Monday, February 14, 2011
Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj Poised to Start Newest Dining Scene at 22West
Thursday, February 03, 2011
Hine School Project Shifts Plans
Labels: Capitol Hill, Eastbanc, Eastern Market, Stanton
As reported by Michael Niebauer in Washington Business Journal, residential space has been allocated an additional 100,000 square feet, up from 144,594 in 2009. Though the additional residences will alleviate the District's current housing pinch, the shift was the result of the Tiger Woods Foundation decision to nix youth center plans and the International Relief and Development aborting a headquarters move. The total square footage has dropped nearly 100,000, to approximately 558,000 s.f. square feet of retail, office and residential space.
"We're still early in the process on this project," says Dave Garrison, Commissioner for ANC 6B. "We're not sure how static the plans are. There are still many layers to go before the formal submission of design." Stanton-EastBanc will feature slides on its website that reflect the changes in the design within the next couple days.
Garrison says the the plans will be formally reviewed by the Historic Preservation Board in early March, with a second hearing before the ANC board later in the month. It would then go on to the zoning board, at which point there will be a special meeting regarding the project's community benefits and amenities, since it creates greater density than is currently permitted by zoning. "This is an idiocyncratic process that will be shaped by circumstances, timing and the economy that really is a wide open discussion about the plans," said Garrison.
If all goes smoothly, the projected calendar for development is to apply for permits late this year, with construction to begin in 2012, with a completion date of 2015.
Washington DC real estate development news
Friday, July 23, 2010
Yet Another Affordable Housing Project For Columbia Heights
Labels: Banneker Ventures, Columbia Heights, Dantes Partners, Eastbanc, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Ward 1
on his delight at finalized contract, saying: "there was a lot of talk, scrutiny, and debate at city hall about this project ... but we are all glad that the talking has stopped, and the action has gotten back on track."
The unveiled renderings look suprisingly derivative of the general style of the Villagio apartment building next door. In addressing the press and community members, Buwa was careful to thank the Villagio and its owners for their cooperation and support during this initial design process. For the future residents who aren't lucky enough to have a view of the new park from their balconies, they are at least afforded the next best thing: some quality people watching, looking down on the adjacent BP gas station (and who doesn't look down on BP these days).
The ANC expressed support for the design and the project, but Dantes Partners, along with PGN Architects, will work with the community, ANC, and Zoning Commission to further refine their drawings in the coming months. The developers will seek a nine percent tax break through the District Housing Finance Agency's Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). And if that bid is rejected, the development team will be awarded a non-competitive four percent tax credit, and hope for an additional $4.1 million District subsidy.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Eastbanc to Turn Georgetown School into Condos
Labels: Eastbanc, Encore Development, Georgetown
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Eastbanc Wins West End
Labels: Dantes Partners, Eastbanc, LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects, Warrenton Group, WDG Architecture, West End
Thursday, December 31, 2009
West End Development Showdown
Labels: Eastbanc, LeMay Erickson Wilcox Architects, Toll Brothers, Torti Gallas, West End
According to DMPED Communications Director, Sean Madigan, the Toll Brothers and Eastbanc offers were the only two received in response to the July solicitation. The December 17th community meeting was an opportunity for the groups to show off their plans and answer questions from an often outspoken neighborhood. Local residents became incensed over the lack of BID competition in 2007 when the District attempted to sell the land to Eastbanc Development, which developed the Ritz Carlton hotel and condo and 22 West condos, but which the community viewed as not arms-length.
EastBanc's plans for Square 37, the current site of the library, would create a 20,765 s.f. ground floor library with a 10-story residence above (rendering at left). Designed by LeMay Erickson Wilcox Architects, the plans call for approximately 153 market-rate residential units on the 2nd through 10th floors, and 9,000 s.f. of ground floor retail.
Eastbanc's plans for Square 50 - the fire station - include a replacement fire station on the ground floor and mezzanine with 52 affordable residential units on the 2nd through 4th floors.
At the public presentation Eastbanc responded to questions about including a grocery store in their plan. An Eastbanc representative explained that the group "can and would build a supermarket on site if the community and city united to support it," adding that so far the group has "heard more opposition than support."
The Toll Brother's - Torti Gallas-designed plan for the library calls for 48,000 s.f. of retail, including a 40,000 s.f. grocery store. The library, which the solicitation encouraged developers to keep in the immediate vicinity, would remain in place; 21,300 s.f. on two levels. To top it off, the building will be designed to LEED Silver standards and include as many as 220 residential condos (with views of New York City, if the submitted renderings are accurate).
The group did not submit a plan for the site of the fire station. At the public meeting a Toll Brother's spokesperson explained the decision, saying "if there were some flexibility in some other areas of the Project...we would be willing to discuss subsidizing the construction of the new fire station in Square 50, but we would not be interested in purchasing this site from the District."
Now with two options for Square 37 and only one for Square 50, the DMPED's office will review the community concerns, which they will continue to accept through January, and may eventually request a "best and final offer" from the developer that demonstrates a response to community feedback. A decision should be made by the spring, said Madigan, at which point the land disposition negotiations will begin. Madigan indicate that process could take between 6 and 12 months, and would end with review by the City Council.
Eastbanc had been awarded development rights to the site in 2007, but an outcry over the non-competitive award caused the Council to revoke the grant. Eastbanc was one of the partners awarded the rights to develop the Hine School at the Eastern Market last September.
