Today in Pictures - Boilermaker Shops

With exterior construction of the boilermaker retail building complete, southeast DC will soon have its own retail pavilion in one of the city's more exciting venues.  Forest City started construction on the project in late 2011, turning the century old boilermaker building of the Navy Yard into a waterfront retail locale for destination restaurants.  With exterior work complete, tenants are now beginning to build out their restaurants, which should put opening day next spring.  On track so far are Buzz Bakery and Blue Jacket brew pub, both operated by Neighborhood Restaurant Group.  Blue Jacket, named after the common apparel for navy personnel, will take the end space (on 4th) with walls of glass reaching 3 stories to the steel raftered ceiling.  On tap at the opposite end (on 3rd) is Willie's Brew & Crew (a sports bar & barbecue) from restaurant mogul Xavier Cervera, as well as a drycleaner.  BRB, which had originally signed on, is no longer on the list, but officials say a burger joint is likely.  Across the street construction is underway on a new apartment building, Harris Teeter, and now a Vida Fitness.

Washington DC retail news

Green Line "Corridor" Growth Setting The Pace For The Region: Study

(Corrects to show Branch Avenue Metro Station in Prince Georges County)

That well-heeled twenty and thirty-somethings are moving into Columbia Heights and Washington Navy Yard isn't news, but if a recent study is true, namely that growth along the Washington's Green Line "Corridor," as it were, is outpacing that of the Ballston-Arlington Corridor and that of the Red Line, well, then.

Certainly, the most well-off of Washingtonians travel the Red Line north to Shady Grove, or the Orange Line to Arlington, right?

Wrong, says Shyam Kannan of Robert Charles Lesser & Co. who told the Capitol Riverfront BID yesterday at their annual meeting that over the past ten years, the highest growth in six-figure riders and those key demographic 18-34 year olds are along the Green Line corridor between Georgia Avenue/Petworth and the Navy Yard, outpacing the suburban-hip Rosslyn-Balston corridor and its Green line-busting hip-hop music scene.

In fact, according to the study, the average income for new households along 10-stations in the Green Line "Corridor" is now nearly $83,000. Moreover, nearly 3,500 18-34 year-olds moved into the Green Line "Corridor" between 2000 and 2010, more than the 3,400 added in Rosslyn-Ballston and the 2,300 or so added along the Red Line in Northwest.

The study was paid for by the Capitol Riverfront BID, which has a bit of self-interest in promoting the Navy Yard as a destination to work live and play along the Green Line given that it lobbied WMATA to change Navy Yard's name to Navy Yard/Capitol Riverfront.

And the RCLCO study conveniently slices off the more moderate income ends of the Green Line --Anacostia as well as Greenbelt and Branch Avenue in PG County, which might skew the economics that the study's benefactors want to portray. Still, it shows that the Green Line, which first opened in 1991, is well on its way to help produce the type of dense, transit-oriented-development in the heart of Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. real estate redevelopment news.

Capitol Riverfront's Harris Teeter Beginning Work this Week

Forest City will begin work this week on Parcel D of its Yards development, including a new apartment building and Harris Teeter. Having secured its last required permit on Friday, according to Ted Skirbunt of the Capitol Riverfront BID, Forest City can now begin its 225-unit apartment with a 50,000-s.f. Harris Teeter, 30,000-s.f. Vida fitness center, and 10,000 s.f. of additional retail space.

Gary McManus, a spokesperson for Forest City, acknowledged that initial work is now beginning, larger scale construction is a month away. "While there may be some site mobilization prior to the holidays, the actual excavation won’t begin to any great degree until January... Excavation is likely to be completed by late April/early May."

With construction underway soon, Harris Teeter could still open in 2013, but according to McManus, Forest City is waiting to confirm a project completion / opening date until next spring, after excavation is done and when more signed retail tenants can be announced.

The design by Shalom Baranes Architects is for two buildings that will be expressed as three, with two residential towers (one above the Harris Teeter running along most of 4th Street, shown above), and one shorter retail building located on the corner with a look separate from the residential portion of the project. The retail building includes 30,000 s.f. ground-floor retail topped by the Vida health club (seen at right).

