First Step for Falls Church Affordable Project

The Falls Church Housing Corporation, which provides affordable housing opportunities, currently awaits a formal staff review of its project at 350 South Washington Street, where it plans to demolish its recently purchased office building and a neighboring office building, and replace them with a seven-story, 'affordable' apartment building. The non-profit is preparing for their meeting with Falls Church City Council on May 12, officially beginning the public review process, in which organizations like the Architectural Advisory Board, the Planning Commission, and Zoning can have their say. FCHC hopes to get a final approval from the Council by the end of June so the arduous financing process can begin, all to begin construction by summer of 2009.

The properties to be redeveloped are owned by FCHC and Homestretch Inc., working together to bring down their separate office buildings and provide affordable housing. Homestretch, like FCHC, is an non-profit organization that serves lower-income families. But while FCHC is an affordable housing provider, Homestretch serves the community by renting transitional housing and offering services to families that are at risk of homelessness. The duo will work with Atlantic Realty Companies, the master developer, and the City of Falls Church. Virginia-based architect Butz Wilbern is designing the new building.

Homestretch acquired their building roughly six years ago, and rents out some of their building to local businesses, using the remainder for administrative functions. FCHC just purchased their building in February, with the goal of redeveloping it, and now leases two-thirds of the space. Carol Jackson, Executive Director at FCHC, pointed out that the firm has no interest in being a commercial property owner: "If we get turned down any step of the way [in the development process], we will be selling the building." Both firms use their respective commercial leases to subsidize the outstanding mortgages.

The two 1970's office buildings currently on the site will be cleared away to make room for a mixed-use 150,000-s.f. building which will hold office space for both firms on the ground floor, and offer 172 rental units for families earning 60% of the Area Median Income, or about $40,000. According to their November '07 pitch to the City government, the project will serve to restock the affordable housing supply in Falls Church, which has recently been depleted. "By the City’s own estimate, Falls Church: lost nearly 200 affordable rental units between 2001 and 2006; [has] a shortage of 262 affordable housing units in 2007 – not including 650 additional units that may still be lost through conversion or redevelopment; [and] suffered a 60 percent loss since 2001 in the number of for-sale units affordable to households earning less than 120%."

FCHC has referred to the development as turning "an isolated area of obsolete office buildings into well-located, quality affordable housing for a vital local workforce...who will otherwise be unable to remain in Falls Church." Said Jackson, "Like many of the older 'inner ring' suburbs, Falls Church is transitioning into an expensive, newly urban environment where property values have left behind 75% of the local workforce who are unable to live in the city where they work and contribute to the balanced economy Falls Church desires to foster."

2000 Wilson Waits on Approval as Apartments

2000 Wilson, the dormant residential project that had once been discussed as condominiums, now appears to be commencing as an apartment building. Designs for a mixed-use project at 2001 Clarendon Boulevard in Rosslyn were submitted recently and are awaiting board approval, as Elm Street Development and WDG Architecture plan demolition for June, and construction in the third quarter.

The project, to be located on the eastern part of the area bounded by Wilson Boulevard, N. Rhodes Street, Clarendon Boulevard, and N. Courthouse Road, will now feature 141 rental apartments rather than condos. The plans call for an average unit size of 1,031 s.f., and will most likely not include affordable housing. The units will straddle 36,000 s.f. of ground floor retail, as well as about 250 underground parking spots. The exterior of the building will have facades of brick and corner balconies, generally rising five-stories, but tapering towards Wilson Boulevard and the eastern edge to utilize the incline of the land (see rendering).

Developers have included a "green," reflective roof, and plan to achieve LEED certification. Arlington County also decided the plan conforms to the Rosslyn to Courthouse Urban Design Study, an Arlington County working group designed to shepherd development of said area. After initially applying in 2005, Elm Street received rezoning approval in March of last year, giving them the go-ahead for demolition of a group of buildings that now occupy the space near the Courthouse Metro Station. The project will replace the 79 cent meals at Taco Bell, a car repair shop, several parking lots, and Dr. Dremo's, which closed for business on January 27th in anticipation of the long-anticipated demolition.

"Elm Street Development is looking forward to beginning construction this year on 2001 Clarendon Boulevard," said James Mobley, project manager at Elm Street. "We expect to welcome our first residents in 2010."

"Slumlords" Sued by District

Last week, Mayor Fenty, together with the Interim Attorney General Peter Nickles and the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, filed a lawsuit against 23 landlords whose residential properties have been found to have a "history of serious code violations" according to the District's petition. The District cites nearly 70 buildings across all seven wards of DC which "[suffer] from a history of neglect and indifference." The action will affect more than 470 rental units in total.

The District is capable of filing such a motion because of its status as a municipal corporation; last week's action is the first of its kind, where the District has taken action against more than one property in a single suit. “We’ve all seen the pictures and heard the horror stories from tenants of these buildings. It’s immoral to have human beings living in these conditions, and it’s against the law. With today’s action, it will stop," Fenty said, on the day of the filing.

