Planning Board to Consider New Trillium Site Plans

New plans for a single 9-story apartment building with  a grocery store and a public plaza at 8300 Wisconsin Ave. will make its way Thursday to the Montgomery County Planning Board.

StonebridgeCarras submitted its amended plans for Bethesda's former Trillium site back in January, and now it will seek approval from the Board. StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital purchased the site in early 2011 for $29.25 million from Houston-based Patrinely Group, which had planned to build three residential towers designed by Davis Carter Scott.

Northwest-facing view from Wisconsin

StonebridgeCarras now plans a U-shaped building designed by WDG Architecture with up to 360 apartments - nearly double the Trillium plan - and 55,000 s.f. of retail encompassing a 22,000 s.f. public plaza that extends to the adjacent National Institutes of Health open space.

Ellen Miller, principal at StonebridgeCarras, said the apartments will range from efficiencies to large three-bedroom units - the size and price of which are not finalized.

The plan amendment submitted to the Board shows 30 efficiency, 185 one-bedroom, 127 two-bedroom, and 18 three-bedroom units. Of those, 45 units -- or 12.5 percent -- will be moderately priced dwelling units (MPDUs). Patrinely planned 198 units in its three buildings.

Intersection of Woodmont and Battery Lane

A grocery store Miller declined to name will anchor the building with entrances at the intersection of Woodmont Avenue and Battery Lane with a second entrance from the public plaza. Parking for 599 vehicles will be located on four levels below ground.

Removed from earlier plans is a 2,000 s.f. arts incubation space, a reduction that community groups opposed, but the developers say it no longer fits the project.

"We did try to consider how such a space might work in that location and in this project," Miller said. "In the end, we believed we had a different approach to the site. We had a use that was a magnet. We believe we have provided a beautiful public amenity space that has a very rich art component."

South-facing view from Wisconsin with NIH open space in the foreground

Instead, developers are working with Kent Bloomer Studio to bring a variety of artwork to the site. Miller said she hopes to present new renderings Thursday that better illustrate the integration of art.  At least five sculptures from other artists also are included in the plans.

The linear plaza will have a series of water features and various seating options for public use, and steps will lead down into the NIH open space.  More images of the plaza can be found here.

Planning Commission staff recommend approving the amendments, with some conditions such as streetscape improvements, an executed traffic mitigation plan, and using signs and focal points to draw people into the public space.

The Planning Board is scheduled to review the plan amendments at 2:15 p.m. Thursday.

Bethesda, Maryland, real estate development news

Demolition Underway at Woodmont Triangle

Demolition crews are clearing the way for Donohoe Development Company's high-rise apartment and retail development, The Gallery of Bethesda, in Woodmont Triangle.

Commercial offices and surface parking lots at 4800 Auburn Avenue will make way for 234 apartments and 4,660 s.f. of retail.The new 17-story building "includes its own pedestrian street, public art, and a variety of green amenities," according to the project webpage.

The Gallery of Bethesda is the first residential building Donohoe plans for the area. Another phase of development includes a second high-rise with 221 apartments and 14,520 s.f. of retail space at 4850 Rugby Rd.

Both residential highrises are part of a larger plan dubbed Woodmont Central that brings office space, residential units and retail to the neighborhood. A third building at 8280 Wisconsin Ave. will feature 81,000 s.f. of "Class A" office space and 10,500 s.f. of ground-floor retail space. WDG Architecture designed all three buildings.

Update:
New renderings were added to this post.


Bethesda, Maryland, real estate development news

Work to Begin on Two Clarendon Blvd. Projects

Two open lots in Arlington will start bustling within the next two weeks as work begins on two long-awaited mixed-use developments between the Rosslyn and Courthouse Metro stations.

After many months of predicting an "imminent" groundbreaking at the adjacent pair of now-vacant lots, Elm Street Development plans to begin utility work next week at 2001 Clarendon Blvd., Elm Street Vice President James Mobley said in an email. Next door at 1919 Clarendon Blvd. (the Hollywood Video site), crews were told to proceed, with work getting underway within two weeks, sources at USAA Real Estate said.

Arlington County records show USAA received a sheeting a shoring permit March 28 but still must revise plans to get additional construction permits for the residential and retail development at 1919 Clarendon Blvd., previously 1900 Wilson Blvd.

