Safeway Opening Brings Commerce to Mt. Vernon Triangle

Mayor Adrian Fenty turned up with a pair of comically oversized scissors today to cut the ribbon on the brand new Safeway in Mt. Vernon Triangle, the company's first downtown location and 17th District store. The grand opening marked the completion of one of the cornerstones of the city's $200 million CityVista project that will see 685 units of residential housing, 138 affordable units, 130,000 square feet of retail space, 800 parking spaces and 150 new jobs created in Mount Vernon Triangle. The new Safeway, which also sports (yet another) Starbucks, despite that company's closure of 500 underperforming stores, marks the first major business to open at the K Street facility that also includes the recently opened CityVista condo complex. “This is really about just more than Safeway,” said the Mayor before slicing the ceremonial sash. “It’s really about revitalizing Washington, DC, our nation’s capital.” Fenty was optimistic that progress was inevitable for the neighborhood. “If you know this area, this was an area that for a long time, not a lot was happening…and what we’ve seen over the years is an area come to life.” He went on to cite the initiative that led to the Verizon Center, Gallery Place and the transformation of Chinatown as steps that now have ramifications for the neighboring Mount Vernon Triangle. “We are continuing on what I think is the real realization that the District of Columbia is turning a corner and that there are great things happening in this city.” Mark Rivers, who spoke on the behalf of the developer behind the project, Lowe Enterprises, shared credit for those “great things” with several other parties who advanced the CityVista cause: the CIM Group, Bundy Development Corporation, Neighborhood Development Company and especially the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. “This is about a $240 million development,” he said, “but $48 million went to small and disadvantaged local business enterprises here in the city.” He then heralded the other businesses that will soon join Safeway in the mixed-use K Street complex. “5th Street Hardware, Results Gym, Chevy Chase Bank and Busboys & Poets will be opening very soon and we’re very excited about that. I know the community is as well.”Following the remarks, the Safeway brass led Fenty (and a pack of photographers) on a tour of the new store’s amenities. Fenty played coy while perusing the facility’s full-service “nut bar” (“One of only 4 on the East Coast!") and ordering a “Fenty-sized” apple cider at the in-house Starbucks. Safeway’s first DC location opened in 1928, but the completion of the corporation’s 56,000 square foot CityVista site does not mark the end of their plans for the District. They have already revealed plans to renovate 8 of their DC locations over the next three years to the tune of $45 million. Those stores targeted for remodeling include Tenleytown and Petworth, both of which could see the addition of 200+ plus housing units on (or on top of) their lots. A developer has yet to be sought for the projects.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

DC's Most Expensive Vacancy Up for Lease

The District's Office of Property Management (OPM) has issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the former printing plant at 225 Virginia Avenue SE - a property that has lain dormant since it was first acquired by the city. Originally intended to a 1^st District Police substation and evidence warehouse, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) secured a 20-year lease for the 421,000 square foot site from Washington Telecom Associates LLC in 2006. After two years of paying $6.5 million in annual rent (nearly $550,000 a month, folks), they've finally given up the ghost on a project that has succeeded in doing, well, bupkis.

Granted, after the District balked at the cost of re-outfitting 225 Virginia as an operational station, they were able to make space for the MPD at two properties they owned outright. But, curiously enough, they seemingly thought of nothing to do with the hulking building they had leased until recently. According to the developer brokering the deal for the District, M.L. Clark Real Estate, the five-story building comprises “one of the largest blocks of contiguous spaces immediately available within the District of Columbia." What’s more, it’s one of the only original buildings near the new Nationals Ballpark that has yet to be redeveloped. The neighboring lots that once surrounded the massive installation are now Washington Nationals parking lots or Capitol Riverfront construction sites (soon to be mixed use residential and retail developments) – all of which makes this one hot piece of property just off the I-295 exit ramp.

The building and accompanying parking lot are on the block for $80 to $85 million, depending on the options exercised under the terms of the sublease. Due to confidentiality agreements in place, representatives of M.L. Clarke Real Estate were unable to comment on the number of proposals received so far, per the confidentiality agreement, but they did, however, hold a pre-submission site visit for interested parties this morning, in association with the OPM. The project team assembled by M.L. Clark also includes architect Yves Springuel and Tischman Construction. The deadline for proposals for the site has been set for October 3rd.

Delayed Healing for Walter Reed

Military medicine in the DC metro area is to undergo a severe reorganization in the next three years as the District’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) closes its’ doors to merge with Bethesda’s National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), delaying redevelopment of the site. But the project, which is to see the sprawling Bethesda site re-titled the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC), hit a speed bump this week as the proposed start date for the $641.1 million undertaking was called into question before Congress.

The slow down came early in the week as Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania (D) inserted language into Congress’ defense-spending bill that would prevent the current Walter Reed facility from closing down at the intended date in 2011. As reported by The Hill, it is Murtha’s intention to keep the WRAMC open as long as possible, in order to ensure that the hospital’s “world–class medical facilities” for military personnel will not be compromised. (Although that view seems to conflict with WRAMC’s image following The Washington’s Post’s 2007 series of scathing exposes about patient conditions at the compound.) Murtha’s efforts could delay the project an additional 18 months and add an estimated $150 million to the project’s price tag.