Alan Heyman, spokesman for the Interim Attorney General, was kind enough to explain the petition as the last chance for slumlords. According to Heyman, all of the building owners have been persistent violaters of DC law in one of two categories: in lacking a basic business license, or lacking a certificate of occupancy. DCRA has exhausted its options in getting these buildings to comply with the law, which forces the Office of the Attorney General to act as its lawyer and file a complaint against the building owners. The petition is asking the courts to order building owners to comply with the laws of the District or deal with consequences such as fines, or even worse, being held in contempt of court. For 13 of the buildings, the District is seeking to appoint 'receivers' who will collect rent checks on behalf of the owners, and ensure that those funds are used to repair the respective properties.

Among the apparent targets of the District are the Stancils, five of whom are separately named by the District in its press release. Rufus Stancil, who has been on the District's 'slumlord-radar' for quite some time, was sentenced to six nights in jail in 2002, plus two years of probation, and ordered to live for 60 days in the very building that he was convicted of neglecting, 2922 Sherman Ave, NW, according to DCRA. At the time, the building had more than 429 alleged housing violations. David B. Tolson, founder of DBT Development, also makes the list, together with Deauville Partners, LLC, which together own 3145 Mount Pleasant Street, NW, which was recently charred in a highly publicized five alarm fire. This is not why Tolson is being called before the court, but rather because he had allegedly been renting out the building without a basic business license. The building which was engulfed in flames in early March, has accumulated more than 7,000 code violations over the years.

NoMa Development Breaks Ground, Part VII

On Monday, at 10:30am, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and assorted camera-seekers will join developer StonebridgeCarras at 2nd and N Streets, NE, to break ground at for the first phase of Constitution Square. The developer will officially kick off its 1.6 million square foot project (pictured) at the ceremony, a mixed-use building that will include 440 apartments, a 200-room Hilton Hotel, a 50,000 s.f. Harris Teeter grocery store and massive office space - 589,000 in Two Constitution, and 350,000 in One Constitution. The project is the first major mixed-use project to break ground in the NoMA neighborhood.

StonebridgeCarras, with Chicago-based partner Walton Street Capital, had announced several major leases over just the past few weeks, including the Department of Justice lease of 88% of the office space of Two Constitution Square, and the 20-year lease of Harris Teeter, which hopes to open in late 2010. The project sits adjacent to the New York Ave. Metro station; the residential portion will be designed by Bethesda's SK&I Architectural Group. HOK Architecture is designing the office space; the project is being ambitiously designed to achieve a LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

By Rite Development in Columbia Heights

3DG, a District-based architecture and full-service development firm, is now spreading the word about its $3 million plan to redevelop the Bi-Rite building (pictured) at 11th and Park Road in Columbia Heights. 3DG will create a two-story, mixed-use building out of the current one, and plans to offer retail and office space. The development firm made the April 15th groundbreaking announcement today.

Before the shovels have even hit the dirt, 3DG has invited DC restaurateur John Andrade to operate a new two-story restaurant out of the ground floor and below-grade level. Andrade, current owner of Asylum in Adams Morgan, plans to open Meridian Pint in the new building, which will offer American "comfort-food," a "generous vegetarian/vegan section," and downstairs lounge area.

Along with housing Meridian Pint, the new building at 3400 11th Street will also offer office space on the second floor; half of which will be occupied by 3DG and the other half of which will house Solimar International, a DC-based sustainable tourism consultant.

The building itself has been vacant for six years, formerly serving as a liquor and grocery store. According to 3DG, the current structure is "low-slung and out of scale with the rest of the neighborhood." Accordingly, the firm claims it will "transform the prominent corner by applying a modern design language" and "[insert] a second story, set back some 22 feet." 3DG also plans to add an "object wall" which will serve as a 'dramatic design element' within the structure, and catch the eyes of passersby.

"There are so many aspects of this project that we're proud of...Bringing such a fantastic restaurant to the 11th Street corridor. And, we hope, raising the bar for architectural design in the area," said 3DG CEO John Goldman. On the topic of design, Goldman went on talk about the building's 'level of green'. "While we're not going to be going for a LEED certification, we will be building it as sustainably as possible."

Although the ceremonial groundbreaking is taking place on the 15th, actual construction can generally be expected to start within the month, according to Goldman. 3DG plans to deliver later this year.

Washington DC retail news

Bad News for Brookland Condos

Brookland Square, formerly known as 1300 Rhode Island Avenue, will now go forward as an apartment building. The 326-unit condo project was initially approved as such back in 2006, but Columbia General Rhode Island, LLC and Republic Land Development sent a letter to the Board of Zoning Adjustment on March 4th requesting modification of the approved plans, to switch the condo to a rental building. In a BZA order dated Tuesday, the Board approved the modifications.

"The Applicant contends that it has spent a considerable amount of time attempting to reduce construction costs and improve the economics of the project, particularly given the very difficult economy and housing market," the approving order stated.

BZA, obviously no Pollyanna when it comes to the economy or housing market, stated gloomily "Because the condominium market in the District of Columbia (and nationwide) has stalled and is predicted to not recover for several years, and the economy, and in particular the credit markets, has dropped to recession or near-recession levels, the Applicant has been forced to redesign the project and convert it from a condominium to a rental apartment building and to undertake numerous and significant cost-cutting efforts in order to reduce construction costs and make the units affordable to the rental market."