Rendering of 1919 Clarendon Blvd.

Meanwhile, records show that Elm Street is still working to get approval for sheeting and shoring in addition to the other required building permits for the proposed retail and residential development at 2001 Clarendon Blvd., previously 2000 Wilson Blvd.

"We have submitted for Footing to Grade Permit and addressed comments on the Sheeting and Shoring Plans," Mobley said in the email. "Other than addressing County comments the building is unchanged."

Rendering of 2001 Clarendon Blvd.

Mobley did not respond to a question asking why the project has been delayed. USAA said its project is moving forward as planned. However, both companies have said that construction was at hand at least since 2010.

With an expected delivery date in 2014, 2001 Clarendon Blvd. will be home to a 6-story mixed-use development with 154 apartments and approximately 30,000 s.f. of retail space. WDG Architecture designed the building S. E. Foster will construct. .

USAA will bring a 5-story mixed-use development with 198 residential units and 24,657 s.f. of retail space to 1919 Clarendon Blvd. USAA bought the site and plans from Zom Inc.in 2001. Torti Gallas designed the project that Harkins will build.

Arlington, VA real estate development news

Arlington's Green Tower to Break Ground in July

After nearly three years of delays, the Tellus, Arlington's greenest apartment building, is finally set to break ground.

"Demolition is starting in May, with construction starting on July 1," said Gagik Davtian, Program Manager at Erkiletian. "We figure it'll be about 20 months until first delivery."

The 254-unit, 16-story Tellus is anticipated to be Arlington's first LEED Gold certified building. Plans call for the building to be powered, at least in part, by renewable energy sources, and the building features various water-saving and energy-efficient features - for example, reclaimed storm water and air conditioning condensation will be used to irrigate the native-plant landscaping. The building will also feature smart car and bicycle options, as well as a 26,000 square-foot garden plaza. The Tellus gained approval from the county way back in 2009, with a projected start date later that year, but the recession put things on hold - until now.

The finished building will offer just over 2800 square feet of ground-floor retail space (a restaurant, according to Erkiletian), as well as 7700 square feet of office space. "The Tellus is replacing a seven-story Sixties-era office building [the Arlington Executive Building]," said Davtian. "One of the tenants from the existing building, some government people, are going to be installed in the new building too. The way the office space is attached is actually very organic - it's sort of a bubble coming out of the building, a curvy facade on the backside."

Like the rest of the development, the design of the building has gone through a long collaborative process. According to Davtian, Lessard Group did the "schematic design," and then WDG Architecture came in and developed the working drawings. "WDG also changed a few elements," Davtian said. "They slightly redesigned the interior units, making them bigger, more open, and more contemporary. A lot of them have a sort of loft-like feel now."

Though developers plan on first delivery in 20 months, the project in its entirety is expected to take a full two years to complete.

Arlington, VA real estate development news

Georgia Avenue Groundbreaking Delayed Again

Groundbreaking for Guardian Realty's 13-story residential tower at 8711 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring was delayed yet again because of the developer's indecision in choosing a general contractor, according to multiple (frustrated) sources. The project had been set to break ground at the end of January, but fell victim to Guardian's protracted pursuit of lower bids.

Guardian had no comment when contacted for this story.

Described as far back as 2008 as being on the "fast track," the project has flagged in recent years. Originally conceived as a 13-story Class A office tower, with ground-floor retail space, the project was switched to residential after the down economy made leasing difficult. (Location might also have been a factor - potential tenants who declined to lease at 8711 include corporate titans Northrup Grumman, Siemens, and Hilton, who all took offices elsewhere in the area.)

Developers anticipate a heightened demand for housing in the area after Walter Reed merges with the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. The site plan amendment, which left the original building's footprint almost entirely unchanged, was approved by Montgomery County planners in April 2011.

The new plan calls for 160 units in a thirteen story, 143-foot tall building on the 0.87 acre parcel, plus a bit of retail space (halved from 4,500 in the original plan). The WDG-designed building, which will open onto the forthcoming Fenton Street extension, also features a laudably adventurous "public arts plaza" designed by local artist Martha Jackson-Jarvis. The main feature of the plaza is a 75-foot "wave wall," a sort of flowing mosaic sculpture of varied textures that will "undulate like waves." Another, smaller, mosaic wall and a series of three-dimensional sculptures rounds out the space, and a mid-block pedestrian mall will connect the plaza to nearby Georgia Avenue.

