Today in Pictures - Rosslyn Commons

JBG Companies began construction on Rosslyn Commons exactly one year ago tomorrow. The Rosslyn apartment project will include two apartment buildings, the Sedona and the Slate, and 25 townhouses, with 55 units of subsidized housing. Despite a catastrophic wall collapse during excavation, digging is now complete and general contractor Clark Construction is now building up. Both apartment buildings are expected to be LEED Silver Certified, and both residential towers will include a rooftop pool and rooftop fitness center. Bethesda-based Architects Collaborative designed the building.













Arlington, VA real estate development news

JBG/Ross Gains Momentum at 4900 Fairmont Avenue

The new mixed-use project at 4900 Fairmont Avenue in Bethesda looks to have a clear path to approval, with the site plan going to the Maryland Parks and Planning Commission next week, with an eye towards pulling permits in Q3 2012, and breaking ground in Q1 2013. Located across from Veteran's Park, the forthcoming tower represents a major step in the ongoing revitalization of the Woodmont Triangle area.

Representatives from lead developer JBG revealed many details about the mixed-use (but mostly residential) building at a community meeting on Thursday night. The seventeen story building, designed by the Preston Partnership, is projected to have 236 dwellings (rentals, with 15% MPDU), 6500 s.f. of retail space, and 3.5 levels of underground parking.

The design for the new building incorporates a large flat panel/bay window on each face, bookended by glass towers on the corners. According to Mark Lange, principal at Preston, the central panels are meant to “inspire recollections of more traditional Bethesda buildings,” and if you squint, they do resemble the boxier designs of a bygone era. The ground floor retail faces mostly east, onto Norfolk, and a 4300 s.f. roof area will include a pool, changing rooms, and views down Wisconsin towards the District. Of course, this is the second plan for the site. The original site plan was very similar to the present plan, but impeded access to the adjacent county parking garage, creating a narrow, potentially unsafe passageway from the street to the garage. When JBG became a venture partner with Ross/CIM, they took a fresh look at the plans and shifted the building's footprint east, creating a wide “paseo” along the west side of the building that would double as a path to the parking garage and as community space. Only one problem – there was no garage entrance there. Luckily, after meeting with county officials at the site, developers were able to convince them to allow a renovation.

The Woodmont Triangle area was once, in attorney Bob Dalrymple's words, “ground zero not long ago,” but much of the energy has moved southwards in the past several years. A recent zoning plan amendment was the city's first attempt at revitalizing the area, and just across Fairmont is Bainbridge Bethesda (formerly the Monty), also a 17-story building, and the first project using the new standards of the zone. (Excavation on the Bainbridge site is just about halfway done, so expect to see cranes soon.) The amendment encourages new, denser development (read: residential), though even with the new zoning standards, 4900 had to purchase density rights from four nearby buildings.

But not everyone was happy with the project as laid out at the meeting. Representatives of a property across Fairmont protested that the shifting of the front entrance from Fairmont to Norfolk would “create dead space and turn Fairmont from a retail street into a service street.” After observing the new building would reduce the amount of retail space from around twenty thousand square feet to less than seven thousand, they went on to note the new design could worsen an already dicey traffic situation. These representatives claimed the placement of 4900's loading dock directly across from Bainbridge's loading dock would virtually guarantee daytime gridlock, citing deliveries and trash removal, and also noted that even a 5% vacancy rate could translate to as many as 300 moves a year, further slowing traffic.

Another local, who lives at the nearby 14-story Triangle Towers, was concerned that the taller 174-foot-tall 4900 Fairmont building would cast a shadow over Triangle's rooftop pool. (Though it wasn't available at the meeting, Dalrymple assured him they'd done a complete shade study.) The local also noted the new building could block radio and satellite dish reception in Triangle. (Some at the meeting laughed; the local replied it was no trivial matter to people who live there.) The citizen went on to say he was only there to give the developers something to think about, not to stop the project, which is just as well. Along with Stonebridge's oft-delayed-but-still-inevitable Lot 31 project and their development of the former Trillium site, and the Bainbridge Bethesda (nee the Monty), the redevelopment of Woodmont Triangle is looking unstoppable.

