Developer Chosen for 5th & I

The District of Columbia announced this morning that it is partnering with developer Donohoe Companies to bring a high-end hotel, retail outlets and jazz club to the soon-to-be booming Mount Vernon Triangle. In a press conference held this morning, Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty laid out the changes that will soon be coming to the District- owned site at 5^th and I Streets NW and praised developments in the area as a whole.

"It's important that we move these projects fast, that we get them out to developers who know what to do with them and I think that...in less than a year we've demonstrated that we're not just holding onto these properties," said Fenty. "We're allowing them to be developed for the benefit of the community."

Those benefits will take the shape of a 475,000-square foot development, titled Arts at 5^th & I. The project will center around a new 260-room ME Hotel from luxury Spanish hotelier, Melia and also include - promoters say - a bicycle retailer, hardware store, book store/café and new outlet for the Zenith Art Gallery. Perhaps most exciting for local residents, who lobbied the city for more entertainment-oriented projects in the neighborhood during the 6 month bidding process, will be the addition of a new music venue in the form of the Boisdale Jazz Club – the first US location from the London-based chain of nightclubs.

A new apartment complex sporting 166 apartments will also be springing up on the site, with the developer pledging to a minimum of 50 affordable-housing units within the building. Rounding out the proposal is a 238-space underground parking garage. Groundbreaking is a projected 18 months away, following approval by the City Council.

Jad Donohoe of the Donohoe Companies outlined future plans for not only 5^th and I, but the rest of the Mount Vernon Triangle area as well. “We’re going to take this lot and then move up 5^th Street and take out those vacant properties,” he said. “[Donohoe is going to] redevelop that entire street and build on the investment that the city has already made in CityVista.”

The District’s selection of Donahue comes at the end of a 6 month bidding process that saw JBG, Buccini/Pollin, Potomac Investment Properties, and the winning Donohoe-managed joint proposal that included Holland Development, Spectrum Management, and Harris Development, all vying for a contract to build on the coveted Ward 6 parcel. With regards to how Donohoe’s joint proposal edged out the competition, Deputy Mayor Neil Albert said:

I took a look at their work and was very impressed with it. The community wanted entertainment as part of the development and they had a jazz club, which was well received…and then, they were going to pay us $7 million for this piece of land. They definitely had the best proposal. And that’s not just our rating, but community support was overwhelmingly in support of this proposal.

The 5 & I site was transferred into the city’s portfolio in October 2007 in the wake of the National Capital Revitalization Corp.’s (NCRC) dismantlement. DC's Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development then issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) early this year. The District is negotiating subsidies for the project with Donohoe at present and hopes to generate approximately $85 million in tax revenue from the Arts at 5^th and I project.

The Deceased Get Some Breathing Room in Arlington

The cramped quarters of Arlington National Cemetery's got some much needed relief this week as the Arlington County Board approved a land swap of two 4.3 acre parcels - one belonging to the federal government, the other to the County - that will allow the military burial ground to expand its borders after 2011. In exchange, Arlington County will receive a westerly portion of the Navy Annex that it will use as a site for the long-proposed Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.
The roots of the deal go back 3 years to when Senator John Warner and Representative James Moran - both of Virginia - engineered a clause in the 2005 Federal Defense Authorization Bill that allowed the cemetery's de facto landlord, the US Department of Defense, to commence negotiations with the County.

Apparently, both county and federal officials are seeing this unusual turn of events as a win-win situation. “The cemetery acquires new ground for much-needed expansion while the County gains a well-situated, historically significant focal point for community, its past and its legacy,” said Board Chairman J. Walter Tejada, via a press release issued Tuesday.

With the World War II generation dropping away faster than ever, officials at Arlington National Cemetery have been looking for ways to counter the calamitous consequences of overcrowding the 612-acre site. Last year, they initiated the Millennium Project – a $35 million expansion of the cemetery’s northwest edge. So far, Millennium has acquired 10 acres from the neighboring Army complex at Fort Meyer and recovered 4 acres of former maintenance space within its own borders. Millennium still aims to utilize roughly 40 more acres of “unutilized” space within Arlington National Cemetery proper.