Currently, the capabilities of both the WRAMC and the NNMC are set for a dramatic expansion once construction is completed. The overhaul needed to transform the 243-acre Bethesda site into the WRNMMC breaks down like so:

• A 261,000 square foot renovation of the current NNMC facilities

• The construction of a new 6-story, 533,000 square foot, 345-bed medical center

• A 157,000 square foot, 4-story addition to an existing building that adjoins the Building One hospital

• The construction of a new 80,000 square foot, 2-story facility to house the National Intrepid Center of Excellence

• The construction of new pathways, utility tunnels, barracks, a gym, parking lots and a garage

• The relocation of key WRAMC service centers, such as those for amputee therapy and lung and breast cancer

The integration the nation’s two most prominent military hospital and research facilities was mandated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act, which required the relocation of all WRAMC services by September 15, 2011. An Office of Integration was established soon afterwards by the Navy in order to facilitate the transition in a timely and efficient manner to the Bethesda location 6 miles away – an effort that is already well beyond the initial planning phase. Jurisdiction over funding for the project fell to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, which, as of March 2008, had already granted a joint contract to firms Clark Construction and Balfour Beatty Construction. A groundbreaking ceremony held this past July 3^rd was overseen by President George W. Bush.

Washington DC real estate development news

China Brings Its Baggage to Porter Street

Cleveland Park residents may have noticed the new home development breaking ground on Porter Street, where construction is underway on Porter Street Residences, a 27-unit apartment building (pictured), to be completed in 2010, the only new residential project in the vicinity. Less observant residents might have missed, however, the uniformly Chinese work crew. The outsourcing is not a cost-cutting measure, however. Beginning in 2010, 2708 Porter Street NW will be home to the diplomatic staff residences of the Education Office of the People's Republic of China, a companion project to the recently completed $250 million, 345,500 square foot Chinese Embassy. The nature of the construction is only the first in a series of eyebrow-raising questions posed by goings-on at the site.

Designs for the 27-unit apartment building (12 two-bedroom units, 10 one-bedroom units and 5 studios) and 30-car underground parking garage were prepared by New York’s Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn, the firm that is currently designing the Southwest Waterfront, with construction overseen by China Construction America Inc., the American face of the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the largest “conglomerate building enterprise” in the People’s Republic of China. Hence the dozens of Chinese workers in the Washington area to staff the project. Why bring workers so far for a paltry 27 units? One word: security. International politics being what they are, the seldom-neighborly Chinese government surmised that "American" workers (ahem) might pose a security risk, planting recording devices (or worse) for the benefit of those in the CIA, NSA or likewise acronymic agency. (Lest we forget the secret listening post constructed under the Soviet Embassy in 1970s that remained undiscovered until 2001, or the brand new Moscow embassy Uncle Sam abandoned in the 1980's after finding it infested with (electronic) bugs.)

This appears to be standard operating procedure for China Construction. The company has previously transported emigrant work crews to America for other projects throughout New York, California and Florida. The process also echoes their practices for construction of the Embassy itself, another instance in which they have sought to bar other non-Han crews’ from having any involvement on a work site – a move which prompted severe criticism from stateside union organizations such as Unite Here! and the AFL-CIO.

While the apartments themselves have drawn little flak from the surrounding community, the conditions afforded the Chinese construction crew have been the subject of scrutiny. Reports of the workers' long hours and confinement within a defunct, barbed-wire enclosed Days Inn on New York Avenue NE have been circulating since 2005, when the Embassy first began construction. According to one Chinese speaker who posted a report of an encounter with a Porter Street worker at Prince of Petworth, the workers are fearful of being seen talking to local residents and won’t be permitted to tour the city until their work is completed.

A press release issued by Holland & Knight, the law firm responsible for securing the building’s requisite zoning and land use permits, describes the Porter Street Residences as a “spacious living environment for the diplomats and staff and their families, as well the visiting delegations, scholars and officials.” Seeing as the record of the People's Republic is far from spotless on human and labor rights, it’s no surprise that the imported workers aren’t being afforded the same style of "living environment" as the one they are building. What is surprising, however, is the lack of mainstream media scrutiny regarding the subject. To date, no local television, newspaper or radio outlets have filed a single report on the development. Given the constant stream of activists calling for action outside of the Chinese Embassy, perhaps Porter Street will soon be seeing a few protests to call its own.

Re-Inventing Public Housing at Park Morton

Mayor Adrian Fenty today announced the District's Request for Proposals (RFP) concerning the $170 million initiative to redevelop Petworth's Park Morton public housing complex. Although currently seeking a development partner for the deal, the city has already forged ahead and outlined their intentions for the site: 317 market-rate housing units, 206 affordable housing units, a 10,000 square foot park and a new community center with green designs throughout. The mayor prefaced his comments to the press by assuring the current residents in attendance that they will be relocated to new units in the project and that "no one will be displaced."