(One final note - because of the way the new building is designed, it will have a Norfolk Avenue address. Goodbye to 4900 Fairmont.)

Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news

Clear Sailing for Southwest Waterfront Development

The Congressional Budget Office weighed in just before the holidays with a strong endorsement of the proposed rezoning of the Southwest Waterfront, further bolstering H.R. 2297’s already favorable chances of passing into law when the Senate reconvenes next session.

If (when) passed, the bill would bring the District one step closer to a dramatic revitalization of the largely moribund Southwest waterfront, bringing it in line with the rapidly-developing Southeast waterfront, and creating what planners hope will eventually coalesce into a “second downtown.”

The bill, introduced by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, has already passed the House and gone through Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee markup, and clarifies the vague and somewhat archaic restrictions governing the waterfront. The District has always technically owned the land, but was barred from selling it, which for all intents and purposes made commercial development impossible. The recent CBO report found that empowering development in the area would have no adverse effects on the federal government, thus clearing the way for the 2.5 million-square-foot blockbuster PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette hotel-office-retail-pedestrian mall project.

The Hoffman-Madison First Stage PUD, as reported on this site, breezed through its NCPC hearing back in October. Bob Rubenkonig, a Hoffman-Madison representative, said Hoffman-Madison is busily preparing for 2012 public meetings, with the Second Stage PUD forthcoming very soon - hopefully in February, according to Hoffman VP Shawn Seaman.

The $2 billion, 2.5 million-square-foot project, dubbed “The Wharf,” takes its cues from Baltimore and Seattle's waterfront promenades, and will feature around 1200 residential units, almost 400,000 s.f. of office space, and 200,000 s.f. of retail space. Over half the site will be public space, much of that a pedestrian-friendly, privately-held waterfront avenue, “Wharf Street,” which will replace Water Street, will feature walking lanes, bike paths, and a streetcar. Development plans also call for a four thousand seat theater, a maritime history museum, and three hotels – a four-star, 268-room hotel from Carr Hospitality and InterContinental Hotels Group, and two others from the JBG Companies.

Developers have also agreed to a community benefits package that will set aside 30 percent of the first 500 units of housing - half earmarked for households making less than 60% AMI, and half earmarked for households making less than 30% AMI. Beyond the 500-unit mark, 20% will be reserved for "workforce housing," i.e. police, firefighters, teachers making 80 - 100% AMI. This unusual formula is the result of the Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment Clarification Act of 2010, which exempts a portion of the development from the District's affordable housing requirements. Furthermore, a quarter of the retail space will go to local businesses, and a third of everything sold in the retail spaces will come from local merchants. Design is being spearheaded by Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, while construction is being handled by PN Hoffman and Clark Construction.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Celebrating NoMa

The NoMa BID annual meeting tonight will bring together residents, decision makers and business leaders to celebrate progress and unveil new plans for the coming year including a new approach to parks.

So just how are things going? "Fabulously. Things are amazing," says NoMa BID President Robin-Eve Jasper.

According to the Broker Roadshow Book released this month, the BID has $4 billion in assessed value this year with another $1 billion under construction. There were 380,000 s.f. of private sector space leased in the last year. Twenty restaurants and shops opened in the last three years. New residents signed leases for 1,200 apartments, and another 2,200 units are under construction.

First + M

"I think we reached a point where people are feeling confident about the neighborhood," Jasper said. "It’s building on itself now."

NoMa BID reports a 17 percent increase in average household income since 2010. Jasper said that increase helps coax stores and restaurants to come into the area.

More residents soon will call NoMa home as Archstone's First + M apartments prepare to welcome tenants. The leasing office opened this week, and Jasper said the first residents are expected in June.

With all of those new residents, the neighborhood will need parks. Jasper said a "public realm vision" will be unveiled at the annual meeting. Without giving away all the secrets, she did say that the vision considers how people use parks to create the most useful spaces.

