Today in Pictures - 2400 14th Street

UDR's multi-family building in Columbia Heights broke ground in December of 2010 and has now topped out. Perched on the slope leading up 14th Street, the building should feature commanding views over the city from the top. The building takes the place of the Nehemiah shopping center, purchased by Level2, which developed the original plans before selling the project. The building was designed by Shalom Baranes and will have 255 units, built by Donohoe Construction.











Washington D.C. real estate development news

Donatelli Selling Multi-Family Buildings in Petworth, U Street

Donatelli Development Inc. will sell off two of its existing multi-family buildings, a newly completed building in Petworth and the transformative Ellington apartment building on U Street.

Donatelli's 49-unit residential building at 3801 Georgia Avenue NW has been close to delivery for the last few months, and the development team had been considering both leasing units as apartments and selling them as condos. Now the vacant building has been put on the selling block by MAC Realty Group.

Donatelli is also unloading the 190-unit Ellington apartment building, completed in 2005 and currently asking (and getting) some of the higher rental prices in the city. A source says that a "well-known" pension fund is under contract to purchase the building. Comparing the sale to the sale of the 185-unit View 14, a transaction that grabbed headlines when UDR Inc purchased the building for $104 million - $616 per residential square foot or $520,000 per unit - the source tells DCMud that the Ellington will trade for "a similarly attractive price." Donatelli had long pondered the idea of selling the Ellington as individual condos.

The Griffin, Donatelli's second Petworth project, was "designed as for-sale condominiums" according to MAC, though Donatelli never initiated sales. Speaking to the rental market in Petworth is Park Place, another Donatelli mixed-use development that delivered in 2009 across the street, the leasing manager says the 161-unit apartment building is 95.6% leased.

Designed by Eric Colbert & Associates, the 7-story Griffin is comprised of one- and two-bedroom units that range from approximately 660 to 1,100 square feet.

As a 38-year-old corporation, Donatelli has made investments in up-and-coming areas of the D.C.-metro market for years. In addition to The Ellington, Park Place and The Griffin, the Bethesda-based corporation also developed Kenyon Square condos and Highland Park in Columbia Heights, designed as condominiums but later switched out to rentals. Donatelli is currently building an addition to Highland Park that will add more rental units.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Groundbreaking, Or At Least Ground-Moving, at Nehemiah Shopping Center

This past fall DCMud promised, after assurance from UDR developers, that the former Nehemiah Shopping Center construction site would be activated with a groundbreaking, and that the "rubble [would] at least be pushed around soon." It appears such has happened, as several earth movers have been seen rumbling around the site for the last few days. This is potentially (stress potentially) significant news for a project that seemed destined to remain unstirred; since the unveiling of plans from the original developer in 2008 and subsequent demolition in 2009, the lonely fenced-off block has seen no action.

While UDR refused to confirm or deny the start of construction, as it is "internal policy not to comment on such" according to one anonymous developer at their Washington office, it seems apparent field marshal (a.k.a. general contractor) Donohoe Construction has ordered troops (a.k.a bulldozers) into the field of battle. It marks the beginning of a who-knows-how-long (developers won't say) process to stack 255 one and two-bedroom apartment units on top of 18,500 s.f. ground floor retail. The project calls for 198 parking space to be half hidden, half buried on the back western portion of the site. The retail spaces could house as many as five different tenants, or as few as two, and will be reserved for businesses that supply neighborhood wants and needs: such as a grocery/convenience store, restaurants, bank, café, etc. UDR's corporate headquarters are expected to release more specific information about the project once it becomes official in the company's next quarterly report, those numbers are likely to come out in early February.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Construction Start at 2400 14th Street Promised Before 2011

Level 2 Development's original plans to replace the Nehemiah Shopping Center at 2400 14th Street NW with a large residential building fell through some years ago. But don't feel too sorry for them, as the property they bought in March 2006 for $13.27 million was sold to UDR for some $25 million, a not-so-little profit for what has remained a pile of rubble over the last couple years. But the rubble will at least be pushed around soon, as developers at UDR confirm that they are committed to starting construction on the ten-story, 255 unit apartment building sometime before the end of the year. Because the original developers and architects already navigated the PUD approval process, plans remain largely the same under the direction of UDR.

