LCOR's Union Market Project

Vertical development is underway in the lot in front of Union Market, as LCOR is roughly midway through construction on one of Union Market's many developments, a list which includes Signal House, Ledger, Press House, Market Terminal, all currently under construction.  The completed project will offer 280 apartment units directly opposite Union Market's food hall on the far side of the parking lot, and two levels of below grade parking.  The project was one of the many appealed and delayed by activist groups seeking to block development.  The ground floor will feature 20,000 s.f. of retail, which will include the Little Tavern, a historic chain of restaurants based in DC dating back to the 1920's.  LCOR previously completed the Edison apartment building one block away, which houses Trader Joe's.

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Project:  Unnamed

Address:  500 Morse, St, NE, Washington DC

Developer: LCOR

Architect:  SK+I Architecture

Construction:  John Moriarty & Associates

Use: 20,000 s.f. of retail beneath 280 residential units (237,000 s.f.)

Expected Completion:  Q1 2021

Washington DC real estate development news

Bryant Street - Rhode Island Avenue

Directly across the street from the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, local developer MRP Realty is in the process of building what will be a 7-building, 13-acre project, one that will ultimately comprise 1.5m s.f. of residential development and 272,000 s.f. of retail.  The project is replacing a smattering of industrial and big box retail uses, but will nonetheless create a net gain in retail space once complete. The current phase will deliver 487 residential units and 47,000 s.f. of retail, including a 9-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, all designed by SK&I Architecture.  One of the central features will be a retail-activated plaza oriented to the Metropolitan Branch Trail, connected to the adjacent Metro station via a new pedestrian bridge.

The project will be the first major project on the Rhode Island Avenue corridor since the completion of Rhode Island Row in 2012, despite serious attempts over the past two decades to build more density along the artery, attempts that began in earnest in 2009 with the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development calling for $1.2 billion in investment on a 3-mile section of Rhode Island Avenue.

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Project:  Bryant Street

Address:   600 Rhode Island Avenue, NE, Washington DC

Developer: MRP Realty

Architect:  SK&I Architecture

Construction:  CBG

Expected Completion:  Rolling completion with first deliveries scheduled for late 2020

Prior to construction

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

ANC Supports RiverFront on the Anacostia Project at Zoning Hearing

Late last week, a zoning commission meeting brought the RiverFront on the Anacostia project one small step closer to fruition.

The 1.1-million-square-foot mixed-use project, which was designed by SK&I architects and is situated on the Anacostia River just south of Nationals Park, had a hearing in front of the DC Zoning Commission Thursday night. While commissioners were noncommittal, requiring supplemental information from Florida Rock Properties (FRP) and Mid-Atlantic Realty Partners (MRP), the developers, the coup was a letter of support from the local ANC commission covering the site.


The zoning commission originally approved plans for the 5.5 acre site back in 2008, but the developers proposed last year to change the project’s first phase from office space to 300-350 residential units, given the current dismal situation for office space in the neighborhood. A February 2012 hearing didn’t go well—the commissioners all but told the developers to start all over with the designs—but John Begert with MRP Realty said this one seemed a little better, though he didn’t draw any conclusions. “We feel like our presentation went pretty positively, and that’s kind of all you know,” he said.

The commissioners tasked the developers with sending in additional information, including clarifications on the project’s roof plan and how an alley running through the development will be designed. The developers will submit the information within two weeks, but the commission may not make a decision until later this year or even early 2013.

Still, support from the ANC was good news.  "After presenting at multiple monthly ANC meetings and working with the ANC and my SMD’s Citizens’ Development Advisory Committee, the development team presented a final plan this month that we were happy to support,” wrote ANC 6D commissioner David Garber, whose district includes the site, in a letter dated September 20. “The elements of this most recent plan that we hope you will join us in specifically supporting are its engaging architecture, creative and usable public space, ground floor and roof-top retail, and the promised play installation designed specifically for children that is noted in the plan but will be laid out as part of a future phase of the PUD.”


The project’s first phase is a nine-story building that will feature almost 19,000 square feet of retail space and a small amount of affordable housing; 8 percent of its residential units will be priced at 80 percent of the area median income. The project will also include an expansive public section: picture wide green lawns, wetlands-type areas that act as bio-filtration mechanisms for stormwater management, and tree covered spaces, as well as a marina that could accommodate up to 50 boats.