At the April 2011 hearing for the site plan amendment, Brian Lang, representative of 8711 Georgia Avenue Parking Lot LLC, described the project as "liven[ing] up" a particularly "dark and dreary" stretch of Georgia Avenue. But before that happens, they'll have to actually build it.

Silver Spring real estate development news

Woodmont Triangle Apartment Developers Seek Approal for Trillium Successor

The barren, long-fallow Trillium site in Bethesda, long considered an unwelcome reminder of the untimely demise of the local market, is set to bounce back. Bethesda-based StonebridgeCarras, which in partnership with Walton Street Capital purchased the site in early 2011 for just over $29 million, filed their new plans for the site with Montgomery County just last month and hope to be before the planning board early this year.

“This is my new favorite project,” enthused Ellen Miller, Principal at Stonebridge. “This building is a gateway to Bethesda. The lot to the north [at the corner of Woodmont and Wisconsin] is owned by NIH and is a beautiful greenspace, and coming from the north you'll look across that and see this very handsome glass and brick building.”

The new plans are “quite different,” from the Trillium plans, says Miller. Where the Trillium plan, a Davis Carter Scott-designed series of three towers, was slanted heavily toward the high-end condo market, the Stonebridge development calls for around 370 rental units, from efficiencies to three-bedrooms, and a limited number of townhouse units that open directly onto Wisconsin Avenue. It also incorporates a significant amount of underground parking, and a grocery story on the ground floor - sort of.

“Given the topography of the site, how it falls almost twenty feet from Battery Lane,” says Miller, “the grocery store will be largely submerged on the Wisconsin side, with the main entrance on Woodmont.”

The u-shaped building, designed by WDG Architecture, features an interior green courtyard, which will incorporate an entrance to the as-yet-unnamed grocery store. Miller was coy when asked who it would be – Harris Teeter? Safeway? - but said that while they're still in negotiations, she thought the neighborhood would be very pleased with the mystery tenant. “This grocery amenity will not only serve the neighborhood, but also draw people in,” she said.

The site, way back when, was once home to the Clarion hotel, which was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Trillium project, the defunct condominium complex spearheaded by Houston-based Patrinely Group.

Doug Firstenberg, another principal at Stonebridge, told DCMud last year that he hoped this project could “anchor the redevelopment of Woodmont Triangle." Woodmont Triangle, situated as it is between the Medical Center and Bethesda metro stops on the Red Line, has attracted quite a bit of attention from developers recently. In addition to this project, developers are now building a pair of 17-story buildings in Woodmont - Bainbridge Bethesda as well and the long-delayed rebuild of 4900 Fairmont Avenue.

Just as the vacant Trillium site, which after last year's hurricane had fallen into open disrepair (Stonebridge has since cleaned up the lot) was seen by many as a symbol of the market crash, perhaps the long-overdue redevelopment could be a harbinger of an upturn? Local developers, no doubt, are hoping.

Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news

EastBanc Prepping for 2012 Start in West End

Hoping to begin construction by this time next year, the joint venture EastBanc-W.D.C. Partners LLC - led by EastBanc and joined by The Warrenton Group, Dantes Partners, and LS Caldwell & Associates - will seek Zoning Commission approval on December 19th for its West End development site.

Though hope springs eternal for the development team, Joe Sternlieb, head of real estate acquisitions at EastBanc, knows that the potentially elusive 2012 start date depends on how long it takes to trudge though and pocket approvals from D.C.'s various commissions and committees, in this case Zoning, the Commission of Fine Arts, and DDOT's public space committee, among others - yet, the team is making strides, and although the design seems to change daily at this point in the process, Sternlieb remains optimistic.

