Hines Affirms Spring Construction for City Center DC

Developers of downtown DC's last block of empty land are holding firm on their commitment to start building City Center DC, and confirmed in a statement released yesterday that construction could begin as early as April of next year. Colorado-based Archstone and Texas based Hines development plans for the 10 acre site were approved by the DC Council back in 2005, but have since stalled over financing and tenant prospects.

Hines representatives told DCMud in June they would begin redevelopment of the old Convention Center site in the "first quarter of 2011," but have yet to announce a major tenant to occupy any of the space. The project should reach "substantial completion between May and September 2013," said Howard Riker, Vice President at Hines Development. Despite the lack of commitment, The Washington Post reports that Hines issued a statement yesterday saying it still planned to begin construction by next spring. Plans call for several hundred thousand square feet of retail space, more than half a million square feet of office space, 458 rental apartments, 216 condos and a 400-bed “high-end” hotel with its own 100,000 square foot retail plaza, under a 99 year lease from the city.

Hines has already chosen a general contractor team of Clark Construction and Smoot Construction, and has begun subcontractor bidding. Construction will begin first along H Street, building parking first, then office, saving residential for the last component.

Foster and Partners of London and DC-based Shalom Baranes serve as co-architects on the work. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, "the design of the landscape, office and condominium buildings relates to the specific sun and wind patterns and the climate. The site and the buildings will also incorporate solar shading, harness rainwater and water conservation and planting" according to Foster's website.

Washington, DC real estate development news

Region's Tallest Building Breaks Ground in Rosslyn

Monday Properties' 35-story, 390 foot office building will break ground on Thursday in Rosslyn, setting the stage for what will be the region's tallest building when completed, at least for a while. Developers will hold a public ceremony for the 580,000 s.f. building that will rise above the Rosslyn Metro station.


The superlative for "tallest" is a contested one, with JBG noting their that their 31-story Central Place tower will also rise 390 feet, nearly the tallest allowable by the FAA along the Reagan National flight path, which caps at 500 feet above sea level. The buildings also both straddle N. Moore at nearly equal 80-foot elevations; nearly, but not exactly. Officials at Monday assure DCMud that their site sits a few feet higher in elevation, giving theirs the edge. In any event, with JBG's project in check, Monday's claim to size will not be in dispute when the building completes in late 2013. Nor will Monday's second first: the first LEED platinum certified office building completed in Virginia, if all goes as planned. Bragging rights for both should allow for equally high leasing rates, and despite a lack of tenants, Monday chose to approach one of the region's lowest commercial vacancy rates by self-financing $30m of the $300m project, something JBG officials must be eying with intensity. Monday says it is confident that that this will attract financial suitors, but that they are prepared to move forward with or without a financial partner, and promise an anchor tenant announcement within 10 months.

Arlington approved the project in December of 2007, but it has been on hold for nearly 3 years as developers sought financing and the right market. Davis Carter Scott designed the skyscraper that Clark will build, with Gensler assisting on interior layouts.

Congressman Jim Moran will join other speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony this Thursday at 11am, true construction will be underway by the end of the month.

Rosslyn Virginia real estate development news

Rosslyn's New Metro

Construction on Rosslyn's Metro upgrade will begin this month, adding a new entrance to handle Rosslyn's growing pull on the region, already crowded Metro station, and increasingly taller and denser neighborhood. The Metro station is already Virginia's busiest, with numbers likely to rise in proportion to Rosslyn's ongoing office and residential projects.

An official start date is not yet known, but Arlington officials expect work to commence by late October for a project that will replace the single slow-motion elevator with 3 high-speed elevators, a stairwell, and new entrance mezzanine at platform level. Arlington officials say they see the project as a boon to Rosslyn's development, increasing the capacity on the currently strained infrastructure with a redundancy that will not only handle rising traffic flows (now 36,000 daily), but eliminate the need for transfer buses and rerouting when the single elevator is shut down.
Designed entirely by WMATA and built by Clark Construction, the elevator bank will sit on North Moore Street just to the north of the existing elevator - on land owned by WMATA and by JBG, which intends to build its stalled Central Place project. JBG has granted an easement to Arlington for construction of the shafts. Arlington has authorized $35m in funding for the Metro addition, which it will build and manage until completion, at which point it will turn over the property to WMATA. The completed elevators will empty near the bottom of the existing escalators, creating a small new walkway - same ruddy octagonal tiles - to enter into the platform.

