Thursday, January 29, 2009
DC's "Nuisance Properties" Headed to Auction
Labels: Affordable Housing, auction, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington DC
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
EYA Paints the Town Green in Southeast
Labels: Capitol Riverfront, EYA, LEED, Lessard Group, Southeast
“It’s been our intention all along to select an organization that we could partner with and meet agreed upon standards that would certify ‘being green,’ if you will,” said Andy Warren, EYA’s Chief Operating Officer. “It’s an emerging area and some builders are just doing kind of silly stuff…and calling it green. We felt the perfect thing to do was to find some sort of third party that was recognized and public in the industry as a valid resource to define what is and what isn’t green.”
Per a statement released by the developer, EYA intends to use the Capitol Quarter project as a “model for volume builders on how to implement LEED for Homes on a larger scale.” They’re even pushing their eco-friendly ethos one step farther by including Energy Star-branded appliances and windows in the homes, along with a host of other green chic features like high efficiency cooling units and low flow plumbing fixtures. According to Warren, the modifications will represent only a modest increase in cost over their typical construction practices, as the development team had always intended on utilizing some aspects of sustainable design for the Capitol Quarter - with or without LEED certification.
“I think frankly if you were going from the minimum code requirements to the standards that you need for LEED for Homes and Energy Star, the cost would be very significant. For us, it’s more the magnitude of several thousand dollars, as opposed to the maybe tens of thousands of dollars you’d have to spend otherwise.”
At present, the Capitol Quarter project is slated to deliver approximately 137 market rate townhomes, 75 workforce housing townhomes and 86 public housing units to the burgeoning Capitol Riverfront quadrant of Southeast – well within walking distance of the Navy Yard Metro, the Nationals home turf and a bevy of similarly scaled (re)developments, such as Forest City’s Yards project . The Capitol Quarter’s public housing component - built in conjunction with District of Columbia Housing Authority – will not, however, bear the same LEED certification as its ballpark brethren.
“That is primarily due to the significant lead time that was involved in putting the plans and specs together for the city,” said Warren. “Those decisions were made more than a year ago and to change that just wasn’t feasible, but some same elements and construction techniques that we used on the for-sale units will carry over.”
EYA currently projects an April or May 2009 delivery for the first batch of Lessard Group-designed rowhouses at Capitol Quarter; all construction is expected to be complete by the fall of 2010. The market rate units are currently available for pre-sale, with prices starting at $630,000.
Eisenhower Ave. Towers Get the Green Light
Once completed, the developer intends to add 485 new residential units, 5700 square feet of retail and 585,000 square feet of office space in buildings as high as 22 stories - not to mention two new roads - to the Northern Virginia market. A definitive start date for the project has yet to be scheduled.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Post Office Makeover in the Works for Bethesda
The $10 million project aims to do away with the current 18,600 square foot postal facility at the site and, in turn, replace it with a 4-story residential development located above a new post office. Plans on hand call for up to 105 residential units (14 of which will be reserved as affordable housing), approximately 7,000 square feet for a new USPS retail store and 23,000 square feet of ground floor "workroom" office space that will house a re-jiggered and newly improved Bethesda Post Office. These will be joined by 299 parking spaces - divided between a ground floor garage for postal service customers and vehicles, and a below grade structure for residents and employees.
Amenities planned for the as-of-yet untitled development include a landscaped deck area that will connect to the adjacent Capital Crescent Trail. In conformance with the zoning requirements, the project will also feature the required 50% green area - a surefire improvement, as the majority of the site is currently devoted to a large surface parking lot.
Keating representatives declined to comment on the status of the development, beyond conforming that it had, in fact, received approval of the development plan from the County Council. No timeframe has been established for groundbreaking, and the current post office at the site remains open for business and in full operation for the immediate future.
Monday, January 26, 2009
New Development Going Green in Alexandria
The riposte has finally arrived. While not legally binding, the "Green Buildings in Alexandria Policy Recommendations" report - featuring the input of various Alexandria policy makers, along with that of representatives from MRP Realty, the JBG Companies, Winchester Homes, Environmental Resources Management, and the US Green Building Council, among others – signals several significant changes for green building projects in Alexandria.
