60 L Street NE: Fashionably Late

While many NoMa developments have begun construction, some are even built and signing leases, Camden Property Trust's planned project is going to sit on the sidelines a little longer. Camden will go before the Zoning Commission next week to seek an extension of the February 2008 approval for a 14-story mixed-use building at 60 L Street, N.E. The two-phase project could ultimately bring 682,000 s.f. of residential and retail space - more than 700 units of housing - to the NoMa neighborhood. In March 2008, DCMud wrote about the "imminent groundbreaking" at Camden USA's site, with work on the first phase scheduled to be completed in late 2010 and the second phase to follow shortly thereafter. Or not. Camden will build the WDG Architecture-designed development in two phases, breaking ground first on the south side of the block to construct a 319-unit apartment building with ground floor retail. Phase two will add roughly 407 residential units to the mix, and roughly double the amount of retail space. Camden will also build more than 450 parking spaces in a three-level underground garage. When built, the project will squeeze in between NPR's yet-to-be-built new headquarters at 1111 N. Capitol Street to the west and Tishman Speyer's dual phase office projects at 1100 and 1150 First Street to the east. 1100 First is the only one of the neighboring projects to deliver so far. The project will also sit close to Archstone's buildings across Pierce Street to the north and Trammell Crow's Sentinel Square II-V to the south. The site was a hot commodity in 2007, switching hands three times in as many months. First 60 L Street belonged to J Street Development and was called “First Place”; it was then sold to Tishman Real Estate Services, which then quickly sold it to Camden USA in February 2007. Since purchasing the site for almost $44 million, Camden has sat on the NoMa lot, biding time. Next week the developers will seek an extension on the approved zoning changes, so that when the time is right the project can move quickly. Mark Bucci, VP of Construction at Camden, said that "based on the economy, you know no real boost has occurred...we're looking at first quarter of 2011." Bucci said of the NoMa area "we're just very excited about all the activity that is going on there. That's what keeps our interests." As neighboring projects move forward, it looks like Camden will show up for the party fashionably late. 

Washington, DC real estate development news