Cityline at Tenley Condominiums

Cityline at Tenley, 4101 Albemarle St., NW, Washington DC, 20016
The Cityline at Tenley is a new condo project, with 204 units above the (previously) ever-failing 1940's retail building in Tenleytown, formerly a Sears, now a successful Best Buy. The project also added new retail space to the old Sears site, including hardware store, making it a big box destination, on top of the Metro station, with Whole Foods just across the street. The residential portion included 4 additional stories above above a parking garage that sits on the old rooftop, while preserving the art deco facade. Cityline sits on one of the highest points in DC - with a clear view over the city and even beyond Tysons Corner - from every floor. Developed by Roadside Development in partnership with Madison Marquette. Real estate sales began in March, 2004, and mostly sold out in 2005, just before construction completed. The building offers a small gym and conference room, as well as private garage parking, but the best feature may be the interior courtyard that seems a great distance from adjacent Wisconsin Avenue. Interiors are contemporary, with many having more than ample windows and private balconies. The Shalom Baranes building was designed to appear to "hover" above the retail, separated by parking.

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Shaw Main Streets Development Woes

At the annual Shaw Main Streets (SMS) Development Forum Wednesday night, representatives from developers were invited to present the current status of their plans for major renovation and new construction in the area. The status, unsurprisingly, was "more of the same," leaving community members to resign themselves to continued hopeful waiting. SMS Executive Director, Alexander M. Padro, made excuses for several invited developers who were unable to attend. Quadrangle Development was a no-show because of the recently publicized litigation over their Marriott Marquis Convention Center Hotel deal, though Padro said Quadrangle indicated that financing is now secured. Banneker Ventures, slated to build The Jazz on Florida Avenue, declined to attend as their Land Disposition Agreement with WMATA has not been finalized. And Hines-Archstone, developers of the planned City Center cited scheduling issues. 1. Paul Millstein of Douglas Development, certainly does not sugarcoat anything. About the Wonder Bread Factory development Millstein said it was a "victim of the times...stuck in a trench" and "could be stuck for a while." As for Squares 450 and 451 on the 1100 block of 7th St, Millstein announced that though the original plan was to redevelop the site, the group will now remove window boards, put some lipstick on them, and lease them out for the time being. On the positive side, Douglas secured a NY-based restaurant, Carmine's, to fill the 18,000 square feet of their Penn Quarter property near the Clara Barton Condos and Wooly Mammoth Theater. As for their 7th and Florida Ave. project, Douglas is seeking tenants, but according to Millstein the group is being picky, refusing to go the "fast and ugly" way of cell phone stores or fast food. Neighbors gave a round of applause for that one. 2. Next came 1501 9th ST NW a smaller development by a small business, Inle Development. According to the property owner/developer, the space will be leased to a single tenant, Mandalay Restaurant and Cafe, a Burmese restaurant currently based in Silver Spring. Mandalay will have a ground floor restaurant with outdoor seating, a second floor bar and the remainder will be residential space for the restaurant owner and family members. The developer cited a few financing "hiccups" but estimated the project should break ground in three to four months, delivering late 2010. The project takes up a single lot and will likely be 50 ft in height. 3. On their Addison Square project Metropolitan Development had hoped to be into the ground by now, but it's looking more like summer 2010, at which point the 4-5 weeks of demolition will commence, followed directly by construction. The group received their final PUD two weeks ago, and a few changes mean the 54 units of affordable housing will be distributed among the 224 market-rate units, for a total of 278 rental units in the main building. The ground floor retail plans are largely unchanged with the group looking to have both a white table cloth restaurant as well as a faster, less formal restaurant. 4. Ellis Development Group and Four Points, erstwhile developers of Howard Theatre and Media Center One, formerly Broadcast Center One, said the financing for the projects, which have been repeatedly punted down the road, hit a "road bump," but the group expects the project to move forward, breaking ground on Media Center's 300,000 s. f. mixed-use development on 7th and S Streets NW before the new year. Construction will take approximately 24 months for Media Center to finish and, as the developer noted, they are one of the few lucky projects to actually have a tenant secured. Over at the Howard Theatre, demolition of the 1940s facade has already begun, ground breaking may still happen this year, and the developers are, of course, talking with prospective tenants. 5. Roadside Development's City Market at O finally has some legs and a timeline. In an agreement with several DC Council members, Roadside received a $2.5 million grant, enabling them to "put the architects back to work." The big day will be September 3, 2010, when the group starts work on stabilization of the historic market. The next big date is January 15, 2011, when the current Giant will close its doors and from which date Roadside will have 24 months to finish construction of the new Giant location. The takeaway from the evening, with projects stuck in trenches, hitting road bumps or just plain falling victim to the economic climate, was that Shaw developers seem to be in a regular war zone these days. With so many groups blaming the current "financial situation" for development and construction delays, we are beginning to wonder what they'll blame whenever the financial situation improves...

Washington DC commercial real estate

The Shaw Redemption

Five metro area developers came together last night to highlight their major (and we mean major) plans for the District's Shaw neighborhood. Hosted by the Shaw Main Streets initiative, the developers on hand included Douglas Development (Wonder Bread Factory), Marriott Hotels (Washington Marquis Marriott), Roadside Development (City Market at O), Metropolitan Development (Kelsey Gardens) and Hines Interests (CityCenter DC).