Construction is expected to be complete by early 2013, and will contribute to an intensive downtown construction schedule, coinciding with the start of construction at Monday Property's 1812 N. Moore St, work on which is expected to start immediately.
Arlington Virginia real estate development news

JBG Moving Forward With Rosslyn Commons

The JBG Companies is set to stack two more high rise buildings into the crowded Rosslyn setting very shortly. Approved by the Arlington County Board in the summer of 2008, the plans call for 25 four-story townhouses and two high rise apartment buildings offering 454 units and 12,635 s.f. of retail, construction of which is expected shortly. The new development will replace eight existing brick garden-style apartment buildings (totaling 84 units) between Clarendon Blvd. and 16th Road North with the town houses and two L-shaped towers (12 and 13 stories respectively) designed by Bethesda-based firm Architects Collaborative. Fifty-four of the apartment units will be marketed as affordable housing. Both apartment buildings are expected to be LEED Certified.

The boldly designed buildings will be a striking composition of “tan-brown, reddish brown and pink-brown brick with gray-blue to gray-green metal frames.” Rising a dizzying 128 feet, the townhomes (a more manageable 50 ft) will help step the development gracefully down into the surrounding garden-style apartment complexes. The super-block will be split by a landscaped pedestrian plaza, creating a foot-traffic thoroughfare halving Clarendon Blvd. and 16th Road North. The internal courtyard will be advantageous for tenants looking to spill cafe and restaurant operations into the public space, creating a bustling central plaza where residents, commerce, and leisure will come together.

While no time table has been made public, Paradigm and Clark Construction are expected to offer general contracting bids by October 7th with the expectation that construction would begin shortly after. Rosslyn Gateway, Central Place, and Potomac Yards are just a few of the other JBG projects planned for Arlington in the near future.

Update: Since publishing the story, JBG reached out to DCMud with additional details on the project. Balfour Beatty Construction, Clark Construction, Facchina Construction, and SE Foster Construction have all submitted bids on the project. The exact number of units is as follows: 474 total units and 55 affordable units. The red and grey building is designated as Tower One and the combo of dark and light gray is Tower Two. Both residential towers will include a rooftop pool and pool deck, rooftop club room, and rooftop fitness center. Tower Two, which is "a more modern design...with neutral colors, clean lines, boutique lobby, European-styled kitchens (flat panel kitchen cabinets with modern door pulls, white Corian or quartz countertops, dark/light cabinets (with dark or light hardwood floors), alternating by floor" could be marketed as for-sale condominiums depending on the state of the market when delivery nears. JBG confirmed that they in talks to bring a cafe with outdoor seating into the retail space. The project is expected to earn LEED Silver. Construction will begin by the end of the year, and the buildings will be delivered by late 2012, with the two towers delivered first and the townhomes following closely behind.

Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

Arlington Mill In Process of Selecting Newest Suitor

Plans for a mixed use development set for 4975 Columbia Pike that couples the construction of a new Arlington Mill Community Center with a large mixed-income residential project have been brewing for several years now. Originally devised as a three story multipurpose center with several levels of residential units stacked on top, the now 5-story Community Center stands solo and starkly modern in its newest configuration; the residential building will be constructed separately on the adjacent land. In its inception the development was billed as a large public/private partnership, packaged as a singular entity. But fed up with the roller-coaster-like search for development partners, and having lost their most recent teammate in Edgemoor Real Estate (a subsidiary of Clark Construction) to the slow economy, Arlington County officials decided to press on with their publicly funded side of the development (the community center) while they issued yet another request for proposals for the residential half of the project.