With the CFA process begun, and DDOT in the future, the focus now is on Zoning's approval of the Planned Unit Development for Square 37, one of two West End sites being developed in conjunction by EastBanc. The other, Square 50, will be matter of right. The Square 37 property - fronting L Street between 23rd and 24th Street, NW - consists of three lots now holding the West End Library, a Police Operations facility and a surface parking lot. The site needs to be rezoned as Commercial Residential (CR) in order for developers to construct a mixed-use, 11-story building designed by architect Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos that will house a new West End Library, 7,617 s.f. of additional retail space which includes a corner cafe, and approximately 180 residences.

Zoning Commission approval of the plan (the PUD) and rezone request should be the easy part. Capitalizing on the West End site was the goal of the District, which issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment (of both Square 37 and 50) in October of 2009. The city selected EastBanc in March of 2010; the winning developer beat out one other competitor thanks to asserting it would build both a new library and a new fire station without District subsidy. And in advance of EastBanc's PUD application filing, Victor Hoskins, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, sent the Commission a letter in support, highlighting that fact.

The entire project includes four District-owned sites at Square 37 and 50. The Square 50 portion (the other component not included in the Commission's review this month) includes the new West End fire station which will be topped with below-market rate residences, located at 2225 M Street, NW. Although both buildings at Square 37 and 50 are the vision of Enrique Norten, the project's architect of record is WDG Architecture.

District backing can only get the project so far, however. The development team will have to revisit the Commission of Fine Arts, after the CFA determined in its October 20th review that the library exterior needs a little "refinement," and suggested a "de–emphasis of supergraphics on the windows to support the clear architectural expression of the entrance."

The CFA also expressed concern about "building performance, such as the maintenance of the glass and metal skin of the building," and will have the chance to review another submission for the project in the near future. However, in a letter to Victor Hoskins, the "Commission commended the developer, DMPED, and the D.C. Public Library for their collaboration in supporting this distinctive design."

The entire Square 37 and 50 redevelopment project is part of Georgetown-based EastBanc's purported goal "to transform the once sleepy West End from a 'transitional zone' between Georgetown and Dupont Circle into a vibrant urban neighborhood with its own unique identity."

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Looking Back, and Forward: 15th and V

After noting that the Jair Lynch Development Partners' 9-story, 95-unit apartment designed by WDG Architecture will be built at 2005 15th Street, NW, a reader felt the site's former life should be acknowledged. The new Jair Lynch apartment will rise up on what is now a surface parking lot next to the 10-story, 171-unit Campbell Heights Apartment at 2001 15th Street, but low and behold, the parking lot wasn't always there. In 1978, the Campbell

Heights Association constructed its eponymous apartment as subsidized, unassisted, one-bedroom apartments for senior citizens aged 62 and older. But first, the property on site had to be demolished. A grand Victorian structure stretching the entire block of 15th between U and V Street, built at the turn of the 20th century as "The Portner Flats," a high-end luxury apartment building offering 485 rooms (with baths!) and an entrance flanked by ornate Viennese-style sculptures. 

The Victorian was demolished in 1974, but it became famous first, in 1946, after it was sold by the Portner family and reopened as the Dunbar Hotel, Washington's leading elite black hotel. In the '50s and '60s, in the lobby of the Dunbar distinguished musical greats could be found - Duke Ellington, Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Count Basie - cooling their heels after lighting up jazz dens strung along the U Street Corridor. "Before public accommodations were integrated in the nation’s capital, the Dunbar Hotel was the only major hotel where blacks could stay," wrote the Washington Times in 2009. However, when the District's other hotels did integrate, in the 1960s, the Dunbar fell into disrepair, was condemned, sold to the District in 1970, and razed in 1974. The Dunbar was named after Paul Laurence Dunbar, an African American poet born in the late-19th century who died before his time, in 1906; shortly after the Portner Flats were built, but long before the razzle-dazzle heyday of the U Street District that brought with it the short-lived glory that was the Dunbar Hotel. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Jair Lynch's 15th and V Street Apartment Approved by HPRB

Jair Lynch Development Partners' 9-story apartment at 15th and V Street, NW, in the U Street District, was given the go-ahead by the Historic Preservation Review Board this morning, after lead designer Sungjin Cho with WDG Architecture presented a new design (above) reflecting the changes that the Board had requested in September.