Mayor Fenty credited the New Communities Initiative established during Anthony Williams' tenure as mayor (which also includes Barry Farm and Lincoln Heights, in addition to Park Morton) as the genesis of the new development and explained how the city planned on manifesting change in an area best described as derelict and dangerous. “It is about bricks and mortar because a lot of these projects are old. They need a lot of work and, to be honest with you, just re-doing them isn’t going to cut it,” he said. “But its also about more than bricks and mortar. We’re also going to have health care facilities, schools, recreation centers, and job training centers here at Park Morton.” The mayor concluded his remarks by stating, “It’s important to note that while this in-and-of-itself is an important opportunity and investment for the Georgia Avenue corridor, this is just one of the many different things that are happening.” He went on to specifically cite Donatelli Development Inc.’s $70 million, 156-unit Park Place project and neighboring $5 million retail investment, along with Jair Lynch’s 130-unit apartment complex at 3910 Georgia and the District’s own new, mixed-income development on the 3400 block (more to follow from DCMud in the coming weeks) as other in-the-works projects aimed at making area attractive to prospective residents and retailers. 

Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, who had introduced the initial city council resolution for the Park Morton project and led community meetings on the subject, followed Mayor Fenty’s turn at the podium. He began by reiterating the mayor’s promise that no residents would be displaced by the project and promised that the upcoming changes would result in “a much more successful and livable community than we have today.” He also said that the District would not repeat mistakes with regard to public housing that have plagued the city for decades. “Gathering all the poor people in one neighborhood, in one building, ought not to be the preferred approach,” he said. “When we have the opportunity to create mixed-income, diverse background [housing], that is an opportunity we should not lose.” He went to specify that the new Park Morton will become a beacon of diversity in Ward 1, “without losing a single person who is here today.” Michael Kelly, Executive Director of the DC Housing Authority (DCHA), went on to trumpet the long-term viability of a new community comprised of “low income, moderate income and market-rate people.” And sounding a bit like George Washington at the Continental Congress, Kelly referred to it as "This grand experiment," asserting that the project "is [due to the leadership] of Washington, DC, and has not been replicated anywhere else in the country.” 

Kelly cited the Housing Authority’s upkeep of current Park Morton facilities, including the addition of new boilers, stairwells and security cameras as initial steps towards a better quality of living. He then went on to ask the assembled residents if such efforts had made them feel safer – and received a rousing reply of “yes.” Following the remarks, all in attendance were led on a tour of the newly remodeled Park Morton Children’s Center. As the first example of Park Morton revitalization, Mayor Fenty inspected the new computer lab, classrooms and music rehearsal spaces that are to serve as a hub of community operations during and after construction. BIDs for the Park Morton project are due by December 12th with final selection to occur in March. 

Washington DC commercial real estate news

Ripley District Inching Towards Reality

The first domino in Silver Spring's bid to create its' own boutique neighborhood - the so-called Ripley District - is finally falling into place. Formerly home to a derelict strip of parking garages and auto body shops, demolition has begun to make way for the Lessard Group-designed 1050 Ripley Street high-rise. Concepts for the mixed-use, 17-story tower have been bandied since 2006, but the developer behind the project, Washington Planning Company, is now shooting to break ground this coming fall (although a BID for contractors has yet to be issued). The project is currently slated for a late 2010 delivery.

The Ripley District is defined as the triangular parcel of downtown Silver Spring between Bonifant Street, Georgia Avenue and the B & O Railroad. 1050 Ripley marks the first major construction project within the district’s borders since 1993 and is to be the centerpiece of the forthcoming district. A Washington Planning Company press release illuminated some previously unknown but anticipated details about the 306,114 square foot apartment and retail center, including the inclusion of “a state-of-the-art fitness center and pool, a stadium-style movie room, billiards lounge, rooftop terrace, as well as an underground parking garage.”

While 1050 Ripley is certainly biggest thing headed to the neighborhood-in-training, it is by no means the only development underway to invigorate the area. According to the Silver Spring Central Business District Sector Plan released earlier this year, key touchstones of the Ripley District also include the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center and Metropolitan Branch Trail, which will begin in a new Ripley District plaza and run for 8 miles before ending at Union Station.

The plans on hand also call for the addition of more pedestrian and vehicular access to the Metro and the extension and/or widening of several thoroughfares, including Dixon Avenue and Ripley Street itself. Virginia developer Kettler had shuttered their own proposal for another high-rise residential and retail facility on Ripley Street. That project - the Midtown Silver Spring - has not gone forward, despite receiving preliminary approval.

For some, the slow gestation of the Ripley District is taking too much time. Pyramid Atlantic, a local print artisan, recently moved their storefront from the Ripley area to more high-visibility space on Wayne Avenue. It remains to be seen whether rebranding a once unappealing area – ala “North Bethesda” (Rockville) and the "Atlas District” (H Street NE) - will sink or swim as a marketing strategy for Silver Spring’s next emerging neighborhood.