The project, a former concrete plant, is set at the foot of the South Capitol Street Bridge, and has been in the works off and on since 1998.  The developers have more plans for the property, but subsequent phases are several years down the road.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

MRP Breaks Ground on Washington Gateway

Earth movers arrived at the Washington Gateway site in NoMa several weeks ago, signaling the imminent groundbreaking of the $360 million Washington Gateway, and now MRP Realty officials have acknowledged that construction is in fact beginning on the mixed-use project.  A groundbreaking ceremony will be announced shortly.

In February 2012, DCMud reported that MRP had moved equipment to the site for preliminary work, but nothing substantial followed.  Now, officials say that construction is beginning on a 14-story, 400-unit apartment building at 100 Florida Ave., NE.  The promotional material states that the building will feature a "brick and metal panel exterior with floor-to-ceiling glass at the prominent corners."  The residential building will be the first of several phases that will eventually include an office component. SK&I designed the building, Davis Construction is the general contractor.

An important component in the growth of NoMa neighborhood, Washington Gateway is bordered by the intersections of New York and Florida Avenues to the west and the Metropolitan Branch trail to the east.  It is also situated one block from the New York Avenue Metro Station and neighborhood amenities including Harris Teeter.

Washington Gateway will join Archstone's First and M 469 luxury apartments and Mill Creek's Trilogy NoMA project (pictured, at left) which includes 603 units, just to name a few of the "3,500 residential units delivered or under construction."

Update:  Developers say the project will be in 3 phases, with 2 and 3 being office buildings.  The project will break ground Sept. 12.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Bethesda Row Project Gets Start Date

At last, Bethesda's downtown extension is on the calendar. After years of planning, including the past year of being thisclose to breaking ground, Montgomery County officials say that construction work on Lot 31 - the public-private StonebridgeCarras-PN Hoffman project extending Bethesda Row - will begin the week of April 9th.

The project was scheduled to be underway last summer, but last minute wrinkles have continually held up the kickoff. With a formal groundbreaking ceremony now on the books, the next steps should happen in quick succession, beginning with closing the corner parking lot (April 10) in which Bethesdans circle endlessly on weekend evenings, then leading to closure of Woodmont Avenue (now scheduled for June 1). The county posted a sign last month stating that the lot would close April 1, a date that is inching back as construction plans are finalized.

Stephanie Coppula, Director of Marketing and Communications at Bethesda Urban Partnership, confirms that a formal groundbreaking is planned in 2 weeks. Work on the development will cause a major rerouting of traffic through Bethesda, to the extent that the county has ordered the farmer's market on Elm Street to close, and reopen at Bethesda Elementary, a move the Action Committee for Transit calls unnecessary as it puts the popular market into "a commercial dead zone."

The project has been in design since 2004, but Doug Firstenberg, Principal at StonebridgeCarras, says the timing is indicative of a project this difficult. "It's enormously complicated" says the developer of the details that had to precede the groundbreaking, noting that the project will involve a purchase of public land with public partnership for building nearly 1200 parking spaces below grade.

Bethesda-based SK&I designed the mixed-use structure occupying both sides of Woodmont Avenue. The project will consist of 40,000 s. f. of retail, and two residential buildings - The Flats, 162-unit apartment complex, and the Darcy, an 88-unit condominium building. 940 of the parking spaces will be for public use, replacing the 280 parking spaces now on the surface (which caused its own tempest), as Bethesda adds parking and braces for two and a half years of construction and reduced parking options.

The county will close Woodmont Avenue below Bethesda Avenue for an estimated twenty months as developers realign the intersection. The sounds of construction will be

evident throughout Bethesda as the downtown - conspicuously lacking construction cranes of late - begins to look more like downtown D.C. with Bainbridge's 17-story tower underway in Woodmont Triangle and another 17-story tower coming soon across the street.

Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news

Silver Spring "Adele" Site Fails to Sell at Auction

The half-acre parcel at 900 Thayer Avenue in Silver Spring, formerly touted as the prospective site of the 96-unit Adele, failed to sell at auction last month.

According to Bill Hudson of Atlantic Auctions, there were several interested parties at the auction, and bids were made, but ultimately American Bank, present owner of the property, put in a token high bid and retained ownership. (Identities of the bidders and the amounts of their respective bids are confidential.)

