Today in Pictures - Metro's New Offices

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners are jointly developing an office building adjacent to L'Enfant Plaza, a project that gutted and skinned a dated office building, and add 3 new floors to the 7-story skeleton.  When completed in late 2021, the project will serve as the new headquarters for the transit organization, which is being relocated from 5th Street, NW, part of its consolidation plan into a 200,000 s.f. building.

Project:  WMATA Headquarters

Address:  300 7th St., SW, Washington DC

Developer:  Jair Lynch

Architect:  Studios Architecture

Construction:  Gilbane Building Company

Use:  200,000 s.f. of office space

Expected Completion:  Q4 2021

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

Georgia Avenue Projects Finish Out, Fill Up

The Georgia Avenue corridor at Petworth comes into its own as one more residential development marks its completion this month: 3 Tree Flats, the 130 unit rental building from AHD Inc., Jair Lynch Development Partners and Stratford Capital Group, part of the Georgia Avenue revitalization. An opening celebration is scheduled for April 13th.

The mixed income building two blocks from the Petworth metro offers views of the city from its perch on a hill, a green roof and parking. According to Tara Russell, building manager from Equity Management, units have been available since February. Forty-nine units have been leased, with applications having been filed on the remaining 81 units. "We have had a great response from the community," said Russell. "We could not be more pleased."

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) selected the development team – which also included EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates - in 2007 following a competitive solicitation process, the project had been started under the name Georgia Commons before rebranding last year.

Washington, D.C. real estate development news

Northwest One Project Aims to be First New Residence in Northwest One

Northwest One's race for the first residential project is showing some contest. The development team for the SeVerna had forecasted earlier this year that their 60-unit affordable housing project would get moving this summer, which DCMud reported last spring, but construction has not yet taken place, and now William C. Smith & Co claims their $80 million, 314-unit "classy, rental building" will in fact be the first to break ground - next spring. But not so, says Jose Sousa, a spokesman with Mayor Adrian Fenty's office, the SeVerna's developers settled on their property August 12 and will be breaking ground, at least officially, "in the next couple of weeks."

The District has already built the Walker Jones Education Campus, a school and recreation center, officially the first successful portion of the redevelopment plan, but it remains unclear where its next students will come from, as neither the Severna developers ( MissionFirst Development, The Henson Development Company and Golden Rule Apartments, Inc.) nor William C. Smith have offered a definitive date for actual construction. William C. Smith's proposed building will stand twelve stories tall upon completion,

with a small ground-floor retail component, a first installment on the larger Northwest One Initiative (part of the New Communities Project), a $700 million redevelopment project in Ward 6, providing a makeover for the scarred, crime-infested real estate extending from K Street in the
south to New York Avenue in the north, and stretching from North Capitol Street in the east to New Jersey Avenue in the west. In 2007, the Mayor and DMPED awarded the rights to the redevelopment project to One Vision Development Partners headed by William C. Smith & Co in partnership with Jair Lynch, with Banneker Ventures and affordable housing provider Community Preservation and Development Corporation also involved with portions of the larger project. As promised, the building will offer 93 affordable units, 30% of the total apartments.

The first parcel (out of a total of 5 or 6) will be situated on the corner of North Capitol and M Street, NE, technically in NoMa. Architectural designs are courtesy of Eric Colbert & Associates; William C. Smith-affiliated WCS Construction will build the structure. Architect Brian Bukowski says the industrial nature of this part of DC was the major inspiration for a unifying aesthetic theme. "We wanted to give the building an updated post-industrial flavor," Bukowski explained. The exposed fixed post steel, generous use of red brick, and angular, geometric fenestration seem to bear out his claim. But if on whole the building brings to mind a downtown warehouse, the ten two-level townhouses serve as a friendlier introduction to the large facade on the M Street side of the building. The townhomes and accompanying courtyard will help relate to the residential-nature of the immediate neighborhoods. Loading and and parking access will be relegated to the opposite site of the building on Patterson Avenue. A roof penthouse will crown the building.