Janney Elementary Proves Hard to Please

Last night, a group of citizens and parents gathered at St. Ann's Church in Tenleytown to discuss the status of the embattled Janney Elementary/Tenley-Friendship Library redevelopment at the intersection of Wisconsin Ave. and Albemarle St. Neighborhood activists led an hour long presentation that criticized both the DC government and the project's designers, LCOR Inc. In an ironic case of getting what you wish for, the presentation made it clear that the public-private partnership (PPP) that Janney supporters lobbied the Fenty Administration for (and came closer to in July) was now, in their view, the worst possible option.

"Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction," said Sue Hemberger. "Since July 10, Mayor Fenty has broken two promises and told four lies." She went on to detail Janney's gripes with the city in detail. First and foremost, they are taking issue with the city’s selection of a developer for the PPP without the sanction of local supporters. “Mayor Fenty promised he wouldn’t pursue a PPP unless the community approved it…He then selected a proposal that [we] found completely unacceptable.”

The proposal in question is the work of LCOR Inc., who beat out two competing firms, Roadside-Smoot and the See Forever Foundation, for the deal after an RFP for the site was issued last year. Since that time, Janney advocates have taken issue with almost every aspect of their design, which includes construction of a new wing for the school, a brand new Tenley-Friendship Library, as well as an adjacent 8-story apartment complex on the site of the school's soccer field. Janney supporters have voiced discontent over the ceding of their soccer field to the apartment building and the adverse conditions that large scale construction would have on the day-to-day affairs of the school.

“This was probably the worst of the three proposals put forth. We asked [LCOR] to revise it and they refused. So this is what’s on the table,” said Daniel Carozza as he gave a lengthy explanation of the new building’s design flaws. Citing a lack of natural light and open air play space, a smaller in-house library and cafeteria that would be unable to comfortably service Janney’s 550 students, and the adverse conditions pupils would face if they were forced off-campus during construction, he said, “I’m not sure, for the sake of our children, that I could approve of this plan.”

Unfortunately for Janney Elementary, the matter is no longer entirely in their hands. Janney officials and DC Public Schools (DCPS) are not taking part in any discussions with LCOR - DC Public Libraries (DCPL) is the only organization currently holding talks the developer. According to Hemberger, the new library’s design (composed by the Freelon Group) is “fully funded and approved,” except for a review by the DC City Council – a formality undertaken by projects budgeted at over $1 million. “They could be in the ground in 6 weeks,” she said.

That, however, seems unlikely for Janney. Although scheduled on the District’s Master Facilities Plan, if they have their way, the PPP will be abolished and the design process will begin anew. According to Hemberger and Heroza, a non-PPP project - overseen by DCPS - would take only two years, compared to LCOR’s four. As Hemberger said in closing, “This PPP will be lose lose lose.”

The original RFP for the project contemplated using the old library site, on well-trafficed Wisconsin Avenue above the metro station, to build the residential units, integrating the library into the new structure. But local activists protested the process as well as the proposed design specifications that would have left the soccer field intact. For reasons still unclear and contested, the District changed the RFP after it was issued to discourage developers from including housing over the library site, removing it instead onto the school grounds.

Big Plans for Brookland

After an 18-month dialogue between various city agencies and community organizations, the District of Columbia's Office of Planning yesterday unveiled their final draft of their Brookland/CUA Metro Small Area Plan. Written with the express "purpose of guiding the growth, development and revitalization of underutilized areas within in a quarter mile, or ten-minute walk, of the Metro Station," this is the public's first glimpse into city's development bible for the predominantly residential neighborhood surrounding Catholic University. The areas that fall into the "underutilized" category include whole swaths of Monroe Street, 12^th Street and the commercial areas that border Perry Street to the North and Kearny Street to the South. Using the ever-increasing cost of transportation to their advantage, the Plan cleverly devises using increased foot traffic to the Brookland/CUA Metro Station as a means to draw residents to their planned “new mixed-use transit-oriented civic core”: 200-250 new residential units, 30,000-35,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and approximately 250 parking spaces.

Additionally, the Plan foresees the integration of the 168-year-old Brooks Mansion and its grounds into the “reestablished street fabric” of Brookland, in order to accentuate underutilized civic and green spaces. Residents can also look forward to additional bus lines and new Metro portals in their area.

