Jemal's Retail Trick on 14th Street

Douglas Development is in the process of acquiring the necessary permits to raze a vacant auto lot at 2221 14^th Street, NW. According to Douglas Jemal, President of Douglas Development, his corporation acquired the bafflingly named "Latino Auto Sale" five years ago; now, under the creative title of "Jemal's Hookers, LLC," he’s planning to scrap it for a new retail development intended to service the increasingly crowded 14^th and U Street corridor.

Though Jemal has yet to set a timeline for when the diminutive brick auto shop and adjoining parking lot will meet the wrecking ball and shovel, he has already taken on George Meyers of GTM Architects, Inc. to design a two-story 10,000 square foot retail development for the site.

"We’re getting permitted and getting it designed, so that, hopefully, when this market does turn around, we can get something done,” said Jemal. Understandable, but just what’s the story behind the tasteful moniker of his limited liability company? “Long before you were around,” laughed Jemal, “there were always hookers on that corner [at 14^th and Florida Avenue].”

These days, the intersection is decidedly more family friendly, with PN Hoffman's Union Row project just a few doors down, both Jair Lynch’s Solea Condominiums and Level 2 Development’s View 14 are currently under construction directly across the street. Damn you, gentrification.

Washington DC commercial property news

Alexandria Eyes New Metro for Potomac Yard

Just in time to reap some juicy stimulus dollars, the City of Alexandria is now exploring an additional front in their ongoing plans for the redevelopment of the city's former industrial sector, Potomac Yard. This month, the Alexandria City Council formally established the Metrorail Station Feasibility Work Group with the express purpose of "assess[ing] the technical and financial analyses required for a potential new Metrorail Station in Potomac Yard."

Both the Planning Commission and City Council expressed interest in a possible Metro expansion into Potomac Yard back in May 2008, when they undertook a "preliminary analysis of concept." That study resulted in a Washington Metro Area Transit Authority estimate that priced the project at $125 to $150 million with an operating cost of roughly $1 million per year. The hope is that a Metro outlet in the currently barren Potomac Yard quadrant of Alexandria will kick start – or, at the very least, accelerate - the redevelopment effort that aims to add 1 million square feet of office space, 750,000 square feet of retail, 2500 residential units and an undetermined number of hotel rooms to Northern Virginia.

Members of the Work Group include William Euille and Timothy Lovain of the City Council; Eric Wagner of the Planning Commission; Noah Teates of the Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group; and Jennifer Mitchell of the Transportation Commission. The Work Group will hold its first public meeting on Thursday, February 17^th. The meeting will be held at the Sister Cities Conference Room at 7 PM.

Though the House and Senate versions of the stimulus package have yet to be reconciled with one another, both versions contain large - though differing - amounts for infrastructure spending. Once the money is routed to the State Legislature (and possibly WMATA), these seems like precisely the type of project they'd be willing to explore. Barring, of course, that it doesn't cut into the caviar fund.

Capitol Riverfront Showcase This Weekend

With passage of the stimulus bill now behind us, the Capitol Riverfront BID (CRBID) is teaming with local artist collective Artomatic and starving artist patrons, The Pink Line Project, to highlight a trio of residential properties along the Southeast Waterfront this coming weekend. Entitled “Luck of the Draw,” the festival/marketing showcase will include art installations and live music coincidentally located at three prominent nouveau Southeast developments: the Cohen Companies’ Velocity Condominiums, JPI’s Axiom at Capitol Yards, and Faison’s Onyx on First.

The free public festivities kick off this Friday, February 13th at 6 PM and run through Sunday, February 15th. Residential units and lounges at the three aforementioned properties will be populated with “photography, installation art, graffiti artists, live music, and DJs and dancing;” we can only presume that there might be a few agents on hand (wink wink) to facilitate the transition from the dance floor to the sales office. Talk about mixed-use.

The cross-pollinating event will also serve a prelude to the CRBID’s 2009 partnership with Artomatic, which will be holding a 10^th anniversary party of their very own in the Capitol Riverfront in just a few months. Artomatic had previously teamed with competing development district, NoMA, for their 2008 exhibition.

