Your Next Place

This stunning townhouse sports a limestone facade, which means that, what, it'll dissolve like tissue paper if exposed to Coca-Cola?  I only vaguely remember high school science class, as I was sleep-deprived and sexually frustrated the whole time.  And high.  (I just got really depressed, writing that paragraph, when I realized that nothing has changed.)

The house features a one of a kind recessed arch "porte-cochere" entrance, which is French for "always leave the outside light on or a homeless person will sleep there."  With almost six thousand square feet of space, this house sports four fireplaces AND an elevator - I was almost disappointed when I looked into the elevator and there wasn't another small fireplace inside.  The formal dining and living rooms are "Great Gatsby"-level nice, and the kitchen is huge, with a glass-enclosed eat-in dining area that looks out onto the rolling backyard.

The master bath is incredibly glamorous; you could shoot a rap video in here.  It's got more mirrors than suburban hotel's honeymoon suite (with none of the hidden cameras!), and twin vanities separated by a plush little bench, so whoever finishes getting ready first can sit there and offer super helpful unsolicited advice to the other.  ("I'd never tell you what to wear, but that dress makes you look like an obese wet clown.")  There's a stunning, presidential-quality office (with a fireplace), and au pair suite for the stunning eastern european you hired to take care of your kids.  (I'll let you decide if "kids" in this context is a euphemism or not.)  Out back is a flagstone patio, surrounded by greenery and wrought-iron fencing.

The top level is a huge entertaining area that opens onto an equally huge roof deck; I feel like the buyer of this house should have to sign a legally binding contract promisng to throw parties here.  Not using such a fantastic space would be like buying the Mona Lisa and then locking it into a closet.  It belongs to the world!

2328 Massachusetts Avenue NW
4 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths
$3,295,000

HPRB Hears Hine Project Changes

Changes to the Hine Project, such as reducing the height of a penthouse, improving transitions and adjusting facades, helped resolve some issues for the Historic Preservation Review Board, which voted today to approve a staff report recommendation that concludes "the revisions improve the compatibility of the conceptual plan and (are) consistent with the purposes of the preservation act."

The Board last approved a concept review for the development effort at the old Hine Junior High School Site near Eastern Market in August, at which time Board members offered guidance for further plan development.

Architect Amy Weinstein, a principal at Esocoff and Associates/Weinstein Studio, presented the revised plans and explained the changes to the Board, many members of which were not part of the initial concept review.

Changes include:

• The alley side of the residential building on C Street was redesigned using different materials to set apart the base, core and top of the building similar to the front design.
• New design features throughout the development include panel brick ornamentation, rolled coping in cast stone and copper, and bridged bay projections.
• The 5-story piece on 8th Street transitions to the rest of the building with rolled edges and varied materials.
• At D Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, the bays are extended and bridged to connect the retail spaces.
• A larger setback and reduced height moves the penthouse above the office building at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue farther out of view.
• Twisted brick columns were added to the windows and clustered at the corner of 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
• The plaza component at 7th and C streets now has more of a "late Victorian vocabulary."

7th Street

Although the Board did approve the staff report, members voiced concerns with the project.

Recommendations for continued development included more attention to the C Street alley design, reconsidering the water feature, looking at ways to better transition from residential to office space, and - this being DC - reducing building height.

Stanton-EastBanc team is developing the site, Oehme van Sweden is the landscape architect.

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

New Apartments for Hill East in 2013, Two Blocks from RFK

The recently formed joint venture - between Tritec Development and JBG - has just begun construction on its 141-unit apartment, Kennedy Row, at 1729 East Capitol Street in Hill East, just two blocks from RFK Stadium.

Construction on the 42,629-s.f. site, under general contractor Clark Builders Group, will take approximately 18 months, and the first apartments will deliver in April of 2013. Kennedy Row will be managed by JBG's residential property management arm (we're told the Kennedy Row website is coming next month).

Early this fall, the partnership - a $40 million effort brokered by Colliers - was formed, enabling the project to break ground late last month, just after a building permit was issued for the project, and just before the PUD was set to expire, this month.

The 4.5-story, red-brick apartment designed by architect Polleo Group, is located at 1705-1729 East Capitol Street, SE, right across the street from Eastern High School - which received a $70-million renovation last year - five blocks from the Stadium Armory Metro, and two blocks from RFK Stadium. There will be 113 parking spaces in an underground parking garage.

Well in advance of construction, demolition of the aged structures previously on the site commenced a year-and-a-half ago, and the south side of East Capitol Street between 17th and 18th has been waiting on development since that time. A representative involved with the project said that the timing of the project's start has been purely a market-driven decision.

In December 2007, The Merion Group/Tritec acquired the property for $6.2 million from Comstock East Capitol LLC, which paid $9 million the previous year.

The consolidated Planned Unit Development (by Comstock, with renderings by PGN Architects seen at left) was approved around the time Merion/Tritec took over (late in 2007), and the project was granted a time extension by the Zoning Commission in 2009.

