Fairgrounds at Nationals Stadium

With Washington Nationals opening day one month away, and Forest City's Yards project rounding third in delivering a retail pavilion to the Anacostia waterfront, one local team is getting ready to deliver the first large, integrated shopping district adjacent to the ballpark. A local arts group is working to deliver a pop-up retail experience on the block just north of the ballpark, on a now-vacant site owned by Akridge along the footpath between the Metro station and ballpark entrance. Underway is a self-contained, open-air retail and entertainment destination that will animate the baseball stadium's gateway with an imaginative mix of food, entertainment and shopping. Organizers will test a concept that has won accolades in New York and London - turning refurbished shipping containers into instant designer storefronts, creating an open marketplace that is part foodie festival and farmer's market, part entertainment venue and beer garden, and part shopping district. Playing off the success of London's BOXPARK Shoreditch and Brooklyn's DeKalb Market, the project will utilize the ultimate green idea - recycling - by turning salvaged shipping containers into architecturally imaginative shops. Promoters are signing up regional retailers for the seasonal market that will coincide with baseball season, and plan to open with a "preview party" on March 30th. Vendors are expected to be attracted to the instant retail site with some of the city's heaviest, if sporadic, foot traffic, while visitors to the ballpark - and the area's increasing residential population - get a timely market in place of a vacant lot that will last until the site is developed. Brooklyn's DeKalb Market (pictured above, courtesy Inhabitat) opened last year to much acclaim from the local community and has achieved cult status as a regional urban infill amenity. Boxcars-as-architecture has premiered in other cities, but the Half Street Fairgrounds is the first U.S. version as a pop-up shopping destination. The site is being created by Akridge, Bo Blair of Georgetown Events, which operated The Bullpen on the site, and Mike Berman of Diverse Markets Management, which operates the Flea Market at Eastern Market and the Downtown Holiday Market at Penn Quarter, and designed by Christy Schlesinger of Schlesinger Architects. The team expects to program some of the site full-time, with special events and heightened programming on game days. "We really appreciate being invited by Fairgrounds entrepreneur Bo Blair to participate in this exciting venture," Berman said, calling it an opportunity for "incubating creative businesses for this new neighborhood and for the city." Capitol Riverfront BID Director Michael Stevens noted that the neighborhood will have "9 to 10 restaurants open in the next 11 months," calling the chance for immediate retail a "cool, edgy concept" that will "brand the neighborhood, and give ballpark patrons another option." The BID will partner with the Fairgrounds to provide a Wednesday noon-time concert series beginning in May. Retail leasing is being handled by DCRE Real Estate.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Florida Rock Development Reboots, Meets Resistance

With demolition of the concrete plant finally complete, RiverFront on the Anacostia, the on-again off-again Southeast waterfront mega-project is on, again - pending various hearings, presentations, meetings, and ultimate approval of some very substantial changes to the zoning application.

Developers Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. and Midatlantic Realty Partners LLC (MRP) filed a modification with the Zoning Commission last month to, among other things, modify the Phase One building from an office complex to a residential building. The proposed residential building would be nine stories tall and include up to 350 units, 286 underground parking spaces, and 300,000 square feet of gross floor area (8% of which would be set aside for affordable housing at 80% of AMI). The new filing retains the 12,500 s.f. of retail space for lease, but now wants to earmark 7,000 s.f. as "flex space" or "residential amenity space."

Last week, the Zoning Commission gave their first impressions of the new plans, and it wasn't pretty. One commissioner called it "an affront" and a "bastardization," even going so far as to suggest the developers might have to start the PUD process from square one. Another excoriated the developers from reducing the initial 80,000 s.f. of retail space to under 24,000 s.f. in the latest filing, with 7,000 of that possibly being converted to non-retail "flex space." Even the most positive board member damned the project with faint praise - characterizing it as an improvement on the original PUD, but "boring" and "simplistic." In the end, the board deferred a decision, and the next public hearing is on February 13.

The new building, designed by SK&I, is U-shaped, facing the river, with a private inner courtyard. On the east side is a planned greenspace (Anacostia Plaza) and on the west side, in between the Phase One building and the Phase Two (also residential) building, another large plaza (the Mews) that "privileges pedestrians over vehicles." The new landscape plan, by Oculus, uses the idea of "ecotone" (in the report, this is defined as "an ecological term referring to the transitional zone between two ecologies") to create an impressive stormwater management and filtration system that will both provide lush public native plant green spaces, and filter runoff. (And the Anacostia River can use all the help it can get.)

