Jenkins Row Condominiums

Jenkins Row, 1391 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington DC
Jenkins Row was originally designed as an apartment building, converting after the start of construction, and both finishes and amenities reflect the original intent (more amenities, less expensive finishes). Contracting problems forced the delay of construction, and many of the original buyers to back out. The 247-unit wood-framed building finally delivered in September of 2007, with prices starting from $250,000 for a studio and from $378,000 for one bedroom, prices that ultimately went down considerably.

Located adjacent to the Potomac Avenue Metro, two metro stops from the Capitol Hill Office Buildings, Jenkins Row features a fitness center, front desk receptionist, underground parking, and encircled central courtyard with water fountains. In 2008 a Harris Teeter opened on the first floor. The project was built by JPI of Texas, which later disbanded its DC operations, and designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group. The building was designed to look less massive than it is, with varying architectural styles on the facade.

Post your comments on this condo below:

Clara Barton Condos

Clara Barton Condomimiums
616 E St., NW, Washington DC
The Clara Barton in Penn Quarter was developed by JPI, taking the place of one of the last empty lots in downtown Washington DC. One of the larger condo projects in the city, the Clara Barton is a 273-unit condominium attached to the Lafayette Condos, which is the other half of the building (but a separate condo association). Originally designed as the Jefferson Apartments, plans changed before completion to take advantage of the condo boom. The condominium is therefore highly amenitized, with a workout room, business center, small theater, staffed front desk, and well-designed rooftop with pool. Between the two condominiums is a large interior courtyard, with many units having balconies facing into it. The condo was named after the founder of the American Red Cross, due to the then-recently rediscovered office that was found nearby. Designed by Esocoff & Associates and Oehrlein & Associates. Real estate sales began in August of 2004.

Post your comments about Clara Barton condos below:

Velocity Condos Opens in Southeast DC

The Cohen Companies’ Velocity Condos, near the SE Navy Yard Metro and Nationals Stadium, hopes to entice buyers with their October 3rd and 4th "Grand Opening" event to celebrate completion of construction. Developers worked with ADC builders to create a condominium complex that promises to give on-the-go DC-types a taste of “downtown Manhattan in the middle of DC.” Boasting standard "luxury" features like stainless steel and granite, Velocity hopes to entice very patient buyers to invest in the Capitol Riverfront's only new condo for sale.

The 200-unit, 14-story Velocity features standard amenities like the 24-hour concierge service and underground garage parking. But the sales team hopes other touches like Velocity’s rooftop pool deck, private balconies, full-height granite backsplashes, and built-in lazy Susans will go a long way toward separating these units from the pack. Residents may even have a manicured central courtyard to look forward to next year, if plans coalesce for construction of an identical, 200-unit, Phase 2 condominium next door; but that looks unlikely, and the lot is still vacant. 

  Sales Manager Vicki Johnston explains that some of the condo's finer details like extra walk-in storage space and deeper-than-standard bath tubs can be attributed to a woman’s touch as they were envisioned “by the amazing, completely female design team at GTM Architects.” And according to Johnston, Southeast DC condo shoppers might be "surprised" to learn these are “the only condos in the ballpark area. All the other units around here are co-ops and rental units.” Of course that may be by default - since JPI's three nearby condo projects turned rental thanks to the market (JPI fizzled as well), as did Faison's Onyx, all of which are now substantially leased (ok, thanks to giving away months of free rent). Then there's Velocity. Since beginning sales in 2007, only 58 of the available 200 units have been purchased—so it might be premature to rule out rental units in Velocity's future. Despite these modest sales numbers, Johnston sounds confident that the right potential buyer could rake in big bucks on resale, assuming he or she is “willing to hold out for a little while.” Prices for Velocity units begin at $317,900 ($295 condo fee) for a 644 s.f. studio and run the gamut up to $784,900 ($683 condo fee) for a 1,492 s.f. 2BR/2BA/Den combo. The one bedroom, two bath, den condo has been the most popular among buyers thus far and runs $483,900 ($488 condo fee). If you are willing to take the risk while the units are still plentiful, the rewards include a $1,000 credit towards customizing your own closets and a free parking space worth $35,000 (the garage holds an unusually high ratio of 1.5 spaces for condo). Now, it’s only that small matter of the neighborhood building up around it.