Originally - four years ago - the project looked to become condos, however, developers confirmed that the aim is now apartments.

As for the rest of the Hill East area, the Washington Post reminded readers a month ago that the 67-acre area south of RFK known as Reservation 13 "has been eyed for an ambitious redevelopment for the better part of a decade," and reported that speculation surrounding the area's potential continues, noting the option for: "a new [Redskins] headquarters and training facility near RFK Stadium in anticipation of building a new stadium there when the FedEx Field lease ends in 2027." Meanwhile, D.C. United looks to a short-term lease at RFK, as the soccer team's management continues to try and sort out its future, and appears to be sticking to its guns in declaring that RFK is not a long-term solution.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Eastern Market Concepts OK'd by Historic Review Board

The biggest development on Capitol Hill in recent memory - development of the aged Hine Junior High School - was reviewed before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) yesterday, with the board approving designs for the C Street public plaza, overall landscape plan, and both the north and south residential buildings. In keeping with Capitol Hill's style, the design includes: newly added cornices, brick sidewalks, granite curbs, 36-inch iron "hair pin" fences, and a continuous perimeter of trees in 6' x 6' tree boxes.  New design elements (since April) include: a 2-foot reduction in height of the North residential building, whose façade has been split into five distinct sections - what was one long continuous gallery has been broken down "into a series of repeating storefront windows." 

With recommendation from HPRB for architectural diversity appropriate to Capitol Hill real estate, the South residential building (on 7th) now takes inspiration from Late Victorian architecture (not High Victorian) and boasts a "tripartite" facade (lighter gradations in masonry color). It has also been separated into vertical sections, like the North residential building (shown above), with an addition of 3-story protruding retail bays. Located at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill, between 7th and 8th Streets along Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, and across from the Metro station, the 3.2 acre Hine Development is most notably where the flea market portion of the Market has been held every Sunday, year round, since the 1970s. The development team led by Stanton and Eastbanc has been seeking ongoing conceptual review with HPRB since April, when the mixed-use project was first reviewed in its entirety. A small chunk of the project was unanimously approved by the Board last month, with the remainder also unanimously approved by the Board today. The development team was selected in July of 2009, and in turn selected landscape architect Oehme, Van Sweden & Associates, and lead architect Escoff & Associates. The open meeting was a showcase for some heartfelt lamentation of the overall size, but most passionate were those who spoke out against a decrease in public space, and in the flea market operations (down to 68 tents). It was agreed that approximately 120 vendors are currently on site (in the Hine School yard/parking lot) at any one time on Sundays. It was also generally agreed that this does not fall into the jurisdiction of the HPRB, and so all parties (interested in the number of tents on site) will reconvene at the Deputy Mayor's office, where the future of the flea market vendors will be determined. 

Last month, HPRB approved revised designs for the 8th Street residential building and the Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street office and retail buildings. HPO staff reviewer Steve Callcott stressed the desire for the development's new retail components - along 7th Street - to serve as a connector between Eastern Market and Barracks Row. The next step for the development team, after a visit to the Deputy Mayor's office, is a trip to the Zoning Commission for PUD approval, which could be in September, if the project is to keep the timeline set by the District. 

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Deanwood Heights Subsidized Housing Project Starts Today

An affordable housing development team will kick off construction of its project in northeast Washington DC today. The team of Denning Development, UrbanMatters Development Partners, Beulah Community Improvement, and NCD Management, which the Fenty administration awarded with city funding in September of 2009, will build 63 subsidized units at 400-414 Eastern Avenue, NE (29 townhouses), and, in a later phase, the empty 6100 block of Dix Street, NE (34 townhouses), an area that can be conservatively described as blighted and in need of economic development. Square 134 Architects designed the new townhouses.

Eden Place will be available to families making up to 120% Area Median Income (AMI, which is $103,500 for family of 4). Home prices are based on income, but the 3 and 4 story townhouses will run from $199,000 to the high $200's, ranging in size from 1,484 s.f. to 1,680 s.f., with price based on income. Though the project will be entirely affordable, bucking prevailing wisdom of mixing subsidized and market housing, developer Raymond Nix of UrbanMatters says occupants will still span a range of incomes. "This is really mixed income, it provides opportunities for first-time homebuyers, but it goes up to 120% AMI, the phrase affordable housing is really a broad one."

Today marks the beginning of demolition only, but Nix thinks the first units could deliver by mid-Summer. In awarding the project, Mayor Adrian Fenty predicted that construction would begin in February of 2010, but Nix says that was never a realistic timeline, and that construction of phase 2 is "sales dependent."

UrbanMatters was also awarded the contract to redevelop the M.M. Washington School last March, and will turn the historic school into 90 subsidized apartments for seniors, a project that was criticized by some for excessive government funding ($6m to $8m) while competing developers asked for less city money, several of whom questioned why the District chose a publicly funded option over what the losing bidders viewed as more regenerative types of projects. Financing for Eden Place will come from DC's New Communities Program, with the city kicking in $3m, or $47,619 per unit, according to Nix, with no HUD funding. Eagle Bank is the construction financier. "We're really rooted in grassroots community development and community serving affordable housing" said Nix of UrbanMatters' mission.