Construction also continues in NoMa. Two new projects are neck-and-neck in the race for being next in the ground: JBG Companies' Hyatt Place Hotel at the planned Capital Square site and MRP Realty's residential building at the planned Washington Gateway site.

Capital Square

JBG says it plans to break ground on the 200-room hotel this summer. It will be completed next year.







A spokeswoman for MRP said permits are still in progress, but the project is on track to start work this summer.

Several projects started construction in the past year, including Trammell Crow's Sentinel Square office project and Stonebridge's third building at Constitution Square.

And there still is more to come in the already booming area that exceeded initial expectations.

Jasper said that initial estimates were about $1 billion investment and 15,000 jobs, but says that today there are 45,000 jobs just in the NoMa BID. "All the right pieces were there, the right people to push to make things happen," she said, adding that the plans were not too restrictive or directive with planning and regulation. "And it enabled the private sector to come in and do what it does best."

"The vision that I have, for what it’s worth, is that in the next few years you start to feel this gravity and cohesion in the neighborhood generally where...there’s a vibrant commercial spine in the area of 1st street, and there’s a great feeling and sense of community in all of the adjacent neighborhoods," she said. "And if you go several streets out -- to all the row houses and apartment buildings --that people feel they’re all part of it. That this whole part of town becomes an area that has its own gravity."

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

Once Uncertain Rosslyn Office Tower Reaches Milestone

Judging by the 1812 N. Moore construction livecams, the historically massive Monday Properties Rosslyn project is about to hit ground level - a significant milestone for any big project, much less The Tallest Office Tower in D.C. Area History - that almost wasn't.

When project backer Lehman Brothers went belly up in the wake of the financial crisis, some wondered if the 580,000-square-foot 35-story property at 1812 N. Moore would run out of funds, raising the specter of a skeletal, half-finished tower marring the Rosslyn skyline (or worse yet, a gaping pit in the middle of downtown).

Those doubts (groundless in retrospect, as Monday says it always had completion funds on hand) were put to rest when Goldman Sachs stepped in last month and bought out Lehman's stake in the 1.2 billion dollar portfolio, and the project has remained on schedule for a late 2013 delivery date.

As of today, below-grade construction is nearing completion, and the project should break above grade in a matter of weeks, if not days. “The crane is scheduled to jump up next month,” said Tim Helmig, Executive VP and Chief Development Officer at Monday. He also noted, with evident pride, that their construction crane when fully extended

to its maximum of 451 feet, will be the tallest in area history.

1812 is only one part of a massive ten building, three million square foot portfolio that altogether comprises over a third of the entire Rosslyn office submarket of Arlington, making Monday/Goldman the Microsoft of florescent-lit Starbucks-and-Dockers NOVA anomie.

Construction on 1812 was started on spec – a risky proposition in a down economy and a soft-ish market. But Monday assures DCMud it's in active negotiations with three clients to collectively lease out the entire tower. Questions about these three mega-tenant's identities were met with amusement but then expected silence. At present, 1812 is LEED Gold certified for Neighborhood Development, and anticipates being LEED Platinum certified for Core and Shell when delivered in 2013, keeping it on track to be the first LEED Platinum certified office building in Virginia, as certified by the USGBC.

Central Place, the competing project from JBG and Beyer Blinder Belle right across N. Moore Street, hasn't broken ground yet, but its developers offer assurances as to its progression. JBG spokesman Charles Maier told DCMud that is JBG is finalizing permits for the project and doesn't anticipate any obstacles to a 2012 start date.

Arlington, VA real estate development news

New Apartments for Hill East in 2013, Two Blocks from RFK

The recently formed joint venture - between Tritec Development and JBG - has just begun construction on its 141-unit apartment, Kennedy Row, at 1729 East Capitol Street in Hill East, just two blocks from RFK Stadium.

Construction on the 42,629-s.f. site, under general contractor Clark Builders Group, will take approximately 18 months, and the first apartments will deliver in April of 2013. Kennedy Row will be managed by JBG's residential property management arm (we're told the Kennedy Row website is coming next month).