The main rooftop will not only provide panoramic views, but will also be ornamented with a landscaped green terrace and lap pool. A rain harvesting cistern on the roof will conserve run-off and curb water consumption; low-flow showers will further aid the conservation effort. On what will likely be a crowded roof are several solar panels, funneling electricity to the building's energy grid. In the end, residents will be able to brag about one of the greenest roofs in the city, collecting water, converting the sun's rays into usable energy, and deflecting thermal load with it's organic plant life, all aspects in an effort to earn a LEED Silver certification, with the possibility of becoming the first LEED Gold-rated multifamily residential building in the District.

William C. Smith is in the final steps of negotiating the lease agreement with the District, and although financing is not in place, developers are working toward securing funds, still optimistic that groundbreaking will happen in the late first quarter or early second quarter of next year. A request for subcontracting bids has been issued by WCS, a sign that the developers and teammates are serious about moving forward. The estimated 20-24 month construction time places delivery in the early part of 2013.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Northwest One Announcement on the Horizon

It appears that construction is imminent on the next phase of development at Northwest One, the ambitious, $700m mixed-income housing project in the bursting NoMa neighborhood. Developer William C. Smith & Co. has been collecting subcontractors and is expected to announce shortly a schedule for work at the vacant parking lot - formerly the Temple Court Apartments - at the intersection of North Capitol and M Streets.

William C. Smith & Co. partnered with Jair Lynch, affordable housing providers Community Preservation and Development Corporation, and the Warrenton Group (formerly of Banneker Ventures) to create One Vision Development Partners, a Certified Business Enterprise that promises to create jobs for DC workers during the subcontracting phase of development.

Planned along a five-block stretch of North Capitol Street, the mixed-income Northwest One community is being born out of a need to confront the high crime and poverty rates within the public housing developments in the area.

Deputy Mayor’s Office Spokesman Sean Madigan told DCMud that a formal announcement about the city’s plans may appear as early as next week once they’ve finished “working out a few of these details” about timelines and participants. Until that happens, most participants in the project have been mum about details.

Eric Colbert, whose architecture firm Eric Colbert & Associates will design the 12-story 2 M Street NE building, confirmed that this portion of the mixed-use development will include 4,600 s.f. of ground floor retail, 326 apartment units, 10 town houses, and a rooftop pool.

Although William C. Smith & Co's affiliated WCS Construction team will handle the main contracting of the building at 2 M Street NE, W. Christopher Smith, Jr. pledged a 40% CBE (designated "local" business enterprise) goal at a July Northwest One public round table.

Georgia Commons Starts Up in Petworth

The contractors of Meridian Builders joined Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser yesterday to oversee the demolition of an old Petworth carpet store at 3910-3912 Georgia Avenue, NW. It’s a site that will soon host the Georgia Commons – a 30,000 square foot, mixed-use project from Jair Lynch Development Partners and Affordable Housing Partners with 119 out of its 130 new apartments geared towards working families. But the developer stresses that this is not your typical affordable housing project.

"It’s generally for families of four making 50, 60, 70 thousand dollars – that’s the market we’re talking about. It’s much different than the general impression of what people think low-income means," said developer Jair Lynch. "We think the remainder may be higher in the 80 to 90 thousand range. It’s not a drastic change.” 

 

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) selected the development team – which also includes EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates - two years ago following a competitive solicitation process. With features including a green roof, high efficiency heating and cooling systems, and "green screen" shielding, the project received an extra boost courtesy of the LEED Neighborhood Development pilot program, which acknowledges green and neighborhood-building features for buildings that fall short of traditional certification. "This is one of the few projects in the country that was admitted into it," said Lynch. "They're moving towards acknowledging and certifying projects that are beneficial to neighborhoods, rather than just giving ratings for a building's efficiency...I think there are only three or four [such projects] in the District versus a pool of under of fifty across the country."