First and foremost, all projects that “require a site plan or development special use permit” will now be “expected” to adhere to the policy recommendations. Those include a minimum LEED silver certification for nonresidential projects, “flexibility for non-standard buildings,” and the need for a closer working relationship between city authorities and would-be developers. According to the report, the city of Alexandria cannot legally mandate green building practices; instead they’re seeking a "lead by example” approach “in anticipation that the building and development industry will act in own interests.” Wait for the lawyers to parse that distinction.
Nonetheless, for every stance taken in the report, there is an opposing opinion and the panel has yet to unanimously agree on several issues. Two currently at the forefront of deliberation include whether LEED silver certification shall remain the city’s minimum standard for all projects, and exactly what types of incentives should be offered to those developing eco-friendly projects.
“While there are some areas of disagreement...there is general agreement on the policy issues such as flexibility, phasing, and recognition,” says Rich Josephson, Deputy Director of the Alexandria Department of Planning and Zoning and Working Group member. “It is our intent to have City Council adopt this policy in March and to have development applications follow this policy some time shortly thereafter.”
Consensus or not, there are still numerous green projects already on deck for construction in Alexandria over the course of the next year. Among the upcoming projects highlighted in the report were the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s (ARHA) developments at West Glebe Road and Old Dominion Road, Jaguar Development’s Braddock Gateway, Trammell Crow Residential’s Carlyle Center, ARHA and EYA’s James Bland redevelopment and the Payne Street Condos.
The Working Group will be on hand to present the draft to the public at the George Washington Memorial Masonic Temple on January 28th from 7 to 9 PM. The presentation will include a panel discussion on the merits of the current draft, in addition to a question and answer session.
Alexandria Virginia real estate development news
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Drinking Deep at the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant
Labels: Bloomingdale, EYA, jair lynch, Lessard Group
Friday, January 23, 2009
Bonafide New Residential for Silver Spring
There's yet another residential project in the works for downtown Silver Spring. Independent developer Theo Margas hopes to deliver his Bonifant Plaza project to so-named Bonifant Street in the heart of the suburban city's Central Business District. Since filing plans with the Montgomery County Planning Board more than two years ago, progress on the Bonifant has been slow coming due to traffic issues - but that's something that could begin to turn around as early as next month.
Located on an unaddressed parcel within a stone's throw (approximately 135 feet) of Georgia Avenue, the Bonifant Plaza would measure in at roughly 115,000 square feet and sport new 72 new rental apartments with the same number of private parking spaces. (As required by Montgomery County statutes, 12.5% of those units must be devoted to affordable housing – which amounts to 9 sacrificial units for the developer.) The 9-story project is being designed Silver Spring-based architects AR Meyers & Associates and, though current plans don’t include a retail component, Margas has still not discounted an alternative that would allow him to service the heavily trafficked Silver Spring corridor. “The zoning…doesn’t allow for ground floor retail,” he says. “If for some reason that changes, then we would pursue putting ground floor retail in. But at this point there’s no retail in the designs for the project.”
Per recommendations made by Planning Board staff and the Maryland Department of Transportation, Bonifant Plaza has been on hold pending a design adjustment of the of alleys intended to service the new building. At one point, there had been concerns that the recently resolved issue of Purple Line’s prospective route could also impact the site, but with both matters now headed towards a speedy resolution, the project will return before the Board next month. ““[That meeting is] only for the budget plan, and we still have the site plan,” says Margas. “We’re not going to be at [the final] stage until sometime after budget approval.” Meanwhile, Margas concedes that a final timeline and cost analysis for the Bonifant project will be contingent on the next phase of the approval process, but seems confident that 2009 will be the year that Bonifant Plaza joins its fellow Silver Spring CBD projects – like SilverPlace, 1050 Ripley, the Adele, 8227 Fenton, and 8711 Georgia – on the docket of County-approved developments.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Brightwood Tenement Set for Demolition
WCI had ordered a buyout all of the building's tenants following complaints of below-freezing temperatures from residents, critiques from the DC City Council and a lack of funds of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (which spent a whopping $626 to “repair” the building over a three year period). The new building to be built at the former site of 809 Kennedy will include 70-units of affordable housing with rents starting at $900 per month. WCI President, Richard Deeds, did not respond to DCmud’s inquiries concerning the project.
