Eat Stay Love: Lebanese Taverna

Q and A with Francisco Beltran and Angel Betancourt
by Beth Herman


Very much a family affair, the revered late 1980's-era Lebanese Taverna in Woodley Park, at 2641 Connecticut Avenue NW, is one of six restaurants, four cafe's and a market in the industrious Abi-Najm kin's epicurean gallery. Undergoing a complete demolition, Principal Francisco Beltran of Design Republica and project manager Angel Betancourt of Potomac Construction Services reimagined the 165-seat, 4,300 s.f. space. DCMud spoke with Beltran - veteran of more than 100 restaurant designs - and Betancourt about the venue, which reopened in early November.

DCMud: From a general perspective, what did the renovation entail?

Betancourt: It was a total demolition resulting in a more open feeling and contemporary design.

DCMud: Did anything survive the former design?

Betancourt: We did retain the cross-vaulted ceiling, though removed a lot of beams so the ceiling looks higher.

Beltran: The cross-vaults were something the family had invented back in '88, and that became the heart and soul of the restaurant. However previously, they'd had bulkheads that concealed air ducts and crossed the dining room horizontally that connected at points of the cross-vault. When we removed them, the illusion of a much grander ceiling, though it was already at 15.5 feet, was created. Removing the bulkheads gave a lot of verticality to the space as it's very linear and narrow.

DCMud:Was the space reconfigured in any way, and if so for what purposes?

Beltran: The restaurant had taken over an adjacent space in the mid-90s, making it into the private dining room - but it had no connection to the front of the house and people felt they were not dining in the heart of the restaurant. In the new design that space became the kitchen, and the new private dining room was conceived as a part of the main dining room.


DCMud: There appears to be a lot of sumptuous custom mill and tilework.

Beltran: The way we chose to finish the walls, floor surfaces and more was based on the Lebanese tradition of using hardwoods like walnut, much of which is reclaimed wood.Tabletops throughout are reclaimed walnut.

The main floor is assimilated wood plank flooring that's made of porcelain. It provides the illusion of warm hardwoods but is much more durable and non-slip. Custom concrete tile was used on the bar faces, and will be used on the storefront facade later on.

Carpet tiles in the restaurant are recyclable and have an oversized print and more of an antique look, which gave a warmth and character to the main dining room.

DCMud:  The private dining room appears to be swaddled, if you will, for luxury and sound.

Beltran: In that space, we used a floor-to-ceiling striping pattern where we alternated walnut hardwood planks in between 18-inch wide fabric panels, actually Homasote boards with batting, for dimension. We wrapped green tea leaf velvet fabric. All three major walls are encased in wood and velvet panels.

In the other part of the restaurant, we used copper velvet fabric for the banquettes treated with Nanotech stainguarding.

DCMud: Can you speak to the lighting?

Beltran: All lighting is LED. Chandeliers were custom made in Egypt specifically for this project. The chandeliers in the wall that divide the private dining room from the main dining room are Moroccan lanterns that we find in most Lebanese Taverna restaurants.

DCMud: Does the new restaurant resemble any of the others?

Beltran: From the time I first starting working with the family, in 2000, it was clear they didn't want their spaces to look like anything cookie-cutter, or a franchise. Each restaurant is specifically designed and detailed within the community - each has a different look and feel. And it's always a team effort, as the family, chefs and staff are deeply involved. The food, service and friendliness may be the same, but the experience of the surroundings is completely different. And the family treats each restaurant like it's their only one.

DCMud: More like Louis Sullivan's contextual architecture, perhaps.

Beltran: Each speaks the language of its community or neighborhood.

DCMud: You began working for family in the restaurant business when you were 14 years old, something that evolved to later experiences with renowned chefs/restauranteurs Victorio Testa, Roberto Donna and others. Is your hospitality design work a strategic outcome of this?

Beltran: I knew in junior high school I wanted to be an architect. Combining food and design was more of a coincidence, though, when the first architecture firm at which I worked  did a restaurant. I said, 'I know all this,' so it was a natural blending and I never looked back.

DCMud: Is there a particular D.C. building that has impacted you as an architect?

