Benning Station Yanked by DC

The much vaunted Benning Station project has lost its main tenant and developer in a recent twist that leaves its future in doubt.

Having long envisioned the Benning Road corridor in Ward 7 as one of the keystones of redevelopment in eastern Washington, DC, city planners aimed to realize their goals by not only attracting new retailers and residents to the long struggling area, but local government agencies – and the traffic that comes with them - as well. To the end, the Fenty administration has masterminded mixed-use projects, like the $108 "Downtown Ward 7" project at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE that will include large residential and retail components neighboring the new, currently under construction headquarters of the Department of Employee Services. But another project in the same vein may be in danger of falling through. And now community advocates are laying the blame at the feet of those that promoted it – namely the Office of Property Management and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

Developer (and Fenty confidant) Ben Soto and DBT Development's $55 million, Bonstra Haresign-designed project was supposed to bring a new, 132,500 square foot headquarters for DC’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) to 4414 Benning Road, NE – along with 21,000 square feet of much needed ground floor retail and a future phase that would include sixty-two residential units. Then, last month, the developer told the local ANC that he could possibly be pulling out of the project, just as news came down from OPM Director Robin-Eve Jasper that CFSA would not be relocating to Ward 7 after all.

“[The] reason the CFSA lease was being pulled was that they had found a ready-to-move in space… in Ward 5, specifically NoMa,” says Sylvia Brown of the ANC 7C04. “The DC City Council passed legislation two weeks ago giving developers in that area a $50 million tax break for the next two years. When you look at the fact that Ben Soto has designed the Benning Station project for CSFA with no additional monies requested and he’s not asking for any tax subsidies, that move to NoMa contradicts what the city says about needing a ready-to-move-in space.”

The news not only raised suspicions of community advocates, but was also an unexpected surprise. Soto himself had reportedly spent $11 million of “pre-development investment” funds to ensure the CSFA’s occupancy. Furthermore, according to the Ward 7 Citizens Coalition, the Benning Station project had already received numerous letters of interest from potential retailers, including CVS, TGIFriday’s and “other neighborhood serving retail” and has been tailored specifically to meet needs of the CFSA – making occupancy by another tenant unlikely, even as the project nears the end of the District-led approval process.

“Just this morning, it was before the Board of Zoning because it needs to have some zoning variations and it’s gotten the approval of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, as well as the Department of Transportation,” said Brown. “This is a project that had acquiesced to the CSFA’s needs for an additional 50,000 square feet. How can you…negotiate that additional space to meet your particular needs and then pull out at the last minute?”

Director Jasper will be on hand to answer that question herself, when she attends a public forum concerning the future of Benning Station this evening, Wednesday, April 22^nd, at the Kenilworth Recreation Center at 4300 Anacostia Avenue, NE. The meeting will begin at 7 PM.

Washington D.C. retail and development news

Donatelli Bringing 'Downtown' to Minnesota-Benning

Mayor Fenty today announced the District’s selection of Donatelli Development and Blue Skye Development as the developers of a 5-acre parcel at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE, adjacent to the Minnesota Avenue Metro station.

The $108 million mixed-use project will bring 40,000 square feet of retail space, 375 affordable housing units and 60 market units to the major hub of Ward 7. These developments will be coupled with “a 5,000 square foot retail incubator” reserved for local businesses and 2,500 square feet of “community space.” Architects Eric Colbert & Associates are designing the project.

“This area is what some are now calling ‘Downtown Ward 7,’” said Fenty. “That is because of the energy, the already existing activity level and also the great potential of Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road.” The intersection currently houses several strip malls, an auto parts store and a parking garage dedicated to Metro parking (pictured).

Once completed, the project will neighbor the new, already under-construction Department of Employee Services headquarters. Fenty went on to point out that several other developers have also expressed interest in remaining lots on all four corners of the busy intersection.

This announcement follows an RFP for the site issued last spring and a competing proposal from City Interests, LLC. Christopher Donatelli, President of Donatelli Development, said he expects construction on the by-right development to begin “as quick as possible,” with a probable start date sometime in the next 18 months. He went on to say that the project should be open for business “36 months from today” – meaning the first signs of a true downtown for Ward 7 should start to crop up in late 2011.

The project is being fast-tracked by the District, as it requires no subsidies from the local government and no changes in zoning. Donatelli is also taking advantage of federal lending programs targeted at affordable housing development that will allow them to move forward with the project during the current economic slowdown.

