Skanska Celebrates Progress at 10th and G Streets

When is a groundbreaking not a groundbreaking? Perhaps when the project is already well under way and a small box of dirt serves as shovel fodder on the rooftop of a nearby building, which was the scene at today's groundbreaking at 733 10th Street, NW. Still, progress is progress, and the new 10-story, 200,000 s.f. Skanska building at 10th and G Streets, NW, will change the face of the site that neighbors the MLK Library. According to Robert Ward, Executive Vice President at Skanska, the new structure should top out by the end of the year.

A church, in various iterations (see demolished church, at bottom), has sat at the site since 1865. Over five years ago First Congregational United Church of Christ released an RFP for the site, originally selecting PNHoffman as the developer for what was then planned as a combined condominium, church office, and homeless shelter and later an office building. When the developer ultimately lost financing, Ward and his team stepped into the picture and have been working with PNHoffman and the congregation to rework the plan for the downtown site for almost a year. Skanska now acts as the developer, financier and general contractor with PNHoffman as non-financing partner.

Under the agreement between Skanska and the church, Skanska will spend $21 million on the build out, and the church will get 25,000 s.f. of worship and office space, and 20 below-grade parking spaces. The religious portion will be designed by Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects of New York.

Designed by Cunningham | Quill to achieve LEED Gold certification, the building will feature a vegetated green roof and hexagonal glass facade - from the fourth floor up. Upwards of 4,000 s.f. of ground floor retail will be a "nice enhancement" for the neighborhood, according to Ward, who hopes to secure a restaurant tenant. Delivery is expected by October of 2011, with development costs around $85 million.

Washington, DC real estate development news

Union Row Condominiums

Union Row Condominiums, 2125 14th St., NW, Washington DC 

Union Row consists of an 8-story, 216-unit condo building on 14th Street (The Flats), as well as 52 condos in the rear alley converted from old warehouses. Located in the heart of the U St. corridor, the project was completed in the fall of 2007. Developed by PN Hoffman, with design by SK&I Architecture, some units offer floor to ceiling windows and glass bays in a glass-dominated facade, which offers some city views. Condo sales began in early 2006, the building sold out in early 2010. The project includes a Yes! organic market, with many similar neighboring projects such as the Nehemiah Center and View14 adding more retail in the near future. The rounded facade was designed to fit strategically above the bend in the Metrorail tunnel that passes directly below. The Warehouses at Union Row feature 52 split-level and single level "townhouse style" condos in a converted and expanded warehouse - 2 parallel buildings separated by a courtyard, with some 3-level condos featuring floor to ceiling windows. The Warehouse is in keeping with PNH's trademark: loft-style developments with exposed utility features and exposed concrete ceilings; the physical structure offers a unique alternative to the cubed edifices more common to the area. The warehouse condominiums are located directly behind the Flats at Union Row, providing a sheltered space just off busy 14th Street. Once a forgotten part of Washington DC, this section of the District is destined to become more of a residential core with a strong commercial strip running through it. Post your comments about this project below

Adams Row Condominiums

Adams Row is a loft-style building jointly developed by PN Hoffman and Adams Investment Group (AIG). Condos originally started selling from $325,000 for open and contemporary loft-style condos. Located just off the main strip of Adams Morgan, the 70,000 s.f. condominium is home to 68 units, with features such as granite countertops, marble baths, stainless steel appliances, and polished chrome fixtures. An underground garage offers parking; most of the units are economically sized, squeezing an extra bedroom into a small space. Architectural design by Georgetown-based Hickok Cole featured a post tension concrete structure with an industrial look on the interiors, and a mixture of brick and glass curtainwall in the facade. Adams Row completed in 2005; sales began in 2004 and sold out in 2006.

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L'Enfant Plaza: Feds to Try Again?

Stalin would be proud. Discouragingly wide boulevards, dominant central government buildings, architecture that reduces human interaction, and a monumental plaza that minimizes individual interference with state symbolism. Such is the state of L'Enfant Plaza - a wrong turn off the Mall for most visitors that conveys the feeling of having intruded into restricted space. Fear not, the government that built the plaza is going to try again.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) will begin a public examination of how to transform the area into a "model sustainable community" that will "improve mobility, urban design, and land use; and...capture, manage and reuse most of the energy, water and waste on site." Beginning on February 2nd, the urban planning body will hold public meetings to help create the 10th Street Corridor "ecodistrict."