Beltran: It has to be the Holocaust Museum. It's not so much the displays but the actual path through the building - the lighting. It's the way the walls enclose and direct you to experience the space - something very successful, very powerful and moving. I try and do that with my restaurants. I want to tell a story and give a different experience in any point of the restaurant - not just have it be one big open space where you see everything and know what it is. If you sit in different areas, they should evoke different feelings and emotions.

Washington DC retail design news

Downtown Bethesda Project Heads Back to Planning Board

A hotel is back on the boards for Woodmont East, the long-planned JBG Companies development on Bethesda Row, if the Montgomery County Planning Board accepts the latest amendments to allow redevelopment of an additional site -- Artery Plaza -- that is an existing 11-story office building at 7200 Wisconsin Ave.

New plans include a hotel with as many as 230 rooms along with additional retail and office space, to be considered by the planning board during the April 12 hearing. JBG nixed plans for a hotel in 2009 because of market trends, instead designating the area as office space.

The County already approved the Project Plan and Preliminary Plan in 2008, and approved an amendment to those plans in 2009.  JBG now proposes another amendment to allow additional development of an adjacent site. Total real estate development including new and existing space now could include the hotel, 81,165 s.f. of retail space, 755,739 s.f. of office space, and 210 residential units (with 12.5 percent MPDUs), according to the revised staff report prepared for the hearing. The additional property brings the site to 5.82 acres with 4.85 acres available for developing the more than 1.2 million square foot project.

2009 rendering of Woodmont East

Matthew Blocher, Senior Vice President at JBG, said the company is unable to discuss the project until after the hearing.

But according to the staff report, proposed construction will take place in three phases with some office and retail space created in all three phases. Residential units will be built in the first phase. The hotel will follow in the second phase. The third phase entails redeveloping the Artery building with two upper floors of office space and ground-floor retail.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT), owners of half the Woodmont site, partnered with JBG for the development project designed by Shalom Baranes Architects.

The planning board is no stranger to Woodmont East proposals. The board first heard plans for the site in 2007, at which time it denied the application for further consideration of the project’s impact on Capital Crescent Trail. The developers agreed to reroute the path along Bethesda Avenue.

Other concerns included the impact on buildings already onsite. The new staff report states only a stand-alone restaurant and an office building fronting on Bethesda Avenue will be removed, while the Landmark theater will remain. Already approved plans call for third-phase construction of residential space to replace an existing parking deck.

Staff-recommended conditions on approval of the new amendments still include specific measures to keep the trail open during construction, provide an alternate route and install signs to guide trail users. Other conditions in the report require a green roof, LEED Rating Certification with an effort to achieve LEED Silver, and traffic mitigation measures. This will take place directly across the street from redevelopment of the parking lot into condos and apartments.

Bethesda, Maryland, real estate development news

Your Next Place

This fresh new build in Chevy Chase is 7300 square feet of pure undiluted luxury, or approximately one square foot for every time I muttered "I knew I should've gone to law school," as I glanced covetously around during the open house.  From the moment you walk through the imposing double front doors, you know you're entering a very special place, sort of like when you down that eighth shot of tequila.  The house seems even huger from the inside, with a double-height entryway leading into a number of high-ceilinged, wide-open rooms.  The great room features a majestic Porcelanosa wall that you could totally rappel down if you were trying to impress your guests, or were just really stupid.  The kitchen is just massive, with a marble-topped island that features a gourmet chef's range, and the best in high-end appliances.

Upstairs, the master bath sports one of those rainwater showers that simulates being homeless and bathing in the rain (just kidding, I love these showers), and a jacuzzi tub that I would've come back and stolen later that night, if I owned a crane.  There's also an exercise room and a sauna.  If I had a sauna in my own home, I'd use it so much I'd look like a lank-haired pink raisin. Also, if you're single, just imagine the power of being able to say, at closing time, "hey, after hours party in my private in-home sauna?"  And finally, there's a heated three car garage, so you can rest easy at night, knowing your vehicles are toasty and warm.

7035 Wyndale Street NW
6 Bedrooms, 8 Baths
$1,949,000

Washington D.C. real estate news

Takoma Central Underway

Its been a long time coming, but construction at Takoma's metro-centered residential project is at last underway.  Developers have begun work at 233 and 235 Carroll Street, on the District's side of Takoma, on 2 buildings that add 150 rental apartments to the traditionally tranquil neighborhood.

