New Addition to Mt. Vernon Triangle in Spring '08

A brand new $55 million multi-use development is almost set to materialize in Mount Vernon Triangle as developers and architects put the finishing touches on design plans. 459 Eye Street NW will be the new site of Walnut Street Development's Eye Street Lofts, a 12-story structure which will house 164 apartments and more than 15,000 s.f. of community-serving retail space.

The lot, which spreads from 443 to 459 Eye Street, has been planned for development since 2005, when Walnut Street had originally proposed condos for the site. Unfortunately for the condo market, a historic preservation impediment hindered Walnut Street's vision. The Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) halted the plans because of the Central Auto Works garage, a historically-designated structure that currently sits on the lot. Architects HOK Group have decided to incorporate the entire aged structure into the new edifice by piercing columns through the building. Once the columns are in place, Tompkins Builders will have to construct footings beneath the garage to support 10 stories of new construction. The auto garage isn't the only structure being preserved on the site; two existing row-houses are being used in the design-plans as well as an historic blacksmith shop.

The existence of historic structures on the site presented unique obstacles for Walnut Street. HPRB required 9 months to approve project - but subsequent to the extended waiting period, Walnut Street faced an invariably different economic environment. In reaction to the drastic change in the market, developers circular-filed the initial condo proposal and entered into a waiting game to stalk the perfect economic conditions for a rental project; it seems that time is now. Ground is expected to be broken by Spring of 2008.

Alexandria Auction: An Unconventional Success

The Parkside at Alexandria residential community received a surge of sales last week during a real estate auction where more than 200 bidders came to compete on the remaining 30 condos available at the development. The scramble for the discounted townhouse-style residences ended just 60 minutes after the bidding opened - leaving nothing behind for the reluctant, and putting more than $10 million in the pockets of Mid-City Urban LLC and its partner Parkside at Alexandria LLC.

The drawing factor was the obvious chance to get a discount, and in the end, two-bedroom condos sold at an average of almost $40,000 less than their original price of $339,000, while three-bedroom units, which would have originally cost $379,000, were auctioned at almost $30,000 less.

Parkside at Alexandria was originally constructed more than a half-century ago as an apartment complex, the community was purchased by Parkside at Alexandria LLC which converted the rental units into condominiums. Sales on the 378 residences commenced in early 2004.

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White Flint Public Forum From MoCo

Lead planners for Montgomery County are inviting interested members of the public to an advisory planning meeting for discussion regarding the mixed-use design plans for White Flint. The meeting will be held November 5, at the Park and Planning Headquarters in Silver Spring, and will follow a long list of open forums arranged to discuss development of North Bethesda along Rockville Pike.

Montgomery County has initiated a full-fledged attempt to immerse public opinion into every step of the planning process. County planners have reached out for public comment in a variety of ways, holding more than a half dozen meetings of the White Flint Citizens Advisory Committee, devoting an entire episode of its insanely popular public access show “Montgomery Plans” to the future of White Flint, and taking a comprehensive look at the 15-year-old North Bethesda/Garrett Park Master Plan together with the community.

With the early design phase nearing its end, tomorrow's agenda is expected to include discussion of both revisions to Route 355, which is proposed to be beautified and tailored to be less pedestrian-hating, and the sporadic construction of new mixed-use sectors along the Rockville Pike corridor. The next step, after the current hodgepodge of community meetings has reached its end, will be to obtain approval from the Montgomery County Planning Board. The Planning Board's review will require a new phase of public work-sessions, although their decision is rumored to be due by the end of January, 2008. The final step in the design phase requires the Montgomery County Council and County Executives to hold yet another set of public hearings, after which the Council will infuse their input into the plan. Once the anthology of community input forums has come to a halt, an overall development guide for White Flint will be distributed; the tentative date is for the last quarter of 2008.

Planners are still working the initial kinks out of the design, however the over-arching goals for White Flint have been established for some time. When asked in a televised interview what the proposed design would include, Margaret Rifkin, lead planner for the White Flint Sector Plan said "We're especially going to be focusing on how to integrate more residential [space] and make this area around the metro station a really fabulous place to live and a great place to work." Rifkin added that "The community has embraced the big idea that's in the current plan, which is that White Flint will be the main urban center for North Bethesda."

