Today in Pictures - Jefferson at 14W

 

Back in December of 2010, Perseus Realty and Jefferson Apartment Groups (JAG), an Akridge affiliate, broke ground on 14W, replacing the former Anthony Bowen YMCA with apartments and a new YMCA.  The project had languished for years before finally getting the cash infusion from JAG that finally got it going (despite a faux-groundbreaking), and is now reaching its final stage of construction.

The HOK and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners-designed project will feature 231 rental apartments, a brand new, state-of-the-art 44,000 s.f. YMCA, and over 12,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail. The new gym and apartments will deliver later this year.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

14W Breaks Ground

Nearly two weeks ago, Perseus remained mum on the status of the much anticipated Anthony Bowen YMCA redevelopment project at the intersection of 14th and W Streets in northwest Washington, promising only that they'd be ready to reveal "something" shortly. But before Perseus could say anything, let alone something, Jefferson Apartment Groups (JAG), an Akridge affiliate, revealed they had purchased the project from a Perseus entity for $7.5 million, and would join Perseus as partnering developer (talk about awkward) on the project. The sudden announcement signaled that the project, thought by many to be strapped for cash and indefinitely stalled, was and is back on track. And now today, more than two years after a faux-groundbreaking, developers will once again put a shovel in the ground; this time they really, really, actually, totally, seriously swear to start demolition and new construction.

Apparently, equity financing from Rockpoint Group, L.L.C. and a $53 million construction loan from Wells Fargo Bank was just what the doctor ordered. Upon completion, the HOK and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners-designed project will feature 231 rental apartments, a brand new, state-of-the-art 44,000 s.f. YMCA, and over 10,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail. The new gym and first apartments will deliver in the summer of 2012, with the project opening in its entirety later in the fall.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Perseid Adventures at 14 & W

On October 7th, Ward One Councilman Jim Graham relayed a message of good news to his listserv and Twitter followers from Bob Cohen of Perseus Realty, who had recently testified at a Council Hearing. Pressing Cohen on a start date for the YMCA redevelopment project at 14th and W, Graham quoted the developer as promising the the ability "to start construction before the end of the year.” The pledge to get the ball rolling on the 231-unit mixed-use development didn't garner much attention at the time, and citizens continue to wonder when to expect action.

Recently queried on the matter, Cohen would only answer that Perseus is unwilling to comment on the status of the project. He asserted that no official date has been set for a groundbreaking, but revealed that "[w]e'll be ready to announce something in the next couple weeks." Whatever could that something be? Developers Perseus, and their partners on the project Capmark Investments LP and FLGA Real Estate Group, had at one point anticipated a 2010 delivery date (the project "broke ground" in September 2008). But the market-plunge has booby-trapped the finance game, understandably complicating the developers' pursuit of funding, and Capmark declared bankruptcy in 2009, making the thought of a 2010 start date a pleasant surprise. Complicating the matter is the requirement to deliver a turn-key YMCA. But with lending spigots reopening for DC's multi-family market, and a passel of multi-family projects in the offing up and down 14th Street, Perseus and its backers appear to have found the heart to build now. The already thin District budget does not have any available funds to push the project along, and have previously granted a generous 20 years of tax abatement and $1 million in forgone sales taxes on construction materials for the project.

Helmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners provided the design for what several online commenters have called an underwhelming facade. The residential portion will rise six largely glass-paneled, rather-vanilla-flavored floors above 12,200 s.f. of ground floor retail space and 170 below-grade parking spaces. Although somewhat plain, the building does show potential for elegance, if it can acquire some of the stone and metal detailing that give appealing character to industrial buildings like the Central Union Mission, the Studio Theater, and the stylish car-showroom turned upscale Italian restaurant Posto.

Developers have promised that eighteen units will be reserved for families earning less than 60% of the AMI. The centerpiece of the development is the the new Anthony Bowen YMCA, a 44,000 s.f. recreational and community facility to feature a "pool, state-of-the-art cardiovascular and resistance equipment, group exercise studios, and a child care area." But for now, local residents will have to build endurance at nearby gyms or stick to in-house push routines, as the YMCA doesn't look to be redone anytime soon.