Developers will re-work the design plans to meet the needs of an apartment building, including reducing the size of the units and adding two units per floor, for an overall increase of 10. Each of the fourth-floor private rooftop terraces have been eliminated; alas, doing away with the need for the spiral staircases leading up to them. Finally, an on-site leasing and management office will be added to the ground floor, reducing the size of the ground-floor residential units.

Eric Colbert Architects is the designing the building while Republic irons out the project's financing - a groundbreaking date is anticipated by the third quarter of this year.

City Homes at Fort Lincoln

56 new townhouse- style condos may soon greet visitors entering DC from Maryland on Bladensburg Road, if the Board of Zoning Adjustment can be convinced. Developer Fort Lincoln-Eastern Avenue, LLC, is planning a set of townhouses to be built on a 2.5 acre site in the developing northeast neighborhood of Fort Lincoln. The developer pitched City Homes at Fort Lincoln to the Board of Zoning Adjustment yesterday, and will hear the final outcome on Tuesday at a special public meeting.

The announcement is being held up as the BZA awaits a report from the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission. The plan, as originally submitted, was to build 62 units in 31 stacked townhouses but those total figures have been reduced to 56 units in 28 townhomes. The townhomes will be split between four separate buildings on the L-shaped site bounded by Fort Lincoln Drive to the east, Bladensburg Road to the west and Eastern Ave to the north.

The condominiums will average approximately 1200 s.f. each, with two to three bedrooms per unit and their own rear loaded garage. Another 56 spots will be located in the driveway. The current submission to zoning calls for a 40,000 s.f. rain garden adjacent to Bladensburg Road to help treat storm water as it leaves the site.

The Office of Planning, in their memo to the BZA dated last week, supported the project, calling the current site "underdeveloped," among other things. The location seems a popular location for residential uses; the Washington Overlook Condominiums, the Thurgood Marshall School and the Pineview Court Condominiums all sit within shouting distance of vacant site.

OP also cited the project's compliance with the Fort Lincoln Urban Renewal Area Plan, better known as FLURA. Adopted in 1972, FLURA established a "new town" site in the area bounded by S. Dakota Ave to the west, Anacostia Park to the south and Prince George's County to the east. The plan aims to create "an attractive and racially, socially, economically and functionally inclusive community" in a "physical arrangement of activities and uses which respect the area, environmental character and maximizes urban amenities and livability." OP concluded that City Homes at Fort Lincoln "generally [furthers] the overall goals and objectives of the [FLURA] plan," and recommended BZA's approval.

Developers are targeting the working-class and expect prices to range from $275,000 to $375,000, adding that they hope this helps continue the urban renewal plan for the Fort Lincoln area. "We're excited about this project. It is work-force housing. It's really aimed at schoolteachers, police officers, firefighters. It's housing that will allow them to live in the city they are working in," said Cell Bernardino of Fort Lincoln Realty

According to the Concordia Group, a partner on this project, the ANC is in support of the development. Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year, pending Zoning approval. Fort Lincoln Realty is currently building Dakota Crossing, also in NE. Construction began in the spring of 2006 and is still continuing; out of 209 townhouses, about 150 have been sold, from $450,000 to $500,000 each.

Armenian Museum to Renovate & Build Near White House

At the close of last week, the Historic Preservation Review Board gave unanimous approval to a concept design for the new Armenian Genocide Museum of America, which will take up its residence at the former Federal-American National Bank at 615 14th Street, NW. DC-based Martinez & Johnson Architecture designed the restoration and addition to the limestone-clad historic bank, designated as a landmark on both the DC and National Register.

The Armenian Genocide Museum of America will fully restore the 'elevated bank', a term used for banks that house their main hall on the second floor, both inside and out, to its former Neoclassical glory. Exterior workwill include the removal of a superimposed facade that Hahn Shoe Store, the longtime occupant of the street-level space, had constructed long ago, as well as a general restoration of the building's "vault-like exterior design," as described by HPRB.

Along with exterior upgrades, AGMA will restore the historic two-story banking hall, along with many other non-historic areas such as the former boardroom on the building's top level. According to Rouben Adalian, Director of the Armenian National Institute, the fact that the building is being turned into a museum will actually enhance the historical restoration process because so much focus is being devoted to the building's aesthetics.

With the intent of avoiding unnecessary stress to the historic travertine stairs from 14th street up to the central door and to accommodate the crowds it will surely attract, AGMA will construct a modern glass tower on an neighboring vacant lot to the east of the future-museum. The new building, which will be equal in height to the former bank, will serve to circulate the public through the exhibit, housing stairs, elevators, public amenities and generally serve as a public entrance. Said Adalian: "It will be a modern glass tower that will complement the historic building and a lot of care and attention is being given to make sure that it is a proper fit."

"The reason the museum board has been inclined toward a glass tower, something that lets in a lot of light, has a symbolic meaning, to the extent that genocide is a horrible story to recount. The old building, which is a very closed structure with dark interior spaces, seems to be a fitting setting for telling a dark story. And the glass tower stands in a contrast to that in order to let in light on the subject matter, to invite the public to come and visit and to learn from this terrible event and about the value of human rights."