"With our 2007 Artomatic we began working with the Business Improvement Districts...and found partnering with the BIDs as a perfect way for Artomatic to better engage the neighborhoods we were in and better leverage our outreach and marketing efforts for our event," said Artomatic representative and featured artist, Patrick Oberman.

The Cost of Commuting to DC

Suburban housing places a heavy financial strain on working families in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, concludes a new publication released yesterday from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing. Beltway Burden: The Combined Cost of Housing and Transportation in the Greater Washington, DC Metropolitan Area, analyzes the inverse proportionality between the cost-savings on distant homes and expense of commuting to the District from without. The study's deduction, if not entirely intuitive, is that DC-area working families who are forced to "drive ‘till they qualify" for housing incur higher transportation costs that eventually erode their housing cost savings. Well, ya.

The study finds that region-wide, households spend an average of $23,000 on housing and $13,000 on transportation annually, and that increases in transportation costs start offsetting housing savings when families locate roughly 16 miles from employment centers; drivers who spend an average of 60 hours per year sitting in traffic and waste nearly 91 million gallons of fuel.

To lower the housing-transportation cost burden for the Washington metro area, the report suggests that part of the answer is “creating more housing and transportation choices...us[ing] our existing infrastructure more wisely and more intensively...and [m]ore compact development." The report predicts the addition of 1.7 million new households over the next 20 years in the DC region, half of which will occur in the outer suburbs and outer-ring jurisdictions. These areas currently are home to just over one-fourth of the region’s population, and have the highest combined costs for housing and transportation.

DCHD Auction Bidders to be Disclosed

Last week's auction of vacant property throughout Washington DC met with mostly positive reviews. But complaints were raised about its "secretive" nature, a process that jarred with Obamian notions of an anticeptically transparent government. Now the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development (DCHD), which held the auction of 31 vacant "nuisance properties" on January 30th, has said it will reveal the winners. Eventually. For now, despite community concerns over the furtive sale, Angelita Colon-Francia, Senior Public Information Officer, Office of Strategy and Communications, has informed DCmud that the winning bidders "were mostly individuals, although four bidders have already stated they intend to purchase their properties using corporate entities.” Oh, the new neighbors are individuals. There goes the neighborhood.

If that is not a sufficient balm to open-government zealots, satisfaction of community qualms about just who (or what) purchased will have to wait until an upcoming, as-yet unscheduled public hearing. Recites Colon-Francia: “Per Section 42-3171 of the D.C. Code, DHCD will announce the date of a public hearing, along with the names of the prospective buyers, in the D.C. Register after it has received deposits for each property.”

Almost as interesting, DCHD has also gone public with a new Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, which is intended to “encourage private investment in the construction and rehabilitation of low- and moderate-income housing,” or, if you are a city Councilmember, go 8 out of 9 years without paying taxes. [DCMud has still not verified that last part yet] Though the update to District policy was mandated by federal law, the changes to the program will not affect current DCHD-sponsored affordable housing initiatives, including the upcoming redevelopment of 809 Kennedy Street, NW and Jubilee Housing Inc.’s renovation of various Adams Morgan properties like Ontario Court and The Ritz. According to DCHD guidleines, “the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program provides 9 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits to developers of new or rehabilitated rental housing for the production of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income persons at 60 percent or less of Area Median Income.”

Rockville Condo Auction: The Fitz Calls it Quits

Apparently four years is enough. Facing what could be more than half a decade of shilling condos in Rockville, the Fitz is calling it quits, and has called in the auctioneers to finish the job. Developers of The Fitz have announced their intention to auction the 40 remaining condos on February 28th, ending sales of the 221-unit condominium that began in early 2005 when the project was converted from an apartment building. Developed originally by Archstone in 2004, the apartment building was purchased by Florida-based Elad in 2005, with sales beginning the same year. Prices that once started in the low $300's for one-bedroom units will be auctioned with an opening bid of $169,900. Pity the buyers that paid in the high $400's for a two-bedroom, two-bath back in 2005. 