According to DC tax assessment records, Deeds and co. have owned the property since May 2002. Their raze application, filed in December, is expected to proceed unhindered. New System Demolition and Excavation will carry out the demolition.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Changes in the Atlas District
Labels: Architecture Collaborative, H Street Corridor
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Affordable Housing Expands in Adams Morgan
As a condition of the DHCD loan, all of Ontario Court’s units will be affordable to households earning less than 80% of area median income for a period of 47 years. Ontario Court was financed with $8.6 million in New Markets Tax Credit loans from Enterprise, a Columbia, Maryland based affordable housing provider, and built byJubilee Housing, Inc., a 34-year-old private, faith-based, non-profit organization that provides affordable housing and supportive services to economically disadvantaged residents of Adams Morgan. The project was designed and overseen by Bonstra | Haresign ARCHITECTS.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Light Rail Locked for the Purple Line
Board Chairman Royce Hanson cited light rail's proclivity for speedier transport, greater passenger capacity, longer 50 to 60 year lifespan and compatibility with existing Metro and MARC systems as benefits of the selection. Despite any advantages, the new light rail will cost millions more than bus service; current projections predict that the cost of the project could rise as high as $1.6 billion.
Preliminary engineering for the Purple Line is scheduled to begin this August, although work on the line itself won’t begin before 2012, at the earliest. At present, the project’s next stop is a Montgomery County Council committee meeting on January 22nd, which will then be followed by a full public session on January 27th.
Maryland commercial real estate news
Deputy Mayor Forges Ahead on Janney-Tenley
Labels: Janney, LCOR, Neil Albert, Tenleytown, Wisconsin Avenue
"As I am sure you are aware, the original rationale for this project is two-fold. First, it is part of a District-wide effort to capitalize on transit-oriented development. The site offers the District the rare opportunity to leverage a parcel across the street from a Metrorail station, bringing additional residents and workforce housing units to an underserved Wisconsin Avenue corridor,” states Albert in a letter dated January 12th. “Second, the money the District will receive in the form of a prepaid ground lease will be used to move the Janney School modernization up in the queue from Fiscal Year 2014…to Fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011.”
As a recap of the battle, the struggle involves the Deputy Mayor, who is interested in developing the metro-centered site and chose LCOR as project developer, DCPL (the public library), which wants to replace the library closed down three years ago, Janney parent groups, which don't want to cede an inch of existing outdoor space to an apartment building, DC Public Schools (DCPS), which will have to renovate the school system if a developer does not pony up, and a determined group of locals that have filibustered every large development in the area, and successfully thwarted the first developer for the site.Albert supports the residential tower atop the new library, reasoning that “a stand-alone library would eliminate any potential cost savings for the library, would make any future development on the site cost prohibitive and would require much more of…Janney Elementary[‘s] green space.” The latter is a reference to objections by the Janney School Improvement Team (SIT), which withdrew their support - along with Cheh and Brown – for the cession of existing green space to the development. But Albert counters that LCOR’s revised plans now result in “a net gain of 300 square feet of green space at the school” through conversion of pavement to turf. Though such plans have yet to be released publicly, the Deputy Mayor states that a “fully formed proposal” will be unveiled on February 10th.As previously noted, DCPS have had little say in the direction of the project, while DC Public Libraries (DCPL) have been privy to the bulk of the negotiations between ODMPED and LCOR . “Preliminary estimates show that [DCPL] will save approximately half of its construction budget under this mixed-use scenario for their new 20,000 square foot library. This amounts to approximately $5 million in cost savings,” says Albert - though when initally estimated by ODMPED, the library sported a projected cost of $16 million. This most certainly is not the last word on the project.