The museum will be devoted to the Armenian culture, and as an educational exhibit of the genocide of over a million ethnic Armenians (plus some Greeks for good measure) by the Ottomans, starting in 1915; a fact still hotly contested by the Turkish Republic.

Silver Spring Developer Requests Another Year

Michael LLC, a relatively unknown developer which has been working to get Studio Plaza through the Montgomery review process since July, 2006, is now requesting that the Montgomery Planning Board extend their review period for one full year, ending June 7th, 2009. The project is planned to rise at the intersection of Georgia and Thayer Avenue in an area known as Fenton Village, in the heart of the Silver Spring Central Business District. The current preliminary design, courtesy of SK&I Architecture, provides for 525 residential units, 152,000 s.f. of office space, almost 60,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail and two underground parking garages, one private and one public, creating more than 900 spaces.

According to a letter from Linowes and Blocher LLP, the development firm's counsel, "a further extension of time is required and appropriate to ensure administrative efficiency for all concerned." The Montgomery National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC) will be hearing the request at their April 3rd meeting.

The delay became inevitable when Michael began negotiations with Montgomery County to add adjacent public land, Parking Lot 3, to the Studio Plaza site. The goal was to fold that parcel into the original application as a revised project plan, but the Maryland Transit Authority halted the land disposition - MTA was preserving Lot 3 for possible incorporation into the purple line. Now that MTA has ruled out use of the site, Montgomery County and Michael are working to iron out a general development agreement, which will integrate both properties into one development. If approved, this would be the second one-year extension for Studio Plaza.

Michael's lawyers argued that a time extension is further justified given the rather complicated alleyway system that exists on Lot 3 and that a bulk of the extension would be used in deciphering the amount of usable land. "The abandonment process [of the alleys] will likely require 6-9 months from filing to resolve...Only then, knowing exactly what land is available on Parking Lot 3, will [Michael] be able to re-design the project accordingly," argued Linowes and Blocher attorney C. Roberty Dalrymple, in a letter to Rose Krasnow, Chief of the Development Review Division at MNCPPC.

The development firm has an option - they acquire the land and file a new application. But there's a catch - the original application was submitted before December 1, 2006, which happens to be the date that the Montgomery Workforce Housing bill became effective, requiring all future residential building applications to incorporate 'affordable housing.' In a rather biting response letter, which refers to Michael's year-long extension request as 'inappropriate,' Rose Krasnow clearly outlined Michael's dilemma: "Any residential buildings in the revised proposal that were not included in the original July 25, 2006 submission, or in any new application, will, at a minimum, be fully subject to Workforce Housing requirements." This requires Michael to maintain the original 'filed' status of the Project Plan and amend it, rather than start from scratch, in order to be grandfathered under the old rules.

Elza Hisel-McCoy, a Site Plan Reviewer at MNCPPC, presents the damned-if-you-do set of options: "From our perspective, if the applicant was going to provide the worforce housing for the units in the original proposal, I think we'd be willing to support the extension of time," Hisel-McCoy stated. It is now up to the Planning Board to decide whether the time extension will be granted, or whether Michael will indeed have to re-file.

The Monterey: A Condo Odyssey Ends

The Monterey, which once threatened to add 432 condo units in North Bethesda, has been passed on to a fourth owner this week, to a team comprised of DC-based Federal Capital Partners and New York-based Angelo, Gordon & Co. The team purchased the site for $97 million, or roughly $225,000 per unit, from CBRE Realty Finance.

The 550,000-s.f. building, originally dating from the '60s as the Pavilion Apartments, underwent a condo conversion and began selling units in early 2006, under the leadership of Annapolis-based Triton Real Estate Partners, which purchased the 16-story property in 2005. But in 2007, before having settled any of the condominium sales, Triton defaulted on their loan and CBRE obtained full ownership. After getting the 40-something condo buyers to relinquish their contracts, CBRE's Paul Martin told DCMud last December that his plan was to position the building as a rental property and eventually sell it.

Now, with the title in hand, Federal Capital Partners is planning to complete the unfinished renovation work that Triton began in its attempt to pitch the building as a condo, and convert the building back to apartments. Triton's addition of granite countertops, hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances obviously weren't enough, so FCP and Angelo Gordon, plan to "re-establish The Monterey as the premier Class-A apartment community on Rockville Pike." Prices initially ranged from the low $300's to the mid $800's, and together with the planned facade renovation reportedly drove the price tag of the whole project up to $45m the last time around. In its current incarnation, the new owners will add a slew of "luxury" finishes, including upgrades to common areas and a host of other "Class A amenities." The developers plan to finish within a year. “The Monterey is an outstanding asset in a proven location. Access to capital and experience repositioning high-rise apartments allowed us to structure a deal that appealed to the senior lender, the mezzanine lender, and contractors left stranded by a failed condo conversion. It helped that none of the apartments ever sold as condominiums and that a substantial part of the property was renovated to Class-A condo standards," said Lacy Rice, a partner at FCP. 