The apartment's original design (below) has been tweaked to become more sympathetic in scale to the surrounding historic district. In order to do so, WDG increased the percentage of masonry (to glass) on the facade, reduced the height of the corner tower (by one foot on V Street and 4 feet on 15th), decreased the size of all windows, created slimmer bay projections (by a foot-and-a-half), and added more masonry between the ground-floor glass and the tower. Two kinds of glass will now be used in the bays, clear and "fritted" (i.e. enameled).

Included in the development will be two levels of underground parking, 95 apartments - 87 market rate units and 8 subsidized (at 50 to 80% of AMI) - a fitness room, club room, shared interior courtyard, and roof deck.

The property, located at 2005 15th Street, will overtake an existing parking lot that serves the adjacent Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartment (formerly Campbell Heights) at 2001 15th Street, a 10-story, 171-unit apartment designated as affordable senior housing, which is property owned in large part by Jair Lynch. Lynch acquired majority ownership of the Dunbar apartment last year - as the website states - after having "structured a complex package of debt and equity totaling $43.3 million to facilitate the rehabilitation of the property." According to the U Street Neighborhood Association, "The [15th and V Street] project subsidizes a portion of the renovation work being performed on the ... Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments."

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Next at Bat: Camden South Breaks Ground

In two years’ time there will be 276 apartments to rent on South Capitol Street in Southwest, just a foul tip away from the Nationals Stadium. Donohoe Construction, general contractor on the project, broke ground Wednesday on the building – Camden South Capitol – and aims to be finished in late summer of 2013. This should give renters enough time to grab an apartment in time to not see the Nationals in the 2013 World Series.

Pictured: Mark Bucci (Camden), Screech (Nats Mascot), Bob Wilson (Donohoe), Neil Stablow (Donohoe), Greg McCarthy (Nats)

The project, named for developer Camden Property Trust, will rise out of a previously vacant site, nearly the size of the Nats’ outfield. It’s been duly noted that a structure named “Camden” might be more appropriate in Baltimore, a (Nats fans’) stone’s throw from Camden Yards.

The 276-unit building, designed by WDG Architecture, will rise over 10 ten stories and feature a rooftop pool, a courtyard, “high finishes and upscale residences”, three levels of underground parking, and will sport a grey-brick exterior of contrasting textures and colors: smooth vs. rough, and light vs. dark.

These aforementioned features create a view of the buildings, but a view from the building may be even more impressive, according to Sean Stadler at WDG Architecture: one, there may be a view up to the Capitol to the north and the Anacostia River to the south, at least for upper-floor dwellers; and two, the rooftop deck will offer a view into the ballpark, transforming the pool into cheap seats at game time. Reminder: binoculars not waterproof.

According to Susan Goldstein at Donohoe, Camden South is the first multi-family project to get off (or in) the ground in the area for 3 and a half years, and “the Capitol Riverfront BID is working to incorporate this site into the BID.” Also of note yesterday, a win for the Nationals who squeaked by the Phillies for a 2-1 victory.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Camden to Start Southwest DC Project Next Tuesday

Camden Property Trust will kick off its project on South Capitol Street in southwest DC a week from tomorrow, inaugurating what will be one of the few projects to actually begin construction lately in the littlest quadrant, with the building of a 276-unit rental building across the street from Nationals Stadium. The groundbreaking puts the project on track for a late summer 2013 completion, possibly in time for views of the stadium during regular season play. DC-based WDG Architecture, which also conceived the apartments just north of the ballpark, designed the building - officially called Camden South Capitol - that will take up the now vacant site north of O Street. Developers at Camden say the apartment building will fill a need in the saturated residential market of the Capitol Riverfront, which now has scant vacancy. Foundry Lofts on the riverfront will be open for lease by early fall, though no other residential development will open in the interim. WDG's Sean Stadler notes that the building was being designed in a very uncertain rental market - during construction of the ballpark. "It has a very rich feeling for a project that was in a unknown rental market when it was conceived," says Stadler. Given that, retail space was minimized in favor of a street presence for building services. "We tried to break down the facade...creating a street wall along South Capitol, but at the street the whole thing will break down on a human scale." Stadler says the grey brick is an alternating pattern, smooth and textured, light and dark grey. "So from up close the building starts to break down in scale...at the base, certain pieces pop out that give relief so the facade doesn't just hit the street." Stadler is also confident the apartments "will have great air and light with great views up to the Capitol." Mark Coletta of Camden says the residence will offer a rooftop pool and deck, underground parking, and possibly fabulous views into the ballpark across the street. Camden purchased the property in 2007 and has hired Donohoe as the general contractor. 