It wasn't intended to be this way. With federal oversight, planners in the 1950's buried the old working class neighborhood in the name of urban renewal, paving farms, razing homes and history in the name of progress. With such tourist-beckoning buildings as the Department of Energy and U.S. Postal Service headquarters, L'Enfant Plaza resulted from the schemes and designs of such notables as I.M. Pei, who designed the expansive concrete, and the government, which sought to remove the messiness of humanity. According to Jane Freundel Levey, Director of Heritage Programs at Cultural Tourism DC, the area was once a place to shop or grab a bite with plenty of taverns and a vibrant nightlife.

Forget for a moment that there is no 10th Street, nor is the defined area a "corridor." The environmentally friendly rehab is still a rough concept, but one without limitations as to the scope. The task force at work on the project is comprised of such disparate organizations as DC and federal property owners, the GSA, the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of Education and the U.S. Postal Service, to name just a few. Then there is the group of "directly affected stakeholders" such as CSX, JBG, WMATA, WASA, HUD, PN Hoffman, and Republic Properties, a group of owners that will form a second tier of cooperation. Can such a coalition get anything done, much less make an inviting community out of a concrete jungle? According to Diane Sullivan, Sustainability Planner for the 10th Street Corridor Task Force at NCPC, yes. "The group is generally very excited about this, they see this as a great opportunity."

Barriers, both physical and figurative, are formidable. But according to Sullivan, all things are possible. A new Georgetown-like community worthy of a family stroll? "Nothing is off the table at this point." As a first step, the task force will create a framework based on infrastructural upgrades such as changes to the on- and off-ramps of the highway and new street grids. Once that is determined, the landowners will be included in ways to develop within the new framework. Sullivan says the resulting mixed-use district may just include new residential districts. "Part of the framework was to incorporate residential space, we recognize that right now it's largely a federal precinct, but residential is not off the boards." But of course private landowners will ultimately be able to decide how best to use their space, and all plans at this point are mere possibilities.

To wit, JBG is currently working on an impressive $40m renovation of its underground plaza, and will be presenting a plan to the task force for coordination with the broader principles of redevelopment. Bill Dowd of NCPC told DCMud there is an imperative to prevent the federal buildings from "being barriers." As to how much change is possible, the answer will not be known for some time. While NCPC's Sullivan says it will be necessary to "look beyond buildings themselves," it is not yet clear how the project will be funded. Other attempts at developing Southwest have failed, such as the ill-fated attempt to bring the Children's Museum from northeast DC to southwest. It is also unclear whether federal property owners, with an increasingly circle-the-wagons mentality, will allow radical change in their midst, or whether planners will allow I.M. Pei's plaza to be rebuilt, despite its alienating qualities, a factor that seems essential for the task force's goal of connecting the riverfront to the National Mall.

In the end, that will not be up to NCPC, as JBG owns the land, and NCPC will be providing the study but not dictating the outcome to either its private or public partners. Elizabeth Miller, Senior Urban Planner and Project Manager for NCPC, says the plaza itself "is part of our study area. We will be looking at public space but any changes to the plaza are up to the owners. Our goal is to bring appropriate parties to the table, and to look at how far should we go." But she stresses that a "redevelopment scenario" is merely one alternative, and that it is at least theoretically possible that NCPC will recommend no changes to the design.

NCPC says the timeline will be 6-8 months to get task force members up to speed, then a year or so to conduct a redevelopment feasibility study to look at a range of alternative for individual properties and the corridor as a whole. Beyond that all guesses are hypothetical. The first meeting will take place February 2, 6pm at 401 9th Street, NW.

Washington DC real estate and development news

DeSoto Apartments

The Desoto, 1445 P St., NW, Washington DC
The Desoto apartment building is a 7-floor, 66 unit apartment building located in the heart of the Logan Circle neighborhood. The Desoto aims for the loft style prevalent in Logan, with floor to ceiling windows, polished concrete floors, stainless steel appliances, sisal bedroom carpeting, and exposed ducts. The building was completed in 2003 - one of the early multi-family buildings in the area - designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group and developed by PN Hoffman and SJG Properties.

The DeSoto is named after the car maker, sitting as it does in the heart of what was once "auto alley," where cars were sold and repaired once upon a time. But pedestrians have reclaimed the scene, and the area is now much better known for the Whole Foods across the street. The DeSoto Apartment building is the sister building to the Hudson, located next door. Parking is available in the two-level garage below, and small pets are allowed.

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Parking Fuels Anger in Bethesda

LOT 31, Bethesda's stalled mixed-use development, has come under fire again, this time for its $89 million, 1,100-space parking garage. The structures are part of two developments at Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, a joint project between Montgomery County, PN Hoffman and Stonebridge Associates approved in 2007. In a joint press release this week, The Action Committee for Transit (ACT) and the Montgomery County Group of the Sierra Club blasted the five and four-story parking garages that will comprise Lot 31 as wasteful, poorly-planned targets for taxpayer money.

Designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group, the 3-year project is expected to begin construction at 4712 Bethesda Avenue across from Barnes and Nobel sometime in 2011, but has drawn fire from environmentalists since its inception.

ACT and the Sierra Club object to the what they view as an automobile-centric approach to development so close to public transit, at public expense to boot. As part of the deal to entice developers to build, the county offered to pay for much of the $89m parking garage, or $80,000 per parking space, which developers see as a misallocation of resources that could be better spent on public transit. As in previous requests, ACT and the Sierra Club argue that "the high cost of the garage means that even in the improbable event that the garage fills up, parking fees will not cover the cost of construction," and argue for a 300-space garage instead.

So, why is the cost of construction so high? During a 2008 interview with DCMud, SK&I President, Sami Kirkdil explained that the project is more complex than usual parking structures because it requires construction crews to dig five levels into rock while at the same time "basically, taking Woodmont Avenue away," by slowing the traffic patterns around the garage.

This justification does not sit well with environmental groups who believe the number of Bethesda-area drivers has been over-estimated by the County and that the construction of the planned Purple Line,which could potentially stop just down the street from the planned garage, will further dim the need for parking in downtown Bethesda.

For their part, PN Hoffman and Stonebridge promise a "public atrium" component to the project that will serve pedestrians by acting as a meeting point between existing shops along Bethesda Row and their planned mixed-use buildings, with 357,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and residential space.

Perhaps with all of the drivers heading to Bethesda to take advantage of the safer pedestrian environment, all that extra parking will come in handy.

Bethesda Real Estate Development News

Work Begins on Downtown Church Site

The First Congregational United Church of Christ and development partner Skanska have begun developing a 10-story, 200,000 s.f. mixed use building in downtown Washington DC where a Church has sat since 1865, and which PN Hoffman had previously attempted first a condo then an office project. The enviably positioned site between Metro Center and Chinatown is accessible from all 5 metro lines. The church will reclaim office space on part of the first and all of the second floor, and develop 5,000 s.f. of ground floor retail and eight floors of Class A office space where the church once stood, at 733 10th Street, NW (at G Street), a modern structure which had taken the place of yet another church. Designed by Cunningham | Quill to achieve LEED Gold certification, upward construction could begin as soon as this January with anticipated delivery in 18 to 20 months. The new building will be a huge improvement over a site that many a nighttime passerby used to scurry past, helped not at all by vagrant filled MLK Library next door. The church congregation began considering a new development over five years ago in light of the costly repairs needed for the old building. After an RFP, the church originally hired PNHoffman as the developer for what was then planned as a combined condominium, church office, and homeless shelter. According to Meg Maguire, a spokesperson for First Congregational, as the condo market slid into oblivion in the beginning of 2008, the church took their developer's advice and redesigned the plan for an office building. Shortly thereafter the market further deteriorated, and the project lost financing, making way for international developer Skanska to swoop in during the first quarter of 2009. According to Robert Ward, Executive Vice President at Skanska, the company, which only just entered the US market as a commercial developer in late 2008, sought out the project and stepped in to purchase the air rights above the church ground. The agreement between the new developer and the church is for $21 million to include the cost of construction of the 25,000 s.f. of new church space as well as 20 below-grade parking spaces. Skanska now acts as the developer, financier and general contractor with PNHoffman as non-financing partner. Ward estimated the total development cost at $85 million, including the church's $21 million. The building will feature six sides of glass facade and all sides of the offices from the fourth floor up will be glass walled and well lit, as there is no adjoining structure and the MLK Public Library rises only four stories. The floor plates on the office floors are 21,000 s.f. and consist of an outer ring of column-free window line offices and conference rooms, with an inner ring of interior offices, meeting spaces and common spaces. As part of the LEED Gold design, the building will feature a vegetated green roof. Depending on when tenants sign their leases, the new office spaces could see occupancy as early as 2012. Since demolition and excavation began in 2007, the church has made a temporary home at First Trinity Lutheran church. The congregation will have to wait another 20 months or so until the new church, designed by Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects, is ready. Renderings were provided by Interface Multimedia. First Congregational UCC shared their former space with Thrive DC, which now has a permanent home in Adams Morgan. Keeping with their tradition of providing space for like minded groups, the church plans to find an "appropriate nonprofit" to lease approximately 2,300 s.f. of "flex space" in its new home. Ward described the neighborhood's reception of the project as "welcoming," adding that the ground floor retail space will be a "nice improvement" for the block. Maguire said the congregation is "excited about having a new home that is forward-looking and meets contemporary requirements for their outreach and mission." Look for signs of progress in the New Year. 

