Will Takoma Finally Embrace Its Inner Bethesda?

Denizens of the earthy Takoma neighborhood are finally seeing much-promised transit-oriented development beginning to sprout along underutilized Carroll Street NW, just steps from the Takoma Metro station.

Earlier this month, real estate giant Federal Capital Partners of Chevy Chase, which owns more than $1.8 billion in real estate assets in the mid-Atlantic region, announced the $36 million joint venture with Level 2 Development's Takoma Central, currently building in the 200 block of Carroll Street NW near the District-Maryland border.

Still, even as its neighbor to the north, Silver Spring, sees a burst of development, it hasn't been easy to convince the 17,000-plus globally-inspired Takoma Park citizens -- where illegal immigrants are allowed to vote in city elections and hold office -- to embrace their inner-Bethesda. Takoma Park residents, many of whom refer to the city as a "village," fought a long, but losing battle against a much-maligned CVS along Carroll Street in 1998 that led to the quick demise of a favorite mom-and-pop pharmacy on the Takoma Park, Maryland side. And a Subway sandwich joint that located in the village's historic district found its windows smashed in 2004 with the epithet "shop local" scrawled in spray paint.

But things may finally be changing in the People's Republic of Takoma Park as once development-wary residents embraced the Takoma Central design. That made it an ideal opportunity for Federal Capital Partners' Wade Casstevens, vice president of residential development.

"I think its a great place to live and well-kept secret," Casstevens said in an interview. "There haven't been areas in Takoma that you could build a large complex, so this is a true infill opportunity." Takoma Central will have amenities common to other Class A spaces in Logan Circle, Bethesda, and most recently Silver Spring, such as granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances, not easily found in Takoma. "Our strategy is to look for areas that have one or less competitors, not four or more, which is what we're finding in Silver Spring " he said.

Originally known as Ecco Park condos, the plan converted to apartments in 2008 under the design and ownership of SGA Architects. Takoma Central will be built in two phases.

Phase One, already under construction, is four stories, with a round, castle-like turret at the corner of Carroll Street and Maple, and will have 84 units and 70 underground parking spaces, plus 6,500 square feet for ground level retail.

Phase Two is a five-story, brick warehouse-style complex with 60 units and 35 underground parking spaces and ground-floor retail.

More importantly, the development may fill in a key gap between the bustle and activity of the Metro station and the quarter-mile walk to Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park's main street with well-kept sidewalks and quaint Victorian-era street lighting. Carroll Street NW becomes Carroll Avenue at the Maryland line, for those keeping score.

The 200 block of Carroll Street currently consists of a convenience store, a funeral home, the CVS pharmacy, and several surface parking lots. But the brick sidewalks are crumbling and there is no pedestrian friendly street lighting. Casstevens says the infrastructure and consistency of the street will improve with the completion of Takoma Central. "Right now, that part of Carroll Street looks a little beat up."

Phase 1 construction has begun already and Phase 2 will begin later this year. FCP says they will complete construction by the fourth quarter of 2013.

The construction of Takoma Central will go a long ways to renovating Carroll Street on both sides of the Metro line that the District and Maryland have been seeking to make ripe for transit-oriented development projects.

On the West side of the Metro line, where Carroll Street becomes Cedar Street, the District Office of Planning has been looking at possible enhancements to the neighborhood near the dormant Takoma Theater and its surrounds since Anthony Williams' tenure as Washington D.C.'s Mayor.

The Office of Planning's 2002 report shared the puzzlement over why TOD near Takoma Metro wasn't forthcoming. "Neither Carroll Street nor 4th Street have developed the critical mass of retail, commercial and housing that their Maryland neighbor enjoys, despite being anchored by the most heavily used pedestrian Metro transit station in the District of Columbia."

The Gables, a LEED-certified 142-unit complex opened in 2008 along Blair Road. FCP's Casstevens credits the opening of Gables for influencing their decision. "It was definitely a factor in our choice," he said. The Gables has many of the same amenities that Takoma Central offers, such as stainless steel GE appliances, hardwood floors and black granite countertops.

Still, south of Cedar Street there has been little progress in building a revitalized neighborhood around the historic Theater. Takoma Village, a unique co-housing urban village opened next to the historic Art Deco Takoma Theater in November 2000.

Milt McGinty, father of WUSA-9 anchorman Derek McGinty owns the theater, and wants to raze it to convert it to luxury apartments.

Preservationists want the the city to buy the theater outright but McGinty says the theater, which was built in 1923 isn't for sale and the theater stands in disrepair, prompting some accusations of "demolition by neglect." Like many development disputes, the fate of the Takoma Theater may end up it court while neighborhood redevelopment plans continue to gather dust.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

McGinty's Takoma Theater: After 86 Years, is "The Party Over"?