Ajia Meux, immediate Past President of the Deanwood Citizens Association said that just about anything in the area is a net positive. "Because of the environment around those buildings I don't like going over there much. Its been boarded up for at least a year, and even though its an affordable housing project, I'm glad that ward 7 is getting some attention...We are the most underserved ward in the District, and I'm exicited to see economic development happening in the city, but especially here. Hopefully this will stabilize the neighborhood a little bit." The only cloud inside the silver lining was the price tag. "I question how affordable it really is," said Meux, noting that houses in the area often sell below $100,000, though remodeled houses start around $150,000, but Nix points out that new townhouses in the area tend to sell in the high $200,000's and low $300,000's.

Winmar will serve as the General Contractor, with Bowman Civil Engineering. A ceremony will be held today at 2pm.

Washington DC real estate development news

DCMud 2010 Year in Review

2010 may not have been a chart buster for real estate, but by most accounts it beats 2009. DCMud presents its annual report of what happened, and what didn't, this year in the world of commercial real estate. 

To start the year, the Coast Guard Headquarters received a thumbs up (Jan 7) from NCPC for the WDG Architecture and HOK designs. Silver Spring will get its arts venue now that the county has reached an agreement (Jan 15) with developers to swap land.  Lee Development Group intends to build a hotel, office building, and 2,000 person music hall in the CBD. Another church sold out to developers (Feb 2), as Lakritz Adler planned to build 200 apartments in place of the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring, just across the street from the library that just got going. Right next door, the county asked developers to submit bids (Feb 3) for another residential project. Progress crept forward on the purple line when the county decided to place it next to the bike trail. The Moda Vista finally took off (Nov 8). Wheaton could be transformed, now that Montgomery County and WMATA have asked developers to submit bids (Jan 21) to control 10 sites downtown, with a B.F. Saul lead team chosen for most of it (July 29). Patriot Realty submitted formal plans (April 13) for 500 apartments above a new Safeway downtown (pictured). EYA began plans to demolish the James Bland Addition public housing project in Old Town Alexandria, which it followed through on, to make way for a mixed-income housing project, now for sale. The Takoma Theater was the subject of a showdown between its owner, who wanted to tear it down and build apartments, and the Historic Preservation Review Board, which liked it just the way it was. The District pushed forward with plans for Skyland, pushing out owners to make room for a developer, testing constitutional boundaries (March 12), even after a national trend by states to stop such practices. Middle Georgia Avenue boomed this year, while the northern and southern ends were a bust. Middle Georgia got a new restaurant (Jan 27), and a new apartment building by Chris Donatelli (March 21), now that both have started construction and are well on their way to completion, as well as a new CVS. NDC got underway on The Heights (May 24), and proposed The Vue (Dec 12). On the lower end, redevelopment of the Bruce Monroe school fizzled (Aug 10), and the planned Howard Town Center went nowhere.