Washington DC real estate construction images courtesy of First Congregational.

SW Waterfront Nets its First Casualty

Just weeks after the City Council's approval of a Land Disposition Agreement authorizing the Hoffman-Struever, LLC’s redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront, progress, of a kind, is already being made. The first casualty of the development process appears to be the Virgo Fish House – a staple restaurant of the famed Maine Avenue Fish Market. Shrimp cocktail enthusiasts shouldn’t fret, however; while the restaurant’s current quarters are scheduled to be demolished in tandem with another abandoned property at the site, the remainder of the Washington landmark at 1100 Maine Avenue, SW, will be safe for the foreseeable future. "The blue building, which formerly operated as a crab house [will be razed],” says Nina Albert, a Project Manager with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. “That blue building will be replaced with a temporary Fish Cleaning Building, and...the building that Virgo’s is currently operating out of will be demolished. The intent of these small moves is to keep the Fish Market in safe and operable condition until the redevelopment occurs.” That redevelopment by the Hoffman-Struever development team – which is officially comprised of comprised of PN Hoffman, Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, McCormack Baron Salazar, ER Bacon, Gotham, City Partners, Triden and the recently added Paramount Development – isn’t expected to begin anytime before 2011, but it’s also worth noting that the Maine Avenue Fish Market was also targeted by 2008’s National Capital Framework Plan. The Plan – drafted by the National Capital Planning Commission - seeks to reintegrate Maine Avenue into the fabric of daily life in the District by refurbishing the Market’s home at the Overlook and linking it with an extension of 10th Street, SW.

Washington DC retail development news

PN Hoffman Talks Shop on SW Waterfront

WASHINGTON DC - With the City Council’s unanimous approval of the Hoffman-Streuver, LLC’s $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront in the bag this week, the question is no longer if the project will be built, but what and when. Given the broad scope of what has already been announced - 770 residential units, 3 new hotels, office space, entertainment venues, parks and a maritime-themed museum – just how does one go about turning 26 acres of the nationally prominent riverfront with overlapping jurisdictional oversight and zoning into a local waterfront destination? These are questions that have also nagged at PN Hoffman’s development team as they chart the course of the biggest development to hit the District since Nationals Park.

Shawn Seaman, Vice President and Project Manager of PN Hoffman, gave DCMud some insight on the developer's plans. “We have worked with our Master Planner, Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut and Kuhn, and studied hundreds of mixed-use and waterfront developments around the country and the world. Some of the best examples for dynamic and exciting waterfront projects were in Europe, and specifically Scandinavia – Oslo and Stockholm both have vibrant and well-used waterfronts,” says Seaman. “The design will embrace the “messiness” and vitality of a real working waterfront, allowing the market, the boat traffic, and the new mixed-use development to co-exist."

Additionally, Hoffman intends to make sure that the Southwest Waterfront becomes fully integrated into the fabric of District life, instead of serving as a new location for Constitution Avenue t-shirt vendors to hock their wares. “The project…is first and foremost an extension of the Southwest neighborhood. It will be the one of first waterfront neighborhoods in the District,” says Seaman.

That, however, is not to say Hoffman won’t be seeking out the revenue that come along tourism - the majority of the planned retail space will fall along Maine Avenue, within sight of the Waterfront’s (now) biggest tourist draw, the Maine Avenue Fish Market. Seaman says that PNH plans to “enhance” the market, in addition to adding “improved connections back to the Mall,” an understatement for an area that nearly requires a coyote to get you to and fro, and developers intend to make the development accessible to Washington weekenders as well as new residents with downtown jobs .

Those connections will take the form of “a pedestrian bridge or a grand staircase” connecting Metro-accessible Banneker Park to the foot of the Waterfront development. Furthermore, Hoffman intends to link their project to nearby Southeast with an extension of the Anacostia Riverwalk and is also exploring the possibility of infrastructural ties to the Tidal Basin and East Potomac Park. “Long range,” says Seaman, “the site would be an ideal stop on a Southeast/Southwest light rail line connecting Barrack’s Row, The Yards, the Baseball District, and Southwest Waterfront.”