The County steering committee and involved public officials held an open meeting last night at Walter Reed Community Center to unveil the latest redevelopment plans for the Community Center. Looking to make up for lost time, planners are moving forward aggressively with the intention of demolishing the current building in October, breaking ground in early 2011, and opening the doors of the new center in the spring of 2013. The public development team will meet with the Transportation Commission, the Planning Commission, then wrap up proceedings with a final Board hearing on September 28th. With plans finalized, a request for general contracting bids will soon follow.

One of the earlier site plans.

Although a construction team won't be selected until winter, architects at DCS Design (Davis Carter Scott) have already supplied the updated schematics. The boxy, glassy building brings a bold, urban flare to the Columbia Pike thoroughfare, but an aquatic inspired color scheme of light blues and greens give a calming sensibility to the imposing structure. The five stories will be stacked on top of two tiers of underground parking (140 spaces) and feature a full gymnasium (8,700 s.f.), an entire floor's worth of fitness center, a game room, visual arts studio, mini libraries, a career center, computer labs, and a variety of multipurpose classrooms, study rooms, and meeting rooms.

A County spokesperson explained that their strategy for the updated programing line-up was to create "one stop shopping for County services." The plethora (10) of multipurpose rooms, as well as several fixed classrooms and conference rooms, will provide flexibility for programing, especially as new relationships are built with nearby schools and libraries that may utilize the new space. The Community Center will be financed with general obligation bonds already sanctioned by County voters, most recently a $26 million bond authorized in November of 2006. Community members seemed supportive, but anxious about the dearth of details for the accompanying residential plan.

The Starry Night version

Arlington County issued a request for proposals earlier this summer, receiving several official plans before the early August deadline. When asked about the proportion of affordable housing going forward, Arlington Mill Steering Committee Chairwoman Linda LeDuc explained that "all six of the received proposals would at least meet the originally stipulated 61 units at 60% AMI. We accepted both mixed income plans," she clarified, "and entirely affordable housing propositions. But it's all kind of up in the air right now." For those who've been tuned in since the beginning, the project has come together at a snail's pace, but once a new developer is decided upon, the process should move more quickly. Officials are expecting the new development team to be poised and ready to apply for HUD's Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) by spring of next year.

Because previous plans have already been approved for a 2-5 story residential building, and because the site is to be developed to Form Based Code as part of the Columbia Pike Special Revitalization District, the normally grueling planning process should be quicker and less painful. Financing and other details will of course remain obstacles, and so no time line has been issued. Vetting of submitted proposals will take place throughout the fall, and additional information will likely be provided as the County irons out their more immediately plans for the Community Center.

Arlington Real Estate Development News

Shaw Community, Public Officials, Set to Celebrate CityMarket Groundbreaking Wednesday

Approved by the HPRB way back in August of 2007, and then by Zoning in May of 2008, Roadside Development's mixed-use CityMarket at O project apparently has a long shelf life. Developers have regularly attempted to quell the usual doubters with news of restructured financing, and updated timelines, but will finally lay uncertainty to rest, as a groundbreaking shindig is dated for Wednesday afternoon of this week. Festivities could include some palpable political tension, as mayoral candidate rivals political-polling master Vincent Gray and the Smart-car-piloting Mayor Fenty will likely both be in attendance. After the two year stall in action, a strategy becoming evermore popular in development world, Roadside's shovel plunge at CityMarket is an important step in the revitalization of the Shaw district.

Now residents are set to receive their long-awaited attention with a one million s.f. urban infill project that will solidify, restore, and protect the historic facade of the enduring O Street Market, constructed in 1881 and now only a shell, as well as populate four lonely acres of mostly abandoned land between 9th, 7th, P and O Streets, NW with residential (over 600 units) and commercial buildings (87,000 s.f. of retail). Shalom Baranes Architects has been trusted to oversee the design process. A heavy snowstorm destroyed the roof the Market building in 2001, but architects and developers are confident the building will be restored to its original grandeur. Project architect Andrew Taylor says that they intend on avoiding a monolithic design theme, and that each building will have its own personality. "There is an effort...to create a composition of buildings surrounding and drawing attention to the Market, using modern elements that pick up on the more playful elements of the Market's Victorian architecture."