Apparently the community has also agreed that Rockville Pike is ostensibly similar to an airport runway. Rifkin discussed this in a televised interview, proclaiming that she hopes that the major form-giving elements of the new White Flint will be of public domain; her vision is that open public space and new streets will help re-define the area. Route 355 would need special attention, she admitted, involving a complete character overhaul that integrates a more beautiful streetscape with the functionality of a main thoroughfare.

Rosslyn Hotel to Celebrate Grand Opening

The Hotel Palomar at Two Waterview Place in Rosslyn, VA will officially open its doors during its celebratory inauguration on November 15. The hotel is the first structure to be completed in a pair of adjacent buildings seated in Rosslyn. The hotel, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, is a 154-room, 4 Star "luxury lifestyle hotel," sitting just a stone's throw away from Georgetown by way of the Francis Scott key Bridge and two blocks from Rosslyn Metro station. The hotel will share the 30-story structure that houses it with 133 condominiums which will offer "boutique-inspired living" according to the developer, JBG Companies. The condo portion is expected to complete by May of next year.

The remaining half of the project - the 24-story office building - has yet to be completed, though no one from JBG Companies was available for comment on the completion date. Although the commercial space has not yet opened, it is most certainly not up for grabs. JBG announced exactly three years ago that the Corporate Executive Board Company would occupy the entire 625,000 s.f. space at Waterview for 20 years following the building's completion - "the largest-ever private sector lease transaction to be executed in the Washington metropolitan area," according to JBG's research.

Upon completion, Waterview will be owned by three distinct entities; CIM Group, the property holder, will take ownership of half of the development while JBG Companies and Trizec Properties Inc. will split the remaining half. The entire complex is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2008, although multiple delays have set the 15-years-in-the-making project back significantly, including a construction accident which injured 16 workers last December.

Silver Place Design to Get a Hearing

The Silver Spring community has been invited to attend an open forum on Thursday, November 8, by the Montgomery County Planning Board for a hearing to collect input on Silver Place, a mixed-use development (concept design pictured) at 8787 Georgia Avenue: a 9-story office tower, upwards of 300 for-sale and rental unit residences, and more than 500 underground parking spaces. The board hopes to accomplish two objectives at the round-table: adopt a memorandum of understanding that will outline the roles of the developer, SilverPlace LLC, and the Planning board, and submit a request for up to $4.9 million in funding from the Montgomery Council to begin the design phase.

The Planning Board is seeking public consensus and intends to involve the community - a difficult task considering the complexity of the development, which is comprised of an intricate assortment of condominiums, rental units, retail space, a new 120,000-s.f. Parks and Planning Department headquarters and lots of public urban space to link each component contiguously. The Planning Board will hold charrettes, or interactive design workshops, requiring the convergence of varying public concepts into a single comprehensive architectural design. The board's hope is that these workshops will "match design talent with public perspectives to produce a concept that meets the Commission's need for a headquarters and sets a new standard for public buildings and urban office space," according to a press release distributed by The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC, for those in the know).

The design team whose RFP response ranked highest among members of the commission last January, was SilverPlace LLC, a "to-be-formed joint venture partnership" between the Bozzuto Group, Spaulding and Slye Investments and Harrison Development.

Razing Begins Monday on Old Capper Site

"The bulldozers are ready," said David Cortiella, Project Coordinator at the District of Columbia Housing Authority, alluding to the demolition vehicles that will be unleashed upon the old Capper Seniors building this coming Monday, November 5. This correspondent's preference for dynamite notwithstanding, the slow work of demolition will take place at 601 L Street, SE, lasting approximately four weeks, clearing the way for a new construction project (pictured) to be supervised by Forest City Washington, the developer behind The Yards on the southeast riverfront and the Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, VA. EYA and Mid City Urban LLC will also work in collaboration with Forest City on the site. 