While the blocks immediately surrounding the Metro will be the most directly affected by the changes, Monroe Street, “the primary gateway and connector between the East and West sides of Brookland,” will be specifically targeted for extensive redevelopment. One component of the proposed overhaul includes its conversion into “a tree-lined mixed-use street with neighborhood-serving retail, restaurants, arts and cultural uses on the ground floor, and residential above.” The conversion of Monroe into Brookland’s main drag will also include a massive addition of between 750-900 residential units, 100,000 square feet of retail space and up to 850 new parking spaces. The same expansive strategy – albeit on a smaller scale – is also in play for 12^th Street and the aforementioned commercial enclaves north and south of the station. Beyond purely commercial endeavors, the Plan also makes several recommendations for making Brookland a cultural draw. These include the establishment of a Brookland Arts/Cultural District that would offer incentives to local organizations, such as Dance Place and the DC Film Alliance, for their participation. At this preliminary stage, no developers or retailers have laid claim to the Brookland project and no firm timeline has been established for redevelopment efforts. With the Plan’s proposal for extensive restructuring of the neighborhood's basic infrastructure – from extending key roadways to altering traffic light times - it’s a safe bet that any proposed construction should be considered “coming soon” until further notice.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

Bethesda Drunk Tank For Sale or Lease

Now here's a deal that should pique the interest of any Bethesda developer looking for a challenge. Montgomery County has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of the 2^nd District County Police Station in downtown Bethesda. In the coming weeks, the County will be accepting designs that seek to transform the half-century old police station into a mixed-use project overlooking Wisconsin Avenue.

Neil A. Shorb, Director of the Montgomery County Police's Management and Budget Division, told DCMud that the county is seeking to replace or severely overhaul their dated facilities at 7359 Wisconsin Avenue.

"The bottom line is that this structure was built 47 years ago, and does not meet the facility needs for a modern police station, both in size and functional configuration. The current facility has significant issues with its major building systems. Another major issue is the lack of parking—both secure and non-secure.”

With the loss of their stationhouse and adjacent parking lot - together totaling 21,400 square feet - the Bethesda PD will be looking for a new place to hang their batons at the end of the day. Developers offering a mixed-use development with the cops relocating themselves will be given a long term lease - with the County acting as landlord. However, developers with the means to build the boys in blue a new clubhouse at another site in the immediate area will be offered a juicer deal that sees the County offering “simple conveyance of the Site" - i.e., the title to the land and free reign to do with it what they wish.

Of course, even the most savvy of real estate entrepreneurs should take a glance at the County’s 90-odd page document outlining just what makes a police station a police station before deciding to build one. Chances are they didn’t have to pony up for a “Weapons Cleaning Area” or “Fingerprinting Alcove” next to the Sub-Zero in their last designer kitchen.

However, the County doesn't have its' heart set on moving quite yet either. It will also entertain offers that can update the station and leave it fully operational, while converting other portions of the site into retail or residential space. As Shorb explained:

"We are not necessarily giving up this station. Rather, we are soliciting opportunities to find a location to meet our facility needs as described in the RFP. This includes remaining on-site, acknowledging that the current site is too small, and additional land would need to be acquired to meet our needs to remain at the current location.”

With a prime location in Bethesda’s Central Business District, the County and the cops are seeking to lead by example with the project. They’re insisting that affordable housing must constitute at least 20% of any residential units that wind up on the site. Submitted proposals will then be further judged (ahem) according to five evaluation criteria:

1. Overall quality of the development vision: 20 points
2. Meeting of County’s objectives for the Site (a mixed-use development, the inclusion of affordable housing and "a high quality" consistent with the quality of other projects in the Central Business District): 40 points
3. Expertise and financial capacity to implement the vision: 15 points
4. Overall benefit to the County: 15 points
5. Proposed timeframe for completion of the development: 10 points.

That should effectively rule out meth labs and massage parlors. Proposals are due on October 10^th by 2 PM. Final selection will take place in December. Lacey

Rosslyn's Severe Case of Tower Envy

The Rosslyn skyline will be changing significantly in the coming years as two new mixed-used projects shoot skyward. Interestingly, both have at one time hyped themselves as the metro area's tallest developments, JBG's Central Place and Monday Properties' 1812 North Moore Street have both been cleared to exceed the 300 foot height limit usually imposed by Arlington County, both will be runners-up for the region's tallest after the Washington Monument. There's just one problem: with the dual towers of Central Place already under construction and North Moore breaking ground in October, neither side wants to relinquish their bragging rights to the title of tallest.

This has been a long time coming for 1812 North Moore. Now-defunct Westfield Realty sold the $31.5 million parcel to Monday Properties in 2006 after the former’s long-gestating bid to revamp the site went nowhere (not so) fast. Monday, however, have had much more success with their attempts to put the project into turnaround. Their Davis Carter Scott-designed tower boasts 600,000 square feet of commercial office space, 12,000 square feet for retail and a Metro terminal attached to the facility. Additionally, they’re on track to become the first LEED Platinum-certified building in the State of Virginia – a measure that has earned them accolades from the Rosslyn Renaissance (RR) Urban Design Committee (UDC) and the Radnor/Fort Myer Heights Civic Association (RAFOM) and will make them one of the most energy efficient buildings in the country.