Representatives of the real estate developer, which is marketing and selling the units itself, report selling 20 condos in 2008, leaving a two-year inventory at 2008 sales levels, a prospect which must have made even the most Pollyanna of real estate agents gulp. Bidders will need an $85,000 earnest money deposit to earn the keys to their new unit. "The Fitz at Rockville Town Center," located at 501 Hungerford Drive, just outside the geography it takes its name from, was the first condo developed in the then-emerging neighborhood. The Fitz includes a cyber cafe, gas fireplaces, cinema lounge, fitness facility, and "resort-style" outdoor pool, and is walking distance to the Metro. Elad also converted the nearby Colonnade at Kentlands from apartments into condominiums.

Babes Goes Back to Retail?

Last week's auction winner of the Tenley condo site will build a new retail venue, according to the new owner. Douglas Jemal of Douglas Development Corporation tells DCMud that he will pursue retail usage at the Tenleytown storefront once home to Babe’s Billiards, but more recently as an aborted residential project called the Maxim Condominiums. Jemal picked up the 12,661 square foot parcel at 4600 Wisconsin Avenue, NW for a reported $5 million at auction last week, after the Maxim’s original developers, Clemens Construction, bowed out.

There is no word on when Tenleytown will see the property open for business, but Jemal contends that his company will repurpose the shuttered pool hall at the site, instead of aiming for new construction. With underwriting for residential projects increasingly wanting, residential development was never likely, at least in the short term. More distantly, project approvals for the Maxim, as well as project plans by Cunningham & Quill Architects,’ transfer under the terms of the sale, leaving a clear path toward residential development for one of DC's few developer that seems capable and inclined to buy and hold.

But at least one executive of a prominent developer that examined the site thinks the only real strategy is a long term retail plan. "The problem with the site is that anyone picking it up needs to carry it for a long time. Doug Jemal, more than anyone else in the city, has a greater ability to bring in high profile retailers...You can't pay that amount ($5m) and get a short term lease; I think in a way it could be good for the site. The FAR price was high by any standard, [Jemal] was bidding like a guy who had an idea for how to utilize the site; its certain to remain retail for at least a decade." And with the tax rate on vacant property jumping from 5% to 10%, Douglas has an obvious disincentive to idling the property.

Other current Douglas projects in some phase of development include the former Wonder Bread factory at 641 S Street, NW, a mixed-use development at 9^th and N Streets, NW, the redevelopment of a Pennsylvania Avenue, NE site that neighbors the proposed Hill East project, and the Addison Row at Cheverly Metro just over the District line in Prince George’s County.

Insider Interview: Sean O'Donnell and Matthew Bell of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects

While architectural firms around the region quietly rightsize their workforce, international architects Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn have announced three new projects with the District of Columbia, including a study for the cloverleaf at North Capital Street, a master plan for Northwest’s Mount Vernon Square neighborhood and the modernization of Glover Park’s Benjamin Stoddert Elementary. Not a bad start to 2009. Oh, and they're designing the PN Hoffman-led development of the Southwest Waterfront. Enough to keep them busy for weeks. Two principals with the firm, Sean O’Donnell and Matthew Bell, took some time to sit down with DCmud.

Tell us a little about the firm and your approach to architecture.

SO: There are 35 people in this location. We also have offices in New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai. We’re an international practice and this just happens to be one of our offices. Our offices all collaborate on projects, so our work and expertise flow back and forth. I’ve worked in all four of the offices, for example, and that’s quite common. Our skill set, I think, is a little different than some of the other practices here in town. We do a lot of very large scale master planning, such as the Southwest Waterfront and on other things like Reservation 13 or Inner Harbor East. We’ve done a lot of waterfront planning across the country. That’s part of the large scale vision of the practice and we take that with us into any project, of any scale. Even when we’re doing building scale projects, like the many schools we’ve done here in the District, there’s always a larger vision of how it engages its context and the community.

MB: In DC, we’ve done the School without Walls, the George Washington University master plan, the Georgia Avenue master plan from just north of Howard, and we helped with the Wisconsin Avenue plan. We did the U Street plan and the Reservation 13 master plan that’s in development. We did the baseball stadium site study that located the stadium down where it was built. We worked with Mayor’s office on Great Streets. Right now, we’re doing the Deanwood Recreation Center over in Northeast.

