Georgia Ave. Development Takes Hold! (Sort of)

The District has announced several milestones to let you know that Georgia Avenue is really, truly, on a path toward development - and this time they mean it. After numerous initiatives and promises by previous administrations, the Fenty Folks seemed determined to get the job done. To wit, the administration announced today several items to bolster our confidence in Petworth and Brightwood:

Park Place - Donatelli Development's mixed-use project above the Petworth Metro station, has topped out, reaching its full height at seven stories. Donatelli, along with partners Gragg & Associates, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, was awarded development rights to the lot through a competitive process in 2004. 20% of the condos are mandated as "affordable." Like Highland Park apartments and Kenyon Square condos, Donatelli's projects that redefined the center of Columbia Heights, the condos were designed by Torti Gallas & Partners of Silver Spring, with sales by Washington DC-based Domus Realty. Construction is expected to complete early next year. Okay, so the topping out isn't a major news event, but at least construction hasn't stopped.

3912 Georgia Avenue - The mayor announced yesterday that a court had given clear title to the District, which will transfer the property to the Jair Lynch Development Partners. If the property sounds familiar, it may be due to frequent mention by this blog. The 130-unit apartment building, two blocks north of the Metro station, was awarded to JLC and development partner AHD Inc. (Affordable Housing Developer) by the National Capitol Revitalization Corporation (NCRC), before that organization was disbanded by the current administration. The $38 million project is being designed by EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates and will be built by Meridian Construction. Jair Lynch will provide 40% of the rental units at subsidized rates, and add 24,000 s.f. of retail space. NCRC gave Jair Lynch the land back in 2006, but it turns out that the city did not have clear title to the land.

Despite the Mayor's announcement, other issues remain, and the developer is not giving any timelines on construction yet. According to Tania Jackson of JL, clearing title was "a huge hurdle, but there are so many things that still need to happen." For one, because Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ) - which JL supported - has not been enacted, JL must go through a 'mini-PUD' to get the density they require. The developer hopes to get the PUD done by June. (In better news for JL, they did just open sales at the Solea in Columbia Heights)

Finally, the District has just announced that it has acquired a long-vacant residential building at 6425 14th St. NW, just off Georgia Avenue. The building was referred to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs' special unit, the (somewhat Stalinist-sounding) Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings. The Tewkesbury, a 26-unit building in Brightwood, will be offered to developers for renovation, but no timelines are being offered at this time.

Takoma Park Condos Go Rental

Ecco Park Condominiums, planned as Takoma Park's only new condominium project, will now go forward as an apartment building. The 85-unit condominium had been designed and was to be developed by SGA Architects of Bethesda, but SGA began returning money to purchasers several weeks ago. The site, two blocks from the Takoma Park Metro Station, was a brownfield and former gas station, a condition the developer remedied last year by removing and replacing the soil, but construction and excavation had not yet begun.


According to the developer, the lack of financing for a new condominium building became the insurmountable hurdle in the development process, requiring a new financing agreement that precluded condo sales. Domus Realty had presold 35 of the 85 units as of last fall, when the sales center closed. "I'm really excited that the project is still moving forward despite the turmoil in the markets." said Sas Gharai, the architect and developer of the project. But Gharai also suggested that with the dwindling condo construction the decision may not be irreversible, "At some point, we may re-evaluate when the market changes."

Ecco Park is designed to include 6,500 s.f. of retail, and at one time was mentioning a Trader Joe's Express as a possible tenant. It would also feature underground parking, and patios or balconies for most of the units. Prices started at $180k for a studio and in the high $200k's for a one-bedroom, and at $495k for a two-bedroom. SGA recently completed and is selling the last few units at the Butterfield House on Capitol Hill.

Columbia Heights Largest Condo Converts to Apartments

Donatelli Development and partner Gragg and Associates acknowledged today they will convert their iconic Highland Park condominium (pictured, top) at the southwest corner of 14^th and Irving streets in Columbia Heights, into rental units. The mixed-use development was the neighborhood's largest condominium, with 229 residential units, 20,000 square feet of retail, and three levels of underground parking, directly above the western entrance to the Columbia Heights metro.