Washington DC commercial real estate
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Eckington Affordable Housing: A Moving Story
Labels: Affordable Housing, Eckington, Grimm + Parker
Upon completion, the new 241,000 square foot project will boast a combination of one-bedroom public housing units available at 30% AMI and two-bedrooms available at 60% AMI - which in sum total, in the words of Reverend Michael Kelly of St. Martin's, makes it “the largest affordable housing project in DC.”
According to Neal Drobenare of NorthStar Development, the apartments will have "two internal landscaped courtyards, a business / computer center, internet café, wireless internet access, full fitness center and community room…[plus] a full level of underground parking." At present, the new development remains untitled, as NorthStar has yet to “hit upon a final name that conveys a market rate level of quality, respect[s] St. Martin Parish's sponsorship, and the secular nature of the apartments themselves.” The project is expected to reach completion in the first quarter of 2010. Grimm & Parker is designing the new building.
The Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington will control the apartments through a subsidiary, which will then pay St. Martin's Parish to lease the land underneath. Said De Drebonare:
“St. Martin's Parish will continue to lead our neighborhood steering committee, which has representatives from nearly all local churches and civic associations [and] will help build bridges between the neighborhood and our residents, as well as keep our feet to the fire on operating at a market rate level of service. A third party manager will run the building.”
According to Drebonare, the matter of transplanting a former nunnery wasn’t the only obstacle encountered by the development team since planning began in 2007. "The closing of the financing was quite the cliffhanger as [the] financial markets collapsed around us…we managed to close the day before the complete meltdown of the stock market in October."
Looks like someone up there was looking out for them.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Knee Deep in New Development at Fort Totten
Labels: Ellis Denning, Fenty, Fort Totten, JackSophie Development, Lowe Enterprises, StreetSense
"If you've ever been to Riggs Road in the area of South Dakota Avenue, you know it is an area of boundless potential...We are at the point where we are going to maximize that potential,” said Fenty.
The first phase, to be entitled Ft. Totten Square, will occupy the site of a vacated strip mall on the intersection’s northwestern quadrant. The 4-story building will house 468 residential units – 94 of which have been earmarked for affordable housing - and 71,000 square feet of ground floor retail, which is to be anchored by a full-service grocery store. 500 parking spaces will also be included in the development. Construction on Ft. Totten Square is slated to begin later this year and will be followed shortly by a second phase, the so-called Dakota Pointe across the street, which will include 170 units of housing and the requisite parking.
The project’s third and final phase – the Dakota Flats – will include the triangular parcel relinquished by the District at the development's southern-most point. It will feature 260 apartments with 52 reserved as affordable, 23,000 square feet of retail. According to the Mayor, construction of the Flats will “be set to close in 2011.” In addition to Lowe, the development team also includes Jack Sophie Development, City Partners Development and mixed-use planners StreetSense. Hickok Cole Architects are designing the project. Ellis Denning will serve as general contractor. The total cost of the project is currently estimated to be roughly $80 million.
Both the City and development team were keen to highlight the infrastructural improvements they have in store for one of the city’s busiest intersections. “We are working on making this a safer intersection because traffic is fast,” said Ward 4 Councilwoman Muriel Bowser. “We have thousands of hardworking, taxpaying citizens in Riggs Park who take their lives into their hands to get the Fort Totten Metro. We’re going to change that.”
In doing so, the District plans to eliminate the highway-style on-off ramps that guide traffic onto Riggs Road and include improved pedestrian crossings – while serving as a gateway to nearby Prince George’s County. “There’s not many more thoroughfares with much more traffic than this one right here,” said Marc Weller of Ellis Denning. “People came across the line into DC and the first thing they’d see is just a sign and vacant parking lot. We’re trying to create something much different than that.”