You are the master planner for the Southwest Waterfront project, possibly the most prominent single development in the city. Tell us how you were chosen for that project.

MB: There was an international selection process between the Office of Planning and the developer who was eventually selected, Hoffman-Streuver. I don’t know who else had submitted, but our partner, Stan Eckstut – who was one of the founders of the firm – has made a living doing great waterfronts. He did the waterfront in Long Beach, California, the waterfront in Los Angeles and the promenade in Battery Park. We’ve all learned a lot from Stan about how to approach that kind of project.

What can we expect from the Southwest Waterfront? The only other true counterpart it has at present is the Georgetown Waterfront. What will the comparisons be once it’s completed?

SO: Well, one thing we learned from Stan about waterfronts is how important the water actually is. You need to have a plan for the water too, and not just focus on the land side of things.

MB: What happens on the water totally influences the rest of the project. I think the general feeling is DC doesn’t have, outside of the Washington Harbor, a place where the city comes right to the water. If you think about, most of Georgetown pulls back and places like the Navy Yard never really went right to the water and, for years, were industrial. And, of course, the Anacostia is silted up and never became a great port. If you go back and look at the L’Enfant plan for the city, people were originally going to come by water and then travel by canals, so it was going to be a waterfront city. It never really happened that way and the idea is to finally bring the city to the water with people living there, working there, hotels, retail, restaurants and all different kinds of activity.

How do you go about integrating those original L’Enfant designs into your plans for a modern development?

MB: We base all of our work on what works in other places, so we spend a lot of time looking at precedents. We feel very strongly that great places are made by looking at other places, taking those ideas and using them as a basis for new ideas. I don’t think necessarily we’re trying to reinvent; rather, we’re taking the best of what you have at other waterfronts across the world and trying to make something that’s unique for DC. The L’Enfant plan is one aspect of that, but there are other ideas and other places as well. There’s an idea to connect to the Mall along 9th Street, there’s an idea to make Maine Avenue a vibrant place with active waterfront uses that ties in the existing fish market in a creative way.

EE&K designed the Inner Harbor East project in Baltimore. How would you rate the success of that project, and how would you do it differently if you were to start over again?

MB: What we tried to do there was to design a network of public places. We realized that the market might change, the buildings might change, but if you have strong idea about the kind of places you’re trying to make and you preserve those in the plan, you’ll get a general network of public spaces all along the waterfront. I think a lot of what we’ve learned over the years is that though market forces do have their effect on cities, but if you have a strong idea about place, those things will work out.

SO: When you think about the timeframe that it takes to implement these kinds of plans, the dynamic changes throughout the course of it. Battery Park City has been in the marking for 25, 30 years and we’re actually doing the last two buildings right now to complete the plan. It’s taken a generation.

MB: We try to take the long view. Stan’s been working on Battery Park City for 25 years. We designed the Hill East Waterfront in 2001 and here we are in 2009. Lots of time these master plans do take a long time for their complete realization, and we understand that.

SO: Part of our approach, though, is that since these things can take time, the first phase feels intact and complete. So while there may be 60-acres of development to go, that initial project feels like it’s not a construction site. That’s critical.

The District recently selected EE&K to design a “North Capitol Gateway,” but the details were left a little vague. Can you tell us what shape that project will take?

MB: We’re working now for the Office of Planning, looking at the cloverleaf at North Capitol and Irving. They’ve asked us to imagine different options that are more pedestrian friendly, less highway-like than what’s there now and that work better with the surrounding property owners and uses – like the hospital, Catholic University and the redevelopment of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The NCPC master plan identifies this as a place that could have more memorials and things, so we’re trying to look at this a new gateway to the monumental core. It could be much more like a parkway, not unlike Rock Creek Park. One of the challenges is that there is a lot of green space in that part of town, but very little of it is successful. They’re seeing this as potential catalyst project, but we’re just really starting it now.

