Towering Over Rosslyn

The Highlands, Penzance's new mixed use development on Rosslyn's highest perch, is still a year away but taking its final shape as the buildings have now topped out.   Named for it's high seat atop the hill at Rosslyn's Highlands Park, the ambitious construction project includes 3 towers with a collective 884 units - 331 rental units spread over 23 floors at The Aubrey, 104 condominiums over 26 floors at The Pierce, and 449 apartment units in a 27 story tower at Evo.  Both the Evo and Pierce top out at 270' above ground.

The towers were built on the site of an office building owned by Penzance (1555 Wilson Blvd), and a fire station owned by Arlington county.  The county gave Penzance a lease of up to 125 years (including options) for its site, with rent calculated based on land value minus the developer's improvements to the property, and included a new fire station incorporated into the project facing Wilson Boulevard.

So far, CVS and Vida Fitness have signed as retail tenants, which together with the residents will be served by a 4 level, 1060 space garage below ground.  Hickok Cole, the Georgetown-based architect designing two of the three towers (Evo and Pierce), is anticipating a LEED Silver rating for the buildings.

While the Aubrey will sit on the west side of North Pierce Street - a new extension not in alignment with the existing street, Pierce (the condo) and Evo will share a "resort style pool and cascading waterfall feature" on the roof of Evo, according to Rhea Vaflor of Hickok Cole, while the condo will have its own private rooftop features, and in between will be a 3rd floor garden terrace overlook.  Vaflor describes the buildings as "transformative" to that area of Rosslyn, with apartments "right-sized for the single professional and young couple" with high-end features.  The project aims to finish in the 3rd quarter 2021.

Project:  The Highlands

Address:  1525 Wilson Boulevard, Rosslyn, VA

Developer:  Penzance

Architect:  Hickok Cole Architects, Studios Architecture

Construction:  Whiting-Turner 

Use:  884 Residential units

Expected Completion:  Q3 2021

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

City Ridge - the Former Fannie Mae Site

The City Ridge project will transform the former Fannie Mae headquarters just south of Tenleytown into a mixed-use development including the city's first Wegmans, scheduled to open in 2022.  Roadside, which developed City Market at O in Shaw nearly a decade ago, initiated construction in 2018 and employ an impressive 5 construction cranes to cover the entire 10-acre site.  More impressive still is the need to lift and support the entire Georgian revival building to allow the old foundation to be removed and excavate a further 8 feet, supporting the existing building on micropiles and creating a new base added that will house Wegmans.  The completed project will feature 690 residential units, 153,000 s.f. of retail, and 174,000 s.f. of office space, for a "mixed-use urban village."

On top of adding Wegmans to the roster, Roadside and partner NASH (North America Sekisui House) also signed International Baccalaureate, a global non-profit that designs educational curricula, now based in Bethesda, as the signature tenant for the historic building, vacated when Fannie Mae decamped for their new downtown campus.  The successful relocation of three 600,000 pound heritage oaks from the construction site to the front yard was yet another upbeat element for the project.

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Project:  City Ridge

Address:  3939 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC

Developer:  Roadside Development

Architect:  Shalom Baranes

Construction:  Whiting Turner

Landscape Architect:  Michael Vergason

Use: 690 residential units, 153,000 s.f. of retail, 167,000 s.f. of office

Expected Completion: Early 2022

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

District's Northeast Neighborhood Library to Get Facelift

The District's Northeast Neighborhood Library, the fourth-oldest library in the city, is getting a $10 million makeover.

The D.C. Public Library announced it had selected Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Construction, builder of Rockville Town Square and RBK Construction, with BELL Architects and Vines Architecture, as the design/build team for its Georgian-style Capitol Hill facility.

The library, at 330 7th Street NE, first opened in 1932. It will get its original woodwork restored, as well as new plumbing and lighting, along with more space for meetings, and a new elevator and restrooms. Existing furnishings and fixtures will be rehabbed as well.

Design plans will take six months, and the project, which will shoot for a LEED Silver Certification once complete, is expected to begin in fall 2012 and will take about a year to finish, the D.C. Public Library said.

(photo courtesy DC Public Library)

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Demolition Makes Way for DC's $218 million Crime Lab

Today DC officials began demolition work at the Metropolitan Police Department's former First District Headquarters at 415 4th Street, SW, the future site of the District's $218 million Consolidated Forensics Laboratory (CFL). Developed by Whiting-Turner and designed by HOK Architects, the six-story, 287,000 s.f. state-of-the-art crime lab will be situated in the shadow of the new Constitution Center complex near the L'Enfant Plaza Metro.

The new CFL will house the forensic arms of the Metropolitan Police, as well as the Department of Health and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and will be LEED Gold certified when it is completed sometime "in late 2012," according to DC Mayor Adrian Fenty. The First District's MPD headquarters relocated to the Bowen School at 101 M St SW in March to make room for the CFL lab.

CFL Director, Dr. William Vosburg said the new facility will allow for "synergy" between health and safety departments so that they are able to fight crime, identify disease outbreaks, and support public health and safety in general. And who couldn't use a little more synergy these days?

Meanwhile, the search continues for a temporary headquarters for the adjacent Engine 13 Fire House. The Ward 6 fire station will move to the adjoining parcels at 450 6th Street, SW just as soon as Mayor Fenty and the fire chief work out a suitable location for a temporary headquarters.

Builder Selected for New SW DC Crime Lab

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development announced yesterday that is has awarded Whiting-Turner a $133 million contract to construct the District's new Consolidated Forensics Laboratory (CFL) at the former site of the Metropolitan Police Department's at 415 4th Street, SW. Designed by HOK Architects, the six-story, 287,000 square foot crime lab will house the forensic arms of not only the police department, but the Department of Health and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner as well. According to ODMPED, the new CFL will "coordinate crime, public safety and health investigations to help law enforcement solve crimes quickly without having to rely on other laboratories with competing priorities." Coming in at a total cost of $220 million (including “specialized equipment”), ODMPED states that the “firm-fixed price contract includes abatement and demolition of the old building as well as a 35 percent set-aside for Certified Business Enterprises.” A date for the demolition has yet to be scheduled, but work continues abreast just around the corner from the CFL site. Early last month, the District officials selected Potomac Investment Properties, City Partners and Adams Investment Group to construct to two, new mixed-use buildings – including a new fire station – just a few hundred yards away on two parcels adjoining 450 6th Street, SW.

Washington DC real estate development news