The seven-story, $35 million development will also feature a new ground-floor location for Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care– its third in the Washington area – that will provide physical, mental and oral health services. With “guaranteed care” and twice the patient capability of their current locations, the new facility will not be just a free clinic, but a primary care center for both middle and working class residents alike. Sharon Baskerville, CEO of the DC Primary Care Association described it as “a means of leveraging the city’s investment with private dollars.”

Apart from gathering those community benefiting features together under one roof, the past 18 months did provide some other unique obstacles for the development team. While ODMPED had to provide $5 million in gap financing to get the project moving, a laundry list of issues had to be addressed before construction could proceed. Said Lynch:

Whether it was the 18 lawsuits that the Deputy Mayor’s office worked diligently on for a year and a half, whether it was getting the permits out of [the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs] with Councilmember Bowser, whether it was the mandatory exclusionary zoning that we anticipated coming, whether it was the collapse of the financial systems for the last six months, this project has persevered time and time again. We’re not quite there yet, but we hope in the next month, now that [the Housing Finance Agency] has their board members, [the Department of Housing and Community Development] is committed and the rest of our partners are here…we’ll start be able to this wonderful new project.

Georgia Commons is just one of numerous Georgia Avenue projects that have steamrolled ahead in recent months. This past March, the Neighborhood Development Company opened the 72-unit Residences at Georgia Avenue, while, in approximately a month and half, Donatelli Development will hold a ribbon cutting for highly the anticipated Park Place project. To Mayor Fenty, himself a former Ward 4 councilmember, it’s evidence that change has taken hold on the prominent Northwest thoroughfare and in the surrounding Petworth neighborhood.

“On this four block stretch, you’re probably talking about 400 new apartments…For seventy years, not one new apartment was built on Georgia Avenue,” said Fenty. “Just in the past couple years and leading into the near future, there has been lots of development…When [this project] is finished, it won’t only be attractive. It’ll be a fantastic asset and resource for the community.” Georgia Commons is tentatively scheduled for a fall 2010 opening.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

Bread for the City to Rise in Shaw

Local non-profit social advocates and medical clinicians, Bread for the City (BFC), are just weeks away from breaking ground on an 11,000 square addition to their Northwest Center at 1525 7^th Street, NW - a project that will double the size of the facility that is currently forced to turn away patients daily.

"Our clinic schedules 15 new patient appointments every week, but these slots are taken daily within minutes of opening our phone lines," said BFC Director George Jones in a prepared statement. "We turn many people away for lack of space, and they're likely to go without care or turn to a hospital emergency room - both costly and dangerous alternatives."

BFC has partnered with developer Jair Lynch and architects Wiebenson & Dorman (who also designed BFC's Southeast facility) for the $8.25 million build-out of their Shaw location. Once complete, BFC projects that their patient capacity will triple – good news for the more than 2,700 District residents who receive their primary medical care at the center. New improvements will include a “bigger and better” laboratory, a new waiting area, twice the current number of exam rooms and handicap accessible features throughout. BFC’s food bank and social services programs will occupy the facility’s first floor, while the medical and legal clinic will be housed on the second.

"This summer we held a party in our parking lot, and canvassed the neighborhood inviting people to come and talk about the expansion and what it means to us here in Shaw,” said Kristin Valentine, BFC’s Director of Development. “A little over 50 people from the community showed up to meet with board members, clients, and staff so we could address any concerns. The design was also approved by the ANC2C."

The project is made possible in part by a recent $1.35 million grant from the District of Columbia Primary Care Association. That sum, and an earlier donation of nearly $3 million, were both made under the auspices of the Medical Homes DC initiative – a movement “designed to increase access to consistent, affordable medical care for underserved DC residents.” At present, BFC is seeking the remainder “through individual, corporate and foundation grants.” Those contributing gifts of $15,000 or more will have a piece of the new facility – anything from a computer station to food pantry, depending on the amount - named in their honor.