North Bethesda real estate development news

Jamieson Condo in Carlyle Opens for Sales

The Jamieson Condominium, Alexandria's newest residential building, garnered attention today by officially holding its grand opening this evening. The 79-unit Jamieson started selling its condos from the $300s; the residences will occupy 6 floors above a 10-story, four-star Westin Hotel in the Carlyle section of Alexandria. The condo-hotel, located about 3 blocks from the King Street Metro station and clad in the ubiquitous red brick of Carlyle, officially opened the hotel to guests last November. The developer, Atlanta-based Regent Partners, is banking that extending four-star treatment to condominium owners through hotel services will lure buyers to its project, as happened in Arlington's Waterview Condominium, which sits above the hotel Palomar in Rosslyn and recently sold out of its 136 condo units. Regent built the 319-bed unit on land it purchased from Norfolk Southern in 2004 "Regent Partners is excited to bring this unique lifestyle option to Old Town Alexandria. The only condo/hotel highrise in Alexandria, The Jamieson is designed to offer residents luxuriously finished condominium homes and the advantages that come with living above a hotel like the Westin Alexandria," said Kristi Trogler, director of Sales & Marketing with Regent Partners. Units range in size from 700 to more than 1,000 s.f.

Alexandria Virginia commercial property news

DC Kicks Off Minnesota Metro Development

Mayor Adrian Fenty announced yesterday that that the District has issued a solicitation of bidders for a five-acre lot adjacent to the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail station. The chosen team will have the opportunity to build up to 600,000-s.f., though the city has not specified the type of development, leaving open options for a mixed-use development of office, retail, and housing.


According to Sean Madigan of DC's Office of Planning, "We don't have a firm idea of what we're looking for, in terms of whether the development should be pure office building with street-level retail, or just have a retail focus, or housing focus. We really are looking to the development community to see what is really possible there." The site is adjacent to the future location of the Department of Employment Services' newly announced headquarters, a 230,000-s.f. building at the northwest corner of Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road NE, which will include ground-floor retail and and underground garage.

Potential bidders for the site are required to include a 20 percent equity partnership with
Local, Small and Disadvantage Business Enterprises. The chosen development partner must also show an effort to include Ward Seven contractors and businesses in their plans. The area is already under revitalization - it sits amidst about four million s.f. of new projects at Parkside and Ward Seven, and the city is pumping about $40 million into the neighborhood through the Great Streets Initiative. A new Benning Road Library may also be popping up soon in the neighborhood.

"It couldn't be better located," Madigan said. "The city sees this as a great site because it is located right there at the Metro, and is a really prominent corner at Minnesota and Benning. It really is the gateway into that part of Ward 7." Proposals are due by May 6th; the city hopes to narrow down their choices by the end of the summer.

Deanwood Developer Announced, 1500 Units to Follow

Today, Mayor Fenty stood in Deanwood before a forlorn 4427 Hayes Street, NE and announced that Blue Skye Development has been awarded the contract to renovate and develop the building. Blue Skye will turn the shell, vacant for the past 12 years, into 26 apartment units (rendering pictured). The project originally started as 'affordable condos' by defunct NCRC several years ago but never got off the ground.

Though the project has been long sought by District planners, its renovation is really a sideshow to the larger development this will permit. Hayes Street will serve as temporary housing to families in the Lincoln Heights and Richardson Communities, two projects that can be revitalized under the New Communities Initiative, now that the District will have, in Hayes Street, replacement housing for residents of the two needy communities. Under the DC Housing Authority, the agency which owns both Lincoln Heights and Richardson, suitable replacement housing must be found before renovation work on existing housing can begin.

Back in 2006, the District began working with residents from both the Lincoln Heights and Richardson Dwellings neighborhoods, an area between 48th Place 57th Streets off East Capitol Street. In the fourth quarter 2006, the DC Council officially adopted the Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings New Community Revitalization Plan, which would transform the public housing developments and the surrounding neighborhood into a mixed-income, mixed-use community. The District plans to bring at least 1,500 units of new housing, loads of retail, urban spaces, public facilities and transportation infrastructure to the area, as well has constructing a "vibrant mixed-used town center." Even more complex is the new residential street grid which the District is planning for the area, which is being viewed as one of the most essential steps to properly integrating the neighborhood into the surrounding areas.

"The building behind me represents the past for DC...the untapped potential found in great neighborhoods," started Fenty, who went on to commend Blue Skye both for winning the contract and for being a 100% Local Small Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (LSDBE) that currently employs 20 Lincoln Heights residents and offers 30 apprenticeship positions for Lincoln Heights youth.

The redevelopment work at 4427 Hayes Street should start within the coming months. A keyed up Councilmember Yvette Alexander spoke about the imminent transformation of the area: "We're going to bring back the Nanny Helen Boroughs and Deanwood Communities that people once knew."

The District's Best Buy

Just a few weeks after the opening of the city's first Target store, in Columbia Heights, Best Buy is set to open in the same retail complex, the DC USA Center, helping to make the center the largest retail space in the District. The office of Councilmember Jim Graham announced that the ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Thursday on site - 3100 14th St. NW, at 6pm. This will be the second Best Buy to open in the District, following three years after the success of its first store other in Tenleytown. The store has stressed their commitment to offering employment to members of nearby communities and helping local non-profits.