The project also includes the demolition of the current Giant grocery store, with plans for a much grander replacement. Roadside says of the planned Giant: "The new store will combine the charm of the 19th Century with 21st Century efficiency to create one of Washington's largest food stores and the East Coast's most unique and interesting shopping experiences." Stabilization of the O Street Market building for the purpose of preservation, and protection from subsequent ground excavation, is the first order of business, beginning this week. Demolition of the current Giant is next on the agenda, scheduled for later this winter, with the 24-month shot-clock commencing on January 15th, counting down the time developers have to deliver the new grocery store. The redevelopment won't be fully realized until sometime in 2013. Clark Construction is handling general contracting duties.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

1000 Connecticut Avenue Ahead of Construction Schedule

What will surely be the cornerstone property of the Golden Triangle in downtown DC, the trophy building at 1000 Connecticut Avenue is under construction and may deliver ahead of early estimates.  Construction work on the site (see old image) began last summer, but site preparation wound down without foundation work until early this year. But Clark Construction has now poured the foundation and, according to Project Manager Michael Tyler of MJ Tyler and Associates, the building exterior should now finish up by February of 2012, with interior tenant build-outs picking up from there. Law firm Arent Fox is the only tenant but will not occupy the building until early 2013 when its current lease expires. Arent Fox signed up in May 2008 to occupy 70 percent of the space with 8 floors and over 238,000 s.f. of office space.

The site is an aggregation of several buildings that were demolished in 2007. The 12-story building, roughly the same height as what it replaces, was designed by the late Jim Freed of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, who also designed the neighboring building at 1700 K St NW. Washington DC based WDG Architecture worked with Pei Cobb Freed on the interior to design a building that is targeted to earn a LEED Gold certification.

Tyler estimated that the total hard construction costs will come in around $70 million, with total project costs around $180 million. In a statement, designers refer to the site as the "boundary" to Farragut Park and K Street and the "gateway" to Connecticut Avenue, NW. According the to architects, the "building’s two principal façades respond individually to their settings while at the same time complementing each other in a variety of ways, convening to turn the corner in a distinctive and unexpected fashion." The materials for the Connecticut Avenue street front create a "skin [that] is folded into reflective pleats of glass and stainless steel." The K Street frontage is "composed primarily of granite and glass as foil to the stainless and glass façade of 1700 K Street opposite."

Though demolition began in 2007 and construction was initially to begin in 2008, the property sat empty for several years, leaving some chafing at the vacancy of the highly visible site. Cushman & Wakefield, the leasing broker, did not return phone calls and does not list the property on its website.

Washington, DC real estate development news

GW Site Wrapping Up

Thanks to a recent topping out, Square 54 now dominates the corner of Washington Circle nearest the Foggy Bottom Metro. A little more than two years after breaking ground, Boston Properties and general contractor Clark Construction are well underway building and filling the new mixed-use campus. Gossip about tenants includes a Whole Foods filling a large portion of the retail, though the only officially announced leases belong to law firm Hunton & Williams, NIH Federal Credit Union and lunch time favorite Devon & Blakely.

Square 54 will bring 335 rental units, 440,000 s.f. of office space, an open central courtyard and retail plaza on I Street, over 80,000 s.f. of retail space (including the mystery supermarket), and over 1,000 underground parking spaces. The project is a partnership between Boston Properties and George Washington University, which owns the 2.6-acre site. The site was formerly part of GW Hospital; Boston has a 60-year ground lease on the land.

The residential portion will include 292 market-rate rental units and 43 units set aside for affordable and work-force housing. According to the developers, the residential portion of the project will deliver in May 2011 and begin leasing in January or February of that year. Residents will have access to approximately 250 parking spaces and at least three car-sharing spaces will be available for resident use.