The battle between Milton McGinty, the 82-year old owner of the historic Takoma Theatre and Washington DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) came to a head on Friday. McGinty appeared before the Mayor's Agent, arguing that his proposed apartment complex was a project of special public merit and that the failure to issue permits would cause him unreasonable economic hardship, appealing an earlier HPRB recommendation to block redevelopment.

As Director of the DC Office of Planning, Harriet Tregoning served as the Mayor's Agent, hearing testimony from McGinty, friends and former associates and Takoma residents. Tregoning gave McGinty until January 29th to submit documents supporting his claim that the theater can no longer remain operational without causing him undo financial strain. The community, including groups like the Takoma Theatre Conservancy will have seven days thereafter to respond to McGinty's new evidence.

According to McGinty's testimony at the hearing, he has spent more than $250,000 on renovating and repairing the theater since 1983, when he purchased the theater for $300,000. The theater, designed by architect John J. Zink, was built in 1923.

McGinty began leasing the theater for public plays and performances in 1995. In early 2007, he closed it down, then drew protests from the Takoma Theater Conservancy when he sought permits to raze the building to pave the way for office space. The HPRB blocked that, and McGinty worked with architect Paul Wilson to draw up a new plan to convert the space into a 43-unit, five-story apartment building while maintaining the theater's original facade and including a 100-seat venue. Last October, the HPRB once again disapproved of granting permits for a plan that called for demolishing 75% of the theater.

At the time of the hearing, McGinty had made no plans for public space in his design, nor had he planned the inclusion of an affordable housing component to the project outside what the Zoning Commission requires by law. Another strike: while arguing that his project is of "special public merit," McGinty added that the designs were "nothing out of this world."

Despite the community's reaction to the plans, McGinty was resolute in his decision to convert the space, testifying at the hearing that since 1983 he's been on the front lines working to put the theater "together piece by piece."

"It's easy for others to vote to preserve the theater. That's free," McGinty argued, and maintained that he has not received any formal offers from community members or developers hoping to purchase the property - though that's unlikely to happen, considering McGinty placed the property in a family trust to prevent a sale and told DCMud in August that he never has - and never will - consider a sale.

When asked whether or not he had taken into consideration HPRB's recommendations with his architect, McGinty said "no." He was equally clear on his position for the future of the theater as a public performance space under his ownership, stating that "after 86 years, if you'll pardon the expression, the party's over."

Depending on McGinty's ability to proffer evidence that maintaining the property without development would cause him undo financial strain, the party may, in fact, be over for development plans as well.

Washington, DC real estate and development news

Drama Over Takoma Theatre

There's a new drama going on at the Takoma Theatre, but its not the theatrical kind. The Takoma Theatre Conservancy is pitted against Milton McGinty, the building's long-time owner, over the future of the Theater as either an arts/cultural center or an apartment building. The Conservancy has been raising funds for the purchase and maintenance of the theater, but McGinty maintains that it is not for sale. Can a preservationists force an owner to sell property? It would give "hostile takeover" new meaning.

The theater, located on the corner of 4th and Butternut Streets in Takoma Park, DC, was built in 1923. Architect John J. Zink designed The Takoma and many other theaters in the DC area, including The Uptown and The Atlas Center for the Performing Arts, which still serve DC neighborhoods. The DC Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) designated the building as an historic site.

In February 2007, McGinty submitted a request to the HPRB to raze the building, with plans to replace it with an office building. The Takoma Theatre Conservancy formed in opposition to the application, leading to the HPRB denial of the request to raze the building. McGinty is now working with architect Paul Wilson to design a five-story apartment building. The design would maintain only the facade and marquee of the original building, and include a new 100-seat theater on the first floor. McGinty and his architect discussed the plans on July 30th at the theater and are hoping to submit it for HPRB review in September.

Having prevented the Theater's destruction in 2007, the Conservancy now seeks to preserve the structure and use it for a community-based art and cultural center to contribute to the revitalization of the Takoma area. Renovation and purchasing costs have been estimated at $6.9 million, with $1 million a year needed to support programming. Nevertheless, the group is confident that they'll be able to obtain grants and funds needed to convert the building; even now they are in the middle of a fundraiser for building acquisition and rental.

So that's a wrap? Maybe not. McGinty placed the property in a family trust to prevent a sale and asserts that he never has - and never will - consider a sale (though at least one news article contradicts that.)