The DC Housing Authority has been working to prepare for demolition since the beginning of September, carefully navigating the obstacle course that is the HAZMAT abatement protocol. As of tomorrow, all of the hazardous material on the site will have been removed and the raze permits will be in effect, paving the way for the future of the site. What lies in store is a 500,000-s.f. office building on the southern half of the lot and an undetermined number of mixed-income residential components on the northern half. The redevelopment project began with destruction of two Capper residential buildings and the construction of two new residences in their place: Capper #1, completed in 2006, as a seniors' residence and Capper #2 for workforce housing, set to begin housing residents as early as next month. The office building, by being designed by Shalom Baranes Associates Architects, is the third structure to materialize in the vast 32-acre Capper/Carrollsburg Housing Redevelopment - a project which has been funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development in the form of a $35 million Hope VI grant. The rest of the 32 acres will be developed in a joint effort,Mid City Urban and Forest City is proposed to house retail spaces, office buildings, condominiums, apartments and townhouses.

Brookland Eyes 10 Acres of Development at St. Paul's

St. Paul's College, located between 4th St. and the Metro tracks in Brookland, is subdividing its 20-acre campus and has contracted with EYA to purchase and develop half of the property into 250 single-family townhouses. The college says it will monitor the $50 million project to ensure that the design vision of the college is realized through EYA's efforts.

The property, abutting the Trinity and Catholic campuses along 5th and 6th Streets, will be fed by extensions of Jackson and Hamlin Streets, and will house three and four story town-homes of two distinct design styles: a minority of the structures will feature gothic architecture matching the existing college building, while a vast majority are said to be in keeping with the design features reminiscent of the surrounding Brookland neighborhood. About 10% of the housing will be devoted to low-income households. Along with the homes, EYA has discussed constructing sidewalks along existing streets as well as building passive parks and courtyards to beautify the residential landscape.

The next step for EYA and the Paulist leadership is to appear before the entire ANC commission towards the end of this year. ANC 5C representative Silas Grant has met with the members of the community multiple times, but according to sources close to the process some people within the community feel that the construction and heightened traffic density could cause problems. Still, others see the single family homes has having a positive effect on property values for the community as a whole.

The P.U.D. was submitted in September and if all goes as planned it should be ratified late in 2008, putting EYA on schedule to break ground in the first quarter of 2009. Once the P.U.D. is approved, EYA will open up the bidding to contractors, although the Virginia based Lessard Group has already been chosen as the acting design architect and VIKA Inc., located in Maryland, has been designated as the project engineer.

Washington DC real estate development news

Mayor Fenty to Celebrate View 14 Construction

Shovels will hit the dirt tomorrow at the official ground-breaking of the View 14 apartment building, a mixed-use development located at 2303 14th Street, NW. The $80 million development, a joint venture between the local Level 2 Development, LLC and Chicago-based Centrum Properties, will create 185 "sleek" apartments and 34,000 s.f. of retail space at the corner of 14th Street and Florida Avenue, NW.

Level 2 has been preparing for tomorrow's ground-breaking in several stages over the past two years; back in 2005 the main lot was purchased for $10.2 million from Petrovitch Auto Repair Inc.. Then, late in 2006, it bought the adjacent lot from Comcast for $3.2 million - a price which included the sale of the property and the cost of relocating the existing satellite farm which it housed.

Level 2 has focused much of its efforts towards recreating the area above the U Street corridor, working on a number of projects within a few blocks of the View 14 site. Late in 2006 they purchased the Nehemiah Shopping Center, located just across the street, and recently sold the property and the design plans. Level 2 has also completed some relatively smaller projects in the area including the Clift back in 2001 and the Mercury at Meridian Hill Park in 2005.

Within the P.U.D. for View 14, Level 2 agreed to offer $40,000 in contributions to local organizations, introduce itself as a new participant in DC employment programs and, most notably, contribute $1 million in funds which will be delivered by Level 2 principals David Franco and Jeff Blum to the Sankofa Tenants Association. The funds are being donated to enable 48 low-income households to purchase and renovate their building, the Crest Hill apartments, as part of an affordable housing cooperative.