DC Gets Mad Loot from the Feds for Sheridan Terrace

Mayor Fenty announced today that Washington DC is the proud recipient of a $20 million Department of Housing and Urban Development grant, to be used for the redevelopment of the Sheridan Terrace housing project in Ward 8. The announcement fits in nicely with the Deputy Mayor of Planning and Economic Development's New Communities Initiative, which has the task of increasing the housing supply. Sheridan Terrace is planned to house 336 units of brand new mixed-income housing. Through the use of some complex financing, the DC Housing Authority in partnership with the William C. Smith Companies, will leverage the grant money to create the entire $100 million financing package needed to complete the new construction.

Sheridan Terrace was once a vibrant (ahem), 183-unit, public-housing community in Ward 8, but was demolished in 1997 because of sub-optimal conditions due to flooding. The 336 units that are now planned will be broken up into 70 stacked townhomes, 110 townhouses, 56 manor homes (whatever those are) and a 100-unit apartment complex.

“These grants have been a great tool in helping turn around some of our most challenged communities. This most recent grant is truly significant in that it will not only provide hundreds of much needed new housing in Ward 8, but it will play a significant role in helping us move forward with our nearby Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road New Community,” said the Mayor, who is referring to the relocation possibilities that the new housing complex will offer to current residents of Barry Farm, now slated for demolition (the building, that is, not the residents).

The grant, in fact, is meant primarily as a relocation space for current residents of Barry Farms, while their neighborhood is being demolished and rebuilt as a "new community," and has the added benefit of increasing the overall housing supply in Ward 8. The District's plan for Barry Farm includes more than 1,100 units of new housing, both workforce and market-rate, as well as a school, community center and plenty of urban space.

New Town at Capitol City, a Neighborhood Takes Shape

Ten years from now, today may be cited as the day a cool, close-in neighborhood was given life. Tonight, DC's Zoning Commission will hear Gateway Market Center Inc's development proposal for the northwest corner of the intersection of 4th Street and Florida Avenue, NE. The building under review is one small piece of a grandiose plan to create an entire mini-city dubbed New Town at Capital City Market, which would replace 24 acres of industrial land in a neighborhood bounded by Florida and New York Avenues, just west of Gallaudet University.

Gateway, a subsidiary of Sang Oh Development, LLC, is not looking for project approval at this stage, but seeks action from the Commission to 'set down', or initiate, the zoning review process. Gateway Inc. would have been well on their way to realizing this project, as they had gone through very much the same steps more than a year ago in January of 2007. But the Commission deferred that case anticipating the results from the Florida Avenue Area Study, not wanting to approve the project without an up-to-date market analysis of the neighborhood. Now that the plan results are almost ready to be released, Gateway is going through the same routine, in the hopes of a better outcome the second time around.

Sang Oh Development partnered with the District, which got initial approval by the DC Council in December of 2006. In theory, New Town would create 3.4 million s.f. of new space including more than 1,500 residences, two hotels, 1 million s.f. of wholesale, retail and restaurant space, and plenty of outdoor spaces. The entire construction of DC's newest mini-city would cost an estimated $1.2 billion; or, about equal to 13 minutes of the Iraq war, to put it in perspective. Perhaps due to opposition against the District's decision finding a development partner in Sang Oh Choi, a virgin to the development world, a joint-venture was formed in June of 2007 between NY-based Apollo Real Estate Advisors, an international real estate fund manager, and Choi's development firm. Still, not everyone is contented with the planned development; not the least of which is the group of wholesalers that currently occupy the thriving warehouse site, one of the few remaining industrial sites near downtown.

Tonight's meeting will not serve to review the larger-in-scope plan for New Town, just the building at 4th and Florida, which is planned to be a single, mixed-use building, measuring 120 ft. in height, and serve as the gateway to New Town. The gateway building will be home to 116 'luxury' residential units, 40,000 s.f. of retail and about 60,000 s.f. of class A office space totaling about 300,000 s.f. of new real estate which will sit atop 200 underground parking spaces, half of which will be for residents of the building. The building is self-described as being the "cornerstone for further redevelopment of the greater Capital City Market site."

New Condo Opens on Capitol Hill

The developer of Capitol Hill's newest real estate development has announced it has completed construction and will hold its public opening this weekend. The Butterfield House, at 1020 Pennsylvania Avenue, had already sold about half the 28 units in the building during pre-construction; the developer had been making final improvements over the past month to complete the building. SGA Companies, a Bethesda-based firm performing both architecture and multi-family development, converted the site from a gas station and auto repair shop to a condominium over the past two years. SGA both designed and developed the Butterfield House, in what is likely to be the last new condo on Capitol Hill proper for the next few years, with no other new construction in the development pipeline on the Hill. About 2650 new condominium units are likely to reach delivery in DC within the next two years, nearly 60% of which will be concentrated in Mt. Vernon Triangle, the new stadium area, and the U Street corridor. The developer will hold the Butterfield House Grand Opening on Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23rd, to celebrate what it hopes will be one of the more iconic buildings on Capitol Hill due to its design and address on Pennsylvania Avenue. The new condo sits just two blocks from the Eastern Market Metro station, and advertises such features as cork sound remediation layering between the floor and subfloor, reclaimed wide-plank cherry floors, underground parking, and video entry systems. Condos range in price from about $350,000 to over $1m. Sales and marketing by Ken Johnson of DCRE.