According to Valentine, “The project is not yet fully permitted, [but] we expect to receive the building permit and start construction by April of 2009.” BFC expects construction to be complete by the spring of 2010. Turner Construction will serve as general contractor.

Drinking Deep at the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant

There seems to be substance dribbling out of the McMillan water treatment plant these days, not all of it good. Last month, the District-selected development team tasked with transforming the 25-acre, deteriorating facility into more than 2 million square feet of new mixed-use development presented a fresh round of designs to the local community. New details disclosed at the December 23^rd meeting include the possibility of a restaurant corridor and amphitheater at the corner of North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue – new conceptual renderings of the latter are available via the Washington City Paper’s Housing Complex blog.

McMillan was designated as a historic landmark in 1991 and, as such, will be subject to review by the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board as the $500 million project moves beyond the planning stages. The immediate result of this is that that the development team – which includes Vision McMillan, EYA, Jair Lynch Development and architects the Lessard Group – will retain as many of the 107-year-old site’s architectural flourishes as possible, including the distinctive concrete towers that abut the reservoir. Current plans call for those to be joined by 1,170 residential units (with a roughly 50/50 ratio of rental apartments to condos), 684,000 square feet of office space, 110,000 square feet of retail and 63-room boutique hotel rooms, with construction starting as early as next year.

So far so good. But DC residents got an unpleasant surprise in their mailboxes this week, courtesy of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWASA). According to the statement from DCWASA General Manager Jerry N. Johnson that was mailed to District tap water consumers, the quality of potable water emanating from the McMillan water treatment plant in Ward 5 was compromised for a 14-minute period on the evening of December 22^nd. Per an addendum from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the lapse could have resulted in release of organisms that cause “nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches.” Surrounding areas affected via the Washington Aqueduct included the whole of the District of Columbia, Falls Church, Vienna and the Willston area water system in Arlington.

The prospect of such large scale development also seems to have caused some nausea in the community. Just last month, local resident Paul Kirk started up a “No Drilling at McMillan” blog that protests the perceived downsides of the redevelopment – including a presumed rise in the crime rate and traffic, in addition to infrastructural critiques such as a lack of “usable park space.” With four years to go until the ribbon cutting, there should still be enough time for everyone to get a word in edgewise.

Preliminary Approval in Petworth

Jair Lynch Development Partners recieved preliminary approval from the Zoning Commission Thursday night for Georgia Commons, a 141,000 plus s.f. mixed-use development at 3910 Georgia Avenue, NW in Petworth. The project, designed by EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates, is upping the affordable housing ante by designating 62 units - forty-eight percent of the building - as affordable housing. Georgia Avenue will gain approximately 22,000 s.f. of much-needed retail, including a medical clinic.

JLC is partnering with AHD, Inc. (Affordable Housing Developers) to build the $30 million project two blocks north of the Petworth Metro Station. A Smart Growth and green development, Georgia Commons, which has been in the works since 2005, was accepted into the environmentally-friendly pilot program LEED Neighborhood Development. The building will also include two levels of below-grade parking.

According to the Zoning Commission, the developer has to revise the plans for July 3rd and the project will then be considered for final action at the July 14th meeting. They will then go before the National Capital Planning Commission. The developer tells DCMud there will be more news towards the end of the summer. The development team was awarded the site by the National Capitol Revitalization Corporation (NCRC), before that organization was disbanded by the current administration, and before developers realized that ownership of the land was disputed, causing a hiccup in the construction timeframe. Late last month a court awarded clear title to the District, paving the way for plans to move forward.