Update: If you haven't already noticed the reports from the comment thread below, the 14th and W redevelopment project was recently sold by a Perseus entity to Jefferson Apartment Group (JAG), an Akridge affiliate, for $7.5 million. JAG also brought the Rockpoint Fund to provide much-needed equity. Perseus will stay on as development partner, and construction is expected to start as early as December 1st.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Midtown Bethesda North Condos

Midtown Bethesda North , a 20-story building with 250 condos, started real estate sales in the mid $300k's, 2 beds from the low $500k's to $1m, prices that were later lowered. Condos at Midtown occupy the 6th to the 19th floor; the first 5 floors contain the parking garage in an architecturally layered building to distinguish the non-residential component. Two blocks - about a 10-12 minute walk - from the Twinbrook Metro at the corner of Bou and Chapman. Occupancy of the building began in April, 2007. Features include Hansgrohe fixtures, a 24-hour front desk, "concierge" service, gas stoves and on-site hotel suites for visitors. Developed by Kettler, which built a number of similar projects in the DC suburbs (all ironically called Midtown), designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue Architects (DHPY), interior design consulting by WDG Architecture. Bovis Lend Lease was the contractor for 450,000 s.f. project. Midtown Bethesda North is located between Twinbrook and White Flint, surrounded by strip malls and at least some promised development, but for now remains the only high-rise in the immediate area in a sea of surface parking lots just off the Pike; a neighborhood not made to travel by foot but slow to get around by car.

Washington DC metro real estate news

Clarendon Condos Close Out

The Keating Group has closed its Clarendon sales center for the Phoenix Condos. Another developer gone out of business? You might think so, with gloom over real estate this year's bumper crop, but that would be incorrect. Keating sold the last of its 181 condos last week, and will now focus on selling its commercial remaining commercial space in the project it began building in 2005. The Pennsylvania-based developer renovated and expanded the historic Post Office on Washington St., now on the Federal Register of Historic Places, adding 52,000 s.f. of office space, retail, and of course the 11-story condominium on what had been a surface parking lot. Located 2 blocks south of the Clarendon Metro, the Phoenix was built by Turner Construction, and began selling more than 4 years ago, with prices originally running from the low $300's to the $700's. Construction completed in the summer of 2007. The project received approval by the Smart Growth Alliance - a mix of various smart growth and environmental groups, for its transit-oriented historic adaptation. The Phoenix condominium was designed by Dorksy Hodgson Partners, the main architects, with Oehrlein & Associates as the preservation architects. Keating will be going postal again, next time in Bethesda, where it plans another post office conversion with adjacent condo project. No timeline has been offered for that. 

Arlington Virginia real estate news

The Millennium Arrives in Pentagon City

General contractors BE&K Building Group will top out construction today on Kettler’s 21-story Millennium at Metropolitan Park project – the second installment of what is planned to be an ambitious 8-phase, 10-building development in Pentagon City. The project’s first component, the 399-unit Gramercy, opened in 2006.

Once completed in April 2010, the Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue-designed building will feature 300 rental apartments with high-end amenities including “a rooftop pool, spa, fitness center and party room,” in addition to a first floor library and business center. More than 7,500 square feet of ground floor retail space will round the initial construction. Work on a “central park planned to serve residents of the entire Metropolitan Park complex” will begin in the project’s next phase – which Kettler’s Jamie Gorski told DCmud in February is currently scheduled to go to ground later on in 2010 with a late 2012 delivery.

Pentagon City Phase III

For the past five decades, Pentagon City has been primarily known for...well, not much other than its namesake. McLean-based developer Kettler, however, has been aiming to change that with their ambitious 8-phase, 10-building Metropolitan Park development – a project set to rank a solid second behind the world's largest office building in terms of size and scope. The first of those phases, the 399-unit Gramercy, opened its doors in 2006; the second, the 300-unit Millennium, is now under construction and on track to deliver in 2010. Now, wheels are turning on the project's third entry, which will head back before the Arlington County Planning Commission and County Board on February 9th for final site plan approval. Conveniently, they’re among the few plans in Pentagon City that aren’t top secret.

Designed by architects Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, the untitled Phase III development will include 411 rental residential units, along with 16,350 square feet of ground floor retail – making it Metropolitan Park’s biggest entry so far. The 18-story edifice will stand on a 2-acre parcel at the southeastern corner of South Fern Street and 12^th Street South, just steps from the Pentagon City Metro. The site currently houses two warehouses servicing DHL Express and Danker Furniture.

Amenities planned for the residential high-rise include a fitness center, plus a rooftop pool on the building’s sixth story wing. Per the green-centric tone of Northern Virginia development these days, Metropolitan Park III will also shoot for a LEED certification and three green roof areas, ranging in size from 1,740 to 2,000 square feet.

Pentagon City's infrastructure is also due for an upgrade as the project nears completion. Kettler intends to divide their “superblock” of development up with extensions of 12^th, Elm and South Fair Streets, and a pedestrian passageway linking South Fern and South Fair Streets. A 1/3 acre public park is also planned, featuring the works of landscape architects Lewis Scully Gionet and possibly a public arts component.

At present, Kettler projects little or no difficulty in getting their third installment Metropolitan Park through next month's site plan hearing. "We had an original master plan penned by Robert AM Sterns for the entire development. There were guidelines within that and we've followed them closely," said Jamie Gorski, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Kettler. "Our internal meetings [regarding the project's future] have gone very well." According to Gorksi, construction is currently slated to begin in 2010, with completion following in late 2012.