“In light of recent shifts in the condominium market, we decided that we would be in a better position to serve the Columbia Heights market with a luxury rental building,” said company president Chris Donatelli, who developed the project in conjunction with NCRC and has done as much as any individual to bring about the revitalization of Columbia Heights. Despite its location above the Metro and across the street from DC-USA, the massive retail center opening in late winter, only about 75 of the 229 units were ever under contract, never matching its sister project across the street, Kenyon Square , a 153-unit condominium also by Donatelli that began delivery in July and is now more than 70% sold out, according to sales agents Domus Realty.

Silver Spring-based Torti Gallas designed the building, which had been offering a 24-hour front desk, two-level fitness center, an "unusually large...hotel-style lobby" (pictured, below), and one of the most inviting roof decks of the city. The condos had been priced from the mid $300's to the upper $700's. Donatelli points out that conversion will have no adverse impact on the finishes or amenities, as the building has been mostly completed, with delivery scheduled for early next year.

At the same time, Donatelli Development announced it has reached agreements with six retailers, helping to round out the burgeoning area as the northern tip of the 14th Street retail corrider, as planned by the city, and bolstering Columbia Heights as a retail center in its own right. Retailers at Highland Park will now include Hank's Oyster Bar, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Pete's Apizza, Zinnia - a Caribbean food restaurant, and Signal Financial Federal Credit Union.

“With two large buildings in the neighborhood, we’re in a position to understand what’s happening in the market on an extremely local level,” said Donatelli. “By pulling a large chunk of units from the condo market, we make a whole new class of product available to the Columbia Heights rental market.”

Construction began in mid 2005, sales began in November of the same year. Donatelli has experience in both the condo and rental market, having developed the Ellington apartments that helped transform U Street while remaining nearly 100% tenanted; Donatelli is also currently developing Park Place, a 156-unit condo in Petworth, also above the Metro, that is expected to begin delivering late next year.

Donatelli Development Opens New Downtown Sales Office

Donatelli Development and Domus Realty are set to officially open their new sales center on U Street this week. The new "state-of-the-art" sales center, designed by Georgetown-based architect Hickok Cole, will showcase Donatelli's projects at Columbia Heights and Petworth: Kenyon Square (pictured), Highland Park and Park Place. The sales center will feature scale models of the various buildings as well as a model kitchen and bath. Donatelli Development's projects were the anchor for the redevelopment of Columbia Heights, with the three residential projects currently underway at 14th and Irving. The company is now shifting its focus to the Georgia Avenue corridor, starting with the construction of Park Place , a 150-unit condominium built over the northern entrance to the Petworth Metro. The new sales center is located at 1301 U Street in the first floor of the Ellington, an apartment project completed by Donatelli in 2004.

New Condo Project Develops in Shaw

Georgetown-based MCN Corporation has announced that sales have begun on a 15-unit condo downtown called the Marion. The condominium will be built on quiet and historic Marion Street in the Shaw neighborhood of DC, 2 blocks to the Shaw Metro Station, in the shell of what is now a 3-story ‘50’s apartment building. The condo conversion is one of the larger condo projects undertaken by MCN, which has designed and built a number of single family suburban homes and several downtown commercial spaces. Prices will range from the mid to upper $100k’s for studios, and mid to upper $200k’s for a 1-bedroom condo, with two 1-bedroom units offering “private” gardens and parking available on site. The Marion is said to have an “architecturally contemporary” – but largely unmodified – exterior, with interior spaces offering granite countertops, GE Ranges, dishwashers, microwave/ranges with hoods, double glazed energy-efficient windows, and maple, oak or cherry bathroom vanities with cultured marble counters and sinks. Sales by Domus Realty are now underway, delivery is expected within a few months. The surrounding blocks will be home to the Broadcast Center One project – the mixed-use project atop the Metro Station – as well as a number of large, historic shells intended to be commercially rejuvenated in the near future.