Development partners Federal Capital Partners (FCP) and Level2 Development, (in a crowded field of partners that includes MCZ and SGA Architects), began work last week
on the pair of buildings designed by SGA Architects, a 4-story building at the corner of Maple Avenue and a 5-story adjacent building closer to the Metro station.

Now actively under construction, Level2 partner Jeff Blum says construction to start moving up from the bottom of the hole will commence "within the next few weeks."  His plan incorporates the original 4-story building, plus a new 5-story, warehouse-like building to the west, along with new mandates on what to build.  "The original project was designed and permitted under a set of zoning regulations that did not include the Takoma Overlay [increased density] nor inclusionary zoning [affordable housing requirements]. "  The ANC initially argued against the height, but Blum notes that the higher density is permitted under the new zoning, a decision he says is "appropriate because it is only a few hundred feet from the Metro station."

Each building will have its own parking garage (about 100 spaces total), with a total of 9700 s.f. of retail space.  The buildings will be wood-framed over concrete, with differing architectural styles - the 4-story building featuring an "art-deco flavor," and the other a 19th century red brick, warehouse style apartment building.  A "3-story glassy hyphen" will connect the two.  Developers are shooting for LEED certification this time around, and expect completion in March of 2014.

The project has long stuttered, and for those that enjoy the long, twisted tale that accompanies many development projects, the tale of Takoma Central doesn't disappoint.  Bethesda-based architecture firm SGA purchased the lot for redevelopment in 2004, with plans to build Ecco Park condominiums - "green," but not LEED certified, said the owner.

To prep, the developer partially remediated the soil on the former gas station site, then announced the project in 2006.  With nothing more than clean dirt at the site, the SGA sold a third of the 85 condos, but the coming housing bust forced the developer (and financial partners) to rethink, and like many other condo projects, the development went rental.  At least on paper.

Returning deposit checks, SGA announced the project would still go forward, now as an apartment building.  But financiers were as scarce as condo buyers, and it was not until August of 2010 that the developer thought it had a financial partner, and Ellisdale was awarded a $13m construction contract.  But financing was elusive, and it was not until early 2011 that Level2 and MCZ entered the picture to partner with SGA, acquiring the second site and expanding the scope of the project.  Finally, earlier this year, FCP joined the fray and the site took on new life.

"This is a neighborhood that is thirsting for new retail" says Blum of Level2, noting that the new streetscape "will better connect the Metro station to the existing shopping area on the Maryland side."  In addition to the extra retail frontage, Blum says the sidewalk "is going to be vastly improved" - "from a 4-ft path of lose bricks and other obstacles" to an 18-foot wide space, including 6-foot sidewalk and space for a sidewalk cafe, for "a much nicer, and safer, pedestrian experience." Hamel Builders is doing the construction.  Finally.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Latest Plans for St. Elizabeths Irk Preservationists

Gateway Pavilion rendering. Image: DMPED site

An architecturally progressive cultural venue, Gateway Pavilion will bring new life to DC's Congress Heights neighborhood, its high-profile design team told DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) Thursday.  The board received comments on the design for an "interim" arts and cultural venue planned for the heart of the 173-acre campus of psychological hospital St. Elizabeths Campus East.  It did not vote on the plans.

Plans for Gateway Pavilion call for a dramatic, wing-like roof and a five-module system that can be re-positioned to adapt the landscape of the venue, such as a for farmers' market or a concert stage, the design team told the HPRB.  The pavilion is being cast as a temporary, or "interim", anchor for a larger, planned 750,000 square foot build-out of the East Campus.

The Gateway Pavilion model at WDCEP Showcase

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) selected the design team of Davis Brody Bond, KADCON, and Robert Silman Associates in a bid to design and develop the venue on the city-owned land.  The high-profile firms are, individually, behind such sites as the National September 11th Memorial and the reconstruction of D.C.'s Eastern Market. 