Early this fall, the partnership - a $40 million effort brokered by Colliers - was formed, enabling the project to break ground late last month, just after a building permit was issued for the project, and just before the PUD was set to expire, this month.

The 4.5-story, red-brick apartment designed by architect Polleo Group, is located at 1705-1729 East Capitol Street, SE, right across the street from Eastern High School - which received a $70-million renovation last year - five blocks from the Stadium Armory Metro, and two blocks from RFK Stadium. There will be 113 parking spaces in an underground parking garage.

Well in advance of construction, demolition of the aged structures previously on the site commenced a year-and-a-half ago, and the south side of East Capitol Street between 17th and 18th has been waiting on development since that time. A representative involved with the project said that the timing of the project's start has been purely a market-driven decision.

In December 2007, The Merion Group/Tritec acquired the property for $6.2 million from Comstock East Capitol LLC, which paid $9 million the previous year.

The consolidated Planned Unit Development (by Comstock, with renderings by PGN Architects seen at left) was approved around the time Merion/Tritec took over (late in 2007), and the project was granted a time extension by the Zoning Commission in 2009.

Originally - four years ago - the project looked to become condos, however, developers confirmed that the aim is now apartments.

As for the rest of the Hill East area, the Washington Post reminded readers a month ago that the 67-acre area south of RFK known as Reservation 13 "has been eyed for an ambitious redevelopment for the better part of a decade," and reported that speculation surrounding the area's potential continues, noting the option for: "a new [Redskins] headquarters and training facility near RFK Stadium in anticipation of building a new stadium there when the FedEx Field lease ends in 2027." Meanwhile, D.C. United looks to a short-term lease at RFK, as the soccer team's management continues to try and sort out its future, and appears to be sticking to its guns in declaring that RFK is not a long-term solution.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Southwest Waterfront's Wharf Waved Forward by NCPC

Yesterday, the National Capital Planning Commission waved forward the First Stage PUD of PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette's $2-billion development of the Southwest waterfront known as "The Wharf". The vote to "comment favorably" was raised before Matthew Steenhoek, development manager for PN Hoffman, even had the chance to make a final remark. NCPC commission members noted that the PUD honors NCPC's request from November 2010 to "strengthen the physical and visual connections to the Banneker Overlook." Subsequently, Market Square (below Banneker) was expanded, and the opening between two residential towers at the end of 10th Street was widened. 

A pedestrian connection from Banneker Overlook to Maine Avenue was also added into the plan, which will be included in phase two of development. The Zoning Commission reviewed the First Stage PUD and related map amendment in mid-September, and may take final action this month, after which the development team can submit the Second Stage PUD, which will detail design and architecture specifics, whereas the First Stage deals with building massing, land uses, open space development, waterfront development/improvement and related map amendment. Hoffman-Madison hopes to submit the Second Stage early next year, in order to begin construction on the first phase (of three) in the first quarter of 2013. Of the 3.2 million s.f. to be developed on land abutting the northeastern shore of the Washington Channel, the first phase of construction will be on the middle four parcels ( 2 through 5) which constitutes 40 percent of the entire development. Parcel 3 will be the location of Carr Hospitality and InterContinental Hotels Group's four-star, 268-room hotel. And, according to Steenhoek, the JBG Companies will operate two hotels - a limited service and an extended stay - at parcel 5. Parcel 2 will be two residential towers above a 4,000-seat multi-purpose theater. 

All of the buildings include ground floor retail. A significant aspect of the entire development is the creation of Wharf street, a main avenue along the waterfront for cafes, cars, pedestrians, pier access, bikes and even streetcars. The Wharf will be a privately owned street and will overtake the existing Water Street, the closure of which was approved by the Council in April, and currently awaits approval by Congress. 

Washington D.C. retail and commercial real estate news

LCOR, JBG: More Density in North Bethesda

LCOR plans to break ground before the end of the year on its third building - a 19-story, 341-unit apartment - within its recently enhanced North Bethesda Center. Construction of the residential building, the "Aurora", will commence before the end of the year, confirms LCOR's vice president Mike Smith.

