change to any developer, but tack on rules that make some lenders jittery.
Back in the days when no-doc loans were de rigueure and lenders financed 95 to 100% of home-purchase loans, FHA was but an obscure agency that few real estate agents even noticed. No more. FHA-based financing now allows 97% financing where lenders otherwise lend a more parsimonious 85 to 90%, and news from FHA is watched more closely than interest rates.
The newest rules, just released, take effect December 7th. Under the old regime, developers were obligated to find buyers to write contracts on 70% of the units in a new condominium before FHA would back the mortgage. With so many buyers seeking FHA loans, a building could not begin settling loans before the 70% mark 
was met, a tough standard in the current market. The new rules bring that threshold to 30%, down from the initially proposed 50%. Spot approval, the process of getting an FHA-approved loan on a building that does not have overall FHA approval, now ends February 1, 2010. Buyers with a ratified contract by that date can still get case by case approval even if the settlement date is later.
The quirk in the new rules lies in the two methods developers can use to qualify their project. The first entails "Designated Entity approval" with a bank's in-house licensed underwriters, a process the government intends as a quicker, cheaper approval method. The second is to submit the project to the FHA for approval. While no one is willing to guess at how long the government option will take, the bank approval process comes with a caveat that has bankers worried. Under the new guidelines, the first bank that approves a loan in a new condominium will incur liability for any flaws in all subsequent financing, even if it doesn't make subsequent loans. That can leave banks on the hook for hundreds of units for the profit of one loan, a scenario that banks seem not so keen to jump into. On the other hand, all existing condominiums need to be approved under the new system, leaving some industry watchers fearing a glut of applications on December 8th, with some predictions that rules for bank-approved loans will be relaxed to lighten the burden on the federal government. If not, builders will simply have to wait out the government's own approval process.
One of downtown Washington DC's most visible buildings may soon be developed into a 9-story retail-centered mixed-use project; that is, if it's not foreclosed on. Sitting next to DC's Chinatown 
arch, one of the few exceptions to downtown's shiny newness is 801 7th Street.
Yeni Wong and her Gallery Towers LLC were served a notice of foreclosure for the two contiguous lots at 675 H Street and 801 7th Street, NW in October for the $13,491,471 note plus attorney's fees. Wong, President of Riverdale International, reportedly paid more than $10m for the property in 2006. The lots were slated for auction on November 17th, but the sale was canceled, according to the office of David Prensky at DC's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
The corner of 7th and H housed a CVS, but now sits vacant and boarded with signs promising construction that has yet to begin. Owner Wong started a public dispute by filing a law suit in 
September 2006 against then tenant, CVS, after the store refused to vacate the premises despite an eviction notice in the spring of 2006. Wong wanted the CVS out to facilitate the LLC's plans to develop the site for a mix of uses including office, residential and retail. According to the website of developer DRI, a Transwestern Company, 675 H Street was to become home to two buildings: one would restore the corner space and rise 9 stories over the arch, the other would be a new Class A office building behind the main storefronts. The total project would have yielded 110,000 s.f. of office space and 50,000 s.f. of retail. The planned development never came to fruition and between October 2008 and February 2009 Gallery Towers had 4 liens placed on their Chinatown property. In the meantime, Eichberg Construction briefly began work last summer after fencing off the site, but work quickly halted. 
A long time ago (2005), in The Galaxy far, far away (Silver Spring), Scott Copeland, owner of RST Development, began 
pushing the idea for a 328-unit, 700-parking space condominium development through the Montgomery County application process.
The good news, according to Montgomery County Senior Planner, Sandra Pereira, is that "there will still be 3,366 s.f. of ground floor retail." She adds that Phase 1 of the project will not only include "a five story building, but also recreation and public use space" which adds up to 25,816 square feet of space for the public.
are public and 208 are private." 
Whether or not construction will ever begin on the four story, 46-unit second phase of development remains to be seen. No date for Phase 2's construction has been set. That said, RST Development is pushing forward into the subcontracting stage of Phase 1 despite the setbacks in the market so far. 