Moving to downtown DC, L'Enfant Plaza stands a chance of becoming less frightening, now that a cabal of federal planners and developers are in cahoots (sort of) (Jan 29) to rebuild the '60's era mass of concrete into something less awful. Not quite ready for prime time: a 14th Street condo project in Logan Circle promised for 2009 failed to get underway in 2010, despite ongoing predictions things were "imminent". The Arts at 5th and I took one step forward and two steps back, as Donohoe Companies and Holland Development, which won the rights to develop the site in 2008, admitted they were not ready and turned the Mt. Vernon site into a parking lot (Feb 9). Holland later said (Nov 18) that they were getting "closer." Alexandria pondered how to make the King Street Metro less unfriendly to pedestrians (Feb 10). The District began a long process (Feb 12) of reshaping Dupont's underground trolley station into something useful, long after it failed as a restaurant venue. The District eventually selected an arts coalition (Oct 21) to build out the space. The Corcoran, which had partnered with Monument Realty to convert southwest's Randall School into a large apartment building, gave up the ghost and sold the project to private investors (Feb 18). Senate Square on H Street was sold at auction (Feb 22) to its mezzanine lenders, relieving New York's Broadway Development of one its DC debacles. Broadway had already defaulted on the Dumont, and soon Arbor Place, its investment in Jim Abdo's New York Ave project-that-wasn't, would also fall apart (May 14). M.M. Washington High School was given to a team of local developers who planned to turn it into subsidized senior housing (March 15), construction is expected by mid 2011. A Woodmont Triangle church has been trying to morph into an 8-story, 107-unit apartment building along with a new church, moving through approvals and looking for a partner after Bozzuto backed out (March 16). DC and the feds gave money ($7.2m from DC) to Urban Atlantic and A&R Development Corp. (March 18) for the 8.5 acre Rhode Island Station, which then broke ground May 18th. Greenbelt Station gets more hopeless by the year (March 24). H Street swelters: The Rappaport Companies got ANC approval (March 26) for its Torti Gallas designed, 400-unit building on H Street, heating up the retail corridor just as the trolley lines are finishing up. Clark Realty broke ground on Arboretum Place (Sept 15) at the eastern end, and new supermarkets are planned for the east (Aldi) and west (Giant) ends. After years of litigation, Ed Peete's Bromptons project made a comeback in Arlington (March 27). Alexandria skyline rising: The Hoffman Company will put 1,200 new rental apartments and upwards of 70,000 s.f. of retail adjacent to the beltway in Alexandria, rising up to 31 stories (March 30). An Arlington church cleared its last legal hurdles (April 16) and began building the Views at Clarendon (pictured), a mixed church and residential project, which other urban churches eyed with interest (Oct 11). Arlington kicked off Long Bridge Park (April 21), its 46-acre isolated brownfield on the edge of Pentagon City that it hopes will become a major attraction. DC opened its riverfront park next to Nationals Stadium (April 27). Next door, Canal Park got underway in Southeast's Capitol Riverfront (Aug 26), a neighborhood that added more than a thousand new residents in 2010. Hopes of Utopia were raised, then deflated, U Street developer Georgetown Strategic Capital predicted imminent progress (Apr 22), then got a 2-year extension (June 26) to build his apartment building and retail project. LCOR broke ground on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission building in North Bethesda (April 28). The MBT bike trail opened a new leg in Northeast DC (May 3). Georgetown's Social Safeway reopened, newer, bigger, better (May 4), as did the Georgetown Library (Oct 14) after a devastating fire in 2007 on the same day that Eastern Market smoldered. The Cohen Companies floated plans for a large residential project at 14th Street and Virginia Avenue, SE (May 5). Brookland had a great year, breaking ground on Dance Place and Artspace, EYA broke ground (May 6) on 237 townhouses, and Bozzuto and Pritzker Realty Group partnered up to build Jim Abdo's mixed-use project (Aug 20). Abdo's other grand plan, Arbor Place on New York Avenue, got no such reprieve, and faded away (May 14). The District broke ground on Sheridan Station, a 344-unit public housing project in Southeast, hoping to cure its crime and upkeep problems (May 10), as well as a host of other affordable housing projects. Construction got underway on the Martin Luther King Memorial (May 14). Louis Dreyfus demolished a block of historic homes (May 20) on the edge of Capitol Hill, ostensibly to build Capitol Place, with 302 apartments, but so far have only turned it into a parking lot. Columbia Pike saw several apartment buildings open (May 23) as development of all kinds took hold, but no trolleys yet. The Loree Grand opened to residents (May 31) just after Paradigm opened its doors (May 28) as the first new housing in NoMa in a century. Archstone broke ground on more residences for NoMa (July 21), 469 apartment units (pictured, right) designed by Davis Carter Scott, on track for a mid 2012 opening. DC reached the 100th anniversary of the act of Congress that gave the District height limits (June 1). Southwest DC passed several milestones, as the Southwest station reopened (June 3) along with a new Safeway. It made nominal progress on the Waterfront (Aug 18) with its first demolition and release of early designs (Sept 30), but construction is not expected any time soon. Capitol Hill's Old Naval Hospital began the rebuilding process on its way to becoming a community center (June 10). The Monty, a long-planned Bethesda high-rise, got a new owner (Bainbridge) (July 1) and soon after got ready to break ground (Nov 5). Work got started on 1000 Connecticut Ave, designed by Pei Cobb Freed, perhaps DC's most visible office building (July 12). Post Properties got underway (Aug 9) on phase two of its Carlyle Square apartment project in Alexandria, 344 new apartments designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group. Park Morton got another public injection of cash, likely clearing the way for a large affordable housing project. Developers should break ground on the 500 units during 2011. JBG found a financing partner (Aug 15) for its 14th Street condo project, gave it a new name (Oct 27), and said it was ready to break ground this year, though that hasn't happened yet. A 42-acre parcel in Northeast was planned by Trammell Crow for a big box destination (Aug 17). Capital One proposed a more urban remake of 23 acres (Aug 19) in downtown Tysons Corner. The Bonstra Haresign design, however, is expected to be built only a few bits at a time, if at all. A long time coming, the Howard Theater began a transformation that should help restore some if its former glory (Sept 1). The Smithsonian unveiled revised plans for the the Museum of African American History and Culture, to take up the last free spot on the Mall (Sept 3). Reston Station got underway as the public garage component began construction (Sept 6), and Comstock Partners planned an early 2011 groundbreaking on their portion, more than a million s.f. of development at the end of phase 1 of the Silver Line Metro extension. Urban planners began thinking through a full makeover of Mt. Rainier nearly a century after the city peaked as an inviting community (Sept 22). Washington Property Company started work on its 16-story residential building in Silver Spring's Ripley district, designed by the Lessard Group (Sept 29). After decades in the making, Marriott's development team began site prep (Oct 20) in downtown DC next to the Washington Convention Center, then broke ground on the 1175-room hotel. Equity Residential bought the plans for a Lyon Park project in Arlington and expected to break ground soon on the new apartment building and retail (Oct 5). Arlington selected Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing as the developer of the residential portion of Arlington Mill, a subsidized residence and community center (Oct 6). In Rosslyn, the Artisphere opened, adding a touch of nightlife to the 9-5 neighborhood, a new office building and street got underway courtesy of Skanska (Sept 18), and JBG nearly started work on Rosslyn Commons (Oct 3), 454 new units of housing. Monday Properties began work (Oct 12) on 1812 N. Moore, their speculative 35-story, 390 foot office building (pictured), what will be the region's tallest building when completed. The Davis Carter Scott-designed structure will rise above the new Rosslyn Metro station. Developers of CityCenter DC said they would be ready to fill the gaping hole downtown by next spring (Oct 22), despite the apparent lack of an anchor tenant. Paradigm Development began work on more than 400 apartments in Mount Vernon Triangle (Oct 27). Carr Properties and architects at SmithGroup came up with plans to add an office building onto the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Nov 5). The cash-strapped Perseus sold 14W to JAG, which said it could start building the 14th Street project almost immediately (Nov 24). Next door, work began on UDR's apartment building after delays and extensions (Dec 15). In the last item of note, Shaw's Progression Place started up (Dec 22), though the more meaningful O Street market got nowhere, despite an official groundbreaking (Aug 30).

