Union Market's New Skyline

With 5 construction projects underway in Union Market's front yard, the scene is changing rapidly and dramatically, with the 2 story neighborhood suddenly developing a skyline. One of those projects is about reach its full height, adding another apartment building to the commercial development mix.  NYC-based Ranger Properties' project at 400 Florida Avenue is nearly topped out at 11 stories plus penthouse (120 feet), adding 110 apartments to the largely residential population rising around the warehouse district when it finishes mid to late next year.

click image for photo gallery

Designed by SK+I, construction on the multi-family building began in December of last year, and will soon include a sister building next door - a MOB Hotel is planned for the vacant portion on Florida Avenue, with 144 keys planned for next year. With construction by Paradigm and interior design by AJC Interiors, 400 Florida Avenue has little to obstruct its sight lines across the Mall just a 3 block walk from the Metro, a walk that will get shorter when a new pedestrian tunnel is carved out under the rails to connect the Metro entrance with the eastern side of Noma.  SK+I  also designed the Edison next door, as well as a batch of nearby neighbors, including Reed Street, the Apollo on H Street, and Bryant Street on Rhode Island Avenue.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

The Parks at Walter Reed - Part II

Continued from Part I

In 2013, the District chose the team of  Hines, Urban Atlantic and Triden as Master Developer, with Torti Gallas as the master planner, charged with redevelopment of the equivalent of a small town, beginning with the removal of the 2.7m square foot brutalist hospital, a-year long endeavor due to its massive size, conducted by demolition giant NorthStar Contracting Group.  The team then lead a $700m investment reintegrate the site back into the city, removing barriers and regrading to allow street connections.  "We connected streets everywhere the grade would allow us" said John Torti of his firm's efforts to conform the site to the city's carefully detailed plan.  

15 of the 66 acres are preserved as open space, with "many many parks sprinkled throughout."  Dahlia Street is to become a main entrance and go through State Department's portion, which has promised to connect it through.  Add to that 182 units of senior housing, 500 condos, 1200 apartments, nearly 200,000 s.f. of office, 150,000 s.f. of hotel, 260,000 s.f. of retail (including of course the 40,000 s.f. Whole Foods), as well as a 350,000 s.f. research facility by Children's National Health System and a new ambulatory care center by Howard University, incorporating many of the historic buildings on the site.   The project is being phased over many years, but the Vale (300 unit apartment building) and the Brooks (89 condo units) are set to be the first major deliveries early next year.

Washington DC commercial property news

Old School in Shaw: Grimke Redevelopment

The Grimke School had certainly seen better days.  Built in 1887, what began as an elementary school eventually turned into government offices, then headquarters for the DC Department of Fire and Emergency Services and Department of Corrections.  Falling into disrepair, the building was vacated in 2013, but by then the District government was 5 years into a drawn-out process to select a developer for the site.  After a scrum of community involvement and District guidelines, the development team of Community Three / Torti Gallas was selected to perform the renovation.

click image for photo gallery

The District government awarded developers a 99 year lease on the building, and in October of 2019 Community Three / Torti Gallas ceremonially broke ground with a plan to restore the original school.  The deal also included a fee simple sale of the parking lot, on which Community Three has built a 30-story condo project called the Fold, at the corner of 9 1/2 and U Streets, another 38 units will replace the school gym as the next phase of development.  The revitalized school will offer 45,000 s.f. of office space, 3,000 s.f. of retail, and deliver 16,000 s.f. of "municipal" space. An agreement was reached early to house the African American Civil War Museum in 12,000 s.f., and earlier this year Torti Gallas, the project architect, announced that it will move a "substantial" portion of its Maryland-based practice to the school when the project completes in Q2 next year. 

Washington DC commercial real estate news

The Parks at Walter Reed

Phase One of the Parks at Walter Reed is coming to fruition.  It may seem impossible that such a gargantuan undertaking has gone through what seems like interminable planning, but two of the first phase of buildings will deliver early next year.  The project runs the risk of being both overhyped and understated - DC began planning in earnest in 2006, chose the master planner in 2013, purchased the land from the Army and transferred the site to its developers in 2016, and the first delivery arrives in 2021, with every year in between reporting significant but shifting details.  And still the scale defies casual understanding, a 110 acre parcel, largely inaccessible and hidden behind walls, destined for 3.1m square feet of development just on the public portion (the State Department will take the western third of the site) producing over 2100 units of housing, 300,000 s.f. of office, 175,000 s.f. of retail and public spaces.

click on photo for picture gallery

Technically, the site has already delivered its first housing - 91 units of affordable housing to former military personnel in a refurbished building, but two new buildings, the Brooks and the Vale, will deliver 89 condos and 300 apartments next quarter, the first new buildings of the site.  By the time the decaying military hospital was closed in 2011 and transferred to Bethesda, Walter Reed had served "millions of military personnel" since opening in 1909.  In 2013, the District government chose the master development team of Urban Atlantic, Hines, and Triden, with Torti Gallas as the master architect.  More on the development in Part II...

 Washington DC commercial real estate news