But once the plans went public, it wasn't long before creative math came into play. Originally, both Central Place and North Moore were billing themselves with a height of 470 feet – including sea level. Eventually, the dueling parties seemed to realize that adding a hundred plus feet of land elevation to a building’s proposed height was tad on the disingenuous side. (After all, Denver’s Republic Plaza would be the tallest building in the world if it included the city’s 5,280 foot elevation in its’ official measurements.) And that’s where things get confusing.

Currently, Monday Properties says that their proposed 30-story complex on North Moore will come in at 390 feet – and that the Central Place will top out a whopping 60 feet below them. But in December of last year, the Arlington County Planning Commission made Monday shave a story off their blueprints, so as not to obstruct the view from Central Place’s observation deck – the one that was supposed to look down on North Moore. (Further complicating matters is the fact The Washington Post reported North Moore’s post-Planning Board height at a diminutive 370 feet.)

Unsurprisingly, JBG is singing a different tune. Their website states that the taller of their two towers will measure in at 31-stories - 390 feet. According to Thomas Miller of the Arlington County Planning Division – the county body with access to blueprints to both sites - the he-said she-said bit is all for naught.

“Both buildings are 390 feet,” he said Thursday afternoon, “Although, the highest [North Moore] offices actually fall below the observation deck level [of Central Place].”


He also confirmed that the two buildings only have a 3 foot difference in base elevation, but did not specify which. So depending on your point of the view (or the address on your lease), the second highest point in the Washington area is soon to be either Central Place’s glass-enclosed 31st floor tourist draw or the luminescent glass pyramid that will cap North Moore.

All in all, this only serves as a lesson in the strategic power of PR. Both buildings are to offer hundreds of thousands of feet office and retail space that represent a dramatic expansion of Rosslyn’s commercial prospects. Given that the two sites are separated by roughly only 200 yards, the competition for luring prominent DC businesses into these new NoVa nerve centers was bound to be stiff. While 1812 North Moore has yet to commit to a delivery date, Central Place is scheduled to be completed in 2011. Only then will we see who really comes out on top.

Operation Facelift

In the coming months, three major landmarks - the Pentagon, the National Museum of American History and the US Capitol - will reveal their newly improved works to the public after years of intense and deliberate construction. In each case, the changes are by no means minor and should represent a sizable influx of interest in sites sometimes taken for granted by locals.

The newest monument/memorial in the metro area will be unveiled this coming September 11th, the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attacks that befell New York and Washington in 2001. The Pentagon Memorial occupies a 1.93 acre plot at the site of the attack and cost approximately $22 million, with another $10 million in projected costs for maintenance. Funding was provided by the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler LLC, AECOM, CSC, Adobe, Cisco Systems Inc. and Intel, as well as through private donations.

Although several smaller memorials have already been erected in and around the Pentagon (including the America’s Heroes Memorial and a chapel – both in the reconstructed portion of the building where it was struck by American Airlines Flight 77), this will be the first large scale project with individually dedicated cenotaphs to each victim. Those will take the form of cantilevered benches inscribed with the remembered individuals’ names and arranged according to their ages when they lost their lives. The space is to be augmented by a perimeter wall, several fountains and approximately 80 Paperbark Maple trees.

The memorial was designed by Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman of New York, following a design competition initiated at the behest of the government. A press release from the Pentagon Memorial Fund describes this newest addition to the Pentagon landscape as “a place for reflection, remembrance and renewal.”

On a less somber note, the National Museum of American History will reopen its doors on November 21st after a two year, $85 million renovation. The architectural facelift is said to represent not only a change in facade and decorum for the institution, but an extensive reorganization of its collection as well. The design team for the project was led by New York’s Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP and constructed by Turner Construction Company.

The centerpieces of the newly minted museum are to be a brand new sky-lit, five story atrium and an architectural approximation of the Star-Spangled Banner made of 960 glossy, polycarbonate tiles (“the dawn’s early light”) that will be the gateway to the gallery that houses the original flag - Francis Scott Key’s initial inspiration for the song that would eventually become the National Anthem. Another prestigious addition to the museum’s catalog will be an original, handwritten draft of the Gettysburg Address (loaned by First Lady Laura Bush from the White House collection).

The Capitol too is undergoing a new addition to its grounds. Currently under construction on the Capitol’s East Grounds, the new Visitors Center represents the largest ever addition to the building’s original plans in its 215 year history. Measuring in at 580,000 square feet, the RTKL Associates-designed structure is currently projected to cost $554 million, after months of running over budget and behind schedule. The new Hill landmark will finally open its doors to the public on December 2nd – exactly 145 years to the day after construction on the Capitol was officially declared over (and 7 and a half years after the Center broke ground).

Intended to be waiting station for tourists as they await entrance to the Capitol itself, the Visitors Center is meant to also serve as an attraction in its own right. The features revealed so far include a museum, a cafeteria for both visitors and Hill personnel, two theaters and meeting and conference rooms for members of Congress and their various committees.