Georgia Ave. Development Takes Hold! (Sort of)

The District has announced several milestones to let you know that Georgia Avenue is really, truly, on a path toward development - and this time they mean it. After numerous initiatives and promises by previous administrations, the Fenty Folks seemed determined to get the job done. To wit, the administration announced today several items to bolster our confidence in Petworth and Brightwood:

Park Place - Donatelli Development's mixed-use project above the Petworth Metro station, has topped out, reaching its full height at seven stories. Donatelli, along with partners Gragg & Associates, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, was awarded development rights to the lot through a competitive process in 2004. 20% of the condos are mandated as "affordable." Like Highland Park apartments and Kenyon Square condos, Donatelli's projects that redefined the center of Columbia Heights, the condos were designed by Torti Gallas & Partners of Silver Spring, with sales by Washington DC-based Domus Realty. Construction is expected to complete early next year. Okay, so the topping out isn't a major news event, but at least construction hasn't stopped.

3912 Georgia Avenue - The mayor announced yesterday that a court had given clear title to the District, which will transfer the property to the Jair Lynch Development Partners. If the property sounds familiar, it may be due to frequent mention by this blog. The 130-unit apartment building, two blocks north of the Metro station, was awarded to JLC and development partner AHD Inc. (Affordable Housing Developer) by the National Capitol Revitalization Corporation (NCRC), before that organization was disbanded by the current administration. The $38 million project is being designed by EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates and will be built by Meridian Construction. Jair Lynch will provide 40% of the rental units at subsidized rates, and add 24,000 s.f. of retail space. NCRC gave Jair Lynch the land back in 2006, but it turns out that the city did not have clear title to the land.

Despite the Mayor's announcement, other issues remain, and the developer is not giving any timelines on construction yet. According to Tania Jackson of JL, clearing title was "a huge hurdle, but there are so many things that still need to happen." For one, because Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning (MIZ) - which JL supported - has not been enacted, JL must go through a 'mini-PUD' to get the density they require. The developer hopes to get the PUD done by June. (In better news for JL, they did just open sales at the Solea in Columbia Heights)

Finally, the District has just announced that it has acquired a long-vacant residential building at 6425 14th St. NW, just off Georgia Avenue. The building was referred to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs' special unit, the (somewhat Stalinist-sounding) Board for the Condemnation of Insanitary Buildings. The Tewkesbury, a 26-unit building in Brightwood, will be offered to developers for renovation, but no timelines are being offered at this time.

Northwest One Unfolds

On Monday, DC finally began work on the Northwest One site, the ambitious but still conceptual site located across the street from NoMa, on the northwest side of North Capitol Street. DC Mayor Adrian Fenty initiated the first groundbreaking of Northwest One by commencing demolition of Terrell Junior High School, at 1000 1st St. NW, making space for a new $47 million mixed use facility including a new school, library, and recreation center. The Northwest One site is bounded on the east by North Capitol, on the west by New Jersey Ave., and on the south by K Street. The District, through Forrester Construction, will replace the junior high and the distressed Sursum Corda and Temple Courts housing projects, which haven't been doing much to bring up property values in the neighborhood.

The next stage of development will be to demolish Temple Court, which the District bought last summer and has begun relocating tenants in anticipation of tearing down the building this summer; both housing projects remain mostly occupied at this point. Ordinarily, the District would build replacement housing before evacuation of existing subsidized housing, but according to Sean Madigan of DC's Office of Planning, the condition of the projects is "so bad" that the Fenty administration decided to purge and demolish immediately.

The District currently owns most of the entire development site, part of which was acquired when it took control of and disbanded NCRC last year; the remainder is owned by the DC Housing Authority. Late last year, the District selected One Vision Development Partners, a joint venture between William C. Smith, Jair Lynch, Banneker Ventures, and CPDC, as its development partner for the entire project. Details of the project - both the scope of development and compensation to the development team - have yet to be finalized, but the team has proposed the construction of more than 1,600 new apartments, condos and townhouses priced for mixed-income buyers and renters, as well as a 21,000-s.f. clinic, about 40,000 s.f. of retail and 220,000 s.f. of office space. According to Madigan, an increase in density and the "right mix" will be crucial to the success of the project. Once the administration comes to an agreement with the developer, the project will be placed on the lap of the city Council for approval.