The commercial/retail building will deliver in March 2011, according to Richard Ellis, a Project Manager for Boston Properties."All of the retail space is currently accounted for," according to Ellis. Ellis's calculations generously include the 15,000 s.f. under lease negotiations with a potential grocer, though he declined to comment on the Whole Foods rumors. Hunton & Williams signed on for 190,000 s.f. of office space in the commercial building and according to Jake Stroman, a Senior Project Manager at Boston Properties, the total leased office space and space under lease negotiation is 315,000 s.f., leaving 125,000 s.f. of office space up for grabs.

The project was designed by Connecticut-based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, LLP and Sasaki and Associates, the architect of record was Hickok Cole; Boston recently hired design team Carlyn and Company Interior Design to work on the residential interiors.

Washington, DC real estate development news

CityCenter: On Track for Early 2011 Groundbreaking

As the financial downturn slowly releases its chokehold from DC development, increasingly large projects are beginning to set timelines, even without tenants. Underscoring that point is Archstone and Hines Interests’ redevelopment of the old Convention Center site, a plan has been mired in delays, with one groundbreaking schedule after another falling to the wayside. Developers are now claiming that the project will begin early next year. The multi-phase, mixed-use development will commandeer 10-acres of vacant downtown property to eventually realize 400,000 square feet of retail space, more than a million square feet of office space, 458 rental apartments, 216 condos and a 400-bed “high-end” hotel with its own 100,000 square foot retail plaza, under a 99 year lease from the city.

Howard Riker, Vice President at Hines Development, said the developers are "pretty much done with all of our plans and are within a couple weeks to be able to pull our building permits." Riker also indicated that the team had to rework a few elements of the office building design to "accommodate a major tenant prospect." He was unwilling to divulge any information about the prospective major tenant. Riker said the team has already chosen a general contractor team of Clark with Smoot Construction; subcontractor bidding will begin shortly. The first phase of construction is scheduled for the first quarter of 2011. "The idea is that we'd start construction on the entire site south of I Street at one time, dig a deep hole, build the parking" and then continue with the office and residential projects, explained Riker. The project should reach "substantial completion between May and September 2013" estimated Riker, adding that the office would deliver first, likely in the spring, with the residential following shortly thereafter over the summer. The first phase is estimated to cost $700 million and is is entirely privately financed, according to Riker. Foster and Partners of London and DC-based Shalom Baranes serve as co-architects on the massive endeavor. Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification, "the design of the landscape, office and condominium buildings relates to the specific sun and wind patterns and the climate. The site and the buildings will also incorporate solar shading, harness rainwater and water conservation and planting," according to Foster's website. The second phase (the northern quadrant) of the project includes a hotel on property owned by Kingdon Gould, which he obtained through a land swap with the District Government in 2007. Gould gave up land on the site of the future Convention Center Marriott to get the northeast parcel of CityCenter. Riker indicated the 350-400 room hotel project was still in the planning stage, but that the team could select an operator "hopefully later this year." Washington, DC real estate development news

Affordable Housing Comes to the Peck Site

Tomorrow the fulfillment of promised affordable housing in Ballston will be one step closer as developer AHC Inc. "breaks ground" on a parcel that was once part of the Bob Peck Dealership and Showroom site in Ballston. The project, thanks to a creative land swap between JBG and AHC during the planning process, will bring 90 units of affordable housing within a quarter mile of the Ballston Metro Station, 66 more than would have been possible without the swap. Tomorrow's celebration is not exactly a traditional groundbreaking, as JBG already began construction on the neighboring office building and the parking garage that will sit below the new residential project. But who doesn't love a party?

Designed by Bonstra Haresign Architects and developed by AHC, on a portion of the JBG Companies' land, the new building will sit on top of the 600+ space garage, which will largely serve JBG's office building. Work on the garage by JBG's general contractor, Clark Construction, is nearly complete and in July, AHC and Harkins Builders will begin work on the four-story affordable residential project. According to Curtis Adams of AHC, the project should deliver by summer of 2011.