Phases II (a 262K s.f., 130-foot tall residential building), III (326K s.f., 130-foot tall office building), and IV (275K s.f., 130-foot tall hotel) are unchanged. FRP anticipates a Q2 2013 groundbreaking, with move-ins starting in Q1 2015, and everything wrapped up by that summer.

Big picture, the plan is cut from the same cloth as the plans for the Wharf and the Maryland Avenue redevelopments. (There are only so many ways to skin a cat, after all.) Much like those plans, this latest filing is hoping that their conversion of the Phase One building from office to residential "will provide the critical mass of people necessary in order to support future office and retail uses." Of course, this could take a while, which is the thinking behind the "flex space." What if they build it, but people don't come? The plan also asks for permission to use the Phase II/III/IV sites for interim projects like a farmer's market or temporary retail, rather than letting those spaces remain dormant. It's a good strategy to lure more people to the area, and can only help not just their development, but the neighborhood as a whole as it gears up to make the transition to world-class waterfront. But first, developers need to win over the Zoning Commission, which is proving to be a harder task than they may have anticipated. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Today in Pictures - Boilermaker Shops

Forest City has begun work in earnest on the boilermaker shops, its first retail pavilion at the Yards in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. The building was constructed in 1919 as part of the Navy's largest shipbuilding factory, what would become the world's largest naval ordnance plant.

Forest City has announced the following tenants: Buzz Bakery and a brewery, both operated by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, Austin Grill Express, Huey's 24/7 Diner, and BRB, all expected to open in late 2012. For more historic pictures, see the chronicler of all things southeast - JDLand.





Washington D.C. real estate development news. Photographs by Rey Lopez.

Today in Pictures - Florida Rock

Just below Nationals Stadium, Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. and DC-based Midatlantic Realty Partners LLC, (MRP) began demolishing the concrete plant to make way for RiverFront on the Anacostia, 1.1 million s.f. of residential, office, retail and public access to the riverfront. Construction is expected to begin in 2013.




Washington D.C. real estate development news. Photos courtesy Rey Lopez.

Capitol Riverfront's Harris Teeter Beginning Work this Week

Forest City will begin work this week on Parcel D of its Yards development, including a new apartment building and Harris Teeter. Having secured its last required permit on Friday, according to Ted Skirbunt of the Capitol Riverfront BID, Forest City can now begin its 225-unit apartment with a 50,000-s.f. Harris Teeter, 30,000-s.f. Vida fitness center, and 10,000 s.f. of additional retail space.

Gary McManus, a spokesperson for Forest City, acknowledged that initial work is now beginning, larger scale construction is a month away. "While there may be some site mobilization prior to the holidays, the actual excavation won’t begin to any great degree until January... Excavation is likely to be completed by late April/early May."

With construction underway soon, Harris Teeter could still open in 2013, but according to McManus, Forest City is waiting to confirm a project completion / opening date until next spring, after excavation is done and when more signed retail tenants can be announced.

The design by Shalom Baranes Architects is for two buildings that will be expressed as three, with two residential towers (one above the Harris Teeter running along most of 4th Street, shown above), and one shorter retail building located on the corner with a look separate from the residential portion of the project. The retail building includes 30,000 s.f. ground-floor retail topped by the Vida health club (seen at right).

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Anacostia Riverwalk Trail Gets a New Extension

The goal of a 20-mile trail to line both sides of the Anacostia River is getting one step closer. Forest City, which is the middle of a developing much of the Capitol Riverfront waterfront and sponsored the trail, will hold a ceremony tomorrow to unveil its latest section: a 611 foot pedestrian bridge connecting Diamond Teague Park and the Park at the Yards. The new bridge will surmount the DC Water facility now dividing the two parks, furthering the pedestrian path that will eventually parallel the Anacostia River and wrap around Buzzards Point, connecting northeast D.C., the southwest waterfront, and the tidal basin. (photo below credit to Capitol Riverfront BID)

The bridge - an arched pier with wood (ipe) planking and steel cabled rails - was designed by Paul Friedberg of MPFP LLC, a New York landscape architecture and urban planning firm that designed the neighboring park and Capitol Riverfront's first footbridge (pictured at right).

The new bridge will rise up to 18 feet above the average waterline to allow service boats to access the O Street pumping station, which pumps water to the Blue Plains treatment facility. The incandescently lit pier will offer interpretive graphics talking about the use of water and history of DC water.

Diamond Teague Park, just below Nationals Stadium, now becomes the western terminus of bike trail. Michael Stevens, Executive Director for the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, says the next westward expansion depends on development of the Florida Rock development site, which is still in the planning stages. Stevens predicts that by 2013 the trail could connect the baseball stadium to Minnesota Benning.

