One of the largest single-phase residential developments in the city's recent history broke ground in
NoMa this week.
Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC will build
NoMa West, three five-story buildings on a 4.3 acre site that will add 603 predominantly market rate apartments to the burgeoning neighborhood.
The Preston Partnership LLC is
responsible for the design, and
R.D. Jones & Associates will do interior work.
Formerly owned by
Trammell Crow Residential, which had promised work was "imminent" at several points in the past, the land was transferred by two former principal partners who left Trammell Crow to join the Dallas-based firm. Financing was orchestrated through
Berkshire Income Realty and
PNC Bank. The site was purchased in 2007, at which point the developers adjusted the 2005 PUD to what amounts to the current plans.
"We are lucky to have weathered the storm that has halted so many development projects in the area and around the country," said
Sam Simone,
Managing Director of Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC. "We're also lucky to be developing in a city that's been as protected from the economic downturn as Washington, D.C."
Positioned at Eckington Place immediately behind the FedEx shipping center, within the
NoMa BID, Q Street will run through the development (see map), allowing for the creation of a pedestrian thoroughfare between the three buildings, which "actually look like six, because we wanted to break up the elevation," said Simone.
Building 100 (for now, until it's renamed) offers warehouse loft designs while Building 200 features more glass and a modern feel. Building 300 is parsed in two parts: one offers traditional rowhouse architecture while the other riffs on the modern design of Building 200. Amenities for the complex include two pools, two club rooms, a media theater room, a small park, and e-lounge, not to mention a paltry 1250 s.f. of retail - downsized from the initial plan for 15,000 s.f. unveiled back in 2006. Simone anticipates the project will span three years to complete.
Development has been a musical chairs game, with owner CSX having
selected Fairfield Residential to build the project in 2004, before
handing off to Trammell Crow, with each successive developer intending to begin construction in the short term.
Washington, D.C. real estate development news
Trilogy apartments opened last week, and though the neighborhood's location is more contested than the Spratly Islands (either NoMa or Eckington, you pick), the first building is now open - and soon all 3 buildings and 603 apartments will be complete. Designed by the Preston Partnership and developed by Mill Creek Residential Trust, the project broke ground in March of 2011. Below are pictures of the completed portions of the building.
The first of the three buildings - Cirq, Linq, and Esqe - is now open, with the other two opening within the next few months. Designed by developer Mill Creek Residential Trust to appeal to nearly any taste and architectural preference, each of the three buildings sports several motifs, a "highly differentiated architectural style," say its developers, that will span the centuries, architecturally speaking, with "traditional and contemporary" in Cirq, "warehouse, contemporary and art deco" in Linq, and finishing with the "highly contemporary" Esqe when it completes in March.
The project broke ground in March of 2011, but has been in the works far longer, at least since the team of CSX (as owner) and Fairfield Residential (as developer) plotted a 2006 groundbreaking for the residences. The torch then passed to Trammell Crow Residential, and finally to the current team, who can finally spike the ball at tomorrow's ceremony. Mill Creek is also working on an even larger project at the Dunn Loring Metro station.
In 2005, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and MCRT completed a development agreement outlining a plan to build 628 apartment units (3 buildings), significant retail space including a 50,000 s.f. Harris Teeter, and a 2,000-space parking garage to consolidate the 1,355 spots now spread across a surface parking lot on site. MCRT has committed to 65,000 s.f. of retail but has the option to build another 60,000 s.f.
responsible for the design, and R.D. Jones & Associates will do interior work.