Last night, DC's Highland community was handed another development delay as New Market Investors and developer Crawford Edgewood Managers Inc. (CEMI) received approval to prolong their development schedule with a request for a three year extension. Along with the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), the team filed to alter the zoning application approved in 2007, which would have expired this month.
The Zoning Commission approved the delay, allowing DCHA and the developers a little breathing room as they scrounge for funds and wait on a recent HOPE VI application for $22 million to develop 17 acres of townhouses. The soonest the group might expect good news about the competitive HOPE VI funding is February; until then they will be holding out hope that the stalled development will finally come to fruition.
DCHA expanded the scope of the development from the PUD's 9 acres to include a total of 17 acres of land needing new roads and development.
JBG and Montgomery County police officials are haggling over plans for the current and future Bethesda police stations at a time when JBG is reconsidering its development partners for the prime site which sits directly across from the Bethesda Metro. Last October, Montgomery County issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of the 2nd District County Police Station in downtown Bethesda. Located at 7359 Wisconsin Avenue, at the corner of Wisconsin and Montgomery, the site has approximately 21,400 ground s.f. to offer. After receiving two responses to the RFP, in the first quarter of 2009 the County selected the proposal submitted by a partnership headed by JBG. Negotiations for the terms of the agreement should be complete in the first half of 2010. Once JBG makes it official, the developer will begin the zoning process for the new police station.
According to Ken Finkelstein, Managing Director at JBG, in return for the site of the current station, the developer will likely do a land swap with the county for property sitting on Cordell Avenue between Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues. When the JBG partnership initially submitted their RFP in December of 2008, the development group included JBG, one of their affiliates and the Goldstar Group. However, Finkelstein said it is "unclear at this time if Goldstar will continue to get involved;" a fairly major detail the group is "still trying to figure out."
Assuming everything works out in negotiations with the County, the developers will head before the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) pursuing review under the optional method of development, which gives developers the right to a significantly higher density in the downtown area in exchange for amenities like open space. Stith said the planning and zoning process could take a full year. Finkelstein estimated the groundbreaking would be another two or three years down the line, which is probably a relief to the current tenants of the older retail buildings on the proposed site of the new police station.
The Office of Tax and Revenue has rescheduled its tax sale for November 30th. The tax sale, originally scheduled for September, had been canceled after a legal challenge to the process. Interested parties can register from Nov. 23rd - 
25th, those who had registered prior to the September deadline need not register again.
The auction is not in fact a sale, as no property changes hands on that date. Auction bidders win a claim against the property, and may eventually begin a judicial foreclosure process, but original owners retain the property in the short term and have a statutory right to pay off the bidder and clear the title to their home. And so while most property owners delinquent as of last year will exercise their rights and retain their homes, auction bidders often come away with the right to charge penalties on the property.
The auction will be held at 941 N. Capitol Street. 
Coming off its recent zoning approval, the Art Place and Shops at Fort Totten development is now being readied for the initial stages of planning and demolition, in what will be a 2 million s.f. transit-oriented project with a mixture of community-serving retail, residential and arts and cultural space to the area between South Dakota Avenue and the Fort Totten Metro. The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation are seeking bids to work on the nearly 17 acres of land in northeast DC's Fort Totten community. The project will be executed in several stages with one massive building in the first phase and the rest to follow. Developers expect to begin construction in the first half of 2010 and have the first building ready 
within 24 to 36 months from now.
The first phase of construction will begin with Building A at South Dakota and Galloway Street
hanks to expansion of the Panama Canal, Capitol Hill may be about to get its own Big Dig - a $174 million capital improvement project that will unearth the long-buried tunnel south of the Capitol Building to widen and deepen the antiquated freight line. For those that miss the obvious connection between Panama and DC, the $5 billion overhaul of the Big Ditch in Panama will now make it easier to ship cargo from Asia to the Gulf of Mexico, and from there into the midwest via rail lines, beating out formerly dominant west coast ports as the cheapest point of entry into the American interior. That is, if the rail lines can handle the increased cargo. Which brings us back to Capitol Hill.
