CAS Riegler Development on 9th to Break Ground Early Next Year

After years of tiptoeing towards growth, Shaw’s 9th Street plan is taking a big step in that direction in 2013, and one more real estate development is now officially in the pipeline.

Adam Stifel, one of the founding principals of development company CAS Riegler, says the group, in partnership with Douglas Development and CityInterests, is close to construction on a residential project at the corner of 9th and N streets designed by PGN Architects. The partners say they hope to choose a general contractor by the end of October and plan to break ground early next year.  "We’re all set and it’s pretty much entitled,” said Stifel, explaining that the project has received approvals from the local ANC, the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment, and the Historic Preservation Review Board. “Now we’re working on getting it priced out from general contractors.” Stifel would not name the four or five companies bidding on the construction project.

The development site includes a lot at the corner of 9th and N streets that’s currently being used by garden center Old City Green, as well as an existing historic building at 1264 9th Street and a building located on Blagden Alley inside the block which formerly served as Fight Club DC, a privately-owned skateboarding/art/music space that closed in 2010. The corner lot is owned by Douglas Development, while CAS Riegler and CityInterests own the property around it.

Earlier estimates had placed groundbreaking in late 2012, but waiting until early 2013 to begin construction means that Frank Asher, owner of Old City Green, doesn’t have to vacate the property until after the lucrative Christmas tree season. Asher has spoken out more broadly about independently-owned businesses being forced to leave an area once it begins to develop.

The project's design has come a long way since its initial renderings, which featured a "Portland-esque" (as Stifel put it) aesthetic that was big on wood and steel. After multiple changes following meetings with retailers, neighborhood stakeholders and historic preservation officials, the design is now a little more conventional, giving a nod to the nearby row houses with its varying facade and incorporating--but not mimicking--the historic façade at 1264 9th Street.  The building will back up to Blagden Alley, but Stifel says the connection along the alley will be too small to incorporate any alley amenity or streetscape.

The development will include roughly 70 apartment units; most will be one-bedrooms, with some two-bedroom units scattered throughout and a few larger units located on the building’s penthouse level and its corners. The project will also include a level of underground parking and about 8,000 square feet of ground floor retail. "I think we'll end up with a restaurant taking most of it," said Stifel. "I think it's a really good corner space that's meant to be a restaurant or café."

Stifel, who himself lives in one of the company's Shaw buildings, says he thinks the area has a huge amount of promise. “Shaw has a lot to offer, and a lot of beautiful building stock,” he said.  “As a guy who lives and breathes this stuff, I have a lot of confidence in this market.” He said that he envisions the development will have an urban feel similar to The Hudson, PN Hoffman’s boxy, high-ceilinged apartment building located across from the P Street Whole Foods in Logan Circle.

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

14th Street Project Altered, Moves Forward, After ANC Review

14th Street's newest residences have made it through community input, now a bit smaller, and with a new look. "The Irwin," a 6-story, mixed use building designed by Torti Gallas and Partners, will take the place of a 1960s-era warehouse at 1326-1328 14th Street, now with a new slightly shrunken design and new facade since it was first conceptualized six months ago, as a result of ANC, HPO and neighborhood input.

But in replacing the "hole in the urban fabric" on 14th, the Torti Gallas design team said that it has not been frustrated with the process. Conversely, they claim to have enjoyed working with the HPO (what architect doesn't want a committee to change their design?), the immediate neighbors, and the ANC 2F Community Development Committee in shaping the direction of the project.

The next step by owner/developer Irwin Edlavitch and architect Torti Gallas will be to take the revised design to the Historic Preservation Review Board for approval in December, and to the Board of Zoning Adjustment next spring with the request for a variance from parking and loading requirements and to allow multiple roof structures of varying height.



The initial design concept from June is seen below. The design was for 61 residential units, ground floor retail, 5.3 floor-to-area-ratio (FAR), 75' tall (size permitted by the Art Overlay zoning regulations).  The HPO requested a one story reduction, an increase in the "attic reading" at the top story, and that the "frame" of the building be brought to the property line. This design was taken to the ANC at the end of August, which requested that the design be presented to immediate neighbors and that the building "relate more to the historic context of 14th Street and be made to look more residential".

In light of the new directive, the building was given a new skin and distinct bays. The new version was submitted to the Board of Zoning Adjustment and presented to the ANC in September, which asked the design team to eliminate the "frame" and replace the terra-cotta rainscreen with masonry materials.


The end result of the participatory process is the current design, which will go before the HPRB in December, after a presentation to the full ANC. As described by Sarah Alexander, Associate with Torti Gallas, "This design incorporates a more traditional skin of red brick masonry with still keeping the playful 'artistic' moves [including the] entry canopy and rooftop stair towers." There will be an entry lobby visible from the street that will have an "art gallery feel."


With approximately half the ground floor space taken up by a lobby, garage entry and loading space, there will be around 4,000 s.f. left for use by a retailer. The project includes 53 residential units, 20 parking spaces (all covered or below grade), a small fitness room and roof terrace.

On the other side of the restaurant at Thai Tanic, located next to The Irwin, C.A.S. Riegler is in the process of creating a 5-unit boutique condo, at 1324 14th Street.

Next door, 1320 and 1318 are currently under construction, to be turned into The Pig, a "nose and tail, farm to table" creation by Eatwell DC, which should be open for business next spring, and more apartments by Tikvah Inc.

Washington D.C. real estate and retail development news