Showing posts with label Stranix Associates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stranix Associates. Show all posts

Monday, May 24, 2010

Pollin's Parkside Project: Bringing Down the House(s)

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Public housing in Parkside will crumble and fall this summer, not from age or neglect, but by a demolition team, clearing the way for the new Linda Joy and Kenneth Jay Pollin Memorial Community Development. The Pollin project will replace one-for-one the 42 affordable rental units on site, known as Parkside Additions, while adding 83 for-sale units. The project was initially spearheaded by the late Abe Pollin and his Pollin Foundation. The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) is seeking permission to raze the row of apartment buildings from 705-721 Anacostia Avenue, NE and, according to DCHA Spokesperson Dena Michaelson, hopes to demolish the buildings over the course of the summer.

Pollin Memorial Community Development, LLC's planned $35 million development would bring 125 new affordable for-sale and rental homes to the northeast site, an assemblage belonging at one time to three different government entities – the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), and the National Parks Service (NPS). The developers courted the approval of all landowners back in 2006 and received approval for the project from the National Capitol Planning Commission (NCPC) in 2008. The NPS transferred its property to the District in 2007.

According to Michaelson, the developer is putting up $2 million to guarantee construction loans for the project. Michaelson said the entire project will eventually be paid for by the condo sales, and that Pollin, acting as a fee developer, will not gain financially from the sales. DCHA will be the property owner for the public housing and will maintain the units. Financing for development is being provided by the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the District of Columbia Housing Authority, United Bank, Enterprise and the Abe Pollin Grantor Trust. DHCD is providing a construction loan, explained Michaelson, "a portion of the DHCD loan that applies to building public housing units is forgivable."

The project will provide 125 off-street parking spaces, one per unit, and the new residential structures will not exceed 40 feet or 3 stories. The 83 condominiums will be available to individuals earning between 40 percent and 100 percent area media income (AMI) and the 25 rental units will be offered to residents earning at or below 30 percent AMI.

A ceremonial groundbreaking in December was marred by a community boycott - an effort to convince developers and city officials to be more forthcoming about the project's community benefits which, though not final, had been viewed as skimpy. At the time, Michaelson indicated that a community benefits package would be available to the public upon its completion. When asked if an agreement has now been reached, ANC7C04 Commissioner Sylvia Brown said, "Short answer: no, no community benefits. Medium answer: there was a change in the ANC7D chairmanship and the momentum went out like air from a balloon. There hasn't been any other broad community update or discussion." Michaelson said the Pollin family has committed to giving $350,000 to the community, but was not sure what form the donation would take.

Meanwhile, DCHA will begin relocating residents to alternate public housing until Pollin's project delivers, a process that will determine the demolition date. "It's not a quick thing...it's a process to be able to relocate folks...to find the right size bedroom units, etcetera." explained Michaelson.

Current Parkside residents will have the first right to return to the new units. A press release from the ground breaking indicated the first units would be available in 2011. The phased project will complete in February 2013, according to Michaelson, who added that for-sale units will not be marketed until 2013.

Enterprise Community Investment is one of the development partners on the project. John Stranix, of Stranix Associates, is spearheading the construction effort with designs by Torti Gallas & Partners.

Washington, DC real estate development news

Monday, October 27, 2008

Wizards Owner Bringing Magic Back to NE Housing Project

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John Stranix, formerly of Clark Construction and now of Stranix Associates, is spearheading an effort - via the Pollin Memorial Development, LLC - to bring a 125-unit development to the ever-expanding Minnesota Avenue corridor in northeast Washington.

Named for the family of Washington Wizards owner, Verizon Center visionary, and generous District benefactor - Abe Pollin - the $18 million Pollin Memorial Community Development would transform a 450,000 square foot chunk of Ward 7 into "91 row dwellings, eight three-unit apartment buildings and five flats, amounting to a total of 125 residential units" - for a total of 193,688 square feet of new development. This would be the second such memorial public housing development in the District - Pollin previously opened Southeast's Linda Pollin Memorial Housing project in 1967.

Bounded by Hayes, Barnes, and Grant Streets, NE and Anacostia Avenue, the new Pollin complex would replace the 49-year-old Parkside Additions public housing project on the site with 83 homeownership units and 42 “rental replacement public housing units” – affordable housing targeting renters at or below 30% of the area media income. While the current Parkside project is described by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) as “functionally obsolete,” the new affordable units would be reserved as a “one-for- one replacement” for current tenants.

The redevelopment of housing would be complemented by new internal streets and a new “intimately-scaled” neighborhood park that would fall at the end of what is now Cassell Place, NE. This would include a new playground and landscaped area with trees and benches – all of which would front on the row houses, in order to allow for easy child supervision.

The site is a composite of property belonging to 3 distinct entities – the District of Columbia, the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), and the National Parks Service (NPS). The developer courted the approval of all of those landowners back in 2006 and received approval for the project from NCPC last year.

Despite the multitude of parties with stakes in the site - current residents not least among them - the District posits that redevelopment is in the best interests of all involved including those of the greater Minnesota-Benning corridor. "Regarding the [area's] comprehensive plan, the development will further some of its major themes," said Matt Jesick, Development Review Specialist of the DC Office of Planning, in session before the District of Columbia Zoning Commission. "It will replace an older public housing development with newer affordable housing. It will compliment existing and proposed development in the neighborhood. It will preserve approximately 43 percent of the site as an undeveloped natural area and it will promote enhanced public safety and provide for diversity in the community." Enterprise Community Partners, who are financing part of the Wheeler Terrace public housing redevelopment in Southeast, have also issued a statement in support of the project.

Using designs by Torti Gallas & Partners, the project aims to begin construction in August 2009.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Pollinating Affordable Housing

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Construction on an affordable housing project in Parkside, is set to begin. The project will create 91 row-houses, a 24-unit apartment complex and 5 flats adjacent to the Cesar Chavez Charter High School on Hayes Street NE, and is currently being finalized by The Pollin Foundation. The Consolidated P.U.D. request has been reviewed in three separate public hearings before the Zoning Commission.

Current ownership of the property overlaps separate entities: the DC Housing Authority and the city, while the National Park Sevice holds some administrative jurisdiction over a few of the parcels. Most of the land currently sits unzoned, except for a small section which is being used for public housing. The foundation created by Abe Pollin - owner the Wizards and Verizon Center - proposes new rental units to replace the existing 42 public housing units on the site and 125 new affordable housing units available for incomes between 40% and 100% AMI; 83 of those units will be for sale.

One of the most unique aspects of this particular real estate deal is the project's financing. According to Mr. John Stranix, Pollin's representative before the Zoning Commission. "The Pollin Foundation would develop the houses and take no fee. My time as development manager is not [being] charged to the project." Pollin's philanthropic contributions to Parkside are well founded, according to Mr. Stranix at a zoning meeting over this past summer: "[Mr. Pollin] believes there's a dire need for quality affordable homes. His vision is to create communities that satisfy this need by providing mixed income affordable housing and that's the project we bring before you this evening." Mr. Pollin was unable to be reached for comment. The project will be reviewed by the National Capital Planning Commission on December 6th.
 

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