Washington, D.C. real estate development news
Monday, November 02, 2009
District Gets 2 West End Development Offers
Thursday, October 08, 2009
District Gov Adds More Time for West End Development Offers
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Stanton- EastBanc Chosen as Hine School Developer
Labels: Capitol Hill, Eastbanc, Eastern Market, Esocoff and Associates
Friday, July 17, 2009
District Opens West End to Development
Friday, May 22, 2009
DC Announces Contenders for Eastern Market School Site
Labels: Blue Skye Development, Bozzuto, Eastbanc, Eastern Market, Quadrangle Development, Southeast
Fresh off last week’s announcement that Eastern Market will reopen in June, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development has gone public with their short-list of candidates for redevelopment of the nearby Hine Junior High School at 335 8th Street, SE.
The 43-year-old, 131,300 square foot educational facility was shuttered in 2007, in order to redirect $6.2 million worth of school funds towards leasing costs for the District of Columbia Public Schools' headquarters at 825 North Capitol Street, NE. Now, according to ODMPED officials, the various proposals aim to repurpose the Eastern Market site for “combinations of new housing, office space, nonprofit space and neighborhood-serving retail.” The six contending teams are:
1. The Bozzuto Group/Scallan Properties/Lehr Jackson Associates/E.R. Bacon Development, LLC/Blue Skye Development/CityStrategy, LLC
2. Equity Residential/Mosaic Urban Partners
3. Quadrangle Development Corporation/CapStone Development, LLC
4. National Leadership Campus/Western Development Group
5. Stanton Development Corporation/Eastbanc Inc./Autopark Inc./The Jarvis Companies/Dantes Partners
6. StreetSense/DSF/Menkiti Group
District administrators will be hosting a community showcase of all six proposals on June 10th at Tyler Elementary at 1001 G Street, SE. The meeting will begin at 6 PM and is open to the public.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Round II for West End Library Development
Labels: Eastbanc, Library, rfp, Square 37, West End
The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development is gearing up to issue a Request for Proposals for one the District’s more controversial – Square 37 in the West End.
Currently the site of both the West End Branch Library and the Metropolitan Police Department’s Special Operations Division, the site generated a heap in controversy in 2007, when the City Council passed "emergency legislation" to sell the lot to Eastbanc for redevelopment. In the face of opposition by the likes of Ralph Nader, public space advocates, and neighbors, the Council quickly rescinded the sale and promised their constituents that due time would be given for community input prior to redevelopment, while neighbors have continued to grouse about the underutilized site that functions more as a homeless shelter than a library, sitting incongruously between the Ritz-Carlton and other high-end condominium projects.
And while community angst has gone from overwhelming to negligible in the intervening two years, the City has held up their end of the bargain. In March 2008, numerous local bodies – including the Foggy Bottom/West End ANC 2A, Dupont Circle ANC 2B, the West End Library Friends, the DC Library Renaissance Project, and the Foggy Bottom Association - participated in a public consortium, where guiding principles for development of Square 37 - not to mention the entire West End - were established.
The ambitious “West End wish list” is divided into both macro and micro, if mutually exclusive, categories, including “livelier streets,” “more residential housing,” “public agencies [leasing] our public real estate assets rather than selling to or swapping with private parties,” making “everything...as green as possible,” and “all public facilities should stay public.”
Utopian or not, ODMPED’s pre-RFP statement encourages prospective developers “to address all stakeholder concerns and requirements and demonstrate creative ways to incorporate them into their development plans.” While ODMPED’s outline stops short of specific requirements (i.e., zoning, parking quotas), bidders will be required to incorporate plans for a new library and police facility in their vision for Square 37.
And, perhaps having learned a lesson from more recent community involvement debacles, ODMPED’s statement puts prospective developers on notice that the selected developer, not the Deputy Mayor, will be the one tasked with talking the community down regarding their list of demands for the West End. “If an offeror believes strongly that its development plan should include elements that are not desired by the community,” it reads, “then such offeror must convince the community that the proposed plan better serves the community’s interests.”
ODMPED will be accepting pre-bid queries from both developers and local residents concerning the RFP until Monday, February 23rd at dcbiz@dc.gov.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Plans for West End Library Renovations
Thursday, July 03, 2008
West End's Newest Condos
Labels: Eastbanc, Jack Evans, Keener Squire, new condos, Shalom Baranes Architects, West End
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Public Land to Go on Endangered List?
Councilmember Thomas' bill resulted from a draft created by the People's Property Campaign (PPC), a resident-led division of Empower DC. PPC's vanguard effort to compose legislation materialized with the help of myriad supporters: Tenley ANC 3E Special Committee, Save Our Schools, Dupont Circle Citizens Association, Foggy Bottom Association and Benning Library Dynamo to name a few.
The bill lays out prerequisites for public land disposition; "The People's Property Bill would require, before disposing of any public property, a detailed explanation of why it has no other viable public use," according to the Library Renaissance Project - an active member in the campaign to retain property in public hands. In addition, the bill calls for a comprehensive inventory of public properties, a community development plan and a master facilities plan.
"Public property has found its protector. With an open door, an open mind, and decisive action - [Councilmember] Thomas is setting a new standard for responsiveness," said Robin Diener, Director of the Library Renaissance Project.