Douglas Development
The keynote of Douglas' presentation was the long-gestating revitalization of the former Wonder Bread Factory at 641 S Street NW. Contrary to initial plans, the building will not be razed. The developer has obtained the original plans for the facade and will, to the best of their ability, restore the building to its original 1922 appearance. An additional story will be added to bring the building up to 5-stories and 150,000 square feet. The project has been summarily approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and is aiming for groundbreaking in approximately 7 months, following permit approval. The developer expects construction on the GTM-designed facility to take no more than a year. Once completed, the former Wonder Bread facility will neighbor the proposed Radio One development (the outline of which can be seen in the accompanying renderings).

Several other Douglas projects underway in Shaw were also briefly touched upon. The developer’s proposed development at 600 New York Avenue NW is on hold due to the current economic situation and "lack of synergy," as is their proposed redevelopment of the Howard CVS.

Other projects, however, have had much more luck getting off the ground. The former site of Popeye’s at Florida & N Streets NW will complete its expansion and renovation in the next 3-4 months and will house a Fatburger chain restaurant, a cell phone retailer and office space. Another Douglas mixed-use development at 9^th & N Streets, NW will include ground floor retail, office space and apartments. Although poised to begin construction in the coming weeks, leases for the site will not be sought until the project is completed.

Marriott HotelsThe long-proposed (circa 2001) Washington Marriott Marquis Hotel at 9^th Street & Massachusetts Avenue, NW, long envisioned as an anchor servicing the Washington Convention Center across the street, is now slated to break ground in the first quarter of 2009. Overseen by the Quadrangle Development Corporation and designed as joint venture between TBS Architects and Cooper Carry Architecture, the building comes in at over 1 million square feet. The 13-story project will feature 1250 rooms, 2-3 restaurants, a ballroom and meeting space and a 400 space underground parking garage – all enclosed under an all-glass atrium. Additionally, the Pepco power station and AFL building currently on the site will also be incorporated into the hotel’s footprint, with the latter being converted to hold 42 hotel rooms. The Marriott representative on hand described it as “one of the most complex projects we’ve ever worked on.” The project is hoping to achieve an LEED silver certification.

Roadside Development

The City Market at O is shaping up to bring big changes to the current site of Giant Food on O Street NW. The mixed-use development will feature a new Giant store that will retain the old façade of the O Street Market and was hailed, as least by the pitchmen, as outclassing the new CityVista Safeway in both style and function. Additionally, the site will give way to a new 200 room, limited-use hotel, a large-scale fitness center, a 6000 square foot independent restaurant featuring a local chef, and 600 apartments and condominiums targeted towards “young professionals.” 8^th Street will also reopen for pedestrian use between the two buildings on the site, parking for the facilities will be moved underground. Roadside showcased some interesting architectural features on the buildings, including a 2-story projection on the residential building – currently referred to as “the diving board.” The developers are currently in negotiations with the Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) to receive Tax Increment Financing for the project and are hoping for a September 2009 groundbreaking.

Metropolitan DevelopmentThough Metropolitan’s Kelsey Gardens has been recently covered by DCMud, the developer still had a few surprises on hand for their presentation. Architects will employ the increasingly common urban technique of breaking the 14,800-square foot, 297-unit building into five distinct facades, in order to affect the appearance of being constructed during different time periods by different architects. Roofs of the “buildings” will be 50% green and feature both private and public terraces. The development will be complimented by 2 levels of underground parking that will feature preferred parking spaces for “energy efficient vehicles” (i.e., hybrids). The project is shooting for 2011 completion.

Hines Interests
The final presentation of the evening concerned the redevelopment of the site of the old convention center, Hines Interests and Archstone’s CityCenter DC project. Designed by Foster + Partners and Shalom Baranes Architects, the 10-acre site is being envisioned as “a new neighborhood for downtown.” Comprised of 4 separate parcels centered around the now-closed (and eventually to be reopened) intersection of 10^th and I Streets NW, the ambitious project is to include 400,000 square feet of retail space, 1,074 residential and hotel units, 1,064,000 square feet of office space, more than 2000 parking spaces and a public park. The hotel on the site is envisioned as a 4 or 4 ½ star facility, while the developer is aiming to lure home furnishing and fashion retailers (possibly a department store) as well – in order to serve the needs of downtown residents and not specifically tourists. The Hines representative on hand posited that the project was 85% ready to go and would be seeking general contractor in the next few weeks.

DC's Development Pipeline

Ever since the Fenty administration took over development of the District's publicly-owned property, merging agencies and placing them under his direct supervision, it seems development of blighted blocks has been given a new urgency, even compared to that of the Williams administration - itself a great improvement over its predecessor. But despite weekly announcements from the Mayor and the Office of Planning and Economic Development, many of the projects still have to proceed through the District's infamously thick bureaucracy. But if China can cleanse its murky atmosphere in a few short months, there is cause for optimism that change is in the air here in Washington. DCMud has prepared a rundown of the largest projects now underway, properties in need of developers, and solicitations to look for in the future.

The projects listed below are still being refined. The numbers and square footage assigned to each are conceptual and are subject to change.

Projects With Developers

Southwest Waterfront by Hoffman Streuver will offer 539 market-rate units and 231 affordable units. The $1.5 billion project will also include 350 hotel rooms, 700,000 s.f. of office space and 280,000 s.f. of retail space. On July 15th, the DC Council approved a $198 million TIF/PILOT package to finance park and infrastructure improvements. Groundbreaking is not expected any time soon, with construction lasting at least 6 years.

Waterfront, the erroneously named project at 401 M Street, SW, will deliver 800 market-rate and 200 affordable residential units as well as 1.3 million s.f. of office space and 110,00 s.f. of retail space. Mayor Fenty joined SW Waterfront Associates (Forest City Wasington, Charles E. Smith Vornado) in November to demolish the former Waterside Mall. The $800 million project will sit atop the Waterfront -SEU Metro station.