Immediately replacing Terrell Junior High will be the Walker Jones school, library, recreation center and athletic fields, a project that Mayor Fenty described as being "a first-class facility from top to bottom." "If we are to expect excellence from our students we've got to provide great facilities that promote an integrated environment for learning," Fenty added Monday during his on-site speech. According to the Office of Planning and Economic Development, Walker Jones will be one of the first new schools constructed during Fenty's reign, and it will be ready, says he, in time for the kick-off of the 2009 school year. The new Walker Jones will house 100,000 s.f. of classroom, a 20,000-s.f. community recreation center and a 5,000-s.f. library along with some new playgrounds and sports fields. The entire project is expected to meet the District's green building standards.

The complete project is said to be in the ballpark of $700 million in new development. After production of the new school and its amenities, the District will then focus on the new housing, of which a third will be market rate, a third will be affordable, and a third will serve as workforce, some of which will serve as replacement housing for current residents. Madigan referenced NPR's recent decision to build its new facilities across the street from the site as "a huge vote of confidence for Northwest One."

A Common Building for Petworth

Petworth's newest multi-family, Georgia Commons, will break ground by early next summer, according to developer Jair Lynch Companies (JLC). The 130-unit apartment building with 22,000 s.f. of retail will go up two blocks north of the Petworth Metro station by JLC and development partner AHD Inc. (Affordable Housing Developer). The pair was awarded the contract to build by the National Capitol Revitalization Corporation in 2006. The $38 million project, at 3910 Georgia Ave. NW is being designed by EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates.

JLC is the only developer that has two projects accepted into the eco-friendly pilot program LEED Neighborhood Development, which encourages Smart-Growth, transit-oriented development. According to the Congress for New Urbanism, an anti-sprawl organization with similar goals as Smart Growth, the new LEED program is "a joint venture of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the US Green Building Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council...just as other LEED systems have improved building efficiency and energy performance, LEED-ND will reward efficient use of land and the building of complete and walkable communities." According to Tania Jackson, Director of External Affairs at Jair Lynch Companies, the new LEED designation targets sustainability on a macro-level instead of just "sticks and bricks." JLC's two LEED ND projects are Georgia Commons and the upcoming Solea, a mixed-use project at 14th and Florida, NW.

When completed, Georgia Commons will hold five-stories of mixed-income residential apartments organized around a central courtyard, sitting atop one level of street retail and two underground parking levels. It will be a contemporary structure, fitting into the Georgia Ave overlay zone, which aims to catalyze retail activity. "It's contextual but contemporary," said Don Tucker, Principal at EDG Architects. The project is a bit behind its original deadline, but is said now to have the financing in place to begin construction within 6 months.

A Conversation with Jair Lynch and Tania Jackson of the Jair Lynch Companies

Live-work housing innovation comes to DC.  Real estate developer  Jair Lynch believes diversification in development is essential to being successful. “Last summer,” he said in an interview with DCMud, “we knew the writing was on the wall regarding the development market; it was time to adjust.” Looking back at the past few years of the development boom, Lynch, who is working to bring along his Solea condominium project, reflected on the incredible growth the DC area has experienced. 

“From 2000 to 2004, 7500 units of rental housing went primarily to condo conversion,” he said, “and in 2004 alone it was 2500; an astounding number. Our team is always looking at economic indicators and we analyze the trends and the information.” Lynch views Solea, located at 1414 Belmont St., between U Street and Columbia Heights, as a model for a new kind of development that works with the community and is in line with the evolving real estate market in Washington DC. Solea is being designed by the architectural firm of Sorg and Associates, a Washington DC-based company. “We’re actors on a stage for a few years, “ he says, “but a building is a presence in a community for 50 years; perhaps 100 and we must be aware of that as we work with the community. That’s why community input was vital to our Solea project.” Tania Jackson, Director of Community Policy for Jair Lynch Companies, agreed, adding “We had a ‘Community Committee’ we worked with; people from Columbia Heights who we informed about style issues, budget realities and our vision, but who were essential members of our development team; we listened to what they were concerned about, what they wanted in their community. What they wanted the building to look like.” 