JBG is also looking to begin construction on its own North Bethesda project - North Bethesda Market II (NoBe II, rendering to the right) - shortly after the first of the year. JBG's 4.4-acre site plan was submitted on August 24th and is now under review. JBG development executive Greg Trimmer indicated that the developer is just waiting on the county. "We are cautiously optimistic we will get full site approval early in 2012, and plan to begin construction immediately [after approval]."

NoBe II is located north of JBG's North Bethesda Market; there could be a III and IV as JBG owns more land to the south and west of the two sites, but for now, NoBe II is its sole focus in the area. NoBe II will be completed in one phase, taking 2-to-3 years, said Trimmer.

Meanwhile, LCOR's focus for the moment, the Aurora (rendering below), was designed by WDG, and will be built by BE&K; the building's site plan hearing will be held on the 22nd.

Both LCOR and JBG tacked on significant density to their North Bethesda projects in the past year, after the White Flint Sector Master Plan was passed by the Montgomery County Council in March of 2010.

Due to the increased zoning envelope permitted by the new White Flint Sector Plan, LCOR upped the square footage of planned construction on its 32-acre site by 40 percent: from 2.7 to 4.5 million square feet. JBG did the same, also increasing its F.A.R by 40 percent: from 2.4 to 4.0.

Revisions to LCOR's development have been a joint effort, having partnered with FX Fowle earlier this year. FX Fowle was brought on to assist with creating a new, enhanced vision for North Bethesda Center and give it a "fresh look," said Smith.

The enhanced North Bethesda Center plan by LCOR and FX Fowle is for approximately 1.4 m s.f. of office, 310,000 s.f. of retail, 2.4 m s.f of residential, a 350,000 s.f. hotel, and a 15,000 s.f. library. Initial plans by LCOR were to construct eight buildings on site, however Smith said that now the development team aims for "up to 10 high-rise buildings for the property." A Site Plan for 7.4 acres (3 parcels) of the development was submitted on July 29th and is now under review.

Both Trimmer and Smith applauded the foresight of Montgomery County in passing the new Sector Plan last year. Trimmer also gave his company, JBG, a nod, when questioned whether creativity was more apt to flourish on projects located outside of the District; Trimmer said, "I have to credit JBG. We've made a distinct strategic decision to increase the distinctiveness of our architecture and differentiate our projects."

What Trimmer refers to at the moment, North Bethesda Market II (pictured above), was designed by Studios Architecture and is comprised of a "striking" 339-unit residential tower (300-feet tall, surpassing its own accomplishment to the south), a 6-story office building, theater, restaurant, two retail spaces and a public plaza.

Other developers with investments in the area, and looking to go dense are: Federal Realty, with its 24-acre Mid-Pike Plaza (Site Plan for 16.3 acres was submitted on August 3rd) and Promark, with its 11-acre North Bethesda Gateway (no Site Plan submitted yet).

In January of this year, the Montgomery County Planning Board approved the sketch plans for all three of the aforementioned projects: North Bethesda Market II, North Bethesda Gateway and Mid-Pike Plaza. The sketch plan submission is a relatively new step in the approval process (not as exciting for developers) that came with the new White Flint Sector Plan.

Trimmer added, "White Flint is a very good development opportunity; it has strong existing amenities and a large portion of underutilized land."

Another reason developers might eye the North Bethesda area is the 10-percent commercial property tax increase (part of the new Sector Plan) that will help finance an estimated $208 million in construction (and infrastructure improvements) during its lifespan. Last December, Montgomery County officials projected that new growth in the White Flint area could bring in as much as $6.8 billion.

update: Greg Trimmer with JBG, not Trimmen

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Arlington's Affordable Housing: Macedonia Near Completion

Bonstra Haresign Architects and Nauck Development Partners (NDP) have nearly completed construction of Macedonia, the affordable housing building for the Macedonia Baptist Church in Arlington. NDP is a partnership between the Church, the Bonder and Amanda Johnson Community Development Corporation (BAJCDC) and AHC Inc.