Measures, such as the choice of new center’s location on the Capitol’s eastern face, were undertaken in order to prevent the construction from detracting from landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s original plans for the grounds. Trees, fountains and other landscaping accents will be added in order to minimize any visual alterations to one of the few buildings instantly recognizable to all Americans.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

The Slow, Sad Waltz of the New Shaw Library

The new Waltha T. Daniels-Shaw Library continues to sputter through redesign after redesign in attempts to cut costs while remaining on schedule. After scrapping their first plans and start date (due to interference with a nearby Metro line and an overabundance of ground water), citizens were not pleased when their new and improved branch did not open in 2006. A full two years later, local blogs and librarians alike went ballistic this July when the District unveiled its' second round of tweaked concept art that looked mysteriously like...the old Waltha T. Daniels-Shaw Library. You know, the concrete box that they had paid to demolish.

Given that that same month, Mayor Fenty timidly announced the District was considering keeping all libraries closed on Friday through Sunday due to budgetary constraints, most were ready to assume that any plans for a new Shaw library were going to come to dead stop or, at the very least, be drastically curtailed. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, however, when the mayor did a 180 and announced on August 4th that the city had re-appropriated $2 million in order to keep the city’s libraries up-and-running and (gasp) open seven days a week. Of course, that didn’t stop city spokespeople from opining about “rising material and transportation costs” in the same breath as “Shaw” and “library.”

On August 16th, residents led by the Shaw Library Study Group came together to voice their disapproval with the two year delay at a “Speak Out and Read In” in front of a neighborhood Giant supermarket. Now comes word that yet another set of designs and schematics (and compromises?) will be unveiled on Thursday, September 4th at the interim library currently serving Shaw - the fourth such “community design meeting” to take place since last year.

The DC public library homepage claims that the constant back and forth on the design and funding issues has delayed their current timetable by only 6 to 8 weeks and that construction is still planned to begin this coming fall with a planned completion date somewhere in early 2010. Here’s to hoping that this doesn’t become yet another neglected Ward 2 landmark (we're looking at you, Howard Theater and Wonder Bread factory) that fails to get the treatment it deserves.

Diamond Teague Park Makes Headway in Southeast

Using plans approved by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) in October of last year, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development's proposal for a new public park along the Anacostia River will finally go before the NCPC once again for permit approval on Thursday, September 4th. If all goes according to plan (cue maniacal laughter), Diamond Teague Park will be completed by fall 2009.

Located at the terminating intersection of First Street and Potomac Avenue SE, Teague Park looks to be the much needed community icing on the commercial cake that the mayor's office has baked - first with Nationals Park and soon to be followed by the Capitol Riverfront. The proposal stresses the importance of using the park to attract pedestrian foot traffic as it moves to and fro from the stadium with amenities that include a water taxi service, several public piers for watercraft, a thirty foot wide, floating boardwalk and a lead-by-example, eco-friendly garden space. All of this will occupy a third of an acre at a cost of $16 million.

Of course, what would a public works project in this day and age be without giving into green fever? The proposal calls for the park to be a “green oasis” and refers to the current condition of the Anacostia River as a set of “diverse environmental restoration challenges.” Buzzwords and understatements aside, those restoration challenges should provide an invaluable showcase for the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC), which is currently headquartered in the former Capitol Pumphouse that adjoins the park’s proposed location. With a staff comprised almost entirely of neighborhood youth, they plan on using the park as soapbox for community issues that dovetail with their environmental mandate – namely fighting the further pollution of the river and trash accumulation.

On the aesthetic side, the Landscape Architecture Bureau, the project’s lead designers, couldn’t have found a better setting to show off their oh-so-tasteful plans for the waterfront vista. Teague Park is to occupy the prime real estate next to the Riverwalk and, as such, will be in plain view from the ballpark’s upper deck and so-called “Grand Stairs.” From this vantage point, the intent is that Teague Park will serve as the centerpiece of the landscape - providing not only a splash of flora and fauna, but some much needed visual continuity between the Riverwalk and several soon-to-be restored DC Water and Sewer Authority buildings that straddle the site. The park is to be one of four currently outlined under the Capitol Riverfront BID.
Presumably, the ODMPED’s proposal faces little in the way of opposition (unless the Army Corps task force charged with investigating the site stumbles upon more of its own unexploded munitions...again), as it's faced with no competing proposals and relatively little criticism, given its community-oriented mandate and ties to the ECC. All that remains to be acquired before ground can be broken is the requisite National Parks Service permit, whose jurisdiction falls over the portions of river bottom encroached upon by the project.

Positive neighborhood developments aside, the name of the park should serve as a grim reminder of Anacostia’s prospects only a few years ago. The park is named in memory of 19 year-old Diamond Teague, a Southeast resident and ECC member himself, who was gunned down on his front porch by two unknown assailants in 2003. The investigation into his murder remains free of suspects and unsolved to this day. A memorial baring his likeness will be completed in time for the park’s grand opening.