Washington DC commercial property development news

Florida Rock Gets Zoning OK

Riverfront on the Anacostia received a long-awaited approval from the Zoning Commission yesterday for its proposed action for the 'Floria Rock' concrete plant lot, a major step forward for the lot that borders both the new National's Stadium and the Anacostia waterfront. The site is currently home to an active concrete production plant, which some planners apparently believe is not the optimal use of riverfront space so close to the ballpark. Florida Rock Properties has to wait until May 22nd before final action can be taken for the second stage of their P.U.D., construction could begin as early as 2009.

The Florida Rock lot, spanning 5.8 acres along the Anacostia River, has been under Zoning review since 1998, when the initial application was filed to revitalize the site and convert it to a mixed-use project. The final product looks far different from when it orginally started a decade ago, and now encompasses four buildings totalling 1.1 million s.f., which will together sit on a single, underground parking platform holding more than 1,000 spaces. There will be a total of 460,000 s.f. of office space, 80,000 s.f. of retail space, and 323,000 s.f. of residential space, apparently enough for over 300 units, with 25 units set aside for affordable housing. The 4th building will be a 325-bed hotel, all to sit behind a 719 ft. waterfront esplanade and riverwalk. FRP promises that the entire complex will be LEED Certified at some level.

According to Michael Stevens, Executive Director of Capitol Riverfront BID, one of FRP's requirements per the PUD is to build the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, a 20 mile series of boardwalk spanning both sides of the river, and running from the Arboretum to the southwest waterfront on the north side. Only the portion fronting the Navy yard has been completed, but even that is not yet open to the public. Stevens predicts that the first leg could be open as soon as this year. But don't get out your rollerblades yet, the Florida Rock section is at least a few years away, as is Forest City's crucial link, though their site should see construction begin this year.

A brief history of the development: The first plan for the site was preliminarily approved in 1998 for FRP to build a commercial project, and received final approval in 1999 for two buildings with a 55 ft. wide waterfront esplanade, but - perhaps fortuitously - the project never got off the ground. After a series of delays, the case was set to go before Zoning in September, 2004, but before the firm could have their day, the District announced the Nationals' Stadium which would be built right across the street. The Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, the governing body overseeing development over the new stadium-area, requested FRP delay their P.U.D. re-submission so the two entities could coordinate. Finally in August of 2006, a modified P.U.D. was submitted, with a hearing following in September.

The new project reviewed at the September meeting has essentially stayed the same. The modified P.U.D., appropriately dubbed 'Stage 2', was a rethinking of the now extremely valuable waterfront property. It included four buildings: two offices, a hotel and a residential component. But Zoning outlined some problems with the plan. For starters, one Commissioner stated that the project "lacked the right civic character and [a] greater presence of residential uses, preferably apartment units, would be more appropriate." The rest of the commission agreedthat the project lacked a 'sense of place'. Along with these comments came recommendations for some minor tweaks, including complaints about the East Office building inadequately 'recognizing the location and nature of the grand stair of the stadium'.

FRP went back to the drawing board, and came back in July of 2007 with some modifications; by September some project changes and the new name had been agreed upon, which developers described as a "holistic rethinking of the P.U.D. proposal previously considered, especially regarding the civic spaces." Three public spaces were added to the project, all having retail borders: the Pitch to the east, an enclosed galleria called Potomac Quay, and an outdoor water-animated plaza called Cascade Plaza. Along with this new civic character, FRP engaged in a 'physical tightening of the buildings', increasing the residential uses by more than 100,000 s.f., and shifting the footprints of the East Office building to link the site to the stadium and Anacostia river. Zoning's comments were less biting after September's hearing.

Since September's meeting, FRP and architect Davis Buckley Architects and Planners, made minor changes to the P.U.D. for their February 28th re-submission, and which Zoning approved yesterday. The changes included significant details regarding the outdoor public spaces. The old 'Pitch' will now be called Anacostia Place, and adorned with a Raymond Kaskey sculpture called "Anacostia," it will now be considered the central focus of the east end of the project. Zoning Commissioners want it to be a "high energy and visually-active space." Cascade Plaza will, alternatively be the central focus of the west end, serving as a front door and circular driveway for the residential, West Office and hotel buildings.

14th Street: Apartments In, Nehemiah Center Out

14th Street's Nehemiah Center, that vestige of bad architecture and short-sited urban planning, will soon be demolished to make way for a large residential project. Texas based UDR, which purchased the site last year, requested raze permits last week, and expects to begin demolishing the property by the end of the second quarter. UDR acquired the hopelessly outdated strip mall at 2400 14th Street from Level 2 Development, which took the project all the way through the existing, and currently approved, P.U.D. stage. UDR will implement Level2's plans, with some embellishment, at an estimated total cost of $130 million. DC-based Metropolis Development had initially purchased the option from Level2 for the rights to develop the site, but later sold the option for a profit to UDR. The Nehemiah Center currently serves as a one-story retail building along 14th Street, within shouting distance from the U Street Corridor - currently a real estate hotspot surrounded by several ongoing and planned residential projects. 