"We've tried hard to create a building that does not look like affordable housing," said David Baker, senior architect at Bonstra Haresign.

Construction for the four-story building of 36 one-and two-bedroom units began in 2009 and will be available for move-in by the end of this month for residents making less than 60% of the area's median income. 40,000 s.f. of space will be dedicated to offices, one of which will house the BAJCDC. The $14 million project was funded by low-interest loans, a county grant and $6 million in county funds.

The most challenging aspects of the project has been the topography of the parcels at 2219, 2229 and 2237 South Shirlington Road. "There's a large slope which means the rear at Garfield is ten feet higher in the back. This made addressing parking access more of a challenge," said Baker.

The building is EarthCraft certified, Virginia Housing Development Authority's version of LEED certification. Every tenant will have a balcony as well as access to the lower green roof common area.

Along with AHC Inc. and JBG, Bonstra Haresign is also designing The Jordan, a four-story, low-income, 90-unit building three blocks from the Ballston Metro. The Jordan is similar to the Macedonia in that both buildings are predominantly masonry, said Baker.

The development resides on the former Bob Peck Dealership and Showroom site at Wilson Boulevard and North Glebe Road. JBG is now building out its plans for 800,000 s.f. of mixed-use development at the location, requiring a land swap between JBG and AHC.

Baker said The Jordan will be ready by the end of this year.

Arlington, Virginia real estate development news

Ft. Totten: Hanging Tough, or Just Hanging?

Being on top of a Metro station means that real estate development and rising property values are a given; or so goes the axiom. More so if that Metro line is vermilion and close to downtown. Ft. Totten is proving the exception, with neighborhood-transforming projects sidelined, and now a distressed apartment sale shows why developers have held off.

Despite Ft. Totten's 3 Metro lines (Green, Yellow, Red), its bike trail, its local parks, its juxtaposition at several major traffic arteries and ample developable land, developers have balked at building out what seems on paper to be a model of transit-oriented, mixed-use development.

Clark Realty Capital, the only developer to have built on the site, demonstrated the hazards of pioneering, having recently lost its 5.6 acre property in a distress sale to Greystar, which paid $55m for Fort Totten Station (Greystar also snapped up 909, Axiom, Jefferson at Capitol Yards, all near the ballpark, and Jefferson at Thomas Circle.) Clark had completed the project in late 2007 after obtaining a $47m financing loan in 2006 plus a ground lease from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, but had gotten several foreclosure notices late last year. At the time, Clark called the project "the anchor for a comprehensive revitalization plan for the Fort Totten Metro site...the first of several developments planned for the Fort Totten neighborhood," but hedged its bets with little retail space and low budget architecture.

Clark's vision might still come true, but not soon. The few single family homes in the area sell (after a while) for around $200,000, and commerce is all but forgotten. The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and Lowe Enterprises, the two biggest private landowners in the area, have both iced plans for development. Representatives of Cafritz refused to speak about their project, and a representative of Lowe would say only that the project has been "put to the back burner." An Urban Land Institute (ULI) study in 2009 (sponsored by WMATA) noted that the project is "a mere 3.5 miles from the U.S. Capitol" but that "the Fort Totten market will support calls for smaller, more affordable units, and basically allow only for wood-frame construction."

If anyone sees opportunity in Fort Totten, it is WMATA. The publicly chartered organization still owns 9.3 acres around the Metro station (on top of the 5.6 it leased to Clark), and can't afford the pessimism of a private developer. The transit agency has been pushing for the past several years for Ft. Totten to be a different kind of example, one that showcases revised concepts of transportation planning, and has been working to corral developers to integrate plans, so that the individual pieces are built in some semblance of an organized whole.

Foremost among those pieces are Cafritz's Art Place and Shops at Fort Totten, 2 million s.f. with a mixture of community-serving retail, residential (over 1200 units) and arts and cultural space to house arts promoters like The Washington National Opera. Cafritz expected to begin construction in the first half of 2010.