Clark Realty was selected in February as Master Developer for Poplar Point on the east side of the Anacostia. The number of residential and hotel units they will deliver has not yet been determined, however 30% of all residential units will be affordable. The District and the National Park Services held a public scoping meeting last month for the Environmental Impact Statement of the $2.5 billion project.

Center Leg Freeway on Massachusetts Ave, NW between 2nd and 3rd Streets is being developed by Louis Dreyfus Properties into 100 market- rate and 50 affordable residential units. The $1.1. billion project will cap the exposed section of I-395, and include 2,100,000 s.f. office space and 67,000 s.f. retail space.

The McMillan Sand Filtration Site on North Capital Street and Michigan Avenue will be developed into 820 market-rate units, 351 affordable units, and a 100-room hotel by EYA. The $1 billion project will also deliver 700,000 s.f. of office space and $110,000 s.f. of retail space. The project has long been worked over, but don't make plans for moving in any time soon.

In May the District reached a deal with Hines Archstone to develop a 400-room "high-end" hotel and 100,000 s.f. of additional retail space on "Parcel B", a 53,000 s.f. plot of land that is part of the larger CityCenter DC, the development taking up residence on the old convention center site. The entire $850 million project downtown will deliver 539 market-rate units, 135 affordable units, 476,000 s.f. of office space, and 266,000 s.f. of retail space.

On June 26th, Marriot International, Cooper Carry Architects and EHT Traceries presented plans for the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel to the Historic Preservation Review Board. Located on the Corner of 9th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW, the $550 million project will deliver 1125 hotel rooms and 25,00 s.f. of retail space. Having been scaled back from its original 1400 bed facility, the project is well past its early schedule, of construction in 2007.

O Street Market at 7th Street and Georgia Avenue will be transformed into a mixed-use development that will include 550 market-rate and 80 affordable residential units by Roadside Development. The $329 million development will replace a current Giant supermarket with a new 71,000 s.f. store and include a 200 unit hotel and 87,000 s.f. of retail space. The District reached an agreement with the developer late last month to kickstart financing. Of the dozens of projects promising to revitalize the Shaw neighborhood, this may be the first large project to actually get underway.

Skyland Shopping Center on Good Hope Road at Naylor and Alabama Avenue, SE will be developed by Rappaport Companies and William C. Smith Companies into a $261 million development with 155 market-rate units and 66 affordable units as well as 230,000 s.f. of retail space. When? Even an estimate will be fine.

City Vista, which began sales in late 2005, will bring 441 condos with 138 affordable residential units to, as well as a separate apartment building, to 5th and K Streets, NW. The project will also include 130,000 s.f. of retail space and will cost $191 million. The first condominium building completed last October, the remaining condominium and the apartment building are nearly ready for occupancy.

Early this year, Fenty signed a Land Disposition Agreement with Broadcast Center One Partners LLC, (Ellis Development and Four Points, LLC) that will bring African-American-owned Radio One to the district. The $144 million Broadcast Center One at 7th and S Streets, NW will be a mixed-use project with 135 market-rate and 45 affordable residential units as well as 96,000 s.f. of office space and 22,000 s.f. of retail space. According to Fenty's office, "the deal also sets in motion the $22 million redevelopment of the Howard Theater, a long-shuttered landmark that was the hub of black Broadway." If it gets built; the timeline remains uncertain.

Mt. Carmel (Parcel 51B) on 3rd Street, NW between K and H Streets is being developed by MQW LLC (Quadrangle and the Wilkes Companies) into $130 million mixed-use project with 267 market-rate units, 67 affordable units and 90,000 s.f. office space.

Forest City Washington is responsible for the $120 million O Street SE Redevelopment by the SE Federal Center. It will deliver 354 market-rate units, 89 affordable units and 47,000 s.f. of retail space.

The Village at Dakota Crossing in Fort Lincoln by Ft. Lincoln New Town Corporation will include 327 market-rate and 30 affordable units. It will cost $110 million.

Mid City Urban and A&R Development will bring 216 market-rate and 54 affordable residential units as well as 70,000 s.f. of retail space to the area around the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station with their $105 million Rhode Island Station project. First attempted as a condo project, developers have bowed to the market and substituted apartment buildings - at least in theory, as the project has yet to break ground.

The $100 million Shops at Dakota Crossing on New York and South Dakota Avenue, NE will be developed by Ft. Lincoln New Town Corporation into 29,000 s.f. of office space and 461,000 s.f. of retail space.

Lowe Enterprises and Jack Sophie Development have long had intentions to develop Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue, NE (Triangle Parcel) into 208 market-rate units, 52 affordable units and 23,223 s.f. of retail to the tune of $75 million. The fate of the project is uncertain, as higher construction costs, shrinking condo prices, and more conservative lending practices - especially in low-income neighborhoods, make such projects harder to justify.

Park Place on Georgia Avenue in Petworth will be developed by Donatelli Development into 161 market-rate units, 32 affordable units and 16,000 s.f of retail space and will cost $60 million. Purchased by Donatelli, along with partners Gragg & Associates, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, will be one of the few developers delivering new condos in 2009.

In February, the District made a Term Sheet with Parcel 42 Partners to develop 95 affordable housing units and 8,000 s.f. of retail space on Parcel 42, in Shaw at 7th and Rhode Island Avenue, NW for $28 million.