Clark Residential will serve as the general contractor for the site while SK&I are the acting design architects. The expected completion date for View 14 is in the second quarter of 2009.

Office of Planning to Release Tenley RFP

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development will release the final Request For Proposal (RFP) for the Tenley-Friendship Library (old library pictured) and adjacent Janney School site on Monday, October 29. The solicitation for design plans will come more than a week after the library was demolished and several years after its closure for upgrade.

The RFP is the third stage of an arduous process for Tenley Library. Roadside Development, a DC-based development firm, had been approached by the community back in 2005 during its work on the CityLine project next door, and began to work on initial concepts. Toward the end of 2005, the public library agency (DCPL) claimed it already had a plan for the project and requested that Roadside suspend its work on a design plan so as not to impede the timeliness of development. Yet the DCPL project moved at such a dial-up pace that by the time a contractor was chosen and the designs had been completed, costs were much higher than originally expected and the entire project was scrapped.

Roadside came in for a second time, late in 2006, to approach the community and work on the project, but the community decided it was best that a competitive process ensue, for the betterment of the dual locations. Armand Spikell, a principal at Roadside, reflected on his early involvement in this process: “In the end, most of the community were in favor of a public-private partnership that would result in something better for both the library and the school, and there could be benefit from taking value of the air rights of that location.”

The site, located at 4450 Wisconsin Ave NW, is roughly 158,000 s.f., with the Janney School occupying a majority of the land – the school building itself consumes about 43,000 s.f. but the most recent draft of the RFP appeals for the school size to be doubled during development and that it be “[brought] up to current building codes…bringing it into compliance with ADA.” As it stood before, the old Tenley Library was only 18,000 s.f. – the solicitation will call for the addition of 2,000 s.f. of space for the new building, as well as the addition of a residential portion over the library. The Office of Planning has not determined whether the public land itself will be sold, maintaining a provision within the draft RFP which states that the District will enter into negotiations for the disposition “either through sale or a ground lease.”

Although each draft has been full of design guidelines for the library and school site, it has left the residential portion of the project undetermined – definitely the most controversial appendage to the public property given the stiff resistance the community has shown to nearly any type of development, such as the Maxim condo project next door which got downsized past the point of feasibility and now sits boarded and undeveloped several years after approval. The Request did outline an Affordable Housing element, requiring that 30% of the units be designated as affordable, with 15% priced for people at the 30% AMI or below and another 15% designated for residents earning 60% AMI or below.

The Public Schools district has apportioned a separate budget for capital improvements, however those resources will not be available for six years – posing a “time lag” problem for the immediate needs of Janney. While DCPL did not disclose the budgeted amount for capital improvements, this much is clear: the Public Library system will be seeking reimbursement for surrendering the air rights to the site. The surrounding community is divided in its views about the project – many have used the objectives of the Smart Growth Network, an EPA-funded developmental planning initiative of transit and pedestrian-oriented development, as a launching pad for their justification of the Metro-centered site.

Ward 3 Vision, a partnership between the residents of Ward 3 and the Coalition for Smarter Growth, in most cases looks favorably upon development projects that are transit-oriented. Tom Hier, chair of Ward 3 Vision, stated that he supports the RFP process "to learn how a public-private partnership may creatively achieve increased density, while potentially benefiting the library, Janney School and the community,” adding that “The city has invested millions of dollars in metro stations and we want to take advantage of that.” Opposing residents, including the Advisory Neighborhood Council, raise the usual red flags of density, over-development, and increased traffic congestion, though the site sits over the Tenley-AU Metro station. In addition, the ANC has recently passed a resolution stating that the land has not been designated as surplus, and that an RFP at this stage in the game is pulling the proverbial cart before the horse. Developers will have six weeks from Monday to submit their design plans for the site, and while some members of the community have raised concerns as to whether six weeks is enough time, the Office of Planning responded that an adequate window of opportunity has been provided for submissions.