American Bank is the holder of the property's note, which dates from November 2006, in the original principal amount of $5.15 million. American acquired the property after original developers Fenton Street Development LLC - a partnership between the Freeman Group and Bloom Builders - presumably defaulted. Fenton Street had gained approval in 2008 for an SK&I-designed mixed-use project, christened "the Adele," that featured 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail, 18,200 feet of second-floor office space, and 96 residential units, as well as a green roof and a public plaza. But when the recession hit, the project stalled (probably the most-typed phrase in real estate blogging), and eventually the property changed hands.

The 28,500-square-foot corner lot, located in downtown Silver Spring at the intersection of Thayer Avenue and Fenton Street,

seems like it would still be a viable location for the right project, and was already approved by the county. Zoning (3.0 FAR for mixed-use) and a location in the Fenton Village Overlay Zone (which confers certain building height exceptions) seem conducive to high-rise construction. The most recent listings for the property (which are over a year old) peg it at just over $7 million. Take note, prospective future bidders. (And don't forget to bring your $100,000 deposit to the next auction.)

Silver Spring, MD real estate development news

Florida Rock Development Reboots, Meets Resistance

With demolition of the concrete plant finally complete, RiverFront on the Anacostia, the on-again off-again Southeast waterfront mega-project is on, again - pending various hearings, presentations, meetings, and ultimate approval of some very substantial changes to the zoning application.

Developers Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. and Midatlantic Realty Partners LLC (MRP) filed a modification with the Zoning Commission last month to, among other things, modify the Phase One building from an office complex to a residential building. The proposed residential building would be nine stories tall and include up to 350 units, 286 underground parking spaces, and 300,000 square feet of gross floor area (8% of which would be set aside for affordable housing at 80% of AMI). The new filing retains the 12,500 s.f. of retail space for lease, but now wants to earmark 7,000 s.f. as "flex space" or "residential amenity space."

Last week, the Zoning Commission gave their first impressions of the new plans, and it wasn't pretty. One commissioner called it "an affront" and a "bastardization," even going so far as to suggest the developers might have to start the PUD process from square one. Another excoriated the developers from reducing the initial 80,000 s.f. of retail space to under 24,000 s.f. in the latest filing, with 7,000 of that possibly being converted to non-retail "flex space." Even the most positive board member damned the project with faint praise - characterizing it as an improvement on the original PUD, but "boring" and "simplistic." In the end, the board deferred a decision, and the next public hearing is on February 13.

The new building, designed by SK&I, is U-shaped, facing the river, with a private inner courtyard. On the east side is a planned greenspace (Anacostia Plaza) and on the west side, in between the Phase One building and the Phase Two (also residential) building, another large plaza (the Mews) that "privileges pedestrians over vehicles." The new landscape plan, by Oculus, uses the idea of "ecotone" (in the report, this is defined as "an ecological term referring to the transitional zone between two ecologies") to create an impressive stormwater management and filtration system that will both provide lush public native plant green spaces, and filter runoff. (And the Anacostia River can use all the help it can get.)

Phases II (a 262K s.f., 130-foot tall residential building), III (326K s.f., 130-foot tall office building), and IV (275K s.f., 130-foot tall hotel) are unchanged. FRP anticipates a Q2 2013 groundbreaking, with move-ins starting in Q1 2015, and everything wrapped up by that summer.

Big picture, the plan is cut from the same cloth as the plans for the Wharf and the Maryland Avenue redevelopments. (There are only so many ways to skin a cat, after all.) Much like those plans, this latest filing is hoping that their conversion of the Phase One building from office to residential "will provide the critical mass of people necessary in order to support future office and retail uses." Of course, this could take a while, which is the thinking behind the "flex space." What if they build it, but people don't come? The plan also asks for permission to use the Phase II/III/IV sites for interim projects like a farmer's market or temporary retail, rather than letting those spaces remain dormant. It's a good strategy to lure more people to the area, and can only help not just their development, but the neighborhood as a whole as it gears up to make the transition to world-class waterfront. But first, developers need to win over the Zoning Commission, which is proving to be a harder task than they may have anticipated. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Washington Gateway Finally Breaking Ground?

MRP Realty edged closer to a groundbreaking of the $360 million Washington Gateway in NoMa, as crews this week began disassembling commercial billboards occupying the three-acre site at the intersection of New York Avenue and Florida Avenue, NE.

While some real estate insiders said construction would start shortly, Julie Chase, a spokeswoman on behalf of MRP Realty, said in an e-mail not to read too much into the action on the site as MRP is still in the permitting process. "Yes, the billboards are coming down, but that does not mean they are starting any construction," she said.