Meanwhile, the other beneficiary of the deal, the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington (which currently bills itself as “a museum without walls” due to its lack of permanent quarters) will have to make do with temporary exhibits throughout the County for the foreseeable future. As Arlington County has yet to commit to a timeline beyond the 2011 exchange date, all details pertaining to its new proposed home at the Navy Annex are tentative at best. However, one resource at the disposal of museum management is the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, who recently pushed (and succeeded) in getting the nearby Arlington Mill Community Center cleared for extensive, mixed-use redevelopment.

DC Mud Throws Up Hands, Joins Twitter

In our never-ending pursuit of the latest DC real estate buzz, we've joined up with tech site du jour, Twitter. Follow our updates or throw us a bone through our brand spankin' new user name, DC_Mud.

And, no, we won't be commenting on the quality of our lunch from Whole Foods or the injustice of our latest parking ticket. Just mud, folks. Just mud.

Marymount University Digs Itself a New Hole

With its’ 60th anniversary just around the corner, Arlington’s Marymount University looks to be buying itself a $25 million present a few years early.

Next month will see Dewberry Development break ground on two "contemporary neo-classical buildings" that will take the place of a Marymount parking lot bounded by Old Dominion Drive, Yorktown Boulevard and 26th Street North. Plans for the Davis Carter Scott-designed sibling structures, a dormitory and academic building respectively, were initially approved by Arlington County Board of Supervisors in July 2007.

Rose Bente' Lee Ostapenko Hall (good luck to the co-eds stammering over that one after a few jell-o shots), the 6-story, 75,000 square foot dormitory going up on the site, was named for – you guessed it -Rose Bente' Lee Ostapenko, the University’s current Secretary to the Board of Trustees and founder of the Rose Bente' Lee Endowed Scholarship Fund. Ms. Ostapenko also lent funds (and, surprise, her name) to Marymount’s student center in 1999.

That 239-bed facility will be erected concurrently with Caruthers Hall, a 4-story, 52,000 square foot academic building. The new building will house classrooms, lecture halls, faculty offices, and lab space for health science, chemistry, physics and biology. The facility is being named in honor of Preston C. Caruthers, chairman of Arlington real estate firm, Carfam II Associates LP, and longtime Marymount supporter.

The 2 new structures will both sit atop an underground, 4-story, 145,000 square foot parking garage that will contain 370 new spaces. A new plaza will straddle the gap between the academic building and dormitory, while an overhead pedestrian footpath will be erected across Yorktown Road and connect the facilities with Marymount proper.

“This initiative responds directly to Marymount’s most critical needs,” said university president Dr. James E. Bundschuh. “The new facilities will help us meet the increasing demand for campus housing, significantly enhance instruction in key academic programs, and address the parking challenges that we have faced for several years.”

The 4 Arlington communities bordering the Marymount campus - Old Dominion, Donaldson Run, Yorktown and Rock Spring – have already lent their approval to the project. Davis Construction and Harkins Builders Inc. will be going to ground on the site starting next month. Further BIDs are due by September 25th. The project is slated for completion in time for the start of the 2010 academic year.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

A Low-Rise Victory for Parkside

Northeast's Parkside neighborhood will soon be getting a little greyer with the construction of the Victory Square senior housing development. Located at 600 Barnes Street NE, the project is being developed as a joint venture between Bethesda's Victory Housing Inc. and the Bank of America Community Development Corporation (BACDC) - an altruistic wing of the commercial bank which contributed over $1 million in loans and investments towards low and moderate-income real estate projects within the District in 2007 alone.

Measuring in at 97,100 square feet, the 4-story Victory Square project will house 98 apartments suited to the needs of seniors, plus an exterior courtyard terrace, coffee bar and lounge, exercise facilities, library and computer center and an in-house salon - all based on designs by local architecture firm Grimm + Parker. Victory Square will mark the developer’s fifth so-named senior housing facility in the region, after Palmer Park’s Victory House, Potomac’s Victory Terrace, Columbia Heights’ Victory Heights and Takoma Park’s Victory Tower.

Victory Square marks the BACDC's very first project in the area, although more are in the pipeline. “We have been working on the master plan development of the area," said Maurice Perry, Development Manager of the BACDC. "This project would be the first phase of the overall development.” In cooperation with Parkside LLC, the proposed plans call for future redevelopment of existing townhomes and apartment complexes in the Northeast neighborhood.

Subcontractor bids are due to the project’s general contractor, Hamel Builders, by September 26^th. Construction is slated to begin in March and be completed 13 months thereafter.