You’ve both worked on projects all over the world, giving perspective about the District's development process. How would you rate the process, especially with regard to the height limit and other procedural differences that set it apart from other parts of the country.

MB: There are plenty of cities that have tall buildings that are really ugly. If the restriction was such an economic deterrent, then there wouldn’t be developers in this town.

SO: We do work across the country, but both Matt and I live in the District. Every time I come back, I always enjoy returning to Washington. And I think the process here is really quite good. It can be complicated, but, having worked in other jurisdictions, there’s a level of professionalism here with the CFA, NCPC and Office of Planning. Their interests are the same as ours; we’re both after a very quality urban environment. The public process here can actually elevate the results.

MB: I agree. Compared to other places, there are a lot of very smart people working at the regulatory agencies here. And with all the specific experiences we’ve moving projects through the regulatory process here, they only seem to get better. I can’t really sit here and say, “This is bad” or “that’s bad.” Sometimes, it’s lengthy, but it is anywhere. Once you set that aside, their concerns are always justified. It’s that kind of balance between the imperatives of the private development world and the regulatory bodies that results in a better product. Most of these bodies recognize that good development is good, and they know that there are certain kinds of development they don’t want to do. We don’t want to do them either – drive-ins, strip malls, and that kind of thing. We share the same objectives. DC is a good place to practice.

Arlington's Affordable Housing Haven

Affordable housing developers, AHC Inc., have opened the doors on their newest project, The Shelton, at 2310 Shirlington Road in the Arlington suburb of Nauck. The developer is billing the 94-unit development as an “affordable apartment community” – one that boasts a presidential pedigree with units named after former Commanders-in-Chief - Madison, Jefferson, Harrison (we don't know which one) and Washington, respectively - and rents that range from $636 for an efficiency, up to $1401 for a three-bedroom. According to the developer, "almost half the apartments are already leased" in the 4-story, 103,138 square foot building. Bonstra Haresign ARCHITECTS and Harkins Builders rounded out the development team, which began work following the 2007 demolition of the Fairview Manor Apartments.

The Shelton is the first AHC project to wrap up in recent months, but more are on the way. Other affordable housing projects in the Northern Virginia developer’s pipeline for 2009 include their partnership with the Macedonia Baptist Church of Arlington, the planned Westover Apartments (also of Arlington) and the Jordan Manor in Ballston - which is scheduled to begin construction in March and will share the same architect and general contractor as The Shelton.

Arlington Virginia commercial real estate news

EE&K Tapped for Three District Projects

Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects have been awarded three multimillion dollar contracts in the District of Columbia, according to a statement released by the architectural firm. The first entails designs for a new gateway to the city’s “monumental core,” while the remaining two involve the creation of a master plan for Northwest’s Mount Vernon Square neighborhood and the modernization of Glover Park’s Benjamin Stoddert Elementary, respectively.

The first project reaffirms the city’s intent to install a definitive entrance to Washington’s tourist attractions. According to the press release issued by the firm, “[t]he study will be focused on North Capitol Street from Michigan Avenue to Hawaii Avenue, NE, and Irving Street/Michigan Avenue from First Street NW. The gateway would bring a sense of place to the adjacent neighborhoods and improved balance between the pedestrian focus of those neighborhoods and vehicular traffic flow and provide the initial design ideas for replacing an unsightly highway-style interchange with a more pedestrian-oriented design.” There’s no word, however, on when the first conceptual designs might begin to surface.

Meanwhile, in cooperation with the District’s Office of Planning and Department of Transportation, EE&K will be implementing infrastructural flourishes throughout the Mount Vernon Square with the hope of artfully integrating the borders between the Square, the recently opened Convention Center, and the historic Shaw neighborhood. EE&K has previously worked in a similar capacity with both the District’s Hill East neighborhood and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

For their third and final District-sponsored project of the New Year, EE&K has been paired with Setty & Associates and KLTH Engineers to "modernize and expand" Ward 3’s 77-year-old Benjamin Stoddert Elementary School. The long overcrowded school will receive a new gym, cafeteria and media center under the guidance of the development team, while the school’s 6.5 acre plot has also been earmarked as the site of a new “intergenerational community center” by the Department of Parks and Recreation. EE&K principal Sean O’Donnell will be overseeing the school renovation and has assured the community that the firm has a wealth of experience when it comes to “[creating] sustainable 21st century schools that are the center of their communities.” EE&K has previously supplied designs for other local educational institutions, such as the School without Walls and Washington University’s Foggy Bottom campus.