McGinty's decision to build the apartments hinged on his unsuccessful attempt to run the Theatre as an active venue for plays and shows that challenged racial biases. Apparently, the 500-seat theatre rarely filled more than 50 of them. McGinty chides the community as unsupportive and reactionary. In the 11 years he produced plays, McGinty claims that no one from the "Takoma Park area" introduced themselves or offered to help; only now that they want to preserve the theater do they acknowledge his work. "Everyone applauds me, but nobody ever came."

The building appraisal in 2006 concluded the community could not support a theater, so McGinty moved along with the apartment building design and intends to make it work within the constraints of the HPRB; though he told his architect to design the very best building he could and then to worry about HPRB standards.

The battle of wills continues in Takoma. The next act will take them back before the HPRB. Will the HPRB side with McGinty this time or will the Conservancy manage to secure a repeat performance?

*Picture by Loretta Neumann of the Takoma Theatre Conservancy.

Takoma Park Condos Go Rental

Ecco Park Condominiums, planned as Takoma Park's only new condominium project, will now go forward as an apartment building. The 85-unit condominium had been designed and was to be developed by SGA Architects of Bethesda, but SGA began returning money to purchasers several weeks ago. The site, two blocks from the Takoma Park Metro Station, was a brownfield and former gas station, a condition the developer remedied last year by removing and replacing the soil, but construction and excavation had not yet begun.


According to the developer, the lack of financing for a new condominium building became the insurmountable hurdle in the development process, requiring a new financing agreement that precluded condo sales. Domus Realty had presold 35 of the 85 units as of last fall, when the sales center closed. "I'm really excited that the project is still moving forward despite the turmoil in the markets." said Sas Gharai, the architect and developer of the project. But Gharai also suggested that with the dwindling condo construction the decision may not be irreversible, "At some point, we may re-evaluate when the market changes."

Ecco Park is designed to include 6,500 s.f. of retail, and at one time was mentioning a Trader Joe's Express as a possible tenant. It would also feature underground parking, and patios or balconies for most of the units. Prices started at $180k for a studio and in the high $200k's for a one-bedroom, and at $495k for a two-bedroom. SGA recently completed and is selling the last few units at the Butterfield House on Capitol Hill.

Takoma Shopping Center to Get Addition, Facelift

The Takoma Metro Shopping Center, on the District's northeastern border at 6935 Laurel Avenue, NW, is undergoing design to add a new three story building next to the current structure. The site of the new building, formerly known as Lot 49 and which now sits vacant, should help satiate the retail appetite of the surrounding community. General Contractors were invited to submit bids on March 21st; the bidding phase will close April 24th in the hopes of a June start date.

Because the site serves as one of the main entryways into Maryland-DC, the current owners are seeking to increase the site's 'gateway' status by designing the new infill structure as a "billboard" for the neighborhood to "mark [their] arrival into the Takoma Park Community," according to Wnuk Spurlock Architects, which is designing the new building as a visual centerpiece of the block. According to Joseph Wnuk, Principal at Wnuk Spurlock Architecture "The one main goal was obviously to continue the current street facade, the other was because of its location, it should act as an introduction to Takoma Park. One portion of the building is a little higher and has much more emphasis, like a tower. We were not trying to duplicate any traditional style, we weretrying to do it in elements of this time and day. In terms of its context, its modernist, but we are sympathetic both in the scale and in the materials, of what's in the area."

Wnuk Spurlock will have to incorporate a historic building that occupies a corner of the site, at the intersection of Laurel and Eastern Avenues. The architecture firm refers to the development as an "integral component in completing the center's street facade." Owners of the shopping center have plans to operate a brand new restaurant out of the top floor, and some additional retail on the lower levels. The site was left vacant due to a fire almost 50 years ago.

In order to further accomodate shoppers, Wnuk Spurlock redesigned the parking lot, trying to make it easier both on the eyes and on our vehicles by making a few aesthetic upgrades, like a retaining wall to seperate the property from a neighboring lot, and reworking the flow of traffic to enter and exit from Eastern Ave.

Douglas's Takoma Park Apartments Approved

Yesterday morning, the Board of Zoning Adjustment granted Douglas Development Corporation subsidiary Jemal’s TP Land, LLC final approval and entitlements for its paired apartment buildings at Maple and Willow Streets, NW, in the Takoma Park neighborhood. The development site sits about two blocks east of the Takoma Metro station, within a few feet of the Maryland border.