The land swap made for "complicated real estate" admitted Adams, but "everyone agrees that the best land use came about in the end." AHC originally owned Jordan Manor, which sat across the street at Wilson Boulevard and North Wakefield Street, and wanted to develop a denser project than planning would likely allow. Nearby, JBG sought a lower density residential project to neighbor its large office project. So after some prodding and negotiating, they swapped, keeping the density all on one site. JBG will develop 28 townhouses on AHC's 1.1-acre Jordan Manor Site, keeping it lower density.

The entire development on the "Peck site" will deliver two office buildings with over 400,000 s.f. of office space (pictured at right) and 36,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space, designed by Cooper Carry.

Arlington, Virginia real estate development news

Rosslyn's Humbled Towers

Commuters exiting the Rosslyn Metro might have noticed construction vehicles and material at Monday Properties' 1812 North Moore Street, raising hopes of a new, LEED Platinum building in the center of Rosslyn. Alas, signs of future construction they are not. Likewise the friendly polka dots and convenient lunch tables on the site of neighboring Central Place by JBG offer, if nothing more, a place to sit and dream of the immense office building that will one day fill the space. The two sites offer hopes for the DC area's tallest buildings. Rosslyn, however, will have to wait for the distinction.

Now-defunct Westfield Realty sold 1812 North Moore Street's $31.5 million parcel to Monday Properties in 2006 after the former’s drawn-out bid to revamp the site met a slow death. Monday initially had much more success with their attempts to put the project into turnaround. Their Davis Carter Scott-designed tower boasts 600,000 square feet of commercial office space, 12,000 square feet for retail and a Metro terminal attached to the facility. Additionally, they were on track to becoming the first LEED Platinum-certified building in the area. But since that time, little has happened. Nor will it any time soon. Arlington's December, 2007 approval for the project was originally set to expire in December 2010, but a July 2009 statute made approval for the Monday project, and others, valid through July 2014.

What about the harbingers of construction seen on site? The materials belong to Dominion Power, which is working on the substation on the adjoining lot. According to the site manager for the Dominion construction team, Clark Construction, the general contractor, will not begin any sort of construction on 1812 until August, at the soonest. But Peter Berk, Executive Director for the project at Cushman & Wakefield said in an email, "the building is not going forward on a speculative basis (without some kind of pre-lease), at least not at this time due to the capital markets." Thanks anyway Dominion Power guy.

Across the street, JBG's equally reluctant Central Place project sits largely untouched with McDonald's bags but no construction debris. The 31-story, 535,000 s.f. building planned for the site will include 12,000 s.f. of ground floor retail in a 390-ft. glass curtain-wall mammoth. To top it all off, a 10,000 s.f. rooftop observation deck with distant views will open to the public.

Andrew VanHorn, a Vice President at JBG, admitted the widely circulated rumor that "office financing is difficult to come by lately." Before any construction can begin, Central Place will need prospective tenants and secure financing; the team will likely need upwards of 50 percent of the building leased before a shovel hits the ground. But it "depends on the credibility of the tenant" said VanHorn. A big catch, like an established law firm, might squeak by under the halfway marker, but in the end it is "really about what the bank is going to require."

Meanwhile, JBG partnered with the Rosslyn BID to create a "Central Space" in the area where the lobby of the future building will sit. Tables and a small rain garden now create a getaway for area workers to lunch. JBG "looked at the site, and though it wasn't going to be there long, it was a waste to have it fenced-up with weeds growing" explained VanHorn. The developer sees this small community area as the viable use for the site for the next 12 to 18 months at the outset.

The two bold, competing projects have each been humbled by the new economic reality. For now.

Rosslyn, Arlington Virginia real estate development news

DC's Newest Office Building: Uniting NoMa?

Another NoMa project has now delivered, this time at the corner of K and 1st Streets, NE. 90K, Trammell Crow Company's new office building, is the first of the (eventual) four-stage Sentinel Square development, which will take up several lots along L, First and K Streets, NW in NoMa. 90K offers 400,000 s.f. of green office space for the taking. To date, no announcements have been made about tenants, potential or otherwise, though the developers indicate "strong interest" from government agencies. Developers say the timeline for the next three stages is dependent on the market and financing.