The Lowe team (with partners Jack Sophie Development and City Partners Development, and now JBG too) was to include 898 residential units on 9 acres of land (see rendering below right), and was to have preceded Cafritz. Together the projects would have added more than 200,000 s.f. of retail space. But if its clear that projects need to be coordinated, its also clear that the area cannot yet support that much development, at least to its financiers.

Laura Cole, an executive with RCLCO and formerly head of ULI when it issued its Fort Totten study, says that there's a gap between what a financier would typically support and what might work for the area. Cole notes that a financial institution will require traditional parking-to-apartment ratios, a model that is simply too expensive for a neighborhood like Fort Totten, and sites the DC USA site as a model of overbuilt parking requirements.

WMATA is attempting to change that philosophy, and followed up with another study in 2010 with urban development planner Parsons Brinckerhoff. Nat Bottigheimer, Assistant General Manager for Planning at WMATA, seconds Cole's assessment of the financial inviability of traditional notions of housing development, but is also keen to change the way planners see parking in general. Bottigheimer's vision for the undeveloped site is a communal approach to parking, where evening uses (for residents) piggyback on daytime uses (office and retail). "We should experiment with a kind of residential building that doesn't reserve spaces for cars, the building might provide 50 or 75 shared spaces instead of 150 dedicated parking spaces...[y]ou don't want to be just doing standard models, you also want to push the envelope as a public agency to promote the achievement of these public goals that we're in business to support." Hence the ULI report.

"We don't want to find out that we've built adequate parking, and others have developed theirs, and together we all contribute more than the necessary amount of parking...but that requires alot of coordination with other property owners to come up with an overall development plan." Bottigheimer pleads the case for a concept he admits is an "untested product in this market," but points out that "it costs $40,000 per space to build...more than a vehicle. Most of these are just car storage spaces, there's got to be an efficiency to provide a better system than we have now."

While WMATA has no specific plans for its own property, and can't force other developers to abide, it still has an influential voice at the District's Office of Planning. "We will collaborate with the District to get the kind of development that makes sense for the area" says Bottigheimer...we need to do more research with the development community to see how this could work." Admirable as that may be, it still requires developers to invest in an area that now is 0 for 1. At least WMATA seems intent to keep trying. Says Bottigheimer, "all options are open."

Washington D.C. retail and commercial real estate news

13th Street Hotel: Signs of Life?

Though early plans, enthusiasm and controversy took off like a shot for 1310 U Street, plans for JBG Companies' Four-Star, U Street Hotel project fizzled with the economic downturn. Despite radio silence since 2009, the project is seeing early signs of resuscitation in the form of renewed design activity.

But surely a Goliath like JBG has access to the funding it needs, right? "JBG, like anyone else, had been affected by the downturn," said Matt Blocher, Senior Vice President of Marketing for JBG. Blocher did not confirm whether the project is now adequately capitalized, but that it's seeing signs of life is prima facie evidence that funding has arrived, and behind it, development.

Plans for the hotel are "actively in the design phase," said Blocher. Under the original plan, the hotel at the site of the Rite Aid on 13th at U Street was proposed as a ten-story LEED-Silver certified luxury hotel with 250 rooms, 23,000 s.f. of retail, and 4500 s.f. of conference space with an art gallery, spa and fitness center, restaurant and stacked parking. To appease community concerns, the planners trimmed it to nine stories when the building was called "a collossus" at an ANC meeting to suss out the plans. The Rite Aid that currently occupies the corner would be moved to the hotel's retail space. David M. Schwarz Architects was selected for the original design.

It will take awhile before the party starts: groundbreaking likely won't occur until the end of 2012. The scope of the project is what will account for the slow roll out, and the site will need to be rezoned, says Blocher.

JBG is also investing just a stone's throw from the proposed hotel, with the 125-unit 14th Street District Condo project for which initial demolition commenced this past January.

Washington, D.C. real estate development news