New Residential Nixed in Adams Morgan

While some DC area developers of late have been forced to convert condos to rental apartments in the face of mounting economic woes, others have abandoned the residential component of their upcoming projects altogether. No surprise there, but counting the toll on the lost housing supply is patchy. But one such casualty is Combined Properties, Inc.'s proposed redevelopment of an Adams Morgan retail strip at 1755-59 Columbia Road, NW.

After acquiring the property in 2004, the developer initially planned to demolish the 5,000 square foot facility currently on the site and build a new five-story, mixed-use building in its stead. The untitled project was said to include a level of ground-floor retail (possibly a restaurant), along with four-stories of new residential housing and an underground parking garage at the intersection of Columbia Road and Champlain Street, NW. Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue had been named as architects for the development.

Now, it would appear that the FootLocker and Popeye’s locations currently embedded have received a stay of execution. A source within Combined Properties tells DCMud that the “project has been downsized to retail only” and that details concerning the newly-rejiggered project “should be available in about six weeks."

The project would have been a homecoming of sorts for Combined Properties, as the development corporation that was founded by entrepreneur Herbert H. Haft, who began his real estate empire with a single drug store once located in Adams Morgan, just a few blocks away at the intersection of Columbia Road and 18^th Street, NW. Haft also founded a number of recognizable national enterprises before his death in 2004, including Trak Auto and Crown Books.

Vornado Hits Crystal City Again

Sticking with their strengths, Vornado/Charles E. Smith is recycling an old 13-story office building, turning it into a 19-story - you guessed it - "luxury tower" at 220 20th Street in Crystal City. Designed by global firms HOK Architecture and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners, 220 Twentieth Street will be a 270,000 s.f. mixed-use tower that will include 265 luxury rental apartments and 1,600 s.f. retail space at its completion in mid 2009. The developers will recycle the concrete structure of the old building while adding six floors, rebuilding the façade, systems, and interior space. “We’re thrilled to bring 220 20th Street to market. We believe this new sustainably-designed residential project will bring a sparkling new level of quality and visibility to the new Crystal City,” said Richard Smith, Senior Vice President of Development. Two blocks from the Crystal City Metro, developers say the project will be LEED Certified for such features as its water efficient landscaping, bike storage, and use of recycled material during construction, and that from the rooftop pool deck it will boast panoramic views of the planes touching down at Reagan National Airport, the not-too-distant District, and surrounding clusters of the vertical, but newly-walkable, neighborhood of Crystal City.The developers intention for the project was to bring more residents to Crystal City and “set a design standard” for the area. Modest goals, perhaps, but here's to hoping they succeed...

Arlington Virginia commercial real estate news

Crystal City Goes Metropolitan

While DC developers boast of the number of cranes in their neighborhood, Arlington residents are becoming more Metropolitan by far. At least in name, anyway, as Kettler moves into the next phase of its mega real estate project that borders Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Pentagon Row. The behemoth project has already delivered two 300-plus unit residential buildings, The Metropolitan at Pentagon City and The Metropolitan at Pentagon Row, in 2002 and 2005, a feat that would have earned satisfaction enough for many serious developers. But now Kettler continues to work on the remaining eight phases - 10 buildings - on 19.6 acres of real estate within eyesight of the District. The whole site is bounded by 12th, 15th, Eads, and South Fern Streets. The next of the remaining eight phases, The Millennium at Metropolitan Park, will include 300 rental apartments and 8,100 s.f. of retail, potentially with a restaurant. 

The goal of the project was to contribute to the "vertical communities" in the area, a response to the demand for luxury apartment housing in transit-friendly areas and a contribution to the towering architecture of Crystal and Pentagon City residential developments - a Virginia-style Co-Op City. Kettler had been leasing the land from Vornado, and purchased the first eleven acres in Pentagon City in May 2007 for $104.4 million. Kettler will eventually pay $220.4 million for the entire soon-to-be shadow-casting site. Currently on the lot is The Gramercy (Phase I), six warehouses for demolition, and a lot of empty space. "With the projected job growth in Arlington, there is current and future demand for housing in communities with high-end finishes and amenities as well as existing neighborhood-serving retail projects,” said Cassie Cataline, Vice President of Communications for Kettler. The nineteen-story "luxury" building referred to as a "signature project" for the developer was designed by HOK architects and Cleveland-based Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue and will deliver in winter 2009, bringing with it the majority of a 2.5 acre park the eight buildings will eventually surround. The 300 foot long Millennium building will face the park and have a three-story glass lobby to allow those on the other side of the building to glimpse the park. "The goal for the second phase was to make it compatible, but distinct and more contemporary. It has a unique position because it faces the park directly rather than being perpendicular to it like the other buildings," said Sandy Silverman, Partner for the project at Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue. "Met Two fits in in the sense that it has similar masonry materials and color pallet, but it's cleaner, simpler. The development is like the Battery Park City complex, it's a community but it has a large-scale guideline to bring it together," Silverman said. The name of phase three has yet to be determined - long shot, but we're guessing it will be "The Metropolitan" - it will also reach nineteen stories with rental apartments and retail, this time 410 units and 16,000 s.f., respectively. Also designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, delivery is scheduled for spring 2011. 

