Beckert's Park on Capitol Hill - Coming This Summer

Redeveloping the aging, low density Safeway at the eastern end of Capitol Hill and ridding the neighborhood of a vast expanse of parking lot was inevitable.  But it took purchasing the land from Safeway's parent company and agreement to lease new space to Safeway to make the concept reality, and since purchasing the land in 2016, developer Foulger Pratt has been at work on the details.  Later this summer, the Silver Spring-based developer will open the 325 rental apartments and celebrate the new 60,000 s.f. Safeway.   The building will feature a "luxury pool" among its amenities, and 8000 s.f. of "neighborhood retail" on a site that housed an amusement park and beer garden in the 19th century.  Sadly, the beer garden will not be brought back, but those that remember the former Safeway will no doubt be pleased with its next generation replacement.

Project:  Beckert's Park

Address:  415 14th Street, SE, Washington DC

Developer: Foulger Pratt

Architect:  BKV Group

General Contractor:  Foulger Pratt Contracting

Use:  60,000 s.f. Safeway, 325 rental apartments,

Expected Completion:  Summer 2020

click any image for photo gallery

Washington D.C retail and real estate development news

Foulger Pratt's Press House

The Press House in Noma's east side is being developed by Foulger Pratt, repurposing the old National Capital Press building and adding significant new construction for a 3-building mixed use project adjacent to Union Market.

Project:  Press House

Address:  301-331 N Street, NE, Washington DC

Developer: Foulger Pratt

Architect:  Torti Gallas, AA Studio

Use: 356 residential units, 27,000 s.f. of retail, and 25,000 s.f. of office space

Expected Completion:  Spring 2021

Washington DC real estate development and retail news

New Apartment and Safeway for Downtown Wheaton Gets Going Today

Fall brings more change to downtown Wheaton, as today marks the start of construction of The Exchange at Wheaton, 486 apartments in a 17-story building and 60,000-s.f. anchor-tenant Safeway on Georgia Avenue. Groundbreaking, by Foulger-Pratt, will occur at 10 am today on Patriot Realty's "Wheaton Safeway" redevelopment that will create a transit-oriented development directly across from the Wheaton Metro. Designed by Baltimore-based architecture firm Hord Coplan Macht, the new building has the appearance of three individual towers of concrete and glass connected at the center. 

Safeway shoppers will use an underground parking garage, and apartment residents have three levels of parking above the store. A cutback in the massing in between each tower allows for a fifth-floor courtyard above the residential parking garage. The new Safeway will open for business in 2013, and will be followed by several other retailers at the location: a Starbucks, SunTrust, and a Bergman’s Drycleaners. Developers originally intended to break ground early this spring, which puts the project only modestly behind schedule, not a bad achievement, all things considered. 

Maryland real estate development news

HPRB: Site of DC's First Walmart Not Historic

As was expected, the Historic Preservation Review Board voted yesterday in line with the Historic Preservation Office recommendation not to designate the Car Barn on Georgia Avenue as a historic landmark. The site is the proposed location of the District's first Wal-Mart, and a historic designation would have complicated and slowed the path to development. Property owner Foulger Pratt will be able to continue demolition (abruptly halted) of the structure.

Several individuals and parties, both for and against slapping the Barn with historic landmark status, gave impassioned testimony as to whether preservation was important based on the structure's integrity, and ability to convey the meaning for which it was deemed significant.

One testimony in opposition to preservation declared, "It's a blighted area and it has been for many years... preserving [the Car Barn] would defeat the effort of the community to revitalize the area."

However, a historian in favor noted the existence of old windows, materials, original brick walls, trusses, original roof skylights, old doors, and original layout (service and storage bay). A community member added, "It's a garage that represents the entire Brightwood community."

HPRB said preservation was an issue only of "significant integrity," most of which was lost when alterations began to convert the structure to a Chevy dealership in 1995, and in the end, the Board felt there was not enough.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Columbia Pike Construction Commences

With big changes ever promised for Columbia Pike, evidence of actual progress is worthy of comment, especially when that progress is on schedule. Such is the case of Penrose Square. The only remnant of the former tenants at 2405 and 2501 Columbia Pike is the sad Giant Food sign surrounded by trailers, fences and barbed wire, but the project is on track for its scheduled delivery of late 2011.

Back in March, Foulger-Pratt Contracting won the $79 million construction contract for the building, and construction is now underway; Heffner Architects of Alexandria, Virginia have designed the project. There is little else new on the nearby strip, but Arlington continues to see the slow transformation of Columbia Pike with future plans for a street car with a stop at Penrose.

Carbon Thompson and B.M. Smith Associates will complete Penrose Square as a mixed-use development to include 325 rental apartments, 97,000 s.f. of retail space, and three levels of below-grade parking. Included in the retail space is a rebuilt, 57,000 s.f. Giant supermarket, with the residential units built above. The developers have also donated a parcel of land in front of the development for a new town square for pikers, also called Penrose Square, though right now it's all just one big hole.

The property is bordered by Columbia Pike to the south, Adams Street to the east, 9th Street to the North. Despite the new density, the height will remain low; 6 to 7 stories along Columbia Pike tapering to 3 1/2 stories along 9th Street.

