Howard Town Center - Looking Toward 2015

After years of postponed deadlines, the Howard Town Center is hobbled by more delays. "We're looking at 2013 at best, though it could be as late as 2015," says KLNB Associate Jennifer Price, who is working on leasing. Howard Town Center is a mixed use concept that would bring a grocer, retail, and condos to a underutilized corner of Georgia Avenue near Howard University. The hitch? Finding a grocery to anchor the space. "Everything is dependent on the grocer," said Price. "Until we secure one, we won't know how much square footage of retail space we'll have available for other businesses." Price says "quite a few" are vying for the space, but one thing is for certain: it won't be a Giant, since the O Street Market project knocks the store out of contention. Price projects that plans for Howard Town Center to firm up by May. Howard Town Center at 2100-2146 Georgia Avenue is the proposed development of CastleRock Partners and Howard University to take the place of the Bond Bread building and offer 70,000+ s.f. of commercial property, a 45,000 s.f. supermarket, 300 to 450 residential units, and parking. All of this, says, Price, is dependent on the grocer, how much square footage it would entail and its architectural plans. Perhaps one reason grocers are reticent to stake claim to the property is because of the new Safeway now planned for middle-Georgia Avenue and the Yes! Organic Market already up the street, in addition to the Giant slated for Shaw. Back in 2009, Philadelphia's Fresh Grocer was a top contender for the site; their corporate office confirms the location is still under consideration."The Fresh Grocer is very interested in and committed to new store development in the District of Columbia, especially at the Howard Town Center," said Patrick J. Burns, President and CEO of The Fresh Grocer. "We have been working with the investors and developers of Howard Town Center for years and are disappointed that the project has stalled. However, our interest in bringing a ground-up, state of the art Fresh Grocer supermarket to the Howard Town Center remains steadfast."

The script for Howard Town Center has a long and colorful backstory, which includes the 2006 land swap of the city-owned Bread building property for Howard's land at Florida and Sherman Avenue, for which the city will solicit bids for a mixed-use property that would include 300 residential units. Earlier in its illustrious life, the Bond Bread building was wedded to the People's Involvement Corporation (PIC), a 30-year tenant. The non-profit was promised ownership of the property in a verbal agreement with Mayor Washington in 1965. When it was not granted, PIC sued in 2003 and lost, naturally, with the court concluding that "a mayor's written promises cannot be relied upon." Trammell Crow Company was the initial developer in the projects early stages, but the university did not have control of the land until 2008, at which point the project was up for bid and Howard opted for CastleRock Partners' proposal in November of that year. Washington, DC Real Estate Development News

Getting Serious at Howard Town Center

After years of vying for the opportunity and negotiating the development, Castlerock Partners LLC finally has plans to break ground on the 2.2 acre Howard Town Center come Fall 2010. Along with development partners AVCO Interests LLC, Hardie Industries Inc and, of course, Howard University, Castlerock secured the site a year ago. The team is still working through the design phases with architects Devrouax and Purnell. Opting not to pursue a PUD, the team added Tompkins Builders as the general contractor in November, a sign the time for waffling is through.

Tim Kissler, CEO of Castlerock, told DCMud that the design phase moves forward as the team shops around for retail tenants. "First priority is a grocery store. Once that is set, we move on to other spaces and prospects," said Kissler. The grocery store was a prerequisite of the RFP and upwards of 45,000 s.f. has been tossed around as the size. Kissler added "leasing interest is strong, despite the slow economy." The rest of the retail space could total 78,000 s.f. with the University looking to support small local businesses in some of the space.

The developer has yet to commit to firm figures on the actual breakdown of residential units, but most recently has suggested there would be 420 units with the required minimum of 8% set aside as affordable, much to the disappointment of the surrounding community.

DC real estate and development news.

Then There Were Three at Howard Town Center

It may be slightly less exciting than the McCain-Obama matchup (only slightly), but the contenders for the on-again, off-again Howard Town Center project have now been narrowed to just three: Archstone-Smith, Armada Hoffler and CastleRock Partners. A Howard University representative yesterday confirmed that two other bidders associated with the $30 million project - Monument Realty and the Trammell Crow Company - have been ruled out by the University as potential developers.

This marks Trammell Crow's second loss of the HTC project. When the HTC was first proposed in 2003, the development company walked away with a $56 million contract - only to watch it fall through when the Duke Plan, a new zoning overlay for the area, was introduced, and some have suggested that Trammell Crow may still have an actionable claim against the university.

Development on the 2.2 acre parcel is said to include a 300-unit apartment complex, parking and 70,000 square feet of retail, which must include a grocer under the terms of the RFP. The Howard Town Center project will be built at the current site of several Howard-owned properties at 2100 Georgia Avenue that have fallen into disuse. A recent Howard acquisition at Georgia and W Street, the Bond Bread Building, is also to be utilized in the redevelopment efforts. Howard acquired the building from the District of Columbia this spring in a land swap long opposed by the tenants of Bond Bread, which had sued the city over their rights to the building. Howard issued an RFP for the project (again) last May. Group Goetz Architects will be designing the project for the winning developer, a design that is strongly encouraged to be LEED certified.

Howard’s Communications Department would not discuss a date for the selection of a development team, but construction is planned to begin in August 2009.

Washington DC commercial real estate news