Phases four through eight will bring an additional 1,000-2,000 residential units, but because their delivery is so far in the future, the developers will let the market determine the unit types, whether they be apartments, condominiums, or hotels. Design on phase four will begin next year and it will be another ten to fifteen years before we see the final phase. What's with the repetitive names? "It’s about branding and marketing and building a strong identity for our high-end urban apartment series," Cataline said. The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park, part one of the eight, is a retail and residential eighteen- story building that opened in October 2007. The building included 399 rental apartments as well as 11,000 s.f. of retail space. “This location is served by two metro stations (Crystal City and Pentagon City), VRE and National airport as well as potential ferry service; it is at the convergence of virtually every major commuter route into Washington, DC.,” said Cataline.

Arlington Virginia commercial real estate news

Bowen YMCA Update

Five buildings in the 2200 block of 14^th Street (2203, 2205, 2207, 2209, 2211) were approved for demolition by the DC Historic Planning Board as part of the new Anthony Bowen YMCA and 14W project by DC-based developer Perseus Realty, LLC and YMCA of Metropolitan Washington. As DCMud reported in May of last year, at the project's completion, 1325 W Street will include a new YMCA facility (45,000 s.f.), 229 rental apartments, and 12,000 s.f. of retail space in a project that will border 14th and W Streets. Construction will begin at the 1325 W Street site in September with completion scheduled two years later in 2010.

According to Perseus, legislation was passed to close part of the alley between the townhouses and the existing YMCA, and Perseus has already received HPRB approval. The facades of the townhouses and the front forty feet of each structure will be preserved as historic structures.

“We are filing for certain permits, which takes a while and we are in the final stages of working drawings, so we’re positioning it to get started,” said Robert Cohen, President of Perseus Realty, LLC.

The project was designed by Hellmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners, the developers have also hired Bozzuto to oversee leasing and management of the residential component.

North Bethesda Square's First Building Tops Out

The nearly $900m North Bethesda Town Center project saw its first building topped out this week as the Wentworth House, an 18-story, 312-unit apartment building, reached its full height last week. The apartment building will house a swimming pool deck above the 18-story-wing and a “sunset” terrace above the 15-story wing, green roof, and 65,000 s.f. Harris Teeter for the "Whole Foods effect" on the neighborhood. Construction on the building began in June 2006, completion on both the supermarket and apartment is scheduled for July of next year.

LCOR, a large east coast development team headquartered in Pennsylvania, was chosen by WMATA as the master developer for the 32-acre North Bethesda Town Center Project, developing a master plan that includes approximately 930,000 s.f. of office space, 1,275 residential units, a 320-room full-service hotel, and 202,000 square feet of retail space at the White Flint Metro station. LCOR anticipates this project will generate 5,400 new jobs and almost 6,500 additional daily Metro trips, citing it as "the largest joint development project ever approved by WMATA." The project received a "Smart Growth" award from the D.C. chapter of the Urban Land Institute and The Smart Growth Alliance.

The Wentworth House was designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue Architects (DHPY), with offices in DC, Cleveland and Fort Lauderdale. DHPY is also designing the Midtown Bethesda North condo project by Kettler.

YMCA, Perseus Ready to Move Forward on 1325 W Street Mixed-Use Project

After months of negotiation, it appears that the nonprofit YMCA of Metropolitan Washington DC is partnering with DC-based developer Perseus Realty LLC to redevelop the existing YMCA Anthony Bowen center at 1325 W Street NW in Shaw (the oldest YMCA in DC, dating back to the 1850s) into a $100 million mixed use complex that will include a new, larger YMCA facility (45,000 sf), over 200 apartments, and 12,000 sf of retail. The Washington Business Journal reports that under the arrangement, Perseus will build and finance the YMCA’s new facility, and in exchange receive the land for the apartment building and retail, which it will own and control. The YMCA will own and run the new facility. In preparation for this development, Perseus has already purchased five buildings along this block fronting 14th Street between W Street and Florida Avenue – these structures will be preserved for the retail portion of the project. The architects for this project are the DC office of Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners. If all permits and approvals are received, Perseus hopes to break ground in late 2008, with completion expected toward the end of 2010.