The two billboards on the site, both facing the railroad tracks, the Metro Red Line and inbound New York Avenue drivers, have been a familiar sight for road and rail commuters, but now it appears they could finally be replaced by construction cranes and equipment.

The million-square-foot project, designed by SK&; I Architectural Design Group and Gensler and to be built by Davis Construction, will be completed in three phases. The first step will be SK&I's 11-story apartment building with 400 units and 5,200 s.f. of retail.

The initial phase will be followed by two Gensler-designed 11-story office buildings, one with 200,000 s.f. and the other with 400,000 s.f., along with 10,000 s.f. of retail. Gensler is the designer of PNC Place at 800 17th Street NW, and SK& I recently designed Wisconsin Place in Friendship Heights.

All told, the 170-foot high (by some ways of measuring), triangle-shaped project with green space in the middle will have about 15,000 s.f. of retail facing Florida Avenue, NE, which will get its own facelift with new sidewalks, street lighting and landscaping.

The anticipated construction of Washington Gateway comes as the District is in the middle of a $36.5 million rehab of the nearby New York Avenue bridge which will run through September 2013, thanks to federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding. The bridge reconstruction, which began in March 2011 is about 40 percent complete, according to contractor Fort Myer Construction Company. Already, on the northwestern side of New York Avenue, NoMa West, by Mill Creek Residential Trust, is nearly a year in towards constructing more than 600 residential units, having broken ground in March 2011 and is expected to be complete by spring of 2014.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Bethesda Lot 31 Project Delayed (Again) Until February

Groundbreaking for Lot 31, the public-private StonebridgeCarras-PN Hoffman project on Bethesda Row, in the works since 2004, missed its January target date after being delayed yet again. But lead developer Stonebridge and Montgomery County government officials say it's not because the project is flagging on the home stretch - nor was the delay a response to complaints from local businesses about the closure of the lots and of Woodmont Avenue during construction.

"Just paperwork," said Esther Bowring, Montgomery County public information officer. "The project is still very much full steam ahead. We just need to make sure all the paperwork, all the permits, are in place before we proceed."

Doug Firstenberg, principal at StonebridgeCarras, agreed. "The hard part, the financing [with Northwestern], is already done, we formally closed on that in late November. I'm not sure I would even use the term 'delay.' With a partnership of this magnitude, there are so many I's to dot and T's to cross, we just want to get all the documentation straight." StonebridgeCarras originally set a start date of last summer, then pushed that back to January of 2012.

The SK&I-designed Lot 31 project, which will straddle Woodmont Avenue, is a keystone of the ongoing revitalization of Woodmont Triangle. In addition to 40,000 s. f. of retail space, and two residential units - The Flats, 162-unit apartment complex, and the Darcy, an 88-unit condominium building - the project will also incorporate a massive underground parking garage of nearly 1200 spaces. Of these, around 940 are earmarked for public use, with the rest associated with the two residential buildings. Presently, Lots 31 and 31A offer just under 280 parking spaces, so the finished complex will represent an almost fourfold increase.

Growth comes at a price. The existing spaces will be unavailable once construction starts, and the new garage isn't projected to open until two and a half years from groundbreaking. In addition, a stretch of Woodmont below Bethesda Avenue is going to be closed for twenty months as developers correct the distorted 'x' of the intersection, prompting some local businesses to wonder if they can weather an extended period of (perhaps sharply) reduced foot traffic.

Ultimately, those concerns were outweighed by what some see as Bethesda's urgent need for more parking. The zoning in the area requires zero parking for residential projects, a policy designed to steer people towards public parking and public transit.

Short-term, locals will have a number of alternatives once Lot 31 closes. Aside from increasing Circulator bus service, the county is shifting many long-term spaces out of the immediate area, as well as creating over a hundred new short-term spaces. They're also optimizing the parking that already exists. "We're installing a car-counter at Garage 57 [Bethesda-Elm Parking Garage] so people will be able to get the most out of that facility," says Bowring. "Right now you have to drive all the way to the top to see if there are any spaces, and that can be tight. Hopefully if we have the available spaces displayed on the outside for everyone to see, it will encourage people to use it."

In the big picture, Lot 31 is just one of several projects currently underway in downtown Bethesda. Stonebridge is also building a residential tower on the former Trillium site, Bainbridge Bethesda (formerly the Monty) is coming along on schedule, and JBG/Ross are turning 4900 Fairmont Avenue into a residential rental units. And of course, the Purple Line is on the horizon for 2014.

Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news