Costco Tantalizing DC's Gateway

Twenty years in the making, and plans to develop Washington DC's first Costco at Dakota Crossing are still trudging along. The stage set is a remote patch of forested land in the Fort Lincoln neighborhood, better recognized as the land opposite the Washington Times on Route 50. The players are likely to be Costco and Target, potentially Shoppers Food Warehouse and Staples, even Walmart was once in the lineup. The director is Fort Lincoln New Town Corporation, which brought in Peterson Companies to develop retail as part of a mixed-use, suburban-style shopping center with housing, offices, retail and acres of parking lots. When Peterson bowed out in 2007, Trammell Crow Companies stepped in to oversee its stock and store - big box power centers. All that is missing is the financing and wetland remediation plan approval from the city. And, of course, final commitment from at least one of the big retailers.

The site seems a developer's dream: 42 empty, contiguous acres, flanking one of DC's main migratory routes. Because it is situated in the residential Fort Lincoln neighborhood and nearby industrial uses are mostly defunct, residents pine for a major retail center somewhere, anywhere, in their quadrant. The plan shows 430,000 s.f. of retail served by 2500 surface parking spaces, connected to a 362-acre housing development planned across the street - The Village at Dakota Crossing, with 537 townhouses, 30 affordable workforce units, 500 more parking spaces and a pedestrian-friendly layout with wide sidewalks, tot-lots and community spaces. The land is a stone's throw away from the National Arboretum and within a 5-minute walk of the Anacostia River But development has hit two main obstacles. The first is getting retailers to commit to a large project in a suburban setting, which tests current financing models, although Costco has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent to occupy the property. The other is the dated nature of the plans: 20 years ago, paving over a large, unused plot in the city to build a regional shopping center would have easily passed city government hurdles, whatever the environmental or historic implications. But the contentious, yet sought-after site is now entirely forested and home to wetlands, filtering nearby industrial waste and acting as a natural barrier against flooding. "Our plans call for creating new, high quality wetlands near the retail center as mitigation for taking away the existing wetlands, which have been documented as very low quality, marginally functioning wetlands. 

 These plans are currently being reviewed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA, and will be reviewed by D.C. DOE once the federal regulators finish," said Cel Bernardino of Fort Lincoln New Town Corp. He also noted that the current plan "envisions a model 'green' shopping center with cisterns, green roofs, green walls, and other LID (Low Impact Development) measures." Costco has been eying this site for the past ten years. Target and Shoppers do not lag far behind in enthusiasm. They might all benefit from TIF (tax increment financing) subsidies from the District, which has supported the development as a neighborhood improvement initiative. Costco alone expects $15 million in TIF financing. But the District must mediate between the environment, small business owners who have fought the behemoth onslaught of all-in-one-for-a-portion-of-the-price big boxes, and competing revitalization projects throughout the city. "The Office of Planning has worked very closely with the development team to ensure the project is green and pedestrian friendly," reported Victoria Leonard, Director of Policy and Strategic Communications in the office of Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. The District likes it so much it plans on paying $3 million upfront to build retention ponds to offset the 3000 new parking spaces. The funding would come out of the D.C. libraries capital budget, an initiative spearheaded by Council Member Thomas, who noted that "the Shops at Dakota Crossing have been in the books for a decade" back in April of 2009. The funds are being transferred from a Ward 7 libraries project, which should begin to see repayment in 2011. Ward 5 library services will remain unaffected.