“As long as there is a need for affordable housing - and we know that there is - this project will be addressing the supply,” said Donatelli. Donatelli has substantial cred with the Mayor, after having transformed Columbia Heights from a similarly vacuous site to a thriving metro center. Blue Skye was chosen just last week for redevelopment the Tewkesbury, a blighted District-owned apartment building in Brightwood that will convert to condominiums. Lacey

Seniors, Row Houses for Benning Neighborhood

You would think that Benning Road had enough developments planned or in the works, with the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, the outstanding Benning Road-Minnesota Avenue RFP, and the 150-unit development adjacent to the Benning Road Metro Station by the DC Housing Authority and Abe Pollin, but developers in the area can't seem to get enough, so in addition to its already approved massive mixed-use and mixed-income phase one development adjacent to the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, Parkside Residential LLC is now seeking approval for a second phase of development. Phase one's progress is limited to approval - the site stands vacant.

The developer, a partnership between Bank of America Community Development Corporation, Lano International, City Interest, and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, is planning phase two on 165,000 s.f. of land in the western end of the overall PUD site. The second phase of the project will front Anacostia Avenue, Foote Street, Barnes Street, and Franklin D. Roosevelt Place, NE and will include a 98-unit, four-story senior living facility and 112 market-rate and workforce-rate row houses at its completion.

The developer will build a 137,400 s.f. senior living facility on "Block A" complete with ground floor common areas that will include a fitness room, a salon, and a coffee bar, keeping its elderly residents fit, social, and caffeinated. The site will also include 18 parking spaces and an outdoor terrace. "Block B" and "Block C" will host 347,860 s.f. of two, three, and four bedroom row houses.

The Zoning Commission held a public hearing Monday night at which the developer was instructed to submit additional materials by June 30th. If the developer meets that deadline, the ANC and the Office of Planning will have until July 7th for responses and the project will then go on the July 14th agenda to receive a yea or nay from the commission.

Phase one, which includes a new above-grade pedestrian bridge to the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station, designed by Boston-based transportation architects Rosales and Partners, will also deliver 1,500-2,000 residential units, twenty percent affordable, twenty percent workforce, 500,000-700,000 s.f. of office space, and 30,000-50,000 s.f. of retail space at its completion. The developers plans also include a face lift for Ward 7's neighborhood amenities. The Zoning Commission unanimously approved stage one in June 2006.

SE to See New Charter School

Last week, the Board of Zoning Adjust- ment approved plans for KIPP DC to build the second phase of their charter school development at 4801 Benning Road, SE. Phase one, which started construction last March, is set to finish this April, allowing phase two to begin shortly thereafter. Both phases were designed by a joint venture architectural team: Studio 27 and Devrouax and Purnell.

KIPP stands for Knowledge Is Power Programs, and is self described as being "a network of free open-enrollment college preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities throughout the United States." KIPP DC is part of the larger national network; the charter school currently operates on four campuses in the District: AIM, LEAP, KEY and WILL academies. The charter school is aiming to reach more kids on their own turf. Real Estate Director Alex Shawe explains: "The simplest answer is that KIPP DC is one of the highest performing public schools in the entire District, and it's important to have a campus that's located near where the majority of our students actually live. And it's also important for those students to have a facility that matches our high expectations of academic performance."

The total plan will create two schools for KIPP, a 56,000 s.f. elementary school which can hold up to 600 students, and the recently approved 29,000 s.f. middle school, which can hold up to 320 studious youngsters. The school's new home is a 51,000 s.f. site which used to house the old Benning supermarket, now demolished. Construction of the new schools is so far privately funded, though it is anticipated that tax exempt bonds will be issued in the Spring to help finance the project. Forrester Construction is building the facilities; KIPP plans to be finished with the entire development by February of 2009.

But don't think that this new school will give your kids a better shot at getting in; KIPP is already at capacity this year. The new campus is going to allow KEY and LEAP academies to move out of their leased space and into a permanent home. KEY, for fifth through eighth graders, currently enrolls 320 students, LEAP will eventually house pre-kindergarten to fourth graders. KIPP claims that in a 2005 Stanford verbal and math test, KIPP students scored in the 92nd and 71st percentiles, respectively; local neighborhood school students scored an worrying 22% and 21%. In that same year, incoming fifth graders scored an average of 31% on a math test; in the Spring those test scores rocketed to 94%.