Alexandria Condos Going to Auction

On Sunday the 28th, Parkside Alexandria is due to auction 30 remaining condos in the 378-unit complex in Alexandria, VA. The Parkside, on N. Van Dorn Street, was originally an apartment building, converted to condos by Mid-City Urban, which claims on its website to have nearly $1 billion in housing units on the east coast. Sales for the Parkside began in early 2004 when condominium sales were in their hayday, but reduced pricing was not sufficient to move the remaining units that began delivery 18 months ago. Renovation work completed on the project in January of this year. According to the development page, the remaining units will auction at a minimum bid of $225,000 for units that had at one point started at $279,000.

Moody's Ranks Urban Markets

Moody's real estate market assessment for the third quarter of 2007 was released this month, boasting the DC metro region as one of the top retail sectors in the nation with a score of 77 on a scale from zero to 100.The DC metro area was given a composite rating of 65, two points above its score from last quarter, compared to 71 nationally. Although DC didn't make it into the "five best markets" category because of low industrial (38) and suburban office (49) ratings, other competing cities like Miami (60), Chicago (63) and Philadelphia (67) received similar scores while New York City holds the number one spot with a score of 87.

The study breaks down and rates seven market segments in 53 of the nation's largest cities, then compiles them into a composite score. According to Sally Gordon, manager of the study and developer of the evaluation model, the composite score is a non-weighted straight average of the market segment ratings. The market segments encompassed in the study - suburban office, central business district (CBD) office, multifamily, industrial, retail, full service and limited service hotel - are rated based on a blend of variables, including supply relative to demand, current vacancy rate and change in vacancy over time, amongst others. New condo developments were not rated.

The figures enclosed in the study indicate that the ratings for DC's CBD offices dropped slightly to 66 due to an accelerating rate of construction which has widened the gap between supply and demand. However, even though demand for CBD offices is low, DC was still reported as having a vacancy rate that is among the lowest in the country, 6.4%, third only to Charlotte, NC and New York, NY. The multifamily rental market also received a strong rating of 82, although the vacancy rate was reported to be slightly higher.

According to the study, DC's retail sector also seems to be thriving, but developmental construction efforts are failing to satiate an apparent appetite for growth. The retail score of 77 is a healthy number which reflects a 4.7% surplus in demand, half a percent more than the national average. With that figure in mind, Moody's categorized DC as one of the "ten largest shopping center markets" in the country.

Demolition to Make Way for More Stadium Apartments

Monday, October 29th will be the last day for the old taxi cab repair garage that stands on 1345 South Capitol Street. The site, which was once used by Bell Cab Company, was purchased by Camden Properties in December 2005, forcing Bell to move to its current location on First Street NE. The dilapidated building is to be razed to the ground next week, the latest residential development in the increasingly competitive ballpark area. Camden, a nationwide real estate investment trust based out of Houston, ended the bidding process for construction on October 17th, and is now in the process of deciding who will build the 365,000-s.f. project.

"Our goal for Camden 1345 is to create a residential project that will complement the urban environment of the new stadium and entertainment district," said Topher Cushman, Director of Real Estate Investment at Camden. Cushman added: "The building's open courtyards, unit terraces and rooftop amenities will provide residents with monumental city views as well as outlets to interact with the streetscape." And while a construction firm has not been selected, WDG Architecture - the company that received national kudos for its work on the Sallie Mae Headquarters in Reston, VA will be designing the structure.

The new $105 million development will be a mixed-use property with 3,000 s.f. of ground floor retail and 276 rental units, and is expected to be ready for ground breaking by December of this year. 1345 South Capitol will be the newest addition to a compendium of properties owned and operated by Camden in the DC metro area, including the Grand Parc on 15th Street NW, Monument Place in Fairfax, VA and Potomac Yard in Arlington, VA.

CityVista Opens in Mt. Vernon Triangle

The CityVista mixed-use project will go to settlement on the sale of its first condominium unit today now that the development team, lead by Lowe Enterprises, has received its final authorization from the city to transfer title. When complete, the Mt. Vernon project will have a large impact on the neighborhood, delivering 441 condominiums, a 9-story apartment building, and Mt. Vernon's first retail sector with an "urban Safeway", Results gym, and a second helping of U Street's popular Busboys and Poets.