In December 2007, the District selected William C. Smtih Companies and the Jair Lynch Companies to develop the $700 million Northwest One New Community that will deliver 1,600 units of housing on former NCRC parcels as well as adjacent DC-controlled and private properties in Ward 6. Located between North Capitol Street, New York Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, and K Street, the site is in an area that has "long been plagued by high crime and poverty", but is surrounded by the up-and-coming NoMa and Mt.Vernon Triangle neighborhoods. The development team, which also includes Banneker Ventures and CPDC (affordable housing provider), will create apartments, townhouses, and condos for all income levels as well as over 40,000 s.f. of retail and 220,000 s.f. of office space. The development will also offer a 21,000 s.f. clinic.

And further down the road...

The District issued a solicitation in early June for Parcel 69 at 4th, 6th, and E Streets, SW. The $130 million development will be an office and hotel project along the Southwest freeway. Proposals are due by September 15th.

In May, Fenty issued an RFEI for the Hill East Waterfront on Capitol Hill East. The District seeks a developer to create 2,100 market-rate and 900 affordable units with 2,000,000 s.f office space and 67,000 s.f. of retail space. The District anticipates a price tag of $1.1 billion for the development of the 50 acres surrounding the former DC General Hospital. Proposals are due by October 31st.

Proposals were due June 3rd for Minnesota and Benning Road, NE Phase II. The $107 million development will include 60 market rate, 392 affordable units and 40,000 s.f. of retail. No developer has been selected.

It is high time the District announced developer for Fifth and I Street, NW. After proposals were submitted in March, the District widdled the teams down to the final four including BG, Buccini/Pollin, Potomac Investment Properties, and a group comprised of Holland Development, Donohoe Development, Spectrum Management, and Harris Development. The winning team, whenever they are announced, will create somewhere around 170 market-rate units, 30 affordable units, 100 hotel rooms and 50,000 s.f. of retail space.

Upcoming Solicitations

The District would like to see 1,469 market-rate and 440 affordable units in Lincoln Heights in Ward 7 at an estimated cost of $576 million.

Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road in Ward 8 will likely include 110 market and 330 affordable housing units and will cost around $550 million. The project is an effort to revitalize low-income properties in the historic Anacostia area.

The issuance of the Park Morton solicitation at Park Road and Georgia Avenue, NW is "imminent" according to the Mayor's office and will cost $136 million with 499 market-rate and 150 affordable units. Axis

O Street Market Gets Its Dough

The District of Columbia announced today an agreement with Roadside Development to help finance the O Street Market, a mixed-use development that will likely be the showpiece for a revitalized Shaw. The deal will provide a $35 million tax increment financing (TIF) package to help developers bridge a financial gap and achieve the $260 million needed for the project. The current market, built in 1881 and now a crumbling memento of the neighborhood's failure to attract the investment, has sat vacant for years, but will now be transformed into a mixed-use anchor that will include 630 residential units, 80-100 of which will be affordable, senior housing units, a 200-room hotel, a 560-space parking garage and 87,000 s.f. of retail that maintains the historic facade. Giant will replace its 28-year-old Giant grocery store with CityMarket, a 71,000 s.f. store that will be the largest supermarket in DC and the largest Giant store in the chain.

Under the new financing agreement, the District's contribution will support bond issuance to cover a portion of initial construction costs and the developer will repay the bonds with part of the new tax revenue generated by the project. If the DC council passes the pending financing package at their July 15th meeting, construction will begin in a year. "This is what we need, it is what we deserve, it is long overdue, but now on its way," Mayor Adrian Fenty told a cheering crowd of Shaw residents at this afternoon's press conference. "This is a big day for us, I would like to see the O Street Market get the same kind of attention and expediency that we saw at Eastern Market, so it's exciting. It is a project that has something for everyone, community benefits - affordable housing, senior housing, parking - it really has the support of the entire community. It was just frustrating to see it go through so many hurdles to get to where it is now," Cary Silverman, DC Council, Ward 2 Candidate told DCMud.

Roadside originally slated the market for renovations to accommodate new retail space, but heavy snow brought the roof down both on their plans and the building itself in February of 2003. Since then Roadside formulated a $250 million revised plan to not only bring the historic market back to its original splendor but to fill four acres of land between 9th, 7th, P and O Streets, NW with residential and commercial space. In August 2007, the Historic Preservation Review Board approved revitalization of the site and the Mayor's agent for historic preservation ok'd partial demolition because of the development's special merit, leaving the Zoning Commission as the only entity standing between Shaw residents and their commerce. But a lack of agreement between Zoning and the developers led to three months of hearings; an October 15th meeting ended with Zoning's complaints about the 110-ft. building height and they sent the project back to the design phase again on November 19th. The Zoning Commission approved the project for "set down" at the December 10th meeting, and gave it final approval on May 12th. Developers eliminated the residential space planned for the top two floors and deleted 100 parking spaces and 20 affordable units from the scheme to reduce construction costs and compensate for the loss of potential income. In addition to a brand new grocery store, other project benefits include $255,000 worth of charitable contributions to Shaw organizations, a shuttle to operating Giant stores during construction, 400 construction jobs, 400 permanent jobs, and the reconnection of 8th street to increase pedestrian activity in the area.

Washington DC commercial property news

Industry Insight: Armond Spikell of Roadside Development

Armond Spikell started Roadside Development more than 11 years ago, after taking the reigns on a retail center development in what he likes to call "Sleepy Hollow." His projects caught many a retailer's eye, and Spikell found himself soon on his way to abandoning the brokerage business, and taking on the development world head-on. With real estate experience aplenty, and a collection of neighborhood-altering projects along the way, Spikell agreed to talk about his new projects, architecture and the pitfalls of developing in DC. 