Still, planning is still embryonic. And given that the project isn’t likely to begin construction until at least 2012 – not to mention the belt-tightening state of the economy – is seems reasonable to wonder where and when the first of Hoffman-Streuver’s cash will be spent. “The next two years will be focused on completing the design of the project, working with the community, and submitting for the PUD,” says Seaman. “We are confident that the capital market will have improved by the time we are ready to put a shovel in the ground.”

Council OK's Southwest Waterfront Agreement

In a vote last night, the DC City Council unanimously approved the agreement with development partner PN Hoffman to develop DC's Southwest Waterfront. The Land Disposition Agreement (LDA), signed by both the developer and District back in September, calls for an estimated $1.5 billion redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront into one of Washington DC's most massive land projects, with 770 residential units, 3 hotels, vast commercial space, and a significant retail venue.

Officially titled the "Southwest Waterfront Disposition Emergency Approval Resolution," the agreement with Hoffman-Struever LLC codifies the recent land deal, and makes way for the next stage of development planning. And while the Council's approval permits the team to "commence entitlements and design in early 2009," it will likely be at least three years until real construction begins.

Entitled by the LDA to “master developer” status, Hoffman-Struever will now be allowed to name, design and develop the $1.8 billion (including $198 million in publicly financed assets) project with little government direction.

In statement released shortly after the passage of the resolution, Hoffman said, “Our collective concern for the success of this project is very real and we are pleased that all sides have come together. We can now focus on the matter at hand – moving this vision forward.” The development team attached to the project is officially comprised of PN Hoffman, Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse, McCormack Baron Salazar, ER Bacon, Gotham, City Partners, Triden and the recently added Paramount Development. Acresh, another developer initially attached to the project, has since parted ways with the development team.

Washington DC real estate development news

Union Row Says Yes! We Can

Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC City Councilmembers Jim Graham and Muriel Bowser, and PN Hoffman CEO Monty Hoffman today cut the ribbon on the new Yes! Organic Market at 14^th and V's Union Row condominium development.

"This really epitomizes so many great things for Washington, DC," said Fenty. "One, the restoration, revitalization and resurgence of 14^th Street…Not only in the $150 million Union Row project, but the…$1 billion worth of investment in the Columbia Heights and U Street area over the past several years.”

The new 5,500 square foot grocery store at 2123 14^th Street marks the first retail outlet to open in PN Hoffman-developed, SK&I-designed high-rise development. Other shops coming soon to the mixed-use, mixed-income building will soon include a new drycleaners, a 6,000 square foot Eatonville restaurant from the owner of Busboys and Poets, and a new CVS - which opened its doors today as well - with slightly less fanfare.

Graham praised PN Hoffman’s stewardship of the project. “Others had tried to assemble a parcel of sufficient size as to build something that really meant something here. If you look back at [the Warehouses at Union Row], you can just how real genius it took to bring us here today.”

The Union Row store marks the fifth such location in the Metro area for the 40-year-old, locally-owned organic grocery chain. Next up, Yes! owner Gary Cha plans to open a new storefront along Georgia Avenue in Petworth and, according to Monty Hoffman, there is talk of bringing another to their development at the Southwest Waterfront.

“It’s not all bricks and mortar – it’s about programming as well,” said Hoffman. “We tried many different grocers before and none had the courage and vision that Gary did.” Union Row completed construction a little more than a year ago.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

DC Signs Agreement with SW Developer

Deputy Mayor Neil Albert and PN Hoffman CEO Monty Hoffman today signed a noteworthy Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) enabling Hoffman- Struever Waterfront LLC, the developer selected last January, to move forward with plans to bring 2 million square feet of mixed-use development to the Southwest Waterfront.

Entitled by the LDA to “master developer” status, Hoffman-Struever will now be allowed to name, design and develop the $1.8 billion (including $198 million in publicly financed assets) project with little government direction. Deputy Mayor Albert, via a press release issued by PN Hoffman, described the project as “a true public-private partnership.”

The same statement outlined the developer’s intentions to make the site a “world class mixed-use waterfront destination” with public parks, three hotels, a Maritime Center, commercial office space, retail outlets, and more than 700 housing units. Hoffman envisions the site as serving as the missing link between the Baseball District and "revitalized M Street corridor" and the National Mall. In all, the project will encompass 26 acres of land and another 25 of marina area.

Still, any construction at the site is years off. The LDA is essentially the developer's contract to purchase; the city will not be able to transfer the massive parcel to Hoffman-Struever until 2011, at the earliest. The City Council must still vote on the LDA, which will get its first vetting at hearings on October 6th before the Committee on Economic Development. The Mayor's office expects a vote on the subject by November. Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn was named the master architect in June of last year, officially making the team - officially comprised of PN Hoffman, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, McCormack Baron Salazar, ER Bacon, Acresh, Gotham, City Partners and Triden - the most unpronouncable development team on the east coast.