District of Columbia retail and real estate development news

Ballpark: Build It and They Will Come, They Might Even Stay

It's a good thing that the Nationals' standing as perhaps baseball's worst team ever will likely have no effect the residences of the surrounding neighborhood. The Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District (BID) has issued its second quarter residential statistics for 2009, showing how desirable the area is to reside in, and it looks like the cliched Costner-ism of "build it and they will come" is working...for some more than others. EYA's Capitol Quarter townhome development appears to be the leader of the pack of with "88 of 113 (market rate) units sold" - though sales began in the fall of 2006. With prices starting at $630,000, EYA can be content with its position as the only new single-family home project in the area, and their only competition in the area are the dreaded c-word – condominiums – and its Capitol Quarter has generated a slew of favorable media coverage for its tre trendy green construction practices and subsequent “LEED for Homes” certification. Proof positive that condos are indeed still on the sluggish side, Texas-based developer JPI’s pair of Capitol Riverfront condos. Or at least they were considered as condos before the Big Crash - The Axiom at Capitol Yards, The Jefferson at Capitol Yards and Faison's Onyx on First (pictured) – are now all renting as apartments. But according to the BID, the buildings have achieved 60% occupancy of their collective 960 units. That leaves approximately 384 empty units on the market, despite the fact the first completed building, The Jefferson opened its doors one year ago this month. It’s presumably that same dearth of buyers that made JPI go rental with their third area building, 909 at Capitol Yards; so far with less success than its predecessors. According to the BID report, only “25% of the 237 units” at 909 – but the project began renting only in the spring of this year. The developer has been trying to court the young, urbanista demographic for the building by advertising amenities like yoga studios, communal Nintendo Wiis and a residents-only bar/pub. JPI's tentative plans for a fifth and final 415-unit apartment building at 23 Eye Street still remain on the table, at least officially. Valhal Corporation’s Capitol Hill Tower Condo-op is still trudging along with "80% of 344 units sold." That would seem an admirable rate of occupancy had the building not opened early in 2006, with sales almost a year before that. Not mentioned in the BID stats is the Cohen Companies' Velocity condo project, the 200 unit condo nearing completion, but for which sales are reportedly not, well, high velocity. Nonetheless, the BID reports that, in total, there are now “an estimated 1,863 residents living in the Capitol Riverfront , with over 2,000 residents expected by the end of the year.” You could be one of the lucky 137 by year's end. Ghost town or boom town? You be the judge. 

UPDATE: Says Ted Skirbunt, Director of Research & Information Systems at the BID: "JPI’s buildings were always going to be rental from the beginning. The only building thus far to convert from condos to rental apartments is the Onyx."

Washington DC commercial retail and real estate news

909 at Capitol Yards Opens

While the Washington Post may be increasingly skeptical about the viability of Southeast's Capitol Riverfront as either a residential or commercial neighborhood, it is certainly a strategy that developer JPI has bet heavily on. Next month, the developer will open the doors on the 909 at Capitol Yards project - their 421-unit "boutique-hotel themed" apartment building and third entry under their greater Capitol Yards development. According to the Capitol Riverfront BID, tours of the WDG-designed complex have already begun for prospective residents and move-ins are scheduled to begin late this month. JPI is apparently targeting that hard to pin down 18-35 demographic the project with an advertising campaign that boasts of amenities like a two-story bar and lounge, yoga rooms, a “pub room” with shuffleboard (?!) and Nintendo Wiis, an in-house movie theater, a rooftop swimming pool for hosting “raucous barbeques,” and a Twitter ticker in every elevator tracking losses in the housing market (no, not really). Should you feel the need for something more “classic and traditional” or an apartment with a little “industrial style,” JPI is directing inquisitive renters in the market around the Ballpark to the first two buildings completed under their Capitol Yards banner: the Jefferson and Axiom. Their marketing whizzes have even gone so far as to whip up a “personality quiz” to help choose from among their properties (sample response: "Call up your fav five and hit Banana Cafe for pitchers of Caipirinhas"). Though JPI still has one project in the pipeline– a 419-unit apartment building with 15,000 square feet of retail at 23 Eye Street – completion of Capitol Yards could be viewed largely as the developer’s curtain call the DC area. The Texas-based company had once targeted DC, along with New York City, as hot spots for condo development. However, after completing projects like The Byron and Jenkins Row – the latter of which is still selling four years on – the market’s prospects seem now much dimmer than they did just a few years ago and JPI has yet to announce any new plans for follow-up developments. Correction: 909 at Capitol Yards was designed by the Preston Partnership, not WDG Architecture. WDG designed two other neighboring JPI projects, the Jefferson and Axiom at Capitol Yards.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

JPI's First Ballpark Delivery

The first of JPI's four ballpark projects, The Jefferson at Capitol Yards will open its doors Monday. The 448-"luxury rental" building, formerly known as "70 I" boasts of granite tops, Moen pullout faucets, "regal baths", and GE appliances. Designed by WDG Architecture, the building and its 100 I Street counterpart combine glass and brick in their façades to create 12-story buildings that were designed to resemble the historic warehouses of the old Navy Yard area.