DC MUD: What made you enter the real estate development business and how has it changed since then?

Spikell: I had been developing some smaller projects on the side while being a broker, and found one project that my partner Richard Lake had been working on for several years, a piece of land in Virginia owned by a family that was very involved in real estate, but not retail. Someone had brought them an offer to lease the land and develop something we thought was an awful project. Richard showed it to me and I said, ‘don’t let them do that, that would really be a shame. Maybe we ought to develop something for them.’ So we put together a development plan and a pro forma and brought in a fellow that had been one of Richard’s first clients in the leasing business, Todd Weiss. The three of us met with the land owners and showed them our plan and they liked it. We said, 'we’ll joint venture this and build it.' So we built this shopping center, and one of the anchors was a CVS drug store. CVS started talking about having a preferred developer program and asked if we would be interested in participating. So we met with CVS, helped them fashion a preferred developer program, and we started building drugstores. That’s when we named ourselves Roadside Development; since we were building small strip shopping centers and drugstores, we thought it was a perfect name. 

DC MUD: Have things changed much since then? 

Spikell: I guess in ten years a lot changes. One thing that changed is that the shopping center development business became a lot more competitive than it was when we started. It was a couple of companies that were driven by large investment funds that seemed to dominate that business. That wasn’t us. We’re different – some developers, their goal is to put money to work. When they look at a potential project the goal is how much can we get invested, and how much return can we get? We’re a little different. Every one of our projects that we’ve done so far, we’ve done with a different partner, and they’ve all been good partners, but we pick the partner to match the deal, not the deal to match the partner. It gives us a lot more flexibility. 

DC MUD: So would it be fair to say that you try to see where you can have the greatest impact? 

Spikell: I think our approach is more of creative problem solving. Starting with the needs of a land owner or retailer, and sometimes an investor, but in the case of our Potomac Town Center project, there an investor was anxious to make an investment in that market, bought the land along with a development plan and then brought us in to modify the plan to make it work more profitably, then carry it out. So our approach is more problem solving.

DC MUD: So how do you make decisions on what’s worth developing and what’s not? 

Spikell: We look at sites and we think ‘Is there something we can do that’s creative and productive?’ The other thing is, since we don’t have a particular product type that we feel we have to build, a lot of it is looking for opportunities to build projects that are in tune with the community. What we find is, when you go into a community, they’re your customers, and if you want to bring retail, you want to bring retail that your customers want and will patronize. And so there’s a certain synergy there that makes a lot of sense. Purcellville (one of Roadside's retail center projects, pictured above) is a great example. Maybe it would have been more productive for that land to build fast foods and gas stations, but it’s really not what people wanted. What they needed, what there was demand for, was some upscale retail, so that everyone didn’t have to get in their car and drive out to Leesburg. So, it worked out great for us.

DC MUD: Let’s talk about some of your projects; they always seem to be near or around Metro stations, that’s not a coincidence is it?

Spikell: No, we’re big believers in Smart Growth. Since we work in the greater metropolitan area, we work in Howard County, Prince William County, Loudon County, Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria. And when you have a regional perspective, it becomes all the more clear that for our quality of life and our ecology in general, Smart Growth is very important. It’s very important to have clustered growth where we have the infrastructure in place already. Sprawl is something that should be discouraged. And if you look at retailers that serve urban communities, oftentimes they’re in locations that they secured years ago, and then everything filled in around them. Now when they need a modern facility, they don’t have the space to put their typical prototype, so you have to be very creative. And if you’re near a Metro Stop, it allows you then to build valuable residential that’ll pay for some of the outrageous costs. Like in the case of our O street project, we’re putting all of the truck loading underground. Now a retailer, by itself, could not afford to pay for that. But the fact that there’s residential in a fabulous location within walking distance to gallery place and downtown and has the metro, the residential is paying for that. It’s great synergy. Everybody wins.

DC MUD: Back to O Street Market, we got some questions from some of our readers about whether the Giant Market will be closed during the time construction. Will it?

Spikell: You know, we figured out this very clever phasing plan for Giant, where we could work around them, and then open the new store and close the old one. And they looked at the plan, and they said given the size of this project, where we’re going to be digging this very deep hole and taking out tons and tons of mud out of the ground right in front of our store, it’s not a great environment for our customers, and it’s not a great environment to sell food. So they decided that it probably would make a lot more sense to close down. So the deal we have is that we must complete the store in no greater than two years from the date they close the doors. So in the meantime, we’ll be running shuttle buses to the nearest Giant.

DC MUD: How about architecture, when you’re seeking an architect, what do you look for most?

Spikell: It depends; sometimes we look for an architect who has a lot of retail experience, who kind of gets it and understands the needs of the retailers because retail is a function of business, and the buildings have to function properly, otherwise it’s very expensive and has a significant impact on the bottom line. The other thing is having somebody who designs interesting and high quality projects. It’s a little different; some developers may look more at cost effectiveness and productivity. Those are important, but they’re not the most important things for us.

DC MUD: Are there any architects that you particularly like?

Spikell: The team that we work with most is Shalom Baranes and Rounds VanDuzer. Rounds VanDuzer is, I think, one of the best retail architecture firms in the area. They are very creative, they do attractive buildings and they are very, very experienced with retail.

DC MUD: What about the current market conditions. Do they have an affect on your operations?

