The Brooks at Walter Reed

Construction has topped out on the Brooks, a wood-framed, 77,000 s.f., 89-unit condominium fronting Georgia Avenue as part of the Parks at Walter Reed, one of the first of numerous projects replacing the historic medical campus.  The Parks will ultimately deliver 2100 residential units, 175,000 s.f. of retail, 300,000 s.f. of office, and a hotel, for over 3m square feet of very mixed use development, spearheaded by Urban Atlantic and Hines. Whole Foods has already signed on as an anchor tenant within the master planned community, a section for the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus and the State Department's Foreign Mission Center is also underway.  Sales for the condominium began early last fall.

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Project:  The Brooks

Address:  1000 Butternut Street, NW, Washington DC

Developer: Urban Atlantic, Hines, and Triden

Architect:  Torti Gallas + Partners

Construction:  Paradigm

Use: 89 condominium units

Expected Completion:  Winter 2020

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

Today in Pictures - Meridian at Mt. Vernon Triangle

Paradigm and Steuart Investments are nearing completion on the Meridian at Mt. Vernon Triangle, a 390-unit rental building at 425 L St, NW. The apartment building rises fourteen stories above three levels of below-grade parking. Along with the typical amenities like a gym, roof deck, common rooms, the building will also feature a hybrid and electric car refueling stations. The building broke ground in October of 2010.

The apartment building was designed by Architecture Collaborative, Inc., while Collins & Kronstadt of Silver Spring holds the title of architecture of record. Developers expect final completion by this fall, but will have competition from the new Donohoe apartment building just across the street.








Washington D.C. real estate development news

County to Develop Arlington Mill Residences as Low Income Housing

As promised at the Arlington Mill Steering Committee meeting in September, during which details for the five-story, Davis Carter Scott-designed Community Center were presented to the public, Arlington County has selected Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) as the official developer of the residential portion of the Arlington Mill project. Groundbreaking on the Community Center is expected in early spring of next year, while construction on the 122-unit Arlington Mill Residences is expected to begin in June of 2012.

The low-rise apartment building, designed by local firm Kishimoto Gordon Dalaya Architecture (KGD) will offer six efficiency units, 18 one-bedroom units, 73 two-bedroom units, and 25 three-bedroom units. The entire building will be marketed as affordable housing, the majority of the apartments offered at 60% AMI, with a smaller portion (roughly a tenth) priced at 40% AMI. Developers boast that the design both complies with Columbia Pike Form Based Code and "will be constructed utilizing green building design and will be Earthcraft certified." Earthcraft offers a sustainability designation less rigorous than LEED certification. An open field for public use will provide ample green space for residents, and hoping to further encourage green transportation and exercise, developers designed the site with a direct link to the neighboring Four Mile Run park and bicycle trails.

Developers have projected the total cost at $30 million. To lighten the financial burden, APAH will seek financing from the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) through permanent mortgage financing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Paradigm Companies will serve as general contractor and property manager, Studio39 is slated to shoulder landscaping design duties, and VIKA will assist the team as civil engineers. Paradigm and APAH worked together with Arlington officials to complete the Parc Rosslyn affordable housing project in 2008.
Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

Groundbreaking at 1150 Ripley Street

Minor construction work has now begun at 1150 Ripley Street in Silver Spring, but developer Washington Property Company will wait until next Tuesday to officially celebrate the groundbreaking of their 16-story multi-family building. The 306,000 s.f. building will add 286 rental units, and is being heralded by developers as the "first major construction project within the Ripley District in almost 20 years." On October 5th, Washington Property Company President Charles K. Nulsen III will be joined by Montgomery County officials to put a ceremonial shovel in the ground and provide remarks on the bright future of the Ripley District, including specifics on several other "exciting development

plans" in the area.

The building design, a generous use of glass textured by streaking and crisscrossing lines of metal as well as tall brick columns, is courtesy of the Lessard Group. Sitting on 1.16 acres of land, the apartment building will offer the usual assortment of amenities: business center, conference rooms, rec rooms, and a fitness center. Stocked with the standard array of studios and one and two bedrooms, the structure will stand atop three and a half levels of below grade parking totaling over 300 spaces. The ground floor will feature 7,000 s.f. of service retail.

The Ripley District, a triangular parcel of land in downtown Silver Spring, is bounded by Bonifant Street, Georgia Avenue, and the CSX Railroad. Sitting adjacent to the MARC railway and Silver Spring Transit Center, this is the type of transit-oriented development that county officials are hoping to encourage. The county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs has offered $5 million in mezzanine financing, and hopes their visible cooperation and financial assistance will spur future smart growth in the area.

Silver Spring, and specifically the Ripley District, will look to mimic Bethesda and Arlington by sporting horse blinders, ignoring the recession, and plowing ahead. Officials will steer new developments to be "organized around open spaces, surrounded by a mix of high-density office and apartment buildings, with bike trails and pedestrian routes connecting residents to the nearby Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center and the Metropolitan Branch Trail to Union Station in downtown Washington, D.C." Home Properties' Ripley Street North mixed-use development will look to follow this blueprint and give County officials another reason to smile, but no word on impending construction has been given. The plan for the Shalom-Baranes-designed 200 ft. residential tower and accompanying 80 ft mixed-use building was approved in 2008.

S.E. Foster, a subsidiary of the Paradigm Companies, is heading up general contracting duties, and will deliver the first units in roughly eighteen months. Full delivery is expected in approximately two years.

Silver Spring, MD Real Estate Development News