The project is particularly irksome to residents and businesses such as EYA's Capitol Quarters housing development. The new townhomes line the streets near Virginia Avenue and the proposed CSX plan is giving some future homeowners a (possibly justified) case of buyers' remorse. Some would-be buyers have backed off when they caught wind of the area's construction future. EYA Partner AJ Jackson had this to say about the Capitol Quarter community and CSX, "EYA has been in contact with CSX and will be working with the company as well as the District government to ensure that Capitol Quarter continues to be a great community if CSX’s National Gateway proposal goes forward. Our goal is to ensure that any proposal that’s considered includes the needs and concerns of the Capitol Quarter." Like moving massive amounts of freight from the gulf to the north and west. At least Hill residents can console themselves that this will save alot of fossil fuel consumption. And Bostonians will tell them that this too shall pass. But not soon.
Even if you haven’t heard it, the Arlington Rap bears no need for repeating. Its kitschy, incessant observational diatribe aside, the piece bathes in obviously stereotypical traits of those neighborhoods in North Arlington with lyrics that could describe any other well-to-do residential area in America today. It should then make sense that the author of the “song” is a product of the environment he chastises, and, hey, maybe that’s the crux of the material. I can empathize. As a resident of Clarendon, I find 
myself nitpicking the commercial and residential aspects of the neighborhood; for every Cheesecake Factory customer, there’s another with a trusty Whitlow’s mug for Thursday nights. For every Apple Store employee, there’s an indie kid covering Death Cab for Cutie at Iota. For every multimillion condo building, there’s a hollowed out 1930s house converted into several one-bedrooms. You get it. Classifying Clarendon as just another white-bread pocket of Arlington is a slippery slope, and it’s easy as a resident of the area to be slightly offended by any labeling that would be a detriment to the various elements that comprise the charming, pseudo-urban streets which knit together one of the best offerings of the DC Metro Area.
The balance between cultures within Clarendon isn’t the result of any absolute dichotomy. With George Mason’s law school just a half mile from Clarendon Station, and K Street just four Metro stops away, the nightlife atmosphere blends professional and academic to great success. Commuters litter the residential pockets that line the commercial ‘downtown’ of Clarendon, with condo buildings and apartment complexes providing a sort of transitional skin into a more settled environment. Small businesses cohabitate easily with a subliminal corporate presence, which appears to be tamed by the fact that Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, the Apple Store, etc. are all located at close quarters in Clarendon Plaza. This makes the Plaza a sort of financial nucleus, drawing residents from DC and further south in Arlington to the area. (And of course Whole Foods, the organic grocery Mecca is a Prius magnet, and 9 out of 10 that make the drive have District plates.) It’s also a clever sleight of hand that sort of tricks people into noticing the rest of the neighborhood, whether they came for it or not.
And there’s the charm. Clarendon’s small businesses aren’t so much allowed to exist as they are encouraged to thrive. The farmers market right off the metro on Wednesday afternoons is always well attended, and independent restaurants are clustered and crowded with customers. Nightlife booms toward the West, with the Clarendon Ballroom, Mr. Days, and Clarendon Grill all hosting happy hours conscious of their customers. Some bars try to go higher end, and succeed in pleasing the folks that bother to show up and deal with the pretty shoulda-woulda crowd that couldn’t bother with a short cab or metro ride into DC. (I’m looking at you, Eleventh.) Dinner outside in the spring and summer is unavoidable, it seems, as sidewalks are full of people enjoying Faccia Luna, 3, Harry’s Taproom, or Rien Tong.