The 102,000-s.f. site sits in the middle of a block bounded by Maple, Willow and Carroll Streets and Sandy Spring Rd. NW; the future buildings will run parallel to Maple and Willow Streets, fronting Maple for 420 feet and Willow for 407 feet. The site is now occupied by three single family homes and a parking lot; the rest is vacant. In order to clear the way for the apartment buildings, Douglas will renovate and relocate the three homes to the south side of the site to "reinforce the transition between the existing community and the proposed development," according to the BZA application.

Douglas' now-approved buildings, designed by GTM Architects, are planned to top out at 40 feet, each with roughly 41,000 gross square feet, and each having 38 units - scaled back from the original 55,000-s.f. buildings with 40 units each. Douglas will have its landscapers provide more than 25,000 s.f. of green space on the site and plant a wall of evergreen trees on the north end of the lot - apparently to shield neighbors from views of the large surface parking lots that will dominate the complex. The BZA files describe the project as "incorporat[ing] details from the traditional Washington DC apartment buildings from the early part of the twentieth century. A belt course and decorated cornice line visually reduces the mass...while adding architectural interest to the building facade."

Albeit a few minor bumps regarding a roof stairwell that was a little too high and a little too close to the building's facade, Douglas' project has smoothly sailed through the application process, taking just 18 months from start to finish. The Historic Preservation Review Board, required to approve because the site since it lies in the Takoma Park Historic District, gave their assent in February of 2007, and the Office of Planning gave its benediction on November 5th.

A few neighbors complained of potential "flooding, traffic and street parking, [an] absentee landlord, crowding of existing homes and noise and the loss of green space," but the Office of Planning weighed in, saying that the project would have a "positive impact on the immediate neighborhood."

The project site sits across from the long-awaited Ecco Park condominium project, which SGA Architects had designed and planned for development at 235 Carroll Street, purchasing the site of the former gas station and remediating the soil in 2006, but which has yet to see construction begin despite several predictions of an imminent groundbreaking.

Douglas Development Brings Sister Apartment Buildings to Takoma Park

Douglas Development met with Takoma Park residents last week to present plans for a pair of 55,000 s.f. sister apartment buildings to be built between Willow and Maple Streets behind the once hotly debated CVS on Carroll Street. The buildings will be named after their respective street proximities, just three blocks from the Metro Station. The transit-oriented project will be built on several vacant lots and will force the relocation of three existing homes. Douglas Development, known for its work in Penn Quarter and commercial development, worked with GTM Architects, which has designed several multi-family homes including Tenley Townhomes. Each building will consist of four levels, three above ground, and a basement floor. The suburban-styled complexes will include balconies, detailed windows, and a large surface parking lot to provide one spot per dwelling. And though an apartment project is more savory than what often goes on behind drug stores, there has been a mixed reaction from the traditionally development-resistant neighborhood.

According to Melissa Cohen, an architect at GTM, "They (the neighbors) are skeptical. I think development is difficult and some of the projects in the neighborhood haven't been completed as they might have liked so there is some resistance." Cohen added that Douglas still has to meet with the Historic Preservation Review Board and the Zoning Commission; under ideal conditions, it will be another two years before the Maple and the Willow break ground. In related news, SGA Architects is currently preparing to build Ecco Park, an 85-unit condominium nearly across the street.

Architect to Build New Takoma Condos

Sassan Gharai, of Bethesda-based SGA Architects, is designing and developing a new condominium to take shape in Takoma this Fall. Ecco Park will feature 85 units and 6000 s.f. of retail space in a 4-story building adjacent to the Metro, on a contaminated site now housing a truck rental facility and gas station. The infill project will incorporate green elements - such as a green roof and recyled products - but will not likely be LEED-certified. Patios or balconies are planned for a majority of units, as well as underground parking and exterior fenestration combining metal, stone, and glass; with sales to begin in September and groundbreaking this Fall. Gharai is currently building the Butterfield House on Capitol Hill which should deliver early next year.

New Residential Project Announced for Takoma Park

Takoma Park is about to see one of its big circa-1960’s bland box projects
undergo a transformation into the 21st century. The Hampshire Towers, located at 7333 New Hampshire Avenue, has recently been purchased by DC-based Tenacity Group and the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) for $15.3 million. Initial plans call for the larger of the two towers to be converted into 232 condo units (sales by Tenacity), while the second building will house 218 rental units reserved for low-income tenants (management will be run by the development corporation). This preservation of one tower for rental units is a nod toward Takoma Park’s demographics and history as a rent-controlled renter refuge – while 23 percent of Montgomery County residents are renters, this number jumps to 55 percent in Takoma Park. Monarc Construction has been hired as the main contractor for this work, which is expected to begin early 2007, and will be conducted on a rolling basis.