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Resurrection: Coming Home to Two Hundred Years of Military History

By

Beth Herman

En route from France on the USS Olympia, the body of World War I’s Unknown Soldier passed through the history-imbued Washington Navy Yard on its way to the Capitol Rotunda, and ultimately Arlington National Cemetery. Created to build and maintain ships more than 200 years ago, and becoming the world’s largest naval ordnance plant by World War II, the Navy Yard—and especially its 221,500 s.f. foundry building — were home to the design and construction of weapons used in every war from 1883 until the 1960s, when the Yard became the ceremonial and administrative hub for the U.S. Navy.

"We focused on that history—so much history,” said Sabine Roy, owner and principal of SR/A Interior Design LLC, when the firm was commissioned by developer Forest City Washington, with SK&I Architectural Design Group, to turn the brunt of the landmark building into a singular residential property: Foundry Lofts, 301 Tingey Street SE. “We based our design on research with the naval archives, the Library of Congress, historical photographs, antique documentation–whatever we could do,” she affirmed.

Informed by 200 years of military lore, Roy said the structure’s context allowed the firm to be more “modern and urban” in its interior design concept, noting a combination of new construction (which this facility was not) and modern may result in an environment that is too cold. “But with an historic building, you already have this warm, worn look,” she explained, adding it’s been “humanized.”

That said, attracting active professionals to its 170 units and amenities was a programmatic priority, high on the list of design determinants. Boasting elements such as a sunken conversation area in the concrete lobby and a courtyard—where war ships were once fashioned—reincarnated into a sleek social club, the addition of an outdoor fireplace, cinema, and rooftop garden terrace with seating and art make Foundry Lofts a rare residential experience.

Anchors away

Fraught with pendulous columns that supported an industrial floor plan, the building was also higher than the street and not meant to be entered from the sidewalk, but rather the water, so ships could be launched, Roy explained. Consequently the concrete lobby floor had to be elevated a few feet to street level, though a designated seating area, replete with new fireplace and modern art, was left below grade for a sunken effect.

According to Roy, the foundry had been constructed as a “rectangular donut with enormous courtyard in the middle for ships.” With SK&I Architectural Design Group creating 170 residences—33 of them newly-constructed two-level penthouses on the 5^th and 6^th floors, all are designed to discharge on one side into a windowed corridor that directs residents’ attention to the 4,400 s.f. social courtyard below.

An indoor courtyard-adjacent space, designated as a party room, was extended further into the courtyard, with a modern outdoor fireplace—glowing winter and summer— visible from inside as well. Atop the party room, a rooftop terrace with metal sculptures and Asian-style grasses create a Zen garden effect, according to Roy, with soft, strategic lighting limited to showcasing the art. From a large stair, residents can descend into the courtyard to play bocce or relax in hammocks, or on colossal square ottomans that seat up to five, and which are lit from the center. Old movie nights at the courtyard’s outdoor cinema will be a lot of fun, Roy suggested, envisioning classic black-and-white movies and martini parties for residents and their guests.

Columns, canons and carpeting

“When we entered the building,” Roy said of the team’s initial foray in early 2010, there was nothing new though it had been cleaned up. You just saw the structural columns and old heating systems and exterior walls.” All in all, she said, it was “an emotional experience when you think about the consequences of what was built here—what it did to the rest of the nation.”

In an effort to retain much of the historical fabric, a legion of pendulous structural columns was left alone including one “smack in the middle of the lobby,” Roy said. A challenge due to their size and girth, the designer said the lobby column, specifically, became a focal point, with a dressing added to accommodate adornments such as flowers. A Civil War-era canon unearthed during renovation that had later seen action aboard the USS Raritan was installed in the lobby, and will help distract from the behemoth column. The juxtaposition of the historical lobby with contemporary fabrics, furniture and modern art in the space is a further manifestation of Foundry Lofts’ aesthetic.