Commerce aside, living in Clarendon is as easy as it is enticing. On the high end, established streets like Franklin Road and Key Boulevard present some of Arlington’s finer fare, with single family homes ranging anywhere from $700,000 to just over $1 million. Given that everything in the area seems to be on top of everything else, location is less a determining factor in price than, say, age or square footage. Garfield Street stretches back into an expansive neighborhood shaded by oak and pine, with sleight hills traced in well-kept sidewalks. Emerge from Garfield onto Wilson and find yourself in the shadow of commercial construction (to be completed in 2010) and shouldered by bars and restaurants. Further down, on the other side of Clarendon Boulevard, apartments are stacked over popular nightlife to the tune of $1900 a month to $4000, depending on, again, size and age. The neighborhoods down 10th Street across Lombard, toward Courthouse and Rosslyn, are a mixed bag of old Virginia ranchers, brick colonials, townhomes and apartment buildings with slightly more reasonable prices, whether you’re buying or renting.
Chevy Chase may get its first Whole Foods, the much-anticipated second "anchor" to the Shops at Wisconsin Place, by the spring of 2010. While the Bethesda-Chevy Chase corridor may 
seem like a scripted stage setting for the Whole Foods phenomenon, Chevy Chasers have until now had to drive all the way down to Tenley for their organic Gruyere, or eke by (gasp) on Giant or TJ's foodstuffs.
clear that they don't want any outside media reps speaking on their behalf."
The Montgomery County Planning Commission just released its 2009 Urban Design Guidelines for the Twinbrook section of Rockville with a set of advisory rules 8 years in the making to guide developers in producing a more walkable, livable neighborhood that will "build a community." 
The streets are going to be overhauled so that the blocks are shorter for on-foot commuters. Business district streets like Fishers Lane, Washington Street, and Wilkins Avenue need permanent on-street parking. The same goes for those four to six-lane streets like Twinbrook Parkway and Parklawn Drive.
Last September we reported that Hamel Builders was looking for subcontractors for the Victory Square development in Parkside near the Minnesota Avenue Metro, and now they are back at it. Located at 600 Barnes Street NE, the project is being developed as a joint venture between Bethesda's Victory Housing Inc. and the Bank of America Community Development Corporation (BACDC). Bids are due by December 2nd for the senior housing development to include construction of 98 apartments to total 94,336 s.f.
The saga surrounding five townhouses being converted to a hotel in the middle of Dupont Circle, the former Gralyn Hotel and Woodbine Apartments, continues as DC real estate tycoon Morton Bender, his N Street Follies Ltd. (NSF) and their latest architect, Andrulis Janezich Architects, go before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) this week for review of the developer's newest site plan. In addition to HPRB, the group's plan is pending before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) for a special exception to construct a hotel in the Dupont neighborhood; the BZA decision is expected December 8th. For the first time since the property was purchased in 1988, it looks like NSF will be able to secure 
HPRB approval for a conceptual design with the support of the Dupont Circle Conservancy and the ANC.
Architect Anton Janezich said his team has been working on the design for approximately six months, but indicated he was not well-versed in the previous designs for the site. The plan will leave the historic townhomes at their current height; the architect says the planned rear addition will not be visible from the street. In total the 5 townhomes make up approximately 98 rooms with an estimated 58 below grade parking spaces.
The HPRB staff report gave approval to the revised conceptual design, adding that when/if the BZA approves the necessary exceptions, the staff will work with the architect and developers to move forward on a solid plan for N Street.
In an appearance before the BZA in October, Architect Stan Andrulis said the plan retains "93 percent of the existing buildings" based on square footage. In that meeting, the discussion over the plans and the presentations from both the developers and opponents eventually ran out of time, forcing the BZA to postpone any further discussion or decisions until all parties involved had time to speak at a later date. It remains to be seen whether they can get through it all in December, a minor miracle giving the years of fighting that have taken place until now. 
Residents of Ward 8's Congress Heights will be getting new affordable housing, this time from a private sector project beginning early 2010. The 4th Street Vistas are 94 single-family town homes designed by DC-based architect Atelier and being developed by Unidev on a currently vacant plot of land
near the intersection of 4th and Mississippi Ave SE. The homes will offer 14 different floor plans for 2-, 3-, and 4-bedroom homes.
various permits in early 2009 and the initial 35 units will be built quickly, delivering in the first quarter of 2010.