Spikell: I mean if you’re talking about the Washington market on a general basis, it’s a terrific place. The local economy is healthy, it’s still producing jobs and the oversupply of housing will get absorbed, and the demand will create a market for new housing. It’s a matter of time. Now we see something very interesting happen in retail. Whenever there’s a slowdown nationally, we get more interest in Washington for retail. The reason is, retailers are driven to expand, and public companies always want to show growth. Now if you have to open stores, where do you look? Well you say, ‘what are the strongest markets, and who’s doing best?’ Washington’s always on that list, and so all of a sudden they always focus more on Washington. Retail can be a little counter-cyclical here, that’s why we get more interest when the rest of the nation is ‘soft.’

DC MUD: Why Shaw, and do you think your timing is good there?

Spikell: Yeah I think our timing is excellent. Even with the current softness of the market, I wish our building was done already – it’s a fabulous location. Already some of the great restaurants are moving in, and I think there will be a lot of new shops opening, and there will be the best grocery store in the entire eastern United States, I think. It’s going to be the biggest grocery store in the city. That being said, if you walk a block, east or west, from our location, you’re on beautiful streets that have wonderful bones. You know, Shaw had its problems with crime, but I think the way you get rid of crime is to get rid of blight. Unfortunately our market building caved in, but we’re going to fix that and I think it will have a real positive effect on the neighborhood.

DC MUD: If you could change one element of the development approval process, what would it be?

Spikell: I think it would be better if we could get the scope and density of a project entitled, separately from having to provide all of the detail and design. In a P.U.D. you’re really answering a lot more questions than I would like to answer before you know whether or not you’ve got something that’s viable. What would be best is if you could go in to a zoning commission, or whichever agency, and say ‘here’s the concept of what we want to do, here are the major elements, here’s the amount of density, here’s how tall the buildings are going to be, and here are the benefits.’ And get them to entitle that before you have to design it and show where every window and every door is, because that’s a different level of design. And I think it’s a detriment to have to go to that extent of design, just to find out whether or not the density and the height is going to be acceptable. And after spending all of that time and money and getting guidance from the Office of Planning, you could go to the Zoning Commission and then get shot down, and I think it would be better of this staged it.

DC MUD: Stage one for functionality and stage two for the design details. 

Spikell: Yeah. And in suburban life they have a site planning process, and you do that first. And once you’ve gone through the site planning process and you get entitled, then you go and you do the rest of the design. That I think would be an advantage. If it could proceed quickly and allowed for reasonable flexibility.

DC MUD: What do you think is the most important aspect in developing a successful project?

Spikell: I think it’s producing something that the market will accept. That’s got to be the most important.

DC MUD: If you had to pick one area in DC with the most economic potential, which would it be?

Spikell: Oh Shaw. Although I will say, you know Shaw is realizing its potential now, but I think there are areas in DC that are just, just beginning. I mean everywhere there’s a metro station, you look at Rhode Island Avenue and Fort Totten. Rhode Island Avenue is a good example; you’ve got industrial uses clustered around metro stations close to downtown. You know that’s not going to last. Fort Totten has major projects already underway. Same thing with Petworth is already underway, and along the green line. No question that those are the places where the greatest opportunities are. And I hope they all develop as good walking neighborhoods.

DC MUD: Your next generation of buildings, will they all be green?

Spikell: Yes. They’re going to be green to the greatest extent that we can make them green. We’re looking at doing a couple of things that are unusual, we’re trying to study new ways that we can do mixed-use. We learned something interesting with Cityline, we never took advantage of it, but I wish we had. We had a retailer there, Best Buy, who never turns on the heat. In the coldest days of the winter, they don’t need heat because they have all these electronics in the store that create heat. And I wish we had a way of utilizing that. So what we’re doing in both our Glebe project and our O street project is: the grocery stores have refrigeration systems that take heat out of the freezers and coolers. What do you do with that heat? In a typical suburban grocery store, they take it up to a unit on the roof that blows it out into the air. We’re looking at ways that we can reclaim that heat that’ll make a difference. The other things that we’re planning on doing are out there already, you know, green roofs and energy efficient appliances and lighting. Both of those grocery stores are very likely to be LEED certified, and we can’t take all of the credit for that because both of those companies, a lot of retailers, are getting on the bandwagon, because its smart. Its smart business.

Bidders Revealed on Tenley/Janney

Bids on the Tenley/Janney solicitation have closed, and Mayor Fenty has announced the three bidders vying to take on what may be one of the most anti-development neighborhoods in DC. The RFP had been extended to January 4th to allow developers extra time to craft proposals to build a library, renovate the school, and work in private space to hopefully subsidize the program.

The three firms officially asking for the nod were: LCOR, See Forever Foundation in partnership with UniDev LLC, and Roadside Development. The latter has been working intermittently for several years on the project in an effort to appease both city and vox populi, but the sale or lease of public land for private development proved the third rail of city politics, leading to the request for bids. District officials plan to hold a public meeting in February to get responses from the public on all three site-plans.

The 3-acre site, at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Albemarle Street, used to be home to the old 15,000-s.f. Tenley library, demolished late last year, and the upgrade-needy Janney School. The biggest concern for local residents has been the mixed-use library/residence idea that has been deliberated for some time. Although many of the Tenley homeowners have argued against the residential portion of the project, each bidder included variations of the plan in their proposal; with housing units ranging from 120 to 170 across the board.

“The Tenley site is a great opportunity to achieve some of our most important public policy goals: Building better schools, creating affordable housing and encouraging development at transit stations and along major transportation corridors,” said Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Neil O. Albert. “We are excited about the responses to this solicitation as we are just beginning to take a closer look at the proposals.