With dislodged historical components like the repurposed canon integral to the building’s design and sustainability, the latter is achieved on many levels. Roy said all elements—carpeting; furniture; paint; backings—are recycled content or post-consumer recycled material. The party room is bamboo, and courtyard flooring is earth-friendly Trex.

According to Forest City Washington’s Senior Vice President of Development Ramsey Meiser, Foundry Lofts’ mixed-use component includes three retail spaces, two of which have been leased to Pot Belly’s and Kruba Thai and Sushi, which will be open in the first quarter of 2012.

“This building is so unique in its adaptive reuse of an existing building,” Meiser said, noting he is buoyed by marketplace reaction and the results of preleasing efforts for residences which will be available at the end of October or beginning of November of the current year.

Capitol Quarter's LEED Silver Townhomes Open Next Week

Next Wednesday, Washington DC officials and developers will celebrate the first occupancies of the Capitol Quarter community of new market-rate townhomes, affordable workforce homes, and public rental apartments in the Capitol Riverfront Neighborhood. The 208 townhomes along 7 city blocks are walking distance from the Navy Yard, Capitol South and Eastern Market Metro stations. The townhomes achieved Silver LEED for Homes certification and together make up the nation's largest "LEED for Homes" community.

The construction, which began in mid-2008, proceeded in two Phases, the first covering four blocks, the second covering the remaining three blocks. Phase I should be completed in May of 2010 according to Jennifer Hebert, Director of Marketing for EYA. This first phase consists of 77 market-rate townhouses, 36 work force homes, 39 public housing rentals, and 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) units. Only the market-rate and workforce homes are LEED for Homes certified. For Phase I, 53 of the 77 market-rate townhomes are sold (22 are settled), all 36 workforce homes are sold (7 are settled), and Hebert indicated the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) has been filling the rental units as quickly as they can be built. Phase II will begin after Phase I is complete and EYA expects Phase II to finish some time in 2012.

DCHA, DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, and EYA will attend the ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, August 26 at 10:00 AM to celebrate the first occupancies in the neighborhood. Capitol Quarter was developed through a public/private partnership among the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, DCHA, the District of Columbia government, Forest City, Urban Atlantic and EYA. According to Michael Kelly, DCHA Executive Director, DCHA and EYA have committed over 40% of labor contracts for the construction work to local and small businesses.

The two, three and four bedroom units were designed by Lessard Group. Each home has ENERGY STAR appliances and other green amenities, such as high-efficiency cooling units and low flow plumbing fixtures. The market-rate townhomes range from $635k to the mid-$700s. The workforce homes were sold in two releases; the first ranged between $295k and $350k and the second ranged from $350k to $450k. Finally, the rental unit rates are set by DCHA, but generally ask the occupants to pay 30% of their income towards rent.

LEED Gold for Monument's 55M, Southeast

Monument Realty has been awarded an environmental gold medal; Gold LEED status, that is, on its Half Street, SE office building. Coming on the heels of recent set backs including the Watergate foreclosure and auction and the bankruptcy of financing partner Lehman brothers, the news had to be a welcome respite from the negative media glare accompanying the Watergate auction.

The Gold status, the second highest rating in the system, was awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and came as a surprise to the developer, which had expected only the Silver certification. "[t]o be awarded Gold is a true testament to the hard work that all the team members put into this project,” said Michael Darby, Principal of Monument Realty.

55 M Street, a Class A commercial office building in the heart of the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood - and the official pedestrian entrance to the ballpark - features 275,000 s.f. of office space and 13,000 s.f. of ground floor retail directly above the newly expanded Navy Yard Metro station. Architect Davis, Carter, Scott included environmentally conscious design features such as a green roof and an LID (Low Impact Development) streetscape concept that captures rainwater to irrigate street trees and plantings and reduces storm water run-off. Monument has yet to begin work on the residential portion of the block, for which Lehman was a partner, and has no immediate plans to add to the residential stock of the neighborhood.