Riverfront Area South of the Ballpark: Out With the Old, Nothing New Until 2013

Just south of the Nationals stadium, one of the last remnants of the area's industrial past will soon fall, making way for 1.1 million s.f. of residential, office, retail and public access to the riverfront. Despite the progress, the wait time for new apartments, condos, restaurants, shops and water features continues to increase, with construction likely pushed back to 2013, at least.

The development team behind the long imagined mixed-use RiverFront on the Anacostia, located along the unit block of Potomac Avenue, SE, in the Capitol Riverfront area, asserts that the project is moving forward, albeit slowly due to the decision to deliver a residential building in the first phase, and not office space, as the PUD currently allows.

David deVilliers, president of Florida Rock Properties, the project developer and wholly owned subsidiary of land owner Patriot Transportation Holding Inc., confirmed that the first phase switch - announced this summer - is still being pursued, and that an informal process is currently ongoing in order to prepare a formal filing with the Office of Zoning to rezone the PUD in the "next 30 to 60 days."

deVilliers said he hopes Zoning will be "quick" to approve the request, but he is realistic about the time required to pursue the market-driven change. After approval, if granted, construction drawings will take approximately 9 months, followed by the several-month-long permitting process, resulting in construction likely to begin in 2013.

Meanwhile, the defunct concrete plant - Florida Rock - currently on site will be razed in the coming months. Activity at the plant wound down in mid-September, and a raze permit was issued last week, allowing demolition to begin, to be followed by environmental remediation.

In the year-long interim, the site could be used for something, but just what remains to be seen. Ted Skirbunt with the Capitol Riverfront BID acknowledged that while there probably won’t be any use before next summer, the BID has, and continues, to discuss potential uses with MRP and FRP.

Coinciding with the July announcement of the rezoning pursuit, was disclosure that local Midatlantic Realty Partners LLC, (MRP), founded by Fred Rothmeijer, came on board to partner with Florida Rock Properties on the stalled development, bringing with it $4.5 million in capital. Due to previous difficulty securing financing for the project - conception of which dates back to the '90s - the PUD was given a two-year time extension in 2009.

deVillers added that the partnership with MRP, under the leadership of Rothmiejer, is going well and the team is "fully engaged" in the project and committed to moving forward with the rezoning process, soon.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Forest City to Begin Construction of 225 Apartments, Harris Teeter in Southeast

With a building permit to construct the next component of the Yards in hand, Forest City says construction of the Harris Teeter and new apartment building is less than two months away. Permits were issued a month ago, and Forest City's Gary McManus confirms that "[e]xcavation [at Parcel D] will commence within the next 60 days... construction will be underway on that site prior to the end of this year."

Currently, Forest City is focused on phase one (of three) of its 42-acre Yards development in Southeast, D.C. With the first-phase Riverfront Park and Foundry Lofts already completed, and the Boilermaker Shops underway, the developer now turns to construction of Parcel D: a 225-unit apartment with a 50,000-s.f. Harris Teeter, 30,000-s.f. Vida fitness center, and 30,000-s.f. of additional retail space.

Parcel D's site runs along the east side of 4th Street, between Tingey and M Street. The project, under general contractor Skanska, aims for late 2013 completion.

Designed by Shalom Baranes, the site includes two buildings that will appear as having three distinct components: two residential towers (one above the Harris Teeter on 4th Street), and a shorter retail and fitness center building on the southernmost section of the lot (as seen above).

Directly across from Parcel D's retail building is the 2-story Boilermaker Shops (Parcel K) which includes 34,500 s.f. of retail with 12,000 s.f. of office space above, expected to deliver in the fall of 2012.

Rounding out phase one of the development are parcels E and N, both still in the design phase.

Along with Forest City's summer announcement that the Harris Teeter was a done deal at Parcel D, the developer revealed that two concepts - one being an artisan brew pub - will be crafted by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group for the Boilermaker Shops. NRG's concepts will share a roof with Buzz Bakery, Huey's 24/7 Diner, Austin Grill Express, brb (be right burger) and Willie’s Brew & ‘cue by Xavier Cervera, who is also remaking the Hawk 'n' Dove on Capitol Hill, and opening a pizzeria with raw bar in Southeast's Canal Park.