According to data on the Deputy Mayor's website, Dakota Crossing envisions that residents would walk to the shops from the Villages, suspending disbelief that shoppers at Costco and Target could buy anything that could be carried by hand. An additional wrinkle is that HUD approved an Urban Renewal version of the Fort Lincoln Redevelopment Plan in 1972; amended in 1990, the plan requires 3000 units of housing, 2463 units more than Fort Lincoln New Town's current proposal. Cel Bernardino recounted the various phases of housing that have already been built under the 1970s Urban Renewal Plan for the Dakota Crossing site. About 1370 residential units, including condos and rentals were built at Fort Lincoln New Town during the 1980’s and 1990’s, with most of the rental units built for senior citizens. The 127-unit Wesley House seniors apartments opened early last summer, and 209 "Dakota Crossing" town homes were completed last month. "We have two additional planned residential developments (town homes and condos) that construction hasn’t started on yet – the 334-unit 'Village at Dakota Crossing' across from the shopping center, and the 50-unit 'City Homes' development at the corner of Bladensburg Road and Eastern Ave." Robert King, Commissioner on ANC 5A12 (Advisory Neighborhood Commission), has been involved in planning Dakota Crossing since the 1970's. He's seen developers come and go, and has remained a reliable supporter of the plan, representing the leading voice of the commission he heads: "The project is finally on track. Some of the first residential units to break ground will be dedicated to firefighters and school teachers, and I am happy about that. The neighborhood is bracing itself for the development of Costco, which is expected to bring jobs, but also increase traffic." He believes the 1970's plan calling for 3000 units of housing was too ambitious and needed to be scaled back in a neighborhood of just 4000. "There is a significant retirement community in Fort Lincoln, and I am concerned about access to the retail site." Mr. King said he has been trying to organize a bus service to transport seniors across Fort Lincoln Dr. and 33rd Place. Although a contender for a Dakota Crossing spot a few years ago, Walmart is out. The city refuses to provide subsidies to the union-shunning employer. Nevertheless, word on the street is that Walmart may yet settle into the neighborhood, but now on triangular site bounded by New York Ave., Blandensburg Road and Montana Ave., the site of the Abdo project that fell apart earlier this year. From a traffic perspective, the development of two big box retail sites in such proximity could produce a tangle at what is already a busy thoroughfare. In an area that lacks Metrorail, the arrival of the big boxers and all the parking infrastructure that comes with them does not foreshadow a favorable future for TODs (transit oriented developments). The architects of the proposed retail development at Dakota Crossing, Bignell Watkins Hasser, with offices in Annapolis, MD and Vienna, VA, have built several local retail centers at both the neighborhood and regional scales. The big box retailers would create what is estimated at 800 new jobs by establishing what developers hope becomes a regional destination, capturing incoming and outgoing DC traffic at the entrance of the Baltimore-Washington corridor. "I want everybody to know from here to Timbuktu that Fort Lincoln is getting ready to complete plans for Costco. We want to make sure we can tap into every dollar for the city and create as many construction and other jobs as possible" said King, who echoed concerns about the wetlands and retention ponds on the new development site. Area residents seem enthused. "I think its hard to argue against development in one of the last development holdouts in DC" said Hans Posey, who moved to the neighborhood recently. "Its a very established neighborhood, but everybody, everybody, in the neighborhood is gunning for something bigger, something more than the kind of stores that are there now." Cel Bernardino estimates an August 2011 groundbreaking for the retail part of the development. "I’d say Spring 2011 would be the soonest we are likely to break ground on the shopping center. We have 'solid' commitments from our anchor tenants. No leases signed yet." The current site plan/design for the shopping center received concept design approval from NCPC on June 3, 2010. 

Washington DC real estate development news

Demolition on East Capitol

Hill East has fewer abandoned buildings and more rubble after the recent demolition of the vacant, 80-unit apartment building (pictured) on East Capitol Street, SE, between 17th and 18th Streets. The 42,629-s.f. site is near RFK Stadium just across from Eastern Senior High School, which itself has gotten a bit of a makeover lately. The demolition makes way for Kennedy Place, a 141-unit condo building developed by The Merion Group and designed by PGN Architects.

General contractor, Moseley Construction Group, is responsible for the demolition and construction. According to Johnny Moseley, President of Moseley Construction Group, the demolition is 50 percent complete. Moseley said he was "not sure" about the status of the second phase, actual construction.

The project, originally planned as 131 units by then-owner Comstock East Capitol LLC, received a zoning extension in 2009. The approved zoning changes and plan modifications give the developers until December of 2010 to file a building permit, and December of 2011 to begin construction.

In December 2007 Comstock received approval for a consolidated PUD allowing construction of a 133-unit building. In that same month, Merion acquired the property for $6.2 million from Comstock, which paid $9 million in 2006. Merion Chairman Bill Bensten was formerly a senior executive at Comstock.