District Approves SW Waterfront Bonds

The District Council today approved a financing project for the 23-acre Southwest Waterfront, providing $198 million in bonds for the waterfront project, a bill that Mayor Adrian Fenty is expected to sign. Under terms of the bill passed unanimously by the the DC Council, the District will issue revenue bonds supported by tax increment financing (TIF), payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT), and special assessments, for improvements that will begin after developers PN Hoffman and Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse finish the private portions of the redevelopment. The Southwest Waterfront Bond Financing Act of 2008 authorizes the Mayor to issue revenue bonds to fund site improvements, with $148m allocated specifically for "development costs" of the project. The remaining $50m is allocated to pay for financing costs incurred by the District. Any funds received in excess of $198 million will be transferred to the District's General Fund. 

According to the development team, the waterfront project is projected to generate more than $40m in annual tax revenues, with $13.3m contributed to the general fund annually after payment of the debt service. The land, when fully developed in 2017, is expected to support 2.4 million square feet of development, including 770 residential units, 700,000 s.f . of office space, nearly half a million s.f. of hotel space within three hotels, and 280,000 s.f. of retail. The more public amenities are expected to include new parks, four new piers, a half-mile promenade and bike trail, and renovation of the existing fish market.

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

Will Montgomery County Put the Brakes on Bethesda's Parking Garage?

On Tuesday morning, the Montgomery County Council will vote on whether to move forward with a planned $89-million, 1,150-space parking garage in downtown Bethesda. If the vote passes, developers PN Hoffman and Stonebridge Associates would be able to proceed with their mixed-use project planned for the current Bethesda Lot 31, at the intersection of Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues (across from the Barnes and Noble). But the project has some concerned organizations urging the Council to apply the brakes and postpone the vote to allow time to consider alternatives to the garage.

In a press release put out today, the Coalition for Smarter Growth and the Montgomery County Sierra Club did the math: by their calculation, each individual parking space costs close to $80,000. “It’s cheaper to just pay people $45 to park [at a nearby lot] and walk five minutes,” says Cheryl Cort, Policy Director of the Coalition. While Cort praises the overall mixed-use project, she and her organization have concerns about the cost of the garage—and whether there’s really a lack of parking in Bethesda.

To prove her point, Cort went out on a Saturday night several weeks ago during prime dinner hour (between about 9 and 10 p.m.) to investigate Bethesda’s parking availability. According to Cort, while Lot 31 fills at peak hours, Bethesda has plenty of other public parking garages with whole floors of open parking within a five-minute walk of downtown Bethesda. It’s just a matter of people knowing where to look.

The proposed mixed-use project would take the place of the two lots now owned by the county, replacing surface parking with up to 250 residential units in LEED-certified buildings designed by SK&I. Stonebridge-Hoffman would realign the interchange of Bethesda and Woodmont, and add as much as 40,000 s.f. of ground floor retail, all of which is generally supported by smart growth advocates as being transit-oriented.

But rather than add such massive garage space, the Coalition for Smarter Growth recommends that Bethesda consider making use of a “smart parking” system, similar to those used in Rockville Town Center and at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. A digital readout at the entrance to a garage or floor of parking displays the number of available parking spaces to approaching motorists, reducing the time, traffic, and frustration used in circling for spots. As Cort puts it, “Bethesda was just a suburban outpost 30 years ago…[Now] Bethesda has grown up…The question is, how do we treat automobiles in this context?”

David Hauck, Chair of the Montgomery County Sierra Club, has a suggestion for how to assess this situation. “Step back, take a breath, and think about it,” he advises, “What will Bethesda look like five years from now?” If the pedestrian-, bike-, and Metro- supporting contingent has its way, says Hauck, the proposed parking garage will be a “white elephant.”

The County would fund the initial parking structure, which is designed as below-ground public parking, hence the high cost. The rub, in part, is the financing of the deal. The county would issue a bond to cover the construction costs, part of which would be repaid by the developers as part of the purchase of the land, but that still leaves public money going to support admittedly un-green vehicular traffic.

Hauck credits the county’s commitment to taking steps toward transit-oriented development and more walkable communities, noting that Bethesda could be and has been an ideal testing ground for these changes. He cites the promise of a new south entrance to the Bethesda Metro station and the proposed Purple Line. But when it comes to funding environmentally friendly measures, “Energy efficiency and global warming get crumbs off the table,” says Hauck, “and the parking garage gets the steak.”
Update, May 7: According to a representative from the Montgomery County Council, at its work session today, the full Council tentatively approved the parking garage planned for Bethesda's Lot 31. While a few council members did raise concerns about the project, no one introduced a motion to overturn or alter granting approval. On May 22, the project is expected to receive the final go-ahead when the Council officially votes on the county government's capital budget. Any changes to the plan between now and then are unlikely.