Work Begins on Capitol Riverfront's "Crown Jewel"

Developer Forest City Washington broke ground today on the latest Capitol Riverfront redevelopment initiative: the Park at the Yards. Located between Nationals Park and the Navy Yard, the $42 million, 5.4 acre park, designed by M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, was touted as "the core" and "crown jewel" of the greater Yards development. Once complete, the area will feature 2700 new units of housing, 400,000 square feet of retail and 1.8 million square feet of office space. The park’s first phase, scheduled for completion next summer, is set to include “vast open lawns” and landscaped gardens along a riverfront promenade that will incorporate an extension of the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. Future work will include three retail pavilions, including one in the historically-protected Lumber Shed adjoining the site, with the end result of creating a world class waterfront destination.

“A world class city has to have a world class waterfront…This I think is the biggest piece of that and generations of Washingtonians are going to be thankful that this day occurred,” said DC Mayor Adrian Fenty.

Meanwhile, FCW President Deborah Ratner Salzberg told DCmud that other, more retail-centric pieces of the greater Yards puzzle, such as the Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street, SE, continue to fall into place. According to Salzberg, roughly 50% of that space is now leased and the FCW development team recently returned from a conference with potential retailers.

Despite rumors of business being slow in the from-scratch neighborhood surrounding the ballpark as construction continues, Claire Schaefer, Deputy Executive Director of the Capitol Riverfront BID, said that approximately 1,600 new residents are now in place in the area’s various rental and condo buildings, with that number expected to climb to 2,000 by year’s end. According to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the Yards alone will host some 3,700 Southeast newcomers once work finally wraps sometime in the twenty-teens. Those figures will surely be helped along by the vast number of transit-oriented, “’smart growth” projects coming along as the riverfront coalesces - expanded bus services, water taxis, street cars and even horse-drawn buggies being among the options explored for a site that once hosted a government compound known as the Southeast Federal Center.

“You have to put all these pieces together to get to today…[This is] how a neighborhood gets transformed,” said Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, who facilitated the nation's first public-private partnership on federal land for the Yards project. “It is especially important to the neighborhood and city that there be a way to reach our river from which we have been isolated forever. This is a part of the city that has been opened to the people.”

Factory 202 Gets Mixed-Up in Southeast?

Forest City Washington's aggressive development of the Capitol Riverfront via The Yards project is still keeping pace with its brisk timetable, but one component in particular might be getting a little retooling before it sees the light of day. The SK&I-designed Factory 202 project - a renovation and expansion of the Navy Yard industrial building formerly occupied by Federal Protective Services - had initially been inked as a 271-unit condo project. Now, whether due to the enduring pain of the condo market or saturation from competing projects in the area, Forest City is exploring the possibility of a different development scheme for the property.

"We're currently evaluating whether it will be all residential or include some mixed-use retail," said Gary McManus, Marketing Manager for Forest City.

Another contributing factor to the planned renovation and two-story addition to the historic warehouse/factory - still slated for a 2011 completion - is the fact that the property remains in the hands of the General Services Administration (GSA). Said McManus:

That’s former federal land…GSA actually owns that site and we’re partnering with them...When we actually begin development of a new building or redevelopment of one of the existing buildings, we buy that parcel from GSA at that point. But…nothing is happening on that building yet, we haven’t bought [it].

As such, a definitive start date for project has yet to be scheduled. Nonetheless, work continues on several other mixed-use Yards projects. The Park at the Yards is under is construction, while the adjoining “Lumber Shed” renovation, new retail pavilions and stainless steel spire all recently received approvals from the DC Zoning Commission and National Capital Planning Commission. Meanwhile, the Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street, SE continues to court retailers for what (one day) will be space along the linchpin of the Capitol Riverfront boardwalk.

Yards of New Retail in Southeast

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has signed off on Forest City Washington’s (FCW) plans for the second phase of development at their previously announced Waterfront Park - the public space component of their sprawling 42-acre development in Southeast, The Yards.