Washington, DC real estate development news

Hill Center Ground Breaking

Capitol Hill's Old Naval Hospital at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE will soon be transformed into the Hill Center - a fully refurbished community center, meeting place and cafe - officially kicking off on Sunday. Built in 1865, the building served wounded and aging Civil War veterans and later was used as a training center for Naval doctors. The structure has fallen into disrepair over the years, though the local ANC continued to use it as a meeting space until just recently. Once at the top of the list of most endangered historic places, the Old Naval Hospital will begin its transformation at Sunday's groundbreaking and "old fashioned ice cream social," beginning at 2 PM. Break out your Sunday best.

After years of debate, the Historic Preservation Review Board in 2009 granted unanimous approval to the historic restoration plans for the hospital, the surrounding fence and the neighboring carriage house, the latter of which in recent years served as a temporary Christmas tree stand. In the 2009 staff report, the HPRB remarks on the architectural integrity of the building, which still has its original windows, roof, interior walls and finishes. The old fence surrounding the property, with period compass circles and stars, was cast by a firm located on the Anacostia river around the time the building was constructed. The architects have undertaken an archeological study to ensure the fence is reconstructed in a historically accurate manner.

When complete, the main building will have 12 rooms to serve as meeting spaces, classrooms, a computer center and even a demonstration kitchen. Several rooms on the second floor will be available for rent to host conferences and events. Sounds like a prime fund-raising space. The adjacent carriage house will be converted to a cafe. BELL Architects, which performed previous updates to the crumbling facade, has led the planning and is responsible for the new design. Gone is the red brick facade, which will be recoated with historic-conforming beige skin.

In February of this year the federal government handed over the property to the District, which will grant a 20-year lease to the The Old Naval Hospital Foundation (ONHF) for use of the building as the Hill Center. ONHF won the right to renovate the building in 2007 after vying for an RFP released by the Office of Property Management (OPM) in 2003; total restoration costs are estimated at $10 million.

The Hill Center builds upon the transformation of the Eastern Market neighborhood, following the recent reopening of the Eastern Market and joining plans for a mixed-use development at Hine Junior High School across the street.

Architect's Update:
DCMud had a chance to discuss the project with architect, David Bell. Bell explained that Hill Center will receive a rehabilitation tax credit, which holds the architects and construction team to higher standards, including stringent National Park Service review. Bell said it was "challenging...to match up a sustainable design and energy goals with historic preservation" but he believes the Hill Center is a "good candidate to show that you can actually meet both criteria." The best example of these efforts is the heating and air conditioning system the team will use. A normal building requires a cooling tower either on the ground or the rooftop, clearly non-starters for the historic site. The team is instead digging wells, 450 feet deep wells, with piping that will use the natural heat exchange of the ground to create heat in the winter and absorb it in the summer. The process avoids the need for an unsightly cooling tower and is actually more energy efficient because it does not require a gas fired broiler or additional energy-guzzling equipment.

Washington, DC real estate development news

Future Starchitects Redefine Eastern Market Metro Plaza

If you add up their respective ages, they barely break 100, yet five Catholic University School of Architecture and Planning seniors are proving that the one about “age and wisdom going hand in hand” may be a tired old adage at that.

Masterminding a radical redesign proposal for the Eastern Market Metro Plaza for their senior Comprehensive Building Design Studio (CBDS), in which faculty-directed student teams form “architecture firms” and compete against other “firms,” Connor Smith, Ron Elmo, Scott Gillespie, David Edwards and Chloe Rice are approaching their studio project in true “Vitruvian” style.

“Architects in general need to know a little bit about everything,” said Rice, a former politics major and daughter of a New York architect and landscape architect. “In his Ten Books on Architecture, Vitruvius said we need to know history; we need to know physics; we need to know everything.”

Left Brain Right Brain

Applying those principles to their work, the five students - who named their firm GEERS Architects (an acronym of the first letters of their last names) - parlayed a $100,000 DDOT-funded proposal to build a 1,000 s.f. information hub for the Eastern Market Metro on a tired and defaced triangular park site diagonally across from the Metro station, into a different concept entirely. Recognizing that the 50,000 s.f. site also had the
potential to include exquisite but low maintenance grasses and gardens (including a meditation garden), Japanese Maples, flowering trees, a sustainable water harvesting system, bike hub and coffee bar, the students expanded their design in this regard and also determined it should encompass a site of similar size and dimension across the street. In short, what was initially a plan for a single information kiosk, which Rice quipped usually looks like a “space ship” that has been dropped onto a site, would become a 100,000 sf oasis - or urban destination - replete with lush landscaping and key lighting for safety during nighttime use.

“These spaces are very open but there are dark areas and someone had to have time to mess up those benches,” said Michigan native Dave Edwards, who’d originally come to the university for a summer program as a high school junior. Pointing to remnants of a heavily vandalized park seating area, Edwards and company emphasized that a comprehensive lighting system could also serve to connect the two Eastern Market Metro Plaza sites to surrounding restaurants, Barracks Row and Capitol Hill.