Also nearing completion in Southeast is a one-mile stretch of river-walk trail linking Yards Park and Diamond Teague Park & Piers. According to Ted Skirbunt with the Capitol Riverfront BID, the completion - next month - of this connection will create enhanced public access and enjoyment of the Southeast riverfront.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

CSX Assessing Southeast Tunnel

Last night, a public scoping meeting was held in conjunction with the commencement of a District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Environmental Assessment (EA) of the CSX Transportation Virginia Avenue Tunnel project, a nearly $160-million rehabilitation of the tunnel between 2nd and 11th Streets in Southeast under a section of Virginia Avenue. Starting now, people will be able to officially lodge their comments/questions/concerns about the project, up until October 14th. Further down the line, another meeting will be held to reveal more specifics of the project, and to consider alternatives based on information gathered from impact statements and studies. 

 The project's immediate concern, the EA process - to access any potential impacts of the project - is in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and could take approximately one year to complete. If all goes well, the 4-to-6-year improvement project, announced in 2009, will unearth and re-construct the now buried, century-old freight line; proposed improvements have been stated as being done "to address current infrastructure needs as well as community and safety concerns" and allow for double-stack intermodal container freight trains. This past May, CSX committed to an additional $160 million investment - nearly the amount needed to get the Virginia Avenue Tunnel project off (or more literally, into) the ground - bumping up CSX's total investment in the greater National Gateway initiative to around $575 million. The entire National Gateway project is an $850-million public-private partnership being done to improve freight transportation between the Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest and Gulf of Mexico - a massive project which got its land legs a year earlier, in May of 2008. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Next at Bat: Camden South Breaks Ground

In two years’ time there will be 276 apartments to rent on South Capitol Street in Southwest, just a foul tip away from the Nationals Stadium. Donohoe Construction, general contractor on the project, broke ground Wednesday on the building – Camden South Capitol – and aims to be finished in late summer of 2013. This should give renters enough time to grab an apartment in time to not see the Nationals in the 2013 World Series.

Pictured: Mark Bucci (Camden), Screech (Nats Mascot), Bob Wilson (Donohoe), Neil Stablow (Donohoe), Greg McCarthy (Nats)

The project, named for developer Camden Property Trust, will rise out of a previously vacant site, nearly the size of the Nats’ outfield. It’s been duly noted that a structure named “Camden” might be more appropriate in Baltimore, a (Nats fans’) stone’s throw from Camden Yards.

The 276-unit building, designed by WDG Architecture, will rise over 10 ten stories and feature a rooftop pool, a courtyard, “high finishes and upscale residences”, three levels of underground parking, and will sport a grey-brick exterior of contrasting textures and colors: smooth vs. rough, and light vs. dark.

These aforementioned features create a view of the buildings, but a view from the building may be even more impressive, according to Sean Stadler at WDG Architecture: one, there may be a view up to the Capitol to the north and the Anacostia River to the south, at least for upper-floor dwellers; and two, the rooftop deck will offer a view into the ballpark, transforming the pool into cheap seats at game time. Reminder: binoculars not waterproof.

According to Susan Goldstein at Donohoe, Camden South is the first multi-family project to get off (or in) the ground in the area for 3 and a half years, and “the Capitol Riverfront BID is working to incorporate this site into the BID.” Also of note yesterday, a win for the Nationals who squeaked by the Phillies for a 2-1 victory.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Camden to Start Southwest DC Project Next Tuesday

Camden Property Trust will kick off its project on South Capitol Street in southwest DC a week from tomorrow, inaugurating what will be one of the few projects to actually begin construction lately in the littlest quadrant, with the building of a 276-unit rental building across the street from Nationals Stadium. The groundbreaking puts the project on track for a late summer 2013 completion, possibly in time for views of the stadium during regular season play. DC-based WDG Architecture, which also conceived the apartments just north of the ballpark, designed the building - officially called Camden South Capitol - that will take up the now vacant site north of O Street. Developers at Camden say the apartment building will fill a need in the saturated residential market of the Capitol Riverfront, which now has scant vacancy. Foundry Lofts on the riverfront will be open for lease by early fall, though no other residential development will open in the interim. WDG's Sean Stadler notes that the building was being designed in a very uncertain rental market - during construction of the ballpark. "It has a very rich feeling for a project that was in a unknown rental market when it was conceived," says Stadler. Given that, retail space was minimized in favor of a street presence for building services. "We tried to break down the facade...creating a street wall along South Capitol, but at the street the whole thing will break down on a human scale." Stadler says the grey brick is an alternating pattern, smooth and textured, light and dark grey. "So from up close the building starts to break down in scale...at the base, certain pieces pop out that give relief so the facade doesn't just hit the street." Stadler is also confident the apartments "will have great air and light with great views up to the Capitol." Mark Coletta of Camden says the residence will offer a rooftop pool and deck, underground parking, and possibly fabulous views into the ballpark across the street. Camden purchased the property in 2007 and has hired Donohoe as the general contractor. 

Washington DC real estate development news