DC Officially Awards SW Development Contract

Some day, there may be just be a reason to visit Southwest. Last week, Mayor Fenty awarded a contract to Hoffman-Struever Waterfront LLC, a partnership between PN Hoffman, Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, McCormack Baron Salazar, ER Bacon, Acresh, Gotham, City Partners and Triden. The multiplex LLC now officially holds the contract to turn 23 acres of land along the Washington Channel, into a riverside paradise. Back in September, 2006, Hoffman-Struever was officially selected as the master developer for the gargantuan project which allowed the team to establish an Exclusive Rights Agreement with the District. The Agreement was signed in April 2007. Now, the Land Disposition Agreement is being drafted - and although the contract has been awarded, the Mayor still needs to wait for the City Council to approve disposition to Hoffman-Struever and the nearly $200 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) financing. City officials hope to get the legislation approved by Spring of this year. The enormous project is projected to create more than 2 million s.f. of new development and provide 2,800 permanent jobs in the community, as well as about 3,000 construction jobs, expected to take a long, long time. The District will finance about $200 million of the developmental costs, accounting for roughly 18% of the projected expense; no matter (some say), once completed, the "world-class urban waterfront" is projected to create more than $32 million in tax revenue each year, compared to the $6 million that the land currently brings in. 

Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn was selected as the Master Architect back in June 2007. The details of their plan include 767 new housing units - both rental and condos - about 400,000 s.f. of office space, 280,000 s.f. of retail space, a 360-room hotel, 150,000 s.f. of cultural space, and the renovation of the historic southwest fish market. Developers aspire to achieve LEED Silver certification for all nine buildings. Along with all of the new buildings proposed for the area, the development team is including heaps of landscaped open space into the deal, preparing to cultivate more than 14 acres of parks, a half-mile promenade and bike trails for southwest's newest residents. 

The piers will also get their fair share of upgrades. The development team hopes to pick architects for the vertical phases of construction in the summer of 2008. Hoffman-Struever's vision dissects the area into three separate "neighborhoods." The City Pier District, located in the northwest corner of the site, is proposed to be the retail center of the area, laying hold to most of the restaurants and the hotel, thereby being the most likely place to attract visitors (and tourists). Notable mini-developments within this area include a water-taxi service (which with our luck will be 'zoned' - $4 if you want to get in, $25 if you want to go all the way to the other side), and a pedestrian bridge connecting the site to the National Mall. 

Then there's the Esplanade District, which PN Hoffman describes as the center of the project where most of the residential will be sited, along with offices and some neighborhood-serving retail. Finally, the southeastern corner of the site will hold the Cultural Park District which will include a 5-acre "cultural park" and other amenities that will serve as the center of the "cultural zone;" classes will be held on-site courtesy of the Living Classrooms Foundation and the National Maritime Heritage Foundation. “Over the past two years we’ve studied waterfronts all over the world, reached out and forged working relationships and agreements with existing leaseholders, and conducted over 100 meetings with regulatory agencies and surrounding stake holders,” said Monty Hoffman, CEO of PN Hoffman. “This is just the beginning of the process to create a ‘world class’ waterfront. We will continue to work with the mayor’s office on making a waterfront that draws visitors from everywhere, but our first commitment is to the people of Washington, DC. The Potomac River is our greatest natural resource and first and foremost, this project will reconnect Washington with its waterfront. We look forward to working with the City Council to achieve passage of the Mayor's legislative proposal so that District residents can see a shovel in the ground by 2010.” You go Monty.

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

PN Hoffman Switches NW Project to Offices

PN Hoffman has announced that their downtown condo project is now going forward as an office building. The building, at 10th and G St, NW, will change from market rate condominiums to a mixed-use commercial center. Two years in the making, the project will create 140,000 s.f. of Class A office space atop a newly constructed First Congregational United Church of Christ (FCUCC).

PN Hoffman has been working together with ER Bacon Development LLC to finish design plans; the purchase agreement of air rights above the church's land has been finalized as of October, while plans to rebuild a new, two-story church underneath the commercial space are still in progress. The existing church, built in 1959, is set to be demolished in December. According to PN Hoffman, development of the church will include "approximately 36,000 s.f. of space comprised of a sanctuary and social service area...the facility will provide spaces for conferences, lectures, offices, classrooms, and music events." As part of the church's resurrection, the apportioned social service space under the glass-and-steel office structure will be leased to the Dinner Program for Homeless Women - definitely a mixed-use endeavor.