St. Elizabeth's, perched on the fringe of Ward 8, sits on the brink of a major overhaul under a master plan by the General Services Administration (GSA), the property management arm of the federal government, that calls for 4.5 million s.f. of office space to one day house the Department of Homeland Security.

Construction on the West Campus is already underway, and the East Campus package is set for delivery in 2023.  The entire campus is expected to one day host about 14,000 employees.  The new headquarters for the U.S. Coast Guard could bring 4,000 workers to the neighborhood by August.

Gateway Pavilion. Image: DMPED site

"Our challenge is to continue to brand the campus as something that is not a mental institution," said Ethan Warsh of DMPED.  He said the design met the Department's goals of bringing food options and entertainment amenities to the neighborhood east of the Anacostia River, and to an increasing number of workers in the area.

The concept design has gone before the Commission on Fine Arts, the body charged with overseeing design changes to historical properties in the District, which recommended several changes including increasing walkability and sight lines across the property.  The proposed design calls for bike parking, rooftop rainwater collection, and self-composting toilets.

Gateway Pavilion model at WDCEP Showcase

But the venue's seductive, green design isn't wooing everyone.  A member of the DC Preservation League (DCPL) argued the design obscured the historic buildings, and that the neighborhood needed basic retail more than it did entertainment venue and quick lunches.  

"This was also an area that we discussed should be the last possible space for development," said Rebecca Miller of DCPL. She said the neighborhood won't benefit from "fast, casual lunch places."  Backers said the site would be able to host eight to ten food trucks at any given time.

Instead, Miller said, neighborhood residents need places to buy basics, such as stockings.  "It cannot be all things to all people," Warsh, of DMPED, later commented.  "It can only be what $5 million will get us."

Note:  An earlier version of this article, in quoting the DC government's website, may have misleadingly implied that KADCON and Davis Brody Bond worked on the Eastern Market DC restoration.  That is incorrect.  Robert Silman Associates was the structural engineering firm on the project.

GSA Master Plan for St. Elizabeth's Campus.

Washington DC retail and real estate news

Costello Construction Chosen as Contractor for Silver Spring Library

When Montgomery County’s division chief for the Department of General Services described the new Silver Spring library as a real priority project for the county, he wasn’t just talking.

The county has been swiftly moving forward and is set to announce that a general contractor, Costello Construction, has been picked to build the new structure. The Columbia, Md.-based company also built Silver Spring’s much-lauded civic building at Veterans Plaza, which means its representatives have experience working with city and county officials, the community, and local utility companies.

“The lowest bidder was Costello, and they were within the budgeted amount, so the contract will be awarded to them,” said Susanne Churchill, the senior architect and project manager with the county’s Department of General Services. “They really wanted the project.”

The bidding process closed on November 7, and the contractor was recently chosen. The next steps should occur quite rapidly. The county and company are currently hammering out administrative details, and the company should begin work a few days after that. But observers might not notice much activity on the site at first, as the company gears up for construction by purchasing trailers and renting equipment. That should be just in time for the holidays, delaying the start date a bit. “This is a bad time, but one way or the other, we’ve started conversations about first steps, and they’ll probably be starting in January,” said Churchill.

That’s certainly not too soon for the many Silver Spring residents who’ve been anxiously discussing and waiting for their new library. The project, a 63,000 square foot building designed by the Lukmire Partnership at the corner of Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue, has been on the table since 1999, when the county approved funding for it, but progress has moved very slowly.

When it’s finished, the city will have a new downtown library that’s almost four times bigger than the current one. A five-story building with a glass curtain wall that crosses above the Purple Line’s path, the structure will include an arts center on the first two floors and expanded meeting spaces, a computer lab, and a larger children’s section on the top three.

The project should be done by late 2014.

Silver Spring, Maryland, real estate development news 

A Biotech Firm Runs Through It

Q and A with Jill Schick and Howard Goldstein
by Beth Herman


Charged with creating the behemoth mixed use world headquarters, including offices, laboratory, daycare center and 90-foot-long steel and glass connector for the 250,000 s.f. United Therapeutics Corporation, 1040 Spring St., Silver Spring, Maryland, Jill Schick and Howard Goldstein of Schick Goldstein Architects P.C.left no stone unturned -- and no terrace untree'd. A biotech firm on the cutting edge of developing and marketing specialized products for individuals with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, the program for UTC included three buildings, green roofs and individual terraces, street level retail shops and extensive exterior and interior public spaces. Phase II, at 7 stories, achieved LEED Gold (the others were not submitted) and won the USGB's National Capitol Region Chapter 2010 Award of Excellence Project of the Year for New Construction.  DCMud talked with Schick and Goldstein about the decade-long project.