DC Selects Georgia Avenue Developer

Washington DC Mayor Fenty arrived by Smart Car today to announce that the District of Columbia has selected Donatelli Development and Mosaic Urban Partners as the development team for three parcels of land on Georgia Avenue. The lots are located one block north of the Petworth Metro station, at 3813, 3815 and 3825 Georgia Avenue. Development plans have not yet been finalized, but Mayor Fenty said today he expects the final product to include retail, restaurants, and market rate and affordable housing. Echoing his oft-repeated calls to fire up development on the neglected corridor, the Mayor insisted today that DC has "gotta have economic development on Georgia Avenue" for the benefit of the whole city, and that the project would complete by the fall of 2010. The city has not yet reached purchase terms with the development team. Donatelli Development has an extensive track record with the city, and, with DC-based Gragg & Associates, is nearing completion on Park Place, a 161-unit residential and retail building almost across the street. Donatelli also owns an adjacent vacant lot, on which it plans a 49-unit condominium building, though timing remains uncertain said Chris Donatelli. This will be a first for development partner Mosaic, a firm based in DC. Mosaic partner Calvin Gladney, a former NCRC staff member, said that partnering with Donatelli allows them to "integrate retail strategy," and "achieve a better end result for the community." Gladney was a bit more circumspect than the Mayor regarding timing, quickly noting that "there are so many variables", including financing, though partnering with Donatelli will certainly streamline the underwriting process. The project will convert two small neglected buildings and a vacant lot, all District owned, into a mixed use project on two separate sites. Architect Bill Bonstra, partner of Bonstra Haresign, the ubiquitous firm chosen to design the project, said that the project would feature a green roof and locally based retail, and that there was "a real push to do a community-minded project." 

The new building on the now vacant lot will rise three stories at street front, stepping back for a fourth and fifth floor. The selection of developers was unusually swift, with the District having solicited bids at the end of April, with a due date of July. Two teams submitted bids for the project. The mayor's office hopes the project is well timed, coming as the Petworth neighborhood struggles to fulfill the expectations of a revitalized mixed-use corridor. On May 23rd the Mayor stood nearby to announce that Georgia Avenue development was finally taking hold, highlighting Donatelli's Park Place, and Jair Lynch Development Partners' 130-unit apartment building at 3910 Georgia Avenue. But Park Place will not complete until next year, and Jair Lynch has encountered financing, title, and zoning hurdles with its project, and has been reluctant to even give a start date. And while the Neighborhood Development Company is also well underway on its own apartment building just to the north, many of the expected success of Georgia Avenue have yet to be initiated, and a bevy of apartment-turned condominium low-rises that expected to benefit from the retail surge that never happened remain unsold. But the prospect of five new developments all rising within a few blocks is undoubtedly a new direction for Petworth, and an event that may make an honest man out of the Mayor.

Washington DC commercial property news

Shaw Housing Project Gets Rebirth

Just a block away from the future O Street Market re- development site, Metropolitan Development is planning to weed out the wilted Kelsey Gardens apartment community. The 54 subsidized apartments will be replaced with a mixed-use building that they hope will blossom into 282 mixed-income rental units, 14,400 s.f. of retail space, 237 underground parking spaces on 7th street, and 7 townhomes on P street. Developers hope to break ground by this time next year, and finish in late 2010, provided zoning approval happens this year. Rachael Preston, Financial Analyst for Metropolitan, said the company has been working on the redevelopment of Kelsey Gardens on 7th Street, NW, between P and Q Streets since 2004, and that the new development is consistent with the redevelopment of the larger Shaw area. "When redeveloped, the Kelsey Gardens site will offer important progress for the Shaw community as well as continuity. Shaw is on the brink of a renaissance, driven by the addition of new residences, commercial activity, and the preservation of important landmarks," Preston said. The developer also said the project's inclusion of both townhouses and rental units is key to preserving the neighborhood's appearance and integrity while improving its design. The new townhouses, designed by Lessard Architectural Group, will be "historically sensitive", but will include "traditional and modern architectural styles to break up the length of the building on 7th Street." And as for the apartments, Preston said, "Metropolitan Development sees demand for rental housing in Shaw driven by access to public transit and proximity to DC's traditional downtown locations to the south and west, and the emerging employment zone of NoMa to the north and east." 

Metropolitan stressed that Shaw residents are part of the neighborhood's identity and will be encouraged to return. According to the developer, "The residents displaced at Kelsey Gardens for construction are guaranteed the opportunity to return to their former home once redevelopment is complete. Shaw is a community of many long time residents who give the neighborhood much of its character. By ensuring that these residents are not displaced permanently, Metropolitan Development is able to participate in preservation of the neighborhood as well as change." Metropolitan did not comment on how its former residents would be accommodated. Though currently known as Kelsey Gardens, the project is listed on Metropolitan's website as "Addison Square." Though some locals have objected to the name, suggesting that a final name may be part of the inevitable negotiations, it is unlikely that many area residents will mourn the loss of the drug and crime plagued housing project. Metropolitan acquired the land last summer and retained the previous owners, The Deliverance Church of God in Christ, as a partner in the deal.

Washington DC commercial real estate