The centerpiece of the project is the rehabilitation and restoration of the so-called “Lumber Shed” – a 19,000 square foot, pre-war industrial building that will be re-purposed as a new retail pavilion. The Shed, included on the National Register of Historic Places, will be improved with walls of glass so that, according to the naval-gazing NCPC, its “concrete structure [will be] revealed and retained.” Two similarly-styled new retail buildings will be constructed next door and serve a combination of “restaurant, shopping and neighborhood retail uses.” Both of the newly constructed retail pavilions – measuring in at 6,288 and 10,277 square feet - will feature second story terraces intended for outdoor dining. Architecture firm Gensler is handling designs for both the renovation and new construction.

Phase II of development at the Park will also include the beginnings of a future Southeast Waterfront boardwalk. FCW has commissioned a “70-foot polished stainless steel structure” from designer James Carpenter that will serve as an “iconic statement about the rebirth of the Navy Yard Annex and Southeast Federal Center as The Yards, and the rebirth of the Anacostia Riverfront itself.” According to NCPC documentation, this “visual marker” will reflect the sky and water during the day and will be softly lit internally at night.”

Other improvements planned for the Waterfront Park’s 1100 foot span between the north bank of the Anacostia and Water Street, SE include multiple street art installations, newly planted trees, a bicycle network and a connection to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. Despite the quantity and quality of FCW’s plans for the Waterfront Park and surrounding retail, they, in fact, have yet to definitively acquire the all of the parcels on site, including the Lumber Shed. According to the developer, it’s a unique kink of their deal with the federal government, who years ago utilized the site as a naval annex.

“The arrangement with the General Services Administration [is that] we acquire individual parcels, whether there’s an existing building on it or its open land where the GSA had formerly demolished a building,” says Gary McManus, FCW’s Marketing Manager. “There’s a takedown schedule for that. So once we start development on it, then we acquire the site. But that hasn’t happened yet, because we have yet to start construction.”

The NCPC previously ok’ed FCW’s initial plans for the Waterfront Park in February of 2008. McManus tells DCmud that their first phase, currently under construction, “will be done by 2010, probably mid-year. [A final date] on the park pavilions will have to do with retail leasing, but there seems to be alot of strong interest in locating down there by river for riverfront dining...we’re anticipating late 2011 or 2012 [for Phase II].” The project’s third and final phase remains unscheduled at this time, but is currently set to include the development’s maritime components, including piers.

New Tenants for New Developments

Less than a week after Deputy Mayor Neil Albert assured the development community that prominent organizations would "still [be] leasing space here in the District," his words appear to be ringing true. Several developers behind major projects in both Washington and Northern Virginia have announced freshly inked deals this week, despite the tubercular state of real estate market.

Forest City's sprawling Southeast Waterfront development, The Yards, went public on Monday with news of two new tenants for the project's retail component - the Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street SE. Delaware-based brewery, Dogfish Head, has signed on to open a brewpub in the converted nautical manufacturing facility, as Forest City also nears an agreement with an as-of-yet unnamed jazz club for the site. Once completed in 2010, the Boilermaker Shops will boast 45,000 square feet of retail and up to five in-house restaurants.

Forest City’s slate at the Yards also includes a commercial office building at 401 M Street SE – which, according to the Washington Business Journal, will soon be home to the District’s third Harris Teeter grocery store. Also on the brown bag front, there is talk of a Whole Foods Market for the William C. Smith & Co.’s neighboring Square 737 project.

Over in the District’s second development hotspot, NoMa, another project nearing completion is also rapidly running out of vacancies. J Street Development’s 90,000 square foot condo complex at 111 K Street NE now has confirmed three not-for-profit organizations as soon-to-be tenants: the Sierra Club, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and, most recently, YWCA USA – the latter of whom will occupy the building’s entire 11^th floor. According to sources at the NoMa BID, the Gensler-designed building is now 60% leased and will deliver on-time in 2010.

Meanwhile, projects across the river in Arlington are working towards deals with even the most cash-strapped of clients – like the Arlington County government. The Monday Properties-controlled site at 1101 Wilson Boulevard (the pre-2002 home of the Newseum) is being pursued by the County Board as the possible site of a new Cultural Center – as part of a sweetheart deal the developer cut with the Arlington officials late year to facilitate the much beleaguered development of their project at 1812 North Moore Street.