Washington DC real estate development news

Silver Spring - Georgia Avenue Switches from Office to Residential

Design had been fleshed out, brochures were been inked, and the PR machine for Silver Spring's office tower at 8711 Georgia Avenue had been ambling along. At least until this past January, when plans were scrapped as Guardian Realty filed an amendment to eliminate the office plans and replace it with 160 residential units, keeping retail space. The hearing is scheduled for April 21st after the extension was granted in mid-January of this year.

Under the working name of 8711 Georgia Avenue Parking Lot LLC, the name passed down from original owner Zalco Realty Incorporated onto Guardian Realty Investors after the site was sold in 2007, Zalco intended to create a 13-story class A office building with a slice of retail two blocks from the Metro. Without a working tenant and with demand for residential rentals at an all time high as a result of the housing crunch, developers have now switched to residential.

"The owner [Guardian] tried to find someone to occupy the office spaces before it was built, but in this economy, it is difficult to find a tenant," said Yun Kim, senior designer for WDG Architecture, the design firm for the project. "Converting the proposed building from an office space to residential makes more sense in this economic climate."

The April 21st hearing is to review the change in use, said Robert Kronenberg, spokesperson for the Montgomery County Planning Board. "The building footprint will stay approximately the same. The amount of retail on the ground floor with remain the same. The difference is just in the changeover from office to residential." The change of plans would delay the North Bethesda based developer from a late 2011 early 2012 start.

A development in Silver Spring on a similar timetable is Silver Spring Park, formerly Moda Vista Residences, the Fenton Group LLC development in the former Fenton Street Market space that will make way for a 59,870 s.f., 60-foot-tall Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel with 110 rooms, a 28,170 s.f. office building, and a 58-unit apartment building. Groundbreaking for Silver Spring Park is projected for spring of 2011.

Silver Spring, Maryland Real Estate Development News

Eastbanc to Unveil West End Residences

At long last, Georgetown's Eastbanc will unveil its plans for West End library and fire station sites on the 25th of April at a meeting of the ANC. After months of meeting with local community groups to fine-tune plans, Eastbanc intends to roll out its plans more publicly for redevelopment of the two sites.

Eastbanc's proposal is for a 52-unit low-income (max 60% AMI), 90 foot residential building above a new fire station on M Street, and a 10-story residence of up to 180 units above a new library and retail filling the 2300 block of L Street. The developer was selected by the District of Columbia in March of 2010 to redevelop the 4 city-owned sites - 1 at the fire station and 3 contiguous sites between the West End Library and special operations facility at 23rd and L, each a 2 story, deteriorating building subsumed by development and recent population surge. Eastbanc is not releasing its designs until the ANC meeting, but early renderings (at left, above) indicate the projects will be in keeping with the designer's minimalist, contemporary style.

The project is being designed by New York and Mexico-based TEN Arquitectos, (for Taller de Enrique Norten) and will add 10,000 s.f. of ground floor retail to the street.

Enrique Norten, lead designer on the West End project, started TEN Arquitectos in Mexico City in 1986 designing small, modern single-family homes. The firm has now swelled to an international presence, though still with a predominantly Mexican portfolio, and seeks to "straddle the line between Mexican and New York sensibilities," says a spokesman, who says Norton creates for a "very minimalist aesthetic." The architect has received attention for his redesign of federal buildings throughout Mexico as well as several high profile projects in New York City.

