It's Konterra Country

What to do with 2200 acres next to the interstate? Build a city. At least that's what developers are doing with Konterra, a joint venture between Gould Property Company and Forest City Washington, which earned approval to develop 488 of those acres, a phase called the Konterra Town Center East project, just one part of their massive mixed-use development that will include residential neighborhoods, business campuses, and two town centers, and lots of retail. The approved town center will deliver 4,500 residential units including condos, apartments, and town homes, 1.5 million s.f. of "fashion" retail, 3.8 million s.f. of Class-A office space, 600 hotel rooms, and green space.

The titanic development, designed by several architects, including California-based Altoon + Porter Architects, is intended to bring "upscale dining" and retail to northern Prince George' County, create 12,000 jobs in the area, and generate revenue for a "civic framework" in the new community including a police force and fire department.

The developer, owner of the land since the 1980's, submitted plans for the Town Center East last August after meeting with the community and county to design a sustainable mixed-use project. The gargantuan development will replace what is now vacant space, once a gravel and sand mine, situated along I-95 at the intersection of the nascent Inter-County Connector, just north of the beltway.

The business component of the soon-to-be Konterra city in PG now offers fourteen buildings and over 500,000 s.f. of office space, while 500 acres of existing residential space is divided among three neighborhoods: The Wilshire Estates, Fairland Park Community, and The Villages at Wellington. Project spokesperson Julie Chase said the town center will bring together the existing business campuses and residential neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

"The town center is the core. The goal of this development is to bring smart growth and high-end retail to an under served and deserving area. When we say smart growth, it's about retail offerings and services and the opportunity to live and work in same area. There will be transportation within the community, but the project is also about having everything accessible and walkable," Chase said.

The project website describes the town center as a new neighborhood in itself. "A leisurely walk or a convenient bus trip to the heart of Town Center places you amongst tree-lined, pedestrian friendly streets with outdoor cafes, high-end boutiques and exciting entertainment options."

The developer hopes to break ground on this phase in late 2009 with delivery planned for 2012, but the team still has two more hearings with the county. The first is for the preliminary plan of subdivision on July 24th, and the second is for the detailed sight plan that has been submitted, but is awaiting a meeting date.

The second town center, which will also host a mix of retail, commercial, and residential space, will be 253 acres and is still in the planning phases. Altoon + Porter, the one confirmed architect on the project, also has offices in Shanghai and Amsterdam and focuses on hospitality, institution, university, and mixed-use developments.

Washington DC real estate development news

Navy Living Without the Boat (Or Ocean)

DC developer Forest City Washington is planning to build one of southeast's newest residential buildings, officially known as Building 160, in the form of a 6-story tower at 301 Tingey Street. The project will be developed using the framework of the Pattern and Joiner Shop, a woodworking plant built in 1918 and part of the historic Washington Navy Yard Annex. Developers will convert the four-story, 157,000-s.f. Joiner Shop warehouse into a 170-unit apartment building by way of gutting the interior, maintaining and restoring the facade, and building a two-floor, 50,000-s.f. addition above its roof. SK&I Architectural Design Group plans for LEED Certification, although sources indicate that it is too early to predict the level.

The building serves as the first residential project to arise in the vast development known as The Yards. With step numero-uno of The Yards, Forest City will create "Upscale apartment units featuring stained concrete and wood floors, designer kitchen and bathrooms, split level bedrooms and contemporary amenity spaces," said Sami Kirkdil, principal at SK&I.

Estimated to cost between $20 and $30 million, the lofts will offer interior parking, club and theater rooms and a furnished courtyard on the second floor for its guests. The building's ground floor has been designed to accommodate retail spaces facing the river and main streets in addition to a smattering of garden apartments. The rooftop addition will house "luxury double story loft units," according to Kirkdil and a fifth floor sky deck and 30-ft glass lap pool will overhang into the courtyard. (We're not quite sure what that means but it sounds cool.)

General Contractor bids for renovation and construction will close next Thursday. Developers expect to break ground in the Spring of 2008 and finish in the Winter of 2009.

Razing Begins Monday on Old Capper Site

"The bulldozers are ready," said David Cortiella, Project Coordinator at the District of Columbia Housing Authority, alluding to the demolition vehicles that will be unleashed upon the old Capper Seniors building this coming Monday, November 5. This correspondent's preference for dynamite notwithstanding, the slow work of demolition will take place at 601 L Street, SE, lasting approximately four weeks, clearing the way for a new construction project (pictured) to be supervised by Forest City Washington, the developer behind The Yards on the southeast riverfront and the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, VA. EYA and Mid City Urban LLC will also work in collaboration with Forest City on the site. 

The DC Housing Authority has been working to prepare for demolition since the beginning of September, carefully navigating the obstacle course that is the HAZMAT abatement protocol. As of tomorrow, all of the hazardous material on the site will have been removed and the raze permits will be in effect, paving the way for the future of the site. What lies in store is a 500,000-s.f. office building on the southern half of the lot and an undetermined number of mixed-income residential components on the northern half. The redevelopment project began with destruction of two Capper residential buildings and the construction of two new residences in their place: Capper #1, completed in 2006, as a seniors' residence and Capper #2 for workforce housing, set to begin housing residents as early as next month. The office building, by being designed by Shalom Baranes Associates Architects, is the third structure to materialize in the vast 32-acre Capper/Carrollsburg Housing Redevelopment - a project which has been funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the form of a $35 million Hope VI grant. The rest of the 32 acres will be developed in a joint effort,Mid City Urban and Forest City is proposed to house retail spaces, office buildings, condominiums, apartments and townhouses.

$400 Million Waterside Mall Redevelopment Project Takes a Step Forward

After years of sadly languishing while waiting for the wheels of development and bureaucracy to turn, progress can now be reported on the $400 million plan to revitalize the aging Waterside Mall at 401 M Street SW, just blocks from the major Southwest waterfront development that will take place along the Washington Channel. The National Capitol Revitalization Corp. (NCRC) board has finally approved the transfer of most of this property (almost 586,000 sf) to Waterfront Associates, a joint venture between Bressler & Reiner (the original builders of Waterside Mall in the early 1960s), Kaempfer, and Forest City Enterprises. Waterfront Associates already owns the existing mall building and two office towers on the site (as well as development rights), but needed this transfer of the ground lease from the NCRC (the DC Council ok’d the NCRC transfer earlier this year). Waterfront Associates plans to develop 1.2 million sf of residential units and another 1.2 million sf of office space, plus 75,000 of retail (including renovation of the existing Safeway), and will do this by building new buildings and renovating the existing towers. The DC government has committed to lease 500,000 sf of this office space for 15 years, starting in 2009 (when the space is expected to be completed). In addition, the site will be opened up to allow 4th Street SW to go through the development so I and M Streets would be once again connected. However, for the height the joint venture wants to build, zoning commission approval is needed, which probably will not occur until mid-2007 (the land transfer will officially take place once zoning is approved). Construction will then begin.