County authorities estimate that it would take $4 million to convert the 53,826 square foot facility into a viable cultural venue. However, Monday won’t be seeing one cent from the County until next year’s numbers start to become clearer. “I will only recommend proceeding with the center once the County’s 2010 budget is clear, and only if a viable center can be developed with no new general tax revenues,” said County Manager Ron Carlee in a prepared statement.

If the County passes on the deal, the space will be given back to Monday “in exchange for approximately $10 million for the value of the public benefits.” At present, the terms of the deal would allow the County to occupy the space rent-free for the first 10 years of a 15 year lease. The Rosslyn Business District has already contributed $1 million towards construction costs associated with retrofitting the former museum.

DC Lauds SE Development

Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten and various District officials gathered at today Nationals Stadium for a press conference with a two-fold purpose. First, to pat themselves on the back for the redevelopment initiatives currently underway in Southeast, and second, to ensure the public that those projects are still very much on track, even as the commercial real estate market remains perilously on edge.

"A lot has happened in just over a year since the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation was dissolved into the rest of the government," said Fenty. "I think, from my perch, that there's probably even more decision-making, fast action and decisiveness by having the Council and Executive Branch in charge - with no fault going down on the input of the community and making sure we follow the original plan."

Fenty also gave a brief rundown of the $8 billion worth of development, infrastructure and community projects targeted at reinvigorating the city’s waterfront: Poplar Point ($2.5 billion), the Southwest Waterfront ($198 million in TIF/PILOT funds), Hill East ($1.4 billion), Park at the Yards ($42 million), Marvin Gaye Park ($7.7 million), Canal Park Development Corp.’s as-yet unnamed Ballpark District park ($13.1 million), the South Capitol streetcar line ($30 million), the 11^th Street Bridge project ($260 million), the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail System ($50 million), Diamond Teague Park ($16 million), the St. Elizabeths plan (as-of-yet unbudgeted) and various community initiatives such as the Green Summer Job Corps, an online water quality monitoring system, a new stormwater rate structure and the Anacostia 2032 plan – which seeks to make the polluted river “boatable, swimmable and fishable in 25 years.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen along the Waterfront in the decades and years and months and days to come,” said George Hawkins, Director of the District Department of the Environment. “We will have a cleaner river. We will have a better environment…At the same time, we are going to bring almost unparalleled economic vitality and jobs to this city.”

With regards to the economy, Mayor Fenty presented an optimistic view of the impact the fiscal crisis is having on projects heading down the development pipeline. “The national economy, as everyone is aware, is having an extremely hard time. The District of Columbia is not immune from that, of course, but there is a certain degree of insulation and there’s a large degree of momentum, which is allowing a lot of projects…to continue to go forward,” said Fenty.

Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Neil Albert, followed up Fenty’s remarks by characterizing developers with stakes in Southeast projects as “still very bullish,” despite a dearth of client interest in the commercial real estate market. “While some of the surrounding areas are having difficulty leasing space, they're still leasing space here in the District,” said Albert.

Interested citizens will have to chance to examine the marketplace for themselves this coming Saturday, November 15^th, as the District hosts a “Community Education Fair” at Nationals Park. Several District agencies, local developers, community groups, and local not-for-profit organizations will lead bus tours to the site of upcoming projects and panels on the Southeast redevelopment. For more information, visit the District’s website.

The Yards Parks Itself on the Anacostia

A new twist in Forest City's development plans for The Yards was revealed today as Mayor Fenty announced the addition of a $42 million dollar riverfront park - that's $42 million for a park - to the sprawling 5.5 million square feet of redevelopment already underway in the surrounding area.

"This is the project that will project the District of Columbia forward from the standpoint of renovating, modernizing, accentuating, bringing to life, and restoring this great neighborhood adjacent to the Anacostia River," said Fenty from inside the vacant warehouse that will soon house the Yards' Boilermaker Shops.