"What we tried to do is take all the input that we got from the community, and incorporate their concerns, as well as the Office of the Deputy Mayor's requirements, to come up with something that delivers on what the RFP asks for and what the community would like to see" said Armand Spikell, Principal at Roadside Development. Roadside completed the Cityline Condominiums across the street and 2005.

Zoning to Shaw: Just Wait

Sights have been set on revitalizing O Street market (pictured, looking north) as a retail anchor for Shaw since the idea hit Roadside Development back in 2002 when it acquired the property. But the Planned Unit Development application has been held up with the Zoning Commission due to height problems, and residents are getting anxious to see their commercial hub come to life. Now, thanks to some design modifications, Zoning has finally designated the project for public scrutiny, but has yet to schedule Roadside and its supporters on their agenda. 

 Initially, Roadside slated the market for renovations to accommodate new retail space, but heavy snow brought the roof down both on their plans and the building itself in February of 2003. Since then Roadside formulated a $250 million revised plan to not only bring the historic market back to its original splendor but to fill four acres of land between 9th, 7th, P and O Streets, NW with residential and commercial space. "Our goal is to create a high quality, interesting project that will be the centerpiece of a great neighborhood," said Armand Spikell a principal at Roadside. In August, the Historic Preservation Review Board approved revitalization of the site and the Mayor's agent for historic preservation ok'd partial demolition because of the development's special merit, leaving the Zoning Commission as the only entity standing between Shaw residents and their commerce. But a lack of agreement between Zoning and the developers led to three months of hearings; an October 15th meeting ended with Zoning's complaints about the 110-ft. building height, and despite fervent support from Councilmember Jack Evans who called upon the Zoning Commission to "Reconsider their decision and approve this project as proposed," they sent the project back to the design phase again on November 19th. "Our patience is running out," wailed Evans after Zoning's decision, and who could blame him - the community has been patiently waiting since 2003 for their 70,000 s.f. Giant grocery store and more than 12,000 s.f. of commercial space. Add to that a mix of roughly 650 condos and apartments (80 of which will be affordable housing for seniors), two levels of underground parking, a 180-room hotel (not yet flagged) and the grand reopening of 8th Street, and Shaw would truly have its anchor...and some very happy campers. 

But size matters. In the October hearing, Commissioner John Parsons was quoted as saying "I just think these 110-foot buildings are just totally out of scale with this community." Either Parsons' had never looked across the street at the three-block long, 110-foot Convention Center and the neighboring 108-foot residential building, or he chose to ignore them. According to Spikell, Zoning justified the adjacent 108-foot building because its livable area ends at the 90-foot mark, whereas Roadside would have used their upper two floors for residents. Members of the DC Office of Planning appeared at the Zoning meeting in November to argue for the project, noting its proposed LEED certification, traffic alleviation in the form of underground loading docks and truck courts, and overall consistency with the community's desire to have a retail anchor. More importantly, they reasoned that the building is graded, and that the highest points of the buildings sit back from the street. 

Finally, zoning approved the project for "set down" at the December 10th meeting - meaning it will be open to public participation, but it ended up costing Roadside. In order to get past Zoning's disapproval, developers nixed the residential space planned for the top two floors. In order to compensate for that loss of potential income, Roadside deleted 100 parking spaces and 20 affordable housing units from the overall scheme to reduce construction costs. The next step is Zoning's public hearing which has not been scheduled - but it will be at least thirty business days from now due to statutory laws requiring advanced notice to relevant parties. Roadside hopes to be in the ground by late 2008, but with Zoning delays some will be happy to get CityMarket at O by the turn of the century.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Tenley Solicitation Extended to January

The deadline for responding to the Tenley Library / Janney School RFP has been extended by the DC government to January 4th. Developers were asked October 31st to submit proposals for a "world class mixed-used development" (but don't even think of building more than 5 stories) on the site of the now-demolished Tenley Library at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Albemarle Street, which will include rebuilding a state of the art library as well as renovating the existing 43,000-s.f. school and constructing an addition for its cramped students.

Development of the land, currently owned by the District, has been addled by the incongruent needs of interested parties, pitting at odds the DCPS (public schools), DCPL (public libraries), the Office of Planning, retail-starved neighbors, and local anti-development activists that have a near perfect record in the community. As DCmud reported in October, the process began in 2005 when Roadside Development, developer of the just-completed Cityline Condominiums across the street, assembled its own development plan after discussion with neighbors, offering school renovation and a free library (the dated library having been shuttered in 2005) in exchange for the right to build residences above the new public library. The plan was obviated when DCPL came up with its own plan, but when that failed to launch, Roadside came back to the table to offer an amended plan. But by then Tenleyites had recently downsized another condominium on Wisconsin Ave. and successfully removed an adjacent (and admittedly monstrous) tower from the top of Tenley hill, and successfully petitioned the DC government to open the process to competitive bidding.

The District issued general specifications for the project, including doubling the size of the historic school, construction of a 20,000-s.f. library, and providing 30% of the new housing units for low-income residents, in keeping with the Comprehensive Plan's stricture for development of DC-owned property. The RFP also suggests that bidders incorporate retail into the project. Because plans for the library are already underway, DCPL has requested that residential units be built next to its new facilities, rather than over it, to avoid delaying its opening.