Completed projects and proposals bear that out, with designs that encompass simple, angular and monument- style towers with expansive footprints as well as diminutive rectangular buildings in more clustered urban spaces, most of which reject the graph paper effect of even lines and flat facades in favor of broken, asymmetrical contours and surfaces. (see visuals: Harlem Park in NYC above left, James Hotel in Los Angeles, above right, Mercedes House in NYC below 1, Chopo Museum Mexico, below 2, New York library below 3, Reforma in Mexico, below 4)

Sean Stadler, Principal of WDG Architecture which was chosen as the architect of record to execute the designs, says Eastbanc's choice of Norten demonstrates Eastbanc's commitment to "trying to assert good architecture into the community." Says Stadler, "they approach development not just from a dollars and sense position. I think that TEN Arquitectos is thinking with a much more global eye on architecture than DC tends to, and I think that's part of the strategy that Eastbanc has had in the past." Citing Eastbanc's other accomplishments at 22 West and Ritz Carlton Georgetown (a former power plant), Stadler credits Eastbanc with the transformative effect of well executed project. "If you look at the old power plant in Georgetown, its really made it a much more personable place."
To accomplish the LEED - possibly gold - ranking that Stadler says the team is striving for, and which Eastbanc didn't apply for on prior projects, the architect says to expect efficient glass, solar shades, exterior louvers, a green roof, and the latest wastewater management strategies. Noting the "strategy in this project in reducing our carbon footprint," Stadler calls the mostly glass, louvered shell "a much more efficient vehicle to stop heat from entering the building. Its not an eyebrow, but a more European approach, an operable full louver, somewhat like a blind on the exterior." According to Stadler, the exterior blinds block heat before it enters the building, in contrast to interior blinds, but also "visually adds texture and depth to the facade."

Eastbanc's Joe Sternlieb says the April 25th unveiling will be just the end of a years-long roadshow, acclimating the public and seeking input that has honed the design. "We tend to do alot of community meetings before we file...we've had over 60 community meetings so far over last 4 years, and retooled project many times based on community feedback." Sternlieb says he hopes to file the PUD application with the zoning forces in the first week of May, in conformance with milestones dictated by the District government, though he declines to set a timeline for construction, saying only that construction could begin within a year of zoning approval, or late 2012, at best. Only the library-police site is subject to zoning review, with the fire station "within the zoning envelope." LeMay Erickson Willcox Architects, which has expertise in designing fire stations, is helping craft the M Street site.

While the library and fire station will be rebuilt on site, the special-operations unit will be moved elsewhere.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Donohoe's Trifecta in Woodmont Triangle

At the end of this month, the Montgomery County Planning Board will likely hand down its approval - with possible amendments - to Donohoe Development Company's Woodmont Central, the multi-phased, mixed use project that will redefine the urban landscape of the underutilized Woodmont Triangle area. "We've been working on this project for many years," said Peter Gartlan, President of Donohoe. "We've made many amendments, we've gotten our site plans re-approved and we're looking forward to moving ahead with our plans."

The biggest draw for the area is 8280 Wisconsin Avenue, now the site of a Texaco station, the area's only car wash. Once the building is razed, Donohoe will develop a 91,600 s.f. Class A office building with 11,000 s.f. of retail. Gartlan said he hopes to break ground on this facet of the project in 2013.

Nevertheless, Donohoe plans to break ground on the two residential buildings in the second quarter of 2012. First up is Phase 1B, also known as The Gallery of Bethesda at 4800 Auburn Avenue. The building will replace old commercial buildings and surface parking with 234 units, 5400 s.f. of retail and its own pedestrian street with public art displays. The second building, now dubbed Phase 2, also know as The Gallery of Bethesda II, will be a 221-unit building at 4850 Rugby Avenue with 19,500 s.f. of ground floor retail. WDG Architecture is on the hook for design of each of the three buildings.

The Montgomery County Planning Board has already approved the preliminary plans of a project that's been in the works following the amendment to the 2006 Bethesda Sector Plan.

Until the 2006 amendment, said Gartlan, density was site-specific. "The adjustment that allows non-contiguous transfer of density was changed specifically to help cultivate the redevelopment of Woodmont Triangle, which is what used to be the center of Bethesda," said Gartlan. Because of the amendment, Donohoe was able to transfer density from one of their sites to another. "We have designed our plans in accordance with the adjustment, working closely with the city, which seems to really like our final designs."

Jad Donohoe, Development Director for the company, told DCMud, "[The transfer is] a new idea and the thought was that because there is such fragmented ownership in that section of Bethesda, this would be a way to bring the density needed to make more of a Bethesda Row-type of experience."