Simply dubbed The Park at the Yards, the 5.5 acre park is being designed by New York-based landscape architects M. Paul Friedberg and Partners and was touted by Ward 6 City Councilman, Tommy Wells, as the new “front porch” for the Southeast Waterfront.  If that is indeed the case, the park seems to be more country club terrace than whittling stoop - the plans currently on-hand call for “well-landscaped ‘outdoor rooms’ with seating areas,” “a riverfront courtyard” that will feature retail and dining on three sides, “a water feature” in tribute to the Washington Canal, “a great lawn” that could potentially host live entertainment and “a scenic esplanade” that will connect foot traffic to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. Forest City is also in talks to bring a marina to the site.  The Mayor equated the park to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and Chicago’s Millennium Park, as a draw for local residents and tourists alike “for generations to come.”

“It’s a great amenity for the city.   It’s welcoming to families. It’s welcoming to children.  It will be welcoming not just our residents, but to everyone in Ward 6 and throughout the District who come,” said Deborah Ratner Salzberg, President of Forest City Washington.  "It will be a true world-class location…to eat, play and just to relax and have fun.”

The Park represents a unique facet of development at the Yards, in more than one regard.  First and foremost, it is the product of a public-private partnership between Forest City and the District, which teamed-up to secure the federally-owned parcel from the General Services Administration (the terms of that deal were not disclosed).

Secondly, it was financed through a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) initiative, described by the Mayor’s office as “the District…selling a bond against future taxes…generated by the surrounding development."  Ahh, the 'generations to come' will be the ones paying for it. Thirdly, after Forest City completes construction, all maintenance and programming of the park will be turned over to the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District (BID). The BID’s Executive Director, Michael Stevens, characterized their involvement as including everything from planting flowers to plowing snow.

Construction is planned to begin this January, the developer hopes to have the park open in time for the Nationals’ 2010 opener.  The Park at the Yards is the second such space planned for the immediate waterfront area (the other being Diamond Teague Park to the west) and the capstone to Forest City’s plans for 2,800 condos/apartments, 1.8 million square feet of office space and 400,000 square feet of retail at the Yards. “This is going to be one of the greatest places in America to live,” said Councilman Wells.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

Pattern Shop Lofts Underway

Construction is now underway on the Pattern Shop Lofts, the redevelopment of an historic Navy Yard warehouse. A piece of Forest City Washington's larger The Yards project, the former pattern store was part of the old Navy Yard Annex, but will be converted into a 170-unit "loft" apartment building with 10,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space. The six-story building is being redesigned by Bethesda-based SK&I Architectural Design Group , including 33 two-level penthouse units with private terraces and views of the Anacostia River.

The mixed-use retail and residential Pattern Shop Lofts will be completed and begin leasing units in fall of 2009, according to the developer. The overall project, surrounded by the Anacostia River, U.S. Department of Transportation Headquarters, the Washington Navy Yard, and the new Nationals Park, will deliver 2,800 residential units, 300,000 s.f. of retail space and 1.8 million s.f. of office space by 2013.

The retail space will likely host a restaurant, though Vanessa Lopez-Isa, marketing manager at Forest City said the developer is currently focusing on leasing the Boilermaker Shop across the street, a retail building which will also deliver next fall as part of Phase One. "There has been a lot of interest in restaurants and some really neat tenants that I can't disclose yet," she said of both buildings.


Lopez-Isa said the developer acquired the property through a federal grant and that the development is consistent with Forest City's portfolio of historic adaptive reuses. "We obtained control of the 42 acres directly adjacent to the ballpark after we went in for a proposal with the federal government in 2002 and were awarded site through that proposal process. Pattern Shop Lofts was originally Pattern and Joiner Shop in 1918 and it was part of the Navy Yard Annex...the area we are redeveloping. It was a large-scale wood and pattern house and it is one of five historic buildings on our site." Forest City has experience in other adaptive re-use projects, as at Tobacco Row, its historic project in Richmond.