DCMud: Tell us about the unusual venue for UTC.

Schick: Most biotech firms in the area would go out to I-270, where they'd have a sprawling piece of land and not have to deal with city codes, etc.  Dr. Martine Rothblatt, who is the CEO, has lived in Silver Spring for years. She wanted to bring UTC to an urban setting and give back to the city by bringing in professional people, as a tax base, as well as offering the many courtyards incorporated into the design to the public.

DCMud: What was the process?

Goldstein: We were asked to develop a master plan for the entire project in 2002-2003, so prepared a number of designs for the three buildings at the same time. They were built individually, the 4-story laboratory building completed in 2006, the 7-story Phase II in 2010 and the last one opening just this year.


DCMud: What was the program for the second building?

Goldstein: It's mixed use. The first floor is retail shops and lobby space, entered from an amenity space. There are more laboratories on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, and it has offices on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors. Green roof terraces exist off of the 5th and 7th floors, accessed from individual offices. A vast interior stair encourages high use and interaction as opposed to employees using an elevator or fire stair.

DCMud:What about some of UTC's sustainable elements.

Goldstein: First, we have 5,000 s.f. of solar panels on each building.

Schick: On the first building we used a lot of precast concrete for environmental purposes. There is also a lot of channel glass which affords much natural light but does not sacrifice privacy for the employees. There are exterior sun control louvers on the south and west facades.

DCMud: We understand the choice of terracotta skews wide.

Goldstein: We used (environmentally friendly) terracotta to define the area where the lab is on the 3rd and 4th floors of building #2. The office area above it on floors 5, 6 and 7 is glass and metal panel. The terracotta also scales the building down because there's a residential area to the north, so we used a color that's similar to brick. It also serves as a rain screen system, where the waterproofing is between the screen and the skin.

Schick: It's done a lot in Europe. There's no caulking, sealing and tightening.You're getting the water not to penetrate the building at all; the rain drips down behind it with its pressure equalized. And architecturally, the design of this building swoops you around to the public space on Cameron Street.

DCMud: What was the thinking behind the extensive use of public spaces?

Goldstein: In CBD's (central business districts), you're allowed to double the FAR (floor area ratio) if you provide a public amenity space in 20 percent of the lot. Our FAR was 'one' on this project, which was extremely low. One means if the property is 40,000 s.f., as with the lab area, then you can only build that much. But if you offer a public amenity space, like the courtyard we created, you can double it, which is what we did.

We created what are called pocket parks. Across the street there is an apartment building with an amenity space also, so they could double their FAR. So when you take their amenity space, and our pocket parks, and then an atrium we've created for Phase III, it becomes one large dynamic green space with a road running through it, which is the goal of the Parks Department.

Schick: There's also a public space that's interior, and it's three stories tall. It's always open, so if there's inclement weather, or you just want to experience that space, you can do it -- including on your way to the Metro which is nearby.

Goldstein: Our client calls the UTC campus 'one of the gateways to Silver Spring.'

DCMud: We understand the connector between two of the buildings has a bit of a backstory.

Schick: That was a hard thing to get approved by the neighbors. They didn't want a bridge because it takes people off the street, but this was purely for the company - and it's really called a connector. It was constructed in the South, trucked up and lifted into place. They had to close the street.

DCMud: Tell us about the final building.

Goldstein: It's an office building for staff. The entry is a 3-story atrium space off of Cameron Street. There's a pocket park off of Spring Street at the west end of the property, which is linked to the Cameron Street entrance through the atrium. The first floor is retail. The second and third floors - open to the atrium - are these 'Google spaces' - open, casual, working on your laptop, playing ping pong, having coffee or juice kinds of spaces. There's a lecture hall here as well.

DCMud: A potent feather in Silver Spring's municipal cap - and yours - to say the least!