Woodmont Central is much further along than another huge Donohoe project, the hotel, jazz club and retail outlets the company is planning to build called the Arts at 5th and I in Mt. Vernon Triangle. Because the project has yet to be financed, ground breaking isn't yet on the horizon.

Bethesda, MD real estate development news

Arlington's Block Busting Year

One of Arlington's most stubbornly static development sites - a superblock of three stagnant development parcels at the Courthouse Metro station - is finally ready to start construction in what could be a fraternity of development initiatives. Developers of the 1800, 1900 and 2000 blocks of Wilson Boulevard, all located on the same block, have been working separately for years to build large, mixed-use projects on their respective sites, and now the latter two say they will start construction this year for vast amounts of retail, housing, and office space, broken up with a new street between them.

Elm Street Development plans to start its construction on 2000 Wilson Boulevard (formerly the Taco Bell and Dr. Dremo's site), known now as 2001 Clarendon, with 30,000 s.f. of retail space and 154 residential units, while USAA, which purchased the 1900 block of Wilson Boulevard late last year, plans to start work this fall on a mixed-use, predominantly residential project. Working out approvable developments on both sites required land swapping and an endowment of land to Arlington to extend Troy Street, connecting Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards. Meanwhile, developers at the eastern end of the superblock on Rhodes Street are still vying to get financing to double the size of the office space and integrate retail.

2000 Wilson
The stuttering progression at 2001 Clarendon was initially planned to begin in late 2007 as a condominium, but in 2008 switched to apartments (in theory), shooting for a 2010 completion. In early 2010 Elm Street VP Jim Mobley said the team was again "looking at" the concept of condos, "financing dependent." With financing now in place (underwritten as apartments), construction is near, with the likely chance of condo conversion down the road. Retail space will front 3 streets, subdivided into small storefronts. Because of Elm Street's rejiggering of the plans, at Arlington's suggestion, no permits have been issued, but sources for the project say work is expected to commence late this year.

George Dove, Managing Principal at WDG Architecture, which designed the 6 story "extremely contemporary" building, notes the challenges facing the climbing site. "From a zoning standpoint, between Courthouse and Rosslyn, you have a sequence of height limits, and you have elevation changes, so it has a series of levels that drop-off as you move down the street, like stair-steps. This had alot to do with driving the design." Besides shooting for basic LEED certification, an Arlington requirement, 2001 Clarendon will incorporate a series of green roofs. "This is the antitheses of the high-rise, urban, compact residential project. It stretches out over a much larger floorplate. That gives alot of rooftop areas at different levels, it is definitely not a boring facade," said Dove.

1900 Wilson
Across the (not yet built) street, USAA has purchased 1900 Wilson Boulevard, along with its plans for a 5-story mixed-use residential building. USAA bought the Hollywood Video site from Zom, Inc., which had already birddogged plans to construct residences through Arlington's approval process. USAA will retain Zom as a fee developer to build out the project. Torti Gallas designed the more urban seeming structures with large retail spaces along Clarendon Boulevard and live/work spaces along Wilson Boulevard.

Sources involved in the development say no dates have been set, but that work is "on target" to materialize this year, and Hailey Ghalib of USAA says the the developer expects to build in the third quarter of this year and is working with Harkins Builders on pre-construction issues, but has not yet signed a construction contract nor obtained construction permits. Construction is expected to last 22 months.

1800 Wilson
The lone holdout at this point is the eastern end of the block, slated to demolish Rhodeside Grill and Il Radicchio to more than double the office space used by the National Science Teachers Association. The NSTA has teamed with developer DRI to expand their Arlington headquarters at 1840 Wilson, with an approved site plan in hand. NSTA hopes to build a 107,000 s.f. office building with 10,000 s.f. of retail, taking up an adjacent surface parking lot. The site plan was initially approved in November 2005, amendments were approved in July 2008 and November 2008 to resolve façade and parking issues, but the project is on hold pending financing, which the team is "working very hard" to secure, of course. The NSTA has already contracted Davis Carter Scott as the architect and DPR Construction Company as the general contractor, if and when the bankers come to the rescue.

As if that weren't enough, work is now underway next door in the 1700 block of Wilson Boulevard, where Skanska is building a 5 story office building. Get ready for a loud but productive year, and lots of cranes.

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