Slow and Steady for Rhode Island Station

Construction will begin in July for Rhode Island Station, a 370,000 s.f. mixed-use development planned for the current Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station. The project, by Rhode Island Avenue Metro, LLC - a partnership of Mid-City Urban LLC and A&R Development - formerly known as Brentwood Town Center, won final zoning approval in April 2007, but will not finally close and begin construction until July.

Rhode Island Station will include a series of four-story buildings with three floors of residential rental apartments above one, ground floor of retail. At its completion, the project will have 274 rental apartments and 70,000 s.f. of retail space in what is now the Metro station’s parking lot.

As DCmud reported in June of last year, the developers have launched retail-leasing efforts, but have not yet announced final tenants.

“We really spent the last year permitting and finalizing. There were two approval processes to go through because it was a joint development with Metro, so it did take a bit longer,” said Caroline Kenney, a development associate for Mid-City Urban, LLC.

She added that commuters will not be inconvenienced by the construction as protected sidewalks will keep the Metro station fully accessible.






“We are currently focusing on getting to the construction,” Kenney said. “We want to give it a vibrant feel, but be pedestrian-oriented and friendly. We want it to blend into the surrounding area.”

That may be a challenge given the somewhat decrepit buildings across from the current Metro driveway. A February 2008 Ward 5 Development Report based on records from the Councilmember’s office did show eight projects within a mile of the station, including Macy Development’s Basilica Lofts, and Menkiti Group Development’s Illora Condos, but most of the new buildings are or will be on the other side of the tracks, behind the station. Given the nature of DC’s development, however, the rest of Rhode Island Ave. probably won’t be far behind.

Upon completion in July 2010, Metro users, shoppers, and residents will also have access to 400 parking spaces in the parking garage planned for the project.

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.

Alexandria Condos Going to Auction

On Sunday the 28th, Parkside Alexandria is due to auction 30 remaining condos in the 378-unit complex in Alexandria, VA. The Parkside, on N. Van Dorn Street, was originally an apartment building, converted to condos by Mid-City Urban, which claims on its website to have nearly $1 billion in housing units on the east coast. Sales for the Parkside began in early 2004 when condominium sales were in their hayday, but reduced pricing was not sufficient to move the remaining units that began delivery 18 months ago. Renovation work completed on the project in January of this year. According to the development page, the remaining units will auction at a minimum bid of $225,000 for units that had at one point started at $279,000.