That change, however, has been a long time coming. Weller told DCmud that over the course of two years “overall market conditions [have] repositioned the project so that it could work in today’s markets.” Neither party would disclose the terms of the LDA, but details will be revealed as the project moves closer to fruition.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
District's Ft. Totten Land Agreement to be Announced
Labels: Fort Totten, Hickok Cole, JackSophie Development, Lowe Enterprises
Details of the LDA, which was to be held on the 5th but was abruptly canceled, are being withheld. The Fort Totten development team also includes Hickok Cole Architects, Ellis Denning, City Partners Development, and mixed-use planners, StreetSense.
Washington DC commercial real estate news
The Ritz Gets Low-Income Makeover
Labels: Adams Morgan, Affordable Housing, Ellis Denning, Enterprise Community Partners, Hickok Cole, Jubilee
The nearly $7 million renovation will amount to 60 units of affordable housing for Jubilee – which breaks down as 10 efficiencies, 20 one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and 10 three-bedroom rental apartments. According to Kathy Guillaume, Jubilee’s Director of Development, new amenities planned for the Ritz include community-oriented additions such as a "computer center, multi-purpose classrooms, community room, [and an] after school center for teens," in addition to energy efficient infrastructural upgrades for the apartments and communal areas. Hickok Cole Architects is designing the renovation, Ellis Denning is serving as general contractor.
Jubilee will move out and into a new location on Colombia Road, allowing for the creation of a new teen center. The Ritz has been under Jubilee’s control since the company’s founding in 1973, when it was one of the first two properties acquired by company executives Terry Flood, Barbara Moore and Carolyn Banker with the aid of Enterprise Community Partners founders, Jim and Patty Rouse. Today, the Ritz is the largest of seven Adams Morgan apartment buildings owned and operated by the company. As part of their “Campaign for the New Jubilee,” the affordable housing operator has been conducting top-to-bottom renovations of all their properties. In addition to the ongoing work at the Ritz, their Ontario Court building (2525 Ontario Road, NW) is also currently undergoing renovation procedures; work on their Mozart (1630 Fuller Street, NW), Marietta (2418 17th Street, NW) , and Fuller Court (1650 Fuller Street, NW) buildings concluded in 2008. Renovations on Jubilee’s two remaining properties, the Euclid (1740 Euclid Street, NW) and the Sorrento (2233 18th Street, NW), are scheduled to commence later in the year. Work on the Ritz is on track to wrap up in July of 2009.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Arlington's Wilson Boulevard Scores, Part II
Labels: Arlington, Davis Carter Scott, DRI Development, Rosslyn
The site - which fronts North Rhodes Street, Clarendon Boulevard and Wilson Boulevard - also adjoins a Hollywood Video surface parking lot (driving out to get videos, that's so 2007) that will also be re-appropriated for NSTA use. Parking, in fact, seems to be one of the main factors propelling the project forward. The development team plans to tunnel under the NSTA’s current building to install a new three-story parking garage, with another two planned for beneath the new structure. The hope of the Arlington County Planning and Transportation Commissions is that such maneuvers will “recapture shared parking for use by the public” in the rapidly growing Rosslyn - Ballston corridor with its two simultaneous projects next door (1716 Wilson and 2000 Wilson).
The building will top out at 6-stories and include a sixth-floor conference center that will host NSTA conferences and local community events. Meanwhile, a free-standing retail component will measure in at 10,160 square feet that will go towards a local restaurant or retailer like the ones it displaces. By doing away with the two diminutive office structures currently at the site, NSTA and the County hope to “create a better urban edge along Clarendon Boulevard” and, according to DRI, craft “a gateway into the downtown Courthouse.” The project is being designed by Davis Carter Scott and is aiming for LEED silver certification.
The NSTA received County Board approval for the project on November 15 and their current site plan – barring any major changes - will remain valid through November 2011. Progress appears to moving along swiftly, and NSTA has retained both construction and traffic engineers for the project. DPR Construction Company will serve as general contractor. Once completed, the new NSTA headquarters will be within an earshot of Elm Street Development's 2000 Wilson project, as well as George Contis' 1716 Wilson Boulevard development.
Arlington Virginia real estate development news