Today's sale is in the "L," the first of two condo towers, where the developer reports 90% of the units are already under contract. The "K" is currently 40% sold and will begin settlements next spring. The last building to finish will be the "V", the apartment building now under construction, on which the developers have entertained offers to sell outright.

The first occupancy at CityVista follows a long wait for the city's approval; the development team received a Certificate of Occupancy for the property back in August, but had been stymied in its attempts to convey the properties for lack of tax identification numbers, a problem an individual involved with the project said resulted from DC's failure to officially recognize Lowe as the owner of record on the property. The city - a partner on the project - has now issued the credentials, allowing the project to begin occupancy.

Washington DC real estate development news

1300 Rhode Island - New Name, New Birthday

The developer of Brookland's next residential project have announced they will break ground next spring. The project, formerly known simply as 1300 Rhode Island Avenue, is also being re-christened Brookland Square. Republic Land Development plans to build the 350,000-s.f. structure for an estimated $75 million, with aspirations for it to serve the new residential center for Brookland, located only 2 blocks from the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station and a developing retail sector.

The name change comports with physical location: the actual development site resides on 2711 13th Street NE - not Rhode Island Avenue. Brookland Square is being managed by Republic Land Development, the developers behind Georgetown Park and Washington Harbour. Eric Colbert & Associates is designing the structure and Harkins Construction tentatively holds the contract to build.

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Goodbye Benning Library

Demolition of the Benning Neighborhood Library, located at 3935 Benning Road NE, began early this Monday morning and is expected to continue for four weeks until the site is completely leveled. Plans for the new structure are still undecided; the original design has been ditched and the architects for the site, Davis Brody Bond, have been forced to go back to the drawing board.

What is clear is that the new site will be the home of a 20,000-s.f. standalone library costing an estimated $14 million - including demolition, design, construction, equipment and supplies for the new library. Sources close to the process indicate that although a final design of the library has not yet been decided upon, the project management team is striving for LEED Silver certification, the third highest rating for "green" buildings. A community meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 23 at the library's interim site, 4101 Benning Road, to garner public input on the final design of the future structure.

Broadcast Center One Gets the Signal from DC

The DC Zoning Commission approved the application this Monday for Broadcast Center One, a 300,000 s. f. mixed-use development on 7th and S Streets NW, a long-sought ruling that is expected to add impetus to the regeneration of the Shaw neighborhood.

In tandem with the Planned Unit Development zoning application, developers Four Points LLC and Ellis Enterprises also submitted a Land Disposition Agreement to the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development last Friday for review by the DC City Council. A hearing is anticipated by mid-November.

"We are happy to report that we have concluded land transfer and subsidy negotiations," said Steven Cassell, project manager at Four Points LLC. "Radio One has both accepted a subsidy offer from the city and signed a letter of intent," Cassell added, referring to Radio One, the country's seventh largest radio broadcasting company which will be moving back to DC and into the new digs once the Broadcast Center project is completed. The $128 million development has been in the pipeline for over two years, but if all goes well at the hearing next month construction would begin soon. "Our objective is to be in the ground and digging by February," declared Roy Ellis, CEO of Ellis Enterprises.

The Broadcast Center One complex, with over 21,000 s. f. of retail space, 180 residential units for rent and 103,000 s.f. of office space, will be a blessing to many including the Shaw district at large. "Whenever you bring a company into a neighborhood, you've got real economic opportunity. It's the best thing since sliced bread," added Ellis who, amongst others, sees this development as having a drastic revitalization effect on the local Shaw community.

None will be happier about the deal's approval than Cathy Hughes, founder of Radio One. "Radio One was built with the good will and support of the citizens of DC. I cried for six months when we had to leave," said Hughes. The old Radio One headquarters, located on Nebraska Avenue, had lived out its lease almost ten years ago. Since then, Ms Hughes has awaited the day her company could return to its roots in the District.