Level 2 wanted to capitalize on the area, but opted to sell and concentrate on its View 14 project across the street, a project that it began as condos but that is now just beginning to come out of the ground as an apartment building. UDR's adaption of Level2's plans will replace the old retail with 17,000 s.f. of new retail, and add more units than the currently approved 225. Two weeks ago, UDR's team met with City officials to apply for an addition of 30 residential units to the overall scheme. The firm expects to receive comments regarding whether this increase is feasible within the next month, after which a Zoning Commission hearing will be required. The building will rise nine stories above the 14th and U Street Corridor, advantageously perched as one of the higher buildings in the area on the slope that rises to Columbia Heights, offering the potential for the distant views rare in the District. The residential units will average 775 s.f. and were initially pushed through the planning process as condominiums, but according to sources at UDR, the market forced them to build out as a market-rate apartment building. 

There will be a number of affordable housing units as well as a 1,000-s.f. commercial space designated as educational, job training, retail space. Behind the main building will sit a multi-level parking garage, half above-ground, an issue that has been one of the biggest sources of problems from the community. UDR held a public meeting in February to address the community's concerns about design and construction phases. Turns out the community is agitated over the abundant road and sidewalk closures that result from the numerous projects in the neighborhood. UDR will now phase the construction so that the parking structure would be the first to be completed, hoping to lessen parking and traffic concerns. "Although we are a national multi-family developer, we understand the importance of local consultants who understand how things get done in their backyard. We want to bring people in who have those existing great relationships, who know how to develop projects in the city. So we felt comfortable," said Rodney Burchfield with UDR. Burchfield is referring to both Shalom Baranes Architects which is designing the new building, and Donohoe Construction, the General Contractor. "As an owner, we're looking to be a part of this new and emerging part of the District, and we want to be a great neighbor," Burchfield added. Shalom Baranes' design will feature floor to ceiling glass views, private terraces, a rooftop pool and garden as well as a massive lobby and outdoor atrium. UDR will be going for LEED points but has not decided whether or not to strive for LEED certification.

District Announces Developer Submissions for Mt. Vernon

The District announced Tuesday that its solicitation to develop a vacant half-acre site at Fifth and Eye streets (I Street, to purists), NW, in Mt. Vernon Triangle, grabbed the attention of seven developers. Deputy Mayor Neil O. Albert announced the names of the development teams that responded to the January Request for Proposal; bids were due March 7.

The District received proposals from Buccini/Pollin Group; Clark Realty Capital (which recently won the Poplar Point bid); Donohoe Development Co and Holland Development Group; JBG Cos.; MVT Associates, LLC; NDC-Jarvis; and Potomac Investment Properties, Inc.

"This is really one of the last sites left in the Mount Vernon Triangle," Albert said, speaking of the lot that will almost certainly have competition nearby, as several developments have been announced in the immediate vicinity. "This neighborhood has basically sprung up overnight and this site presents a great opportunity to add some dynamic uses to better serve the existing community and the new mix of office, retail and housing." The site will have the advantage of high visibility on Massachusetts Avenue, making it a dream at least for the marketers.

Proposals for the site include high-end retail such as hotels, restaurants, cafes, fitness clubs, spas and live entertainment venues. Some also included a residential aspect with apartments and condominiums (didn't they get the word that no one would finance condos?), which would include 30% affordable housing, according to the District's rules. Each plan featured underground parking with 100-plus spaces.

NDC-Jarvis proposed building a luxury boutique hotel connected to upscale condominiums (see rendering below), with the pair sharing concierge services and amenities. Proposed retail included a small home furnishings store, an upscale restaurant to serve the hotel and neighborhood. A small jazz performance venue would also be on the site.

"I think we are very invested in this neighborhood," said Adrian Washington, Principal with NDC, and former Anacostia Waterfront Commission frontman, whose current company has performed a number of apartment renovations and conversions throughout DC. "I think our proposal would be a great addition to neighborhood. It's the type of development that is not in the neighborhood right now. It is a boutique, high-end, architecturally distinctive project. And the restaurant would be a great addition to the neighborhood."

Robert Holland of Holland Development Group, co-developer with Donohoe Development Co., said their design would include a Shalom Baranes-designed hotel. "As far as I know, many of the developers were proposing hotel/apartments, a mixed-use development, with some local neighborhood retail," Holland said. "Our difference is that we have identified a Spanish hotel chain to go in there, along with a 10,000-s.f. restaurant jazz venue. It's a London-based established jazz club, not a big commercial destination jazz club, but more local, with very excellent food. It should be a great a compliment to the neighborhood."

Mount Vernon Triangle spans 15 blocks over 30 acres, and already includes more than four million square feet of development, such as CityVista, which is well into the back nine of its 441-unit condo project next door.

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development will study the proposals over the next few weeks and will schedule a public meeting for the community to hear presentations from each of the development teams.

Washington DC real estate development news