Future Uncertain for Silver Spring Transit Mixed-Use

While work bristles along on the much anticipated, $70 million Paul Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center in downtown Silver Spring, progress on the proposed private development at the site is doing anything but. Despite being awarded rights to pursue three towers worth of mixed-use projects – including a 469-unit apartment building, a 196-room hotel and 25,000 square feet of ground floor retail at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue - following completion of the Transit Center, developer Foulger-Pratt is tight lipped on exactly when the once project will leap off the drawing boards and into the public realm.

“There are three towers that will be built around the Transit Center, someday…but we’re not exactly sure what the towers are going to be. At one point, it was a hotel, an office building and apartments, then hotel, office building, condos. But at this point, we know one of them will be a hotel and that’s all I can say because we don’t know yet,” said Steve Sowash, Director of Preconstruction and Estimation for Foulger Pratt. “Right now, we’re not even projecting a start date on it.”

Though Foulger-Pratt, also serving as general contractor on the Transit Center proper, were once thought to be planning to dovetail their start on the private portion of development with the projected late 2009 completion of the center, that plan appears to have fallen by the wayside. In a refrain all too familiar to area developers these days, Foulger-Pratt is laying the delay at the feet of Old Man Economy.

“[An early 2010 start] is too optimistic…[Our schedule] is contingent on the market in general.“ said Sowash. “Nothing’s even been submitted [to the Planning Board]. We responded to an RFP several years ago for three towers around the Transit Center. It was something that the County had awarded us the right to do, but, then again, it’s all market driven.”

Architects Zimmer Gunsul and Fransca remain attached to the project and Foulger will once again serve as general contractor if and when the developer gets shovels in the ground. In the meantime, the Transit Center is still on schedule to wrap up construction later this year. Montgomery County’s Division of Building Design and Construction is expected to provide an update on project during the first week of April.

Official Ground Breaking at Park Potomac Place

Ground breaking on the new Park Potomac Place office building is officially set to commence tomorrow. The colossal development site, spread out on more than 50 acres in Montgomery County off I-270, will host the ceremonial event where the site's largest office structure will stand. Already more than 60% of the building has been leased to Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker P.A., a Maryland -based law firm, which reserved over 65,000 s.f. The office compound is scheduled to be completed in 2009.

The Park Potomac Place, when finished, will be a massive mixed-use collection of structures encompassing: six condominium towers holding 450 luxury living residences, 150 individual brownstone townhouses, a 156-room hotel, 145,000 s.f. of retail space and a total of 570,000 s.f. of office space. Foulger-Pratt Companies, the developer for the site, will be building the condominium and commercial portions while Eakin Youngentob & Associates will be constructing the brownstones. Both companies are working together with SK&I Architectural Design Group to complete the entire complex by 2014.

Washington DC retail and real estate news

Silver Spring Transit Center MOU Approved

Last week, the Montgomery County Planning Board reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Public Works and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) regarding the massive mixed-use development project slated for the site of the Silver Spring Metro station, clearing the way for the issuance of bids for this $75 million development. The new Paul S. Sarbanes Silver Spring Transit Center, as the project is called, broke ceremonial ground last November, and is expected to be completed in 2009.

The Silver Spring Metro station is one of the busiest transit centers in the Washington area, currently serving 27,000 Metro riders, 32,000 bus riders and 1,100 MARC train riders daily, a number that is expected to increase to 97,000 patrons per day by 2025. Under the MOU, the Planning Board agreed to exchange its 35,000-sf Metro Urban Park (located on the current site) for an 11,633-sf park at the transit plaza entrance and an 11,590-sf park just off site. In addition, the Planning Board made clear it expects the county and WMATA to build all “essential elements” for the Center (escalator canopies, shade tress, light fixtures, etc.), and for any necessary additional funding to be sought from Federal and/or state governments.

If project plans hold, the development will transform the 5.7 acres around the metro station into a new three-story transit hub, with the first two levels for buses, and the third for metro’s Kiss and Ride, taxis, and some parking. The project will also feature two residential buildings containing 469 units, a 196-room hotel, 25,000 sf of street-level retail adjacent to Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue, and a public plaza. When completed, the Center is expected to significantly enhance access to existing Metrorail, Metrobus, Ride-On, MARC rail, bus and taxi, and the Metropolitan Branch Trail, as well as the planned Purple Line. The private development is being handled by Silver Spring Metro Center Partnership/Foulger-Pratt Development, with architecture by Zimmer, Gunsul and Frasca.

Silver Spring Transit Center Breaks Ground

On Monday, November 27, Montgomery County and other officials finally broke ground on the new Silver Spring Transit Center project, the $75 million transportation hub planned for the existing Silver Spring metro site. The center, which will be named in honor of retiring Senator Paul Sarbanes (pictured with other public officials at the groundbreaking ceremony), will transform the 5.7 acres in front of the metro station where the bus depot now is located (and across from the Discovery headquarters) into a three-level transportation center (the first two levels for buses, the third for metro’s Kiss and Ride, taxis, and some parking). The project will also feature two condominium buildings containing 450 units, a 200-room hotel, 25,000 sf of street-level retail, and a public plaza. The private development is being handled by Silver Spring Metro Center Partnership/Foulger-Pratt Development. Architecture by Zimmer, Gunsul and Frasca. The transit center is expected to be completed by Summer 2009.