Construction of Broadcast Center One will require a convergence of the minds for project managers from five separate companies: joint developers Four Points LLC and Ellis Enterprises, Jarvis Company who is acting as an equity investor in the project, Devrouax & Purnell who will be designing the office building and Eric Colbert & Associates, the architect behind the Broadcast Center residences. The targeted completion date for the project is in the second quarter of 2010.

Senate Square Closes Sales

Broadway's ambitious Senate Square Towers project, which closed its sales office doors last month vowing to reopen in a few weeks, has quietly revealed that it will cease to sell condominiums in its 432-unit project, and will now finalize the construction to turn the project into a "luxury" apartment building. The 12-story towers at 201 I Street began sales in September of 2005, but as of the date of closure had no more than 150 units under contract, and was at least 6 months behind schedule for project completion. The first settlements had been anticipated to take place in November.

As the first residential project on H Street, NE, the New York-based developer had faced the daunting hurdles of selling a "luxury" building in a scrappy, low-density location that had yet to feel the effects of revitalization now taking place, just as the condo market was beginning to wane. Broadway eventually hired Shvo, a Manhattan-based condo marketing firm, to bolster the marketing efforts of McLean-based Mayhood, but sales remained lackluster, inevitably forcing prices down. Speculation had long pointed toward the project converting to a rental apartment building, and the developer had entertained offers to sell the entire project, and has now quietly changed its website to reflect its new status. And while other residential projects queue to break ground in the immediate neighborhood, Senate Square joins a long and well documented list of projects that could not garner sufficient selling prices to justify construction, turning instead to the fast-growing rental market, taking yet another whack at the shrinking supply of condos.

H Street End to Get Revision

Bids have closed on a major District Department of Transportation (DDOT) project which will replace 200 feet of Maryland Avenue with a half-acre public park. The new park, dubbed “Starburst Intersection,” will replace a number of scattered traffic islands and leftover bits of sidewalk that currently sit on the pavement. This project is the first step in a $20 million DDOT program which will transform the H Street corridor from 14^th street to Oklahoma Avenue.

“Starburst Intersection is the complicated junction of six roadways - H Street NE, Florida Avenue NE, Bladensburg Road NE, Maryland Avenue NE, Benning Road NE, and 15th Street NE,” according to the DDOT website. Describing the junction as complicated is an understatement; the intersection doesn’t seem to be working for anybody. According to Karina Ricks, Associate Deputy Director for Transportation Policy and Planning, it has been nearly impossible for pedestrians, cars, bicyclists and transit vehicles to make efficient use out of the six-street connection.

“Our primary objective was to create a livable community and to support the local economic development,” said Ricks. In order to exemplify the blight of the current interchange, Ms. Ricks discussed the convoluted path that local senior citizens must walk to get from their senior center, located at the northwestern-most point of the intersection, to the local stores just a few blocks east. “The seniors are in a very livable place where these amenities are so close,” Ricks said in reference to the nearby CVS Pharmacy and Hechinger Mall, “but they might as well be across town.”

The current intersection requires the crossing of three extremely busy, main streets in order to get from the senior building to CVS Pharmacy – a task not unlike Frogger - a game of threading traffic without getting squished. The new design will reorganize traffic in a manageable way, re-time the traffic signals to allow more time for pedestrians to walk and will force seniors to cross only one busy street in order to purchase their necessities. “It’s not just about the seniors,” Ricks added, “but they graphically illustrate the need for this improvement.”

The park will feature an 8' high, 30' long terrazzo panel commissioned by the DC Commission of Arts and Humanities, which will be surrounded by a number of recreational areas and fixed game tables where pedestrians can unwind. Additionally, the DDOT has included provisions for a large water fountain in the overall design. Although the DDOT will be providing the capital investment for the water structure, project leaders are still seeking a neighborhood organization to take stewardship over it. Starburst Intersection will also include a multitude of Low Impact Design features, making it an eco-friendly addition to the H Street Corridor. The Starburst Intersection is projected for completion in early 2009, and should be followed by the stalled trolley plan for H Street, but more on that soon.