The $20 million Solea project is a joint venture with NCRC – National Capital Revitalization Corporation, and includes a development innovation new to the DC area – “live-work” units. Live-Work homes are a recent design trend that was sparked in the San Francisco Bay Area during the dot.com boom years. The idea is that given the high cost of rents and office space, and the realities of today’s mobile-technology-based workforce, a home could be designed to include a living-space (traditional areas for a living room, kitchen, etc) and a loft-area for sleeping and a comfortable, presentable work environment for the entrepreneur and their customers. Lynch and Jackson view these unique housing units as a reflection of the changing realties of urban life. “One and two person firms are a growing part of the American business scene” said Lynch, “the technological changes of recent times have generated whole new paradigms in how people live and work and the ‘live-work’ concept recognizes that people need a space that has a different typology than what has been available previously in the traditional condominium market.” 

The live-work concept at Solea will offer a variety of options, such as units with the work space below, and living space above – these “loft-style” apartments will have a more permeable work space than traditional condos. Lynch views it as a fairly radical departure from the urban-work and suburban-live model that has been the norm. “Solea is size-appropriate,” he said, “it works with the scale of the Columbia Heights, Shaw area, and the project, the process of development, allowed us to get to know the people in the neighborhood; that’s unique for a development project, and I think it’s a good model for future development projects.” “The soul of a place matters,” said Jackson, “Solea is going to be part of the soul of the neighborhood, not an intrusion.” Lynch was expansive in his comments about the changes he sees and the responses he views as essential to how he wants development to work. “Three worlds in DC have tended to stay separate,” he said, “Local, or neighborhood interests, federal employees or federal concerns, and the international, or expatriate community in DC. I think those worlds are starting to come together far more than they have in the past, and development in DC must answer that; it has to respond to it and blend with it, and I think we’re poised to catch that trend.” Adding an acronym he hopes won’t annoy a certain West Coast firm of modest means, Lynch describes his vision further by referring to what he calls ‘ipods’ – ‘Interactive Places of Diversity.’ “Solea, with its live-work spaces, and the way it blends into the neighborhood rather than intruding and forcing the people who live there to adapt to it, represents the change in the structure of the DC environment; diversity is not just about race and class, it’s about different communities, federal and international and local, it’s about shared experience in a thriving dynamic urban environment. Solea reflects that, and we want to continue to grow this model of development. We feel it can and will succeed.”

Washington DC commercial property news

Jair Lynch, NCRC Plan U Street - Columbia Heights Condo Project

Jair Lynch Companies has made a deal with NCRC – the National Capital Revitalization Corporation, to develop a property above the U Street corridor at 14th and Florida, NW, in Washington DC. The project, called the Solea, is going to be a mixed-use property which will include low-income housing. NCRC has 2,000 housing units in its pipeline, of which 27% are designated as affordable to very low income buyers. Sorg and Associates, the architectural firm designing the Solea, has had a productive relationship with NCRC. A representative of Sorg described the building design as unique and said that it will stand out among the recent development along U Street.

The project has allocated three retail spaces, with two already rented by Trade Secrets and Zawadi. Gilford Corp. is the builder for the $18 million Columbia Heights project. The Solea project is comprised entirely of LSDBEs or, Local Small Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.

Matt Morrin of NCRC views the Solea as an excellent example of cooperation between public and private entities working together during the development boom. "It’s a good model and you can see it across the country," said Morrin. "It’s one of several types that work to facilitate the development of private projects that take into account the needs of the local community by providing affordable housing."

Morrin added that NCRC wanted to make sure a voice representing the local community was heard, and said Jair Lynch, with its experience, made the process a success. "It worked out well,” said Morrin, "this is a positive trend for future development projects.” Sorg expects the project to be completed by late 2007.