Confluence of Clients

“When DDOT came to us, in their eyes they had one client, and that was the tourist,” said Ron Elmo, a Philadelphian who admitted he was equally smitten with art and business, which propelled him into architecture. “But we soon realized that the other client was the resident,” he added, noting part of the design studio process for them as seniors is to learn to interface with the community: to work with the varied clients and agendas a professional architect might face.

Per studio director and Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture Rauzia Ally, area residents and businesses are truly on board with the depth and scope of the expanded Eastern Market Metro Plaza Project. It is also possibly the first CBDS project that could bridge the gap from concept to reality, with DDOT funds to be supplemented by the community. Ally said that construction documents and permitting will be addressed during the summer, with a projected autumn build date if everything is on course. “This community is very active, so they don’t feel they’ll have a problem raising the rest of the money,” Ally said.

A Little Competition

In addition to GEERS architects, 17 other student firms have considered the Eastern Market site, each creating their own buildable architectural design proposal, according to Scott Gillespie. Raised in New Jersey where he and his father were card carrying disciples of “Bob the Builder,” Gillespie says, “In freshman year, they told us that architects design the stage that people live their lives on. When you’re designing, you’re creating spaces, and I always try and picture what it would be like to walk through that space, as I did with Eastern Market.”

According to Connor Smith, “architecture changes your perception of everything around you.” A Manhattan resident with New Jersey roots, Smith was bitten by the architecture bug during a high school year abroad studying art and architectural history at Cambridge University. He is credited by his GEERS peers for generating the site’s more sustainable moves, including the use of materials such as Turfstone in its water harvesting system and a green roof for the information hub.

And The Envelope Please
On May 6, celebrated architects from around the U.S. will come to CUArch to select the winning design – or designs – with a composite design not out of the question in terms of proceeding with the execution of the project. Overall, Gillespie said, “It’s nice to see the community is thinking what we’re thinking.”

Stanton- EastBanc Chosen as Hine School Developer

Today, neighbors of Eastern Market got an answer to a long-outstanding question: What will go in the place of the former Hine Junior High School on Capitol Hill? Washington DC officials announced that Stanton-EastBanc had won the right to develop, with a plan that includes a mix of retail, residential and open space to appease the outspoken Capitol Hill neighborhood. The project may break ground as soon as 2011. The selected team includes Stanton Development Corporation, Eastbanc Inc., Dantes Partners and Weinstein Esocoff Architects. The plan for the 3.5 acre lot in Capitol Hill's Eastern Market neighborhood calls for a total of 510,000 s.f. of total development. The new development will include approximately 150 apartments and over 200,000 s.f. of office space. Currently slated for the spaces are the nonprofit International Relief and Development and the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Additionally, the space will offer 150 parking spaces and "neighborhood-serving retail and restaurants." Stanton appears to have gotten the upper hand for several reasons. The group is entirely DC-based, has a proven track record in several buildings in the Capitol Hill area and did not request any subsidy from the District for the project. 

With support from several active and outspoken Capitol Hill neighborhood groups, Stanton secured the project out of an original field of 11 bidders. The competitive project had the Eastern Market neighborhood a-buzz, forming coalitions in favor of one plan or another. Leah Daniels, owner of Hill's Kitchen in Eastern Market hosted meetings at her shop so the StreetSense/DSF/Menkiti Group could show off their plan. It would have included a boutique Kimpton Hotel, which Daniels felt - still feels - is an important addition to the neighborhood. Daniels said that while the group she wanted to win didn't, at least it wasn't the team she didn't want: Bozzuto Group/Scallan Properties/Lehr Jackson Associates/E.R. Bacon Development, LLC/Blue Skye Development/CityStrategy, LLC. She did credit the Stanton group for being willing to continue to work with the community to ensure that the space maximizes its location in the heart of the Eastern Market community. According to Joe Sternlieb of EastBanc, the developers are looking for neighborhood-serving retail. They have letters of interest from restaurants including: Cafe Leopold, Kaz Sushi, Dolcezza Gelato, J. Cholatier, Tryst Diner by Constantine Stavropoulos, The Boat House Restaurant of Charlottesville and the Twins Jazz Club. Retail interest includes: Dawn Price Baby (looking to expand from current Hill location) and B&M Wine among others. Sternlieb indicated that retail spaces will be no larger than 5,000 s.f. each and will likely average 2,000-3,000 s.f. per tenant. In July, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), Valerie Santos, narrowed the field of competitors to three and encouraged them to submit final offers for the right to redevelop the site. The school was closed in 2007, in part to free up funds for the DCPS headquarters. Responses to the District’s request for final offers were due in early August. Today's announcement marks another high point in the vibrant neighborhood which recently saw the reopening of the Eastern Market after the fire that ravaged the historic structure in April 2007. Councilmember Tommy Wells (Ward 6) said that the new site should reflect how "special" the Capitol Hill neighborhood is and that the developers and the city have "a lot more work to do" to make sure the project enhances the neighborhood.

Capitol Hill commercial real estate news