Residents in the Jefferson will have access to a resort-style swimming pool and rooftop terrace, a 24-hour fitness center, a movie theater with stadium seating, and a sports pub complete with traditional pub games, dart boards, pool tables, as well as the trendier Wii (ask your kids), Xbox, and Playstation systems to satisfy residents’ inner teenagers and keep their competitive spirits at bay between Nationals games.

The 246-unit rental apartment building, the Axiom at Capitol Yards at 100 I Street, won’t be too far behind with delivery scheduled for next month. Rounding out JPI’s $470 million ballpark empire are the “luxury” 237 and 421-unit 909 at Capitol Yards and Jefferson at Half Street. The 909 New Jersey Avenue development will open in May 2009 and the Silver LEED certified Jefferson at 999 Half Street will begin construction this fall with delivery in 2010.

The first floor and clubhouse of the Jefferson at Capitol Yards will be available for viewing on Monday. Nosey neighbors can also check out the company’s block party on June 28th before the Nationals-Oriole’s game.

JPI: "Luxury Rentals" Everywhere

JPI topped out on two of its four projects in southeast DC, the first set of residences that will be completed in the heavily-developing ballpark district. Both the Jefferson at Capitol Yards, a 448-unit luxury apartment building, and the Mercury at Capital Yards, a 246-unit "luxury" apartment building, are slated for completion next summer - not quite in time for the Nationals' season opener in their new home. WDG Architecture is behind the industrial design of the Jefferson and the "edgy" metallic design of the Mercury.

JPI still has two more projects coming into the home stretch; 909 at Capitol Yards (pictured) which will house 237 "luxury" rental units and 6,000 s.f. of retail and restaurant space, being delivered in mid-2009, and 23 Eye Street, a 419-unit (you guessed it) luxury rental building with 15,000 s.f. of retail space; JPI plans to break ground on this (anticipated) Silver LEED certified building in the fall of next year. In total, JPI will add more than 1,300 units to the ballpark district, accounting for 20% of the total number of new residences that are being built in close proximity to the new ballpark. The total cost of JPI's investment: $470 million - and they won't be selling a single square foot.

By the middle of 2009, JPI will have effectively gentrified a neighborhood in record time, pioneering the way for the near-dozen development companies that are currently building within the sector. The residential projects that will follow JPI's lead include: Capitol Quarter by EYA, Onyx on First by Faison/Canyon-Johnson, the massive Half Street development by Monument Realty, 1345 South Capitol Street by Camden Development, Velocity Condos by Cohen Companies and The Yards by Forest City. But wait, there's more. Together with the onslaught of residential developments set for the South Capitol Corridor, District residents will receive a slew of commercial space: SC1100 by Ruben Companies, 1111 New Jersey Ave by Donohoe and 1015 Half by Opus East, just to name a few.

According to our favorite chronicler of all things Southeast, blogger JD, "It is expected that in the next 15 years the "Capitol Riverfront" area covering both Near Southeast and Buzzards Point will include approximately 12 million square feet of office space, 9,000 new housing units, and 600,000 square feet of retail."

Apartments Just a Fly Ball Away

With construction of the new Nationals ballpark moving full speed ahead in Southeast along South Capitol Street, a number of new apartment buildings within spitting distance of the field have recently been announced. First up is Camden Property Trust's 1325 Capitol SW project (pictured), located right across the street from the National's stadium between N and O Streets. The $99 million, 210,000-sf apartment project will be nine stories tall and contain 244 units, mostly one bedrooms with an average apartment size of 860 sf. Construction is expected to start Summer 2007. Camden (the owner) has yet to select a developer. Next up are two apartment projects from residential developer JPI: 70 and 100 I Street, a $210 million project with two towers containing nearly 700 units (completion is scheduled for late 2008); and 901 New Jersey Avenue, a $75 million, 238-unit apartment building set for the block now housing the Nexus Gold Club, a "gentlemen's" club (so, uh, I was told...). 901 New Jersey is set to being construction in 2007 with a late 2008 completion date. Finally, there is Faison's planned residential tower at 1st and L Streets SE. This will be a 14-story, 266-unit tower. Construction started last month, and the tower is expected to be done in late 2008. Make sure to glance to your left when driving down South Capitol – you can tell your kids you remember it when it was all empty lots and run-down warehouses....