind "a highly symmetrical" facade of glass and buff limestone. These design details are meant to play up 14th Street's automobile row legacy by invoking the look and feel of a new car showroom. On the R Street side, the height will be scaled back and a "warmer pallet with red brick" will help to integrate the residential and business identities of the building with the larger neighborhood.







Plans for the condos "were submitted before the IZ [the District's Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) Program] went into effect" last August, and although Baker can't say for certain that none of the units will be offered below market-rate, he doesn't believe there will be an affordable component to the project. The project may also have some direct competition from JBG one block north, which has plans for its own, much larger condo on 14th Street.

If you (ahem) check under the hood of this work in progress, you'll find plans for an underground, one-level, 18-space garage built into the vault space along R Street. Rounding out the top of the building are either one or two spacious penthouse-style condos. But while the penthouse unit(s) might feel quite spacious, the one and two-bedroom units making up the rest of the building will have to be squeezed into what's left of the 30,000 s.f. of space. Baker admits that "none" of these remaining 30+ condos will be "very large units" and most will fall into the "roughly 1,000 s.f." category.

Washington, DC Real Estate and Development News

An H Street Spring

H Street's gritty, scrappy texture is giving way. In its place, the northeast corridor's devotees will soon find supermarkets, condos, smart retail, upscale apartment buildings, and trolleys clanging by pricey latte vendors. Long predicted, the year 2011 looks ready to bear out prognostications of a gentrification and resurgence that had seemed, until now, like a mirage, always ahead, always retreating. With last week's announcement that Giant officials had signed an agreement to anchor the northeast corner of 3rd and H, kickstarting Steuart Investment Co's long dormant development and blessing H Street with its first full-sized supermarket, the strip has become one of the hottest sites for development plans.

The Steuart project will add 215 apartments above the Giant, along with additional retail space. Around it, development booms. The District just announced a 16-unit residential project by Wall Development at 12th and H that should kick off next year, and at the eastern end Clark broke ground on a 257-unit apartment complex in October, as did an Aldi supermarket destined for the starburst intersection next year. And the biggest project by far will be Rappaport's 400-unit residence that will fill H Street from 8th to 10th Streets, while Dreyfus' plans for Capitol Place, a 300-unit residence opposite the future Giant, are loaded and ready for the right moment. And the trolleys, of course, are on the way.

Things could have been so different. Just two years ago a New York team went bankrupt betting on H Street and lost their 432-unit building at auction. The Giant will sit on the former BP site, a plot that was intended to house an interstate truck-servicing megaplex. Akridge's dreams to connect H Street with downtown by burying the rail yard at Union Station haven't progressed, and the most consequential projects have not yet broken ground, so the volte-face is not guaranteed, but its looking like its going to be a big year for H Street.

Washington DC real estate development news