Clark Construction Group began building in June 2008, which is noteworthy according Tom Finan, Managing Director at Trammell Crow, because the development was able to secure construction financing that June "while the rest of the world tumbled around us." Finan said the building was designed by architects SmithGroup to appeal to both public and private sector tenants, though the 12-story Class A office building includes ISC Level IV security features - 30 foot set-backs on all sides, blast-resistant window glazing and separate shuttle elevators from the parking garage to the security check point - not exactly necessary for your average law firm. Building design even assures progressive collapse avoidance, preventing the sudden loss of any column or beam from causing collapse for sufficient time to evacuate.


90K was designed to achieve LEED Silver certification, with aspirations for Gold; Finan indicated that the announcement on LEED is expected this summer. Three levels of below-grade parking provide 317 parking spaces, though the building is just a few blocks from Union Station. And since looks matter, 90K is surfaced with stainless steel and glass, with a skirt of black granite at street level and Jerusalem Gold marble from Israel.

Asked about the impact of a new building without secured tenants on occupancy rates in the NoMa neighborhood, Liz Price, President of the NoMa BID, said the project does not make a big impact considering the area is set to have 14-15 million s.f. of new or converted office space when and if all proposed projects come to fruition. But the Trammell Crow project is probably "one of the only spaces currently or near-term available for a large HQ," added Price. NoMa's remaining office space can only be leased piecemeal thanks to other large leases.

On the leasing front, Finan said his company has "chased a number of bigger government deals and some of the medium sized agencies," but nothing firm. Finan is hopeful that a deal could be "only months away" on leases that would take upward of one-third of the building. Though designs could permit ground floor retail, Finan said his company secures office tenants first and then determines whether or not there should be retail in the mix.

What does 90K, Sentinel Square's first phase, do for NoMa? Finan sees the project as an anchor that connects the "preexisting" NoMa up and down First Street near Union Station with the newer, "more pioneering elements" closer to New York Avenue. The project, which replaced a surface parking lot, serves to "unite" the area between metros into a clear NoMa market, added Finan.

Washington, DC real estate development news

NoMa's Constitution Square is Green, and Now Gold

Constitution Square, NoMa's largest mixed-use project, received a Gold ranking today from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The project was awarded an enviable Gold ranking in the LEED ND category for sustainable neighborhood development.

But don't think of waterless toilets and recycled material; the "ND" standard is a fuzzier version of the older sustainability rankings. Rather than rate only the physical building, which can only be evaluated after construction completes sometime this summer, ND instead ranks the overall sustainability of the development with respect to potential impact on the surroundings. Factors that go into the certification include street width and building height, with an emphasis on mixing uses that allow more integrated living. According to the USGBC website, the system "integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building" into one rating. Alicia Call at HOK Architecture adds that the ND ranking "its a little bit more stringent than the other rating systems...but with a focus on community development." In short, the ranking is an endorsement of Metro-oriented, mixed-use, sustainable construction.

Liz Price, President of the NoMa BID, says Constitution Square is one of the first ND-approved projects in the country, having been part of a pilot program to factor location and neighborhoods into green techniques and to "look beyond the footprint of the building." Price says the BID and DC's Office of Planning promoted NoMa to the USGBC as a candidate for the pilot, and that Constitution Square was the obvious choice within NoMa, being the largest development in the neighborhood and one DC more ambitious projects.

The project broke ground in April of 2008, a joint venture between Bethesda-based StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital, which acquired the land in early 2006. The development will include a 206-room Hilton hotel, 440 apartments, and 340,000 s.f. of office space in 5 buildings, including a new Harris Teeter. SK&I Architects designed the residential space, which will begin renting this summer and will deliver by August, according to Doug Firstenberg, a Principal with StonebridgeCarras. Office tenants will begin taking delivery next month. Planners hope the buildings themselves will also qualify for LEED Gold certification, with the outside chance of a Platinum ranking. The office space in Phase I is 100% leased, with only about 4000 s.f. retail space remaining up for grabs.

Bethesda-based Clark Construction is performing construction.

Washington DC real estate development news