Photos courtesy of Alan Karchmer and Anice Hoachlander

LEED Certification To Get Major Overhaul in 2013

A certification system that offers a stamp of approval on "green" building is getting streamlined and greener - at least that's what its backers hope.  The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system was launched by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1998 and has since gone international.

Clinching LEED certification, both for new and existing buildings, can mean higher status and lower operating costs for prospective tenants, which equates to higher rental dollars for landlords.  Levels of certification - from basic to platinum - require builders to earn more "points" in efficiency, recycled or renewable building materials, and site impact.  Critics of the certification system say the process is expensive and time consuming, something USGBC hopes to address, including revamping its web site and launching LEED-related mobile apps.

Graphic on applying for LEED. Image: USGBC web site

The USGBC announced this year that it would update its point system and opened the draft "V4" LEED for public comments.  Scot Horst, LEED VP, said in a press release issued in October that USGBC surveyed 21,500 stakeholders.  According to the USGBC, the new LEED iteration gives credit for positive contributions to the environment and communities rather than give points for limiting damage.

The updated LEED certification process features a streamlined application, allocates 20 percent of all points to building energy efficiency, and adds a new "Location and Transportation category that rewards projects for utilizing existing development infrastructure, embracing the principles of walkability, connectivity, density and quality alternative transportation."

Municipalities can play a significant role in determining how "green" a building is - think Metro stops and bike share programs - and Arlington has been attentive to providing infrastructure to support higher LEED rankings.  Mobility Lab, Arlington's transportation innovation arm, is a way of supporting "greener" transportation through such practices as limiting the demand for single occupancy vehicle commutes and offering information about alternative transportation options.

 Founder's Square - proposed LEED. Image: Shooshan Companies

Wendy Duren of Arlington Transportation Partners (ATP) said her organization has shepherded over 100 site plans through the LEED process. ATP, a complimentary service of Arlington County, offers services such as training for tenants on transportation options and customized transportation information.

"We are here to assist you [the developer] and make that [LEED] binder process a little less intimidating," Duren said.

Developer Kevin Shooshan, of The Shooshan Company, said Arlington County offered so many resources, it made sense to apply for LEED. "It's not logical right now to not develop to a LEED standard because of the bonuses Arlington County is offering," he said.  His company's Founder's Square building is part of a LEED Neighborhood Development certification test phase.

He said transit-oriented development involved some forethought on the part of developers.  "You have to give metro cards to new tenants, you have to put bike racks all over the place," Shooshan said.  “As a developer it's another thing you have to do, but it's the right thing for the future.”

The USGBC has invited developers to participate in a beta test phase of LEED V4, what it says will be a streamlined application procedure.  Testers will give feedback to help improve the process.  The public comment period ends December 10th.

Washington DC real estate news

Your Next Place

This Capitol Hill semidetached Victorian rowhome is a true gem, located in one of the very best parts of one of the very best neighborhoods in the city. If DC was a huge cow, this house would be the filet mignon.  (My house, on the other hand, would be tripe.)

The high ceilings, antique fireplace, plaster moldings and medallions add a classic touch to the proceedings, sort of like when I wear my tweed Sherlock Holmes hat during conjugal relations.  The exceptional formal family and dining rooms are large and bright, and the gourmet kitchen is sleek and ultramodern, with the stainless steel appliances and granite countertops you'd expect from a house of this caliber.  The enclosed sunroom is perfect for some cozy afternoon reading and napping during the winter, or for quickly dropping fifteen pounds of water weight in the summer.  (Pro tip: wear a black garbage bag poncho for increased heat retention.  Great for those class reunions that sneak up on you!)

Upstairs, the master bedroom suite makes most other master bedroom suites look like shabby college-student efficiency apartments, minus the "Goodfellas" and Bob Marley posters.  Out back is ample private parking, and you're only two blocks from the Library of Congress and the Capitol, so whenever you have some spare time you can always zip on over and scream epithets at the elected representative of your choice. I suggest following the "YOU LIE!" guy down the street and shouting "YOU LIE!" over and over and over again while making air quotes with your fingers.  He really likes that.

324 Independence Ave SE
4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$1,570,000