The current church is in dire need of an upgrade, hence the uncommon leveraging of sacred air rights. Meg Maguire, Chair of the Site Development Task Force for FCUCC explained: "There are many things wrong with the church, it isn't handicapped accessible, all of the systems in the church are in really bad shape and need to be replaced, so we were looking at a huge investment. Even if we made that investment, at the end of the day we were not going to have the home that we would need in the 21st century...we were very fortunate to find, in ER Bacon and PN Hoffman, a partner...It's been an incredible team effort."

The commercial portion of the site will house eight stories of office space and include a third floor outdoor-terrace so cubicle inhabitants can grab a breath of fresh air in between long hours of business-as-usual. The building's design is set to achieve a LEED Silver rating by incorporating a green roof, use of recycled construction materials and minimization of water usage. The design will serve as PN Hoffman's very first venture into the world of commercial office development. PNH had previously planned to build 140 "luxury" condominiums above the homeless shelter.

Cunningham + Quill Architects is handling the office space design, while NY-based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has created plans for the church. Construction is set to begin in February, 2008 with an expected completion date in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Downtown Bethesda Condominium Pair Gets First Stamp of Approval

The Montgomery County Planning Board staff has issued its report recommending approval of a site plan to jointly develop a pair of parking lots in downtown Bethesda into mixed-use, multi-family condominiums with as many as 250 residential units in LEED certified buildings, construction of which will require a closing and realignment of Woodmont Avenue south of Bethesda Avenue. Lot 31, now sporting a metered parking lot at the crossroads of Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues - on the west side - and Lot 31A, across Woodmont Avenue to the east, are now on track for development as the southern gateway to Bethesda (depicted above, looking south), a predominantly glass and brick duo with a combined 250 units (up to 146 in the west building and 97 in the east), 40,000 s.f. of retail space and as many as 1480 underground parking spaces. Both the 3-acre and the one-third acre lots are currently owned by the county, and will be jointly developed between the county and the development team, itself a joint venture between DC-based PN Hoffman and Stonebridge Development. The County will require 12.5% of the units built as MPDUs (moderately priced dwelling units) and an additional 35 as workforce housing. The conditional approval by the Planning Board will require conformity to a list of preconditions, including traffic, structural, public space, affordable housing, and bike trail accommodations, limiting the building height to 90 feet to the east of Woodmont, though stepping down to 65 feet at street level, considerably shorter than the 143-foot Seasons apartment building to the immediate east, and to a maximum of 54 feet to the west of Woodmont. Retail will accommodate outdoor seating, extending Bethesda Row to the south, and significant concessions will be made for the Capitol Crescent Trail, including additional bike racks and a "drop-off" point on Woodmont where bikers can unload from vehicles onto a new branch of the trail on the south side of the west building, providing an additional access point to the bike trail from Woodmont, which will be shifted to the west to line up Woodmont more directly where it crosses Bethesda Avenue. PNH and Stonebridge most recently jointly developed Chase Point Condominiums in Chevy Chase DC. The staff report is not final, but signals a likelihood the full Board will approve the project. A hearing on the issue will be held September 20th. 

Bethesda Maryland real estate development news

Master Planner Selected for Southwest Waterfront Project

It has been some time since we last heard word regarding the massive $800 million redevelopment plan for the Southwest Waterfront along the Washington Channel. Now home to middling touristy restaurants and asphalt lots, developer Hoffman-Struever Waterfront LLC (PN Hoffman and Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse) and the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. (AWC) are hoping to transform this prime real estate into a mixed-use maritime, commercial, residential and cultural destination by the year 2017. And now comes word that Hoffman-Struever and the AWC have selected New York-based Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects as the master planner for this project from a pool of 15 applicants. Ehrenkrantz was selected based on its past waterfront experience on Manhattan’s Battery Park City and Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

When completed, the Southwest Waterfront project is expected to contain up to 825 mixed-income housing units, 200,000 sf of cultural space (such as a museum, church and civic space), a 450-room hotel, 84,000 sf of office space, 317,000 sf of retail space, and 2,000 parking spaces. The project will also improve public access to the waterfront with 13-acre waterfront promenade, public piers, and public plazas. The fish market now on the site will be preserved and renovated. Other items on the drawing board include a possible aquarium, space for Cirque du Soleil, and a facility for the Living Classrooms Foundation.