2300 Penn: Demo Begins

Mayor Fenty brought a little showmanship to the usual groundbreaking ceremony as he announced the District's plans to revitalize the 2300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE, and then, in a gesture that may inspire more city youths to be Mayor, began demolition of one of the buildings himself (pictured).

"While all groundbreakings are significant, a groundbreaking here on the 2300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue just shows that all of this great economic activity is bringing prosperity and progress...east of the river," said Fenty at the demolition site. "I think for that we should all be excited."

The Computecture Incorporated-designed facility at 2323 Pennsylvania Avenue will consist entirely of affordable housing with 247 units, 115 units of which will be "workforce" housing for families earning no more than 60% of the area median income. In addition, it will also feature a Harris Teeter grocery store and 8,000 square feet of space that the city hopes will go to "high-end" retailers. “If Pennsylvania Avenue is going to be the major corridor leading into east of the river neighborhoods that we all expect it to be," the Mayor said in closing, "we’ve…got to get rid of the blighted properties that are on it."

As the first major development in greater Anacostia since the Penn Branch Shopping Center was built a decade ago, the project at 2323 Pennsylvania Avenue is exciting indeed. The lot where the project is to be erected was formerly home to an unsightly strip of used car lots and a tattoo parlor. An interesting note on the block’s historic status: one the homes slated for demolition is where John Wilkes Booth was treated for his injuries following the assassination of President Lincoln.

The mayor detailed the $7 million in construction loans and $1.2 million in affordable housing tax credits offered to the developer for the project and then thanked the DC City Council for its determination in getting the project off the ground over the past two years.

Also in attendance at the event were DC Councilmember and Chair of the District’s Committee for Economic Development, Kwame Brown, Anthony Muhammad of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8A and Tim Chapman of Chapman Development, the primary developer behind the project – in addition to a packed house of community leaders and activists.

Brown went on to express his pleasure with the development from the perspective of someone who lives only blocks away. “I think there is no greater sign that what we’re doing together from an executive and legislative standpoint is working,” he said. “I think in the next five years we’re going to look back and say ‘Wow, look what used to be here and what is here now.’”

Brown trumpeted the housing development as a beacon of hope for residents of Wards 7 & 8 and as a surefire measure to draw to new retailers and residents to a part of the city best described as undesirable, if not dangerous. The afternoon’s remarks came to a close as Mayor Fenty got behind the wheel of a heavy duty land mover to demolish a one-story brick structure, giving the project a memorable kick-off.

This is not Chapman Development’s first foray into development of the District’s less affluent areas. The firm was previously responsible for the Lotus Square Apartments on Kenilworth Avenue, NE. According to the Bank of America representative responsible for funding the Penn Avenue project, Lotus Square maintains the appearance of market rate housing, despite its affordable, and enjoys high levels of tenant satisfaction - one the driving forces behind the selection of Chapman as developer. The work site is currently being cleared by 25 members of the Earth Conservation Corps (ECC) with construction expected to begin once demolition is complete.

One, Two, Three or Four in Southeast?

When DC Mud last reported on DRI's proposed mixed-use development at 88 K Street SE, the project had more working titles than a Star Wars sequel ("99 I Street" or "Square 696") and there was much confusion as to what shape the project would take when fully realized. The identity crisis now has some closure, now that Tammal Demolition completed its razing of a taxicab garage on the site in order to make way the project - now indisputably titled "The Plaza on K."

The HOK-designed project will begin Phase I construction in the coming months with a "flexible building plan," that, according to DRI's marketing department, could accommodate up to 4 towers of retail and office space taking up the entire city block at First and K Streets SE. (This despite the fact that the Capitol Riverfront's own newsletter reported the Plaza on K as tri-tower development in conjunction with the raze.)

The project’s first phase will include construction of the first tower and will add 290,000 square feet of office space and 14,000 square feet of ground-level retail space to Southeast’s shot at a real estate "do-over." Current plans call for the three towers to total 825,000 square feet in all, sport rooftop terraces and gold LEED certifications, and surround a 10,000 square foot public plaza.

The Plaza on K is just one of multiple District revitalization projects underway on what were once some the District’s most neglected pieces of property. Once completed, the Plaza will neighbor JPI’s Capitol Yards development at 100 I Street and the Cohen Companies' Velocity condo complex at 1050 First Street. Phase I's single tower is scheduled for completion in mid-2010, although a BID for the project has yet to issued. A firm timeline for further towers on the site has yet to be established.

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