The studio apartments as well as 1 and 2 bedroom units will range from 500 s.f. to just under 1,600 s.f. in size (total of 190,000 rentable sq. ft.), and will hide the 198 space parking garage planned for the back half of the lot (half above, half below ground). A top floor penthouse comprises the tenth level of

the structure. While the bottom level will feature 18,500 s.f. of flexible retail spaces (two to six spots) reserved for tenants that will supply neighborhood wants and needs: a grocery store, restaurants, bank, café, and/or a home furnishing business are all possibilities. At least a portion of the delivered units will be affordable, but how large that chunk will be remains unknown.

Shalom Baranes will stay on as design architect. They have created an impressive building plan that will feature floor to ceiling glass views, private terraces, a media room, conference lounge, fitness

center, rooftop pool and a green roof feature, in addition to a roomy lobby that will open into an outdoor atrium. Donohoe Construction is serving as general contractor and will carryout the plans the developers hope will earn Gold LEED certification upon completion. No timetable for construction is currently being shared publicly.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

14th Street: Apartments In, Nehemiah Center Out

14th Street's Nehemiah Center, that vestige of bad architecture and short-sited urban planning, will soon be demolished to make way for a large residential project. Texas based UDR, which purchased the site last year, requested raze permits last week, and expects to begin demolishing the property by the end of the second quarter. UDR acquired the hopelessly outdated strip mall at 2400 14th Street from Level 2 Development, which took the project all the way through the existing, and currently approved, P.U.D. stage. UDR will implement Level2's plans, with some embellishment, at an estimated total cost of $130 million. DC-based Metropolis Development had initially purchased the option from Level2 for the rights to develop the site, but later sold the option for a profit to UDR. The Nehemiah Center currently serves as a one-story retail building along 14th Street, within shouting distance from the U Street Corridor - currently a real estate hotspot surrounded by several ongoing and planned residential projects. 

Level 2 wanted to capitalize on the area, but opted to sell and concentrate on its View 14 project across the street, a project that it began as condos but that is now just beginning to come out of the ground as an apartment building. UDR's adaption of Level2's plans will replace the old retail with 17,000 s.f. of new retail, and add more units than the currently approved 225. Two weeks ago, UDR's team met with City officials to apply for an addition of 30 residential units to the overall scheme. The firm expects to receive comments regarding whether this increase is feasible within the next month, after which a Zoning Commission hearing will be required. The building will rise nine stories above the 14th and U Street Corridor, advantageously perched as one of the higher buildings in the area on the slope that rises to Columbia Heights, offering the potential for the distant views rare in the District. The residential units will average 775 s.f. and were initially pushed through the planning process as condominiums, but according to sources at UDR, the market forced them to build out as a market-rate apartment building. 

There will be a number of affordable housing units as well as a 1,000-s.f. commercial space designated as educational, job training, retail space. Behind the main building will sit a multi-level parking garage, half above-ground, an issue that has been one of the biggest sources of problems from the community. UDR held a public meeting in February to address the community's concerns about design and construction phases. Turns out the community is agitated over the abundant road and sidewalk closures that result from the numerous projects in the neighborhood. UDR will now phase the construction so that the parking structure would be the first to be completed, hoping to lessen parking and traffic concerns. "Although we are a national multi-family developer, we understand the importance of local consultants who understand how things get done in their backyard. We want to bring people in who have those existing great relationships, who know how to develop projects in the city. So we felt comfortable," said Rodney Burchfield with UDR. Burchfield is referring to both Shalom Baranes Architects which is designing the new building, and Donohoe Construction, the General Contractor. "As an owner, we're looking to be a part of this new and emerging part of the District, and we want to be a great neighbor," Burchfield added. Shalom Baranes' design will feature floor to ceiling glass views, private terraces, a rooftop pool and garden as well as a massive lobby and outdoor atrium. UDR will be going for LEED points but has not decided whether or not to strive for LEED certification.