Offerers are being asked to provide their vision for the site as well as work with school and library officials to incorporate their uses, as well as provide a "meaningful community outreach." In accordance with the District's Comprehensive Plan, the site could also potentially be used for housing and retail, specifically street-level retail, that would enliven the Wisconsin Avenue commercial corridor. The site is less than a block from the Tenleytown-AU Metrorail Station.

Office of Planning to Release Tenley RFP

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development will release the final Request For Proposal (RFP) for the Tenley-Friendship Library (old library pictured) and adjacent Janney School site on Monday, October 29. The solicitation for design plans will come more than a week after the library was demolished and several years after its closure for upgrade.

The RFP is the third stage of an arduous process for Tenley Library. Roadside Development, a DC-based development firm, had been approached by the community back in 2005 during its work on the CityLine project next door, and began to work on initial concepts. Toward the end of 2005, the public library agency (DCPL) claimed it already had a plan for the project and requested that Roadside suspend its work on a design plan so as not to impede the timeliness of development. Yet the DCPL project moved at such a dial-up pace that by the time a contractor was chosen and the designs had been completed, costs were much higher than originally expected and the entire project was scrapped.

Roadside came in for a second time, late in 2006, to approach the community and work on the project, but the community decided it was best that a competitive process ensue, for the betterment of the dual locations. Armand Spikell, a principal at Roadside, reflected on his early involvement in this process: “In the end, most of the community were in favor of a public-private partnership that would result in something better for both the library and the school, and there could be benefit from taking value of the air rights of that location.”

The site, located at 4450 Wisconsin Ave NW, is roughly 158,000 s.f., with the Janney School occupying a majority of the land – the school building itself consumes about 43,000 s.f. but the most recent draft of the RFP appeals for the school size to be doubled during development and that it be “[brought] up to current building codes…bringing it into compliance with ADA.” As it stood before, the old Tenley Library was only 18,000 s.f. – the solicitation will call for the addition of 2,000 s.f. of space for the new building, as well as the addition of a residential portion over the library. The Office of Planning has not determined whether the public land itself will be sold, maintaining a provision within the draft RFP which states that the District will enter into negotiations for the disposition “either through sale or a ground lease.”

Although each draft has been full of design guidelines for the library and school site, it has left the residential portion of the project undetermined – definitely the most controversial appendage to the public property given the stiff resistance the community has shown to nearly any type of development, such as the Maxim condo project next door which got downsized past the point of feasibility and now sits boarded and undeveloped several years after approval. The Request did outline an Affordable Housing element, requiring that 30% of the units be designated as affordable, with 15% priced for people at the 30% AMI or below and another 15% designated for residents earning 60% AMI or below.

The Public Schools district has apportioned a separate budget for capital improvements, however those resources will not be available for six years – posing a “time lag” problem for the immediate needs of Janney. While DCPL did not disclose the budgeted amount for capital improvements, this much is clear: the Public Library system will be seeking reimbursement for surrendering the air rights to the site. The surrounding community is divided in its views about the project – many have used the objectives of the Smart Growth Network, an EPA-funded developmental planning initiative of transit and pedestrian-oriented development, as a launching pad for their justification of the Metro-centered site.

Ward 3 Vision, a partnership between the residents of Ward 3 and the Coalition for Smarter Growth, in most cases looks favorably upon development projects that are transit-oriented. Tom Hier, chair of Ward 3 Vision, stated that he supports the RFP process "to learn how a public-private partnership may creatively achieve increased density, while potentially benefiting the library, Janney School and the community,” adding that “The city has invested millions of dollars in metro stations and we want to take advantage of that.” Opposing residents, including the Advisory Neighborhood Council, raise the usual red flags of density, over-development, and increased traffic congestion, though the site sits over the Tenley-AU Metro station. In addition, the ANC has recently passed a resolution stating that the land has not been designated as surplus, and that an RFP at this stage in the game is pulling the proverbial cart before the horse. Developers will have six weeks from Monday to submit their design plans for the site, and while some members of the community have raised concerns as to whether six weeks is enough time, the Office of Planning responded that an adequate window of opportunity has been provided for submissions.

Iconic Market in Shaw Wins Initial Approval for Development

The O Street Market (pictured), probably the most iconic building in the Shaw neighborhood of DC, has taken a critical step toward restoration with approval by the local ANC (Advisory Neighborhood Commission) this month as part of a massive project covering two city blocks just north of the Convention Center. DC-based Roadside Development, LLC, which purchased the land in 2001 and has spent the intervening time seeking local approval, will develop the blocks between 7th and 9th Streets that now contain a Giant supermarket and the O Street Market, built in 1880 and now just a shell. The historic market will house the new Giant, with over 60,000 s.f. of space, and additional space for retail. Roadside intends to use the remainder of the site to build an undetermined amount of condominiums, townhouses, and apartments, as well as about 800 parking spots, most of which will be underground. Shalom Baranes will serve as the master planning and primary architect for the site.

The site is just two blocks from the Broadcast Center One project by Four Points LLC, which is expected to provide 100,000 s.f. of office space and 185 condos above the Shaw Metro Station, with groundbreaking expected this Spring. Shovels are not expected to turn dirt until 2008. The current Giant will likely close at the end of that year; the new Giant, expected to open in 2009, will be larger than the "urban lifestlye" Safeway going up around the corner at 5th & K as part of the City Vista project. Loading docks will be moved underground, solving the problem of rows of space-hogging loading stations that now take up a full block on 9th Street. Most of the project will rise to 90 feet, though some elements may rise to as much as 110 feet under the current plans. Approval by the ANC was not required but indicates community acceptance of the project and much warmer reception by the city in future hearings.