Interns Replace Condos Downtown (A NOMA House)

The Washington Center (TWC) has announced plans to give Washington just what it needs: less condos and more…interns. The local non-profit has selected Paradigm Development Company to build out a new “mini-campus” for college students spending their summer at TWC-arranged, metro area internships. Though Paradigm, the Arlington-based development company, is perhaps best known for its Parc Rosslyn and Buckingham Village residential projects in Northern Virginia, the TWC project will mark Paradigm's first foray into from-scratch development in the District.

The $38 million dollar project will transform a NOMA parking lot at Third and K Streets, NE into a 345-bed dormitory complex, just around the corner from the Northeast BID’s only other ongoing residential projects thus far: the Cohen Companies’ Union Place.

The development will be sufficient to provide for approximately 80% of the thousand plus interns drafted by the TWC each year, who are currently housed in sundry apartment buildings throughout the area. Current plans call for the usual college-style accoutrements like shared kitchens, high speed internet and the nostalgia-inspiring “common area.” Though Paradigm representatives were unwilling to divulge the architects or general contractor attached to the project, they did say that “groundbreaking is imminent” and could begin before the end of the month.

The rise of the TWC’s student housing center does, however, signal the death knell for another project once planned for the same site: Greenbaum & Rose’s Capitol Cab Condominiums. Once slated to deliver another 112 residential units to the NOMA corridor, the project never got off, or out of, the ground. Greenbaum & Rose did not respond to DCmud’s inquiries regarding the project.

UPDATE: Washington Center representatives have confirmed that the architect on the project will be Davis Carter Scott and that a groundbreaking ceremony will be held on April 14th.

Bread for the City to Rise in Shaw

Local non-profit social advocates and medical clinicians, Bread for the City (BFC), are just weeks away from breaking ground on an 11,000 square addition to their Northwest Center at 1525 7^th Street, NW - a project that will double the size of the facility that is currently forced to turn away patients daily.

"Our clinic schedules 15 new patient appointments every week, but these slots are taken daily within minutes of opening our phone lines," said BFC Director George Jones in a prepared statement. "We turn many people away for lack of space, and they're likely to go without care or turn to a hospital emergency room - both costly and dangerous alternatives."

BFC has partnered with developer Jair Lynch and architects Wiebenson & Dorman (who also designed BFC's Southeast facility) for the $8.25 million build-out of their Shaw location. Once complete, BFC projects that their patient capacity will triple – good news for the more than 2,700 District residents who receive their primary medical care at the center. New improvements will include a “bigger and better” laboratory, a new waiting area, twice the current number of exam rooms and handicap accessible features throughout. BFC’s food bank and social services programs will occupy the facility’s first floor, while the medical and legal clinic will be housed on the second.

"This summer we held a party in our parking lot, and canvassed the neighborhood inviting people to come and talk about the expansion and what it means to us here in Shaw,” said Kristin Valentine, BFC’s Director of Development. “A little over 50 people from the community showed up to meet with board members, clients, and staff so we could address any concerns. The design was also approved by the ANC2C."

The project is made possible in part by a recent $1.35 million grant from the District of Columbia Primary Care Association. That sum, and an earlier donation of nearly $3 million, were both made under the auspices of the Medical Homes DC initiative – a movement “designed to increase access to consistent, affordable medical care for underserved DC residents.” At present, BFC is seeking the remainder “through individual, corporate and foundation grants.” Those contributing gifts of $15,000 or more will have a piece of the new facility – anything from a computer station to food pantry, depending on the amount - named in their honor.

According to Valentine, “The project is not yet fully permitted, [but] we expect to receive the building permit and start construction by April of 2009.” BFC expects construction to be complete by the spring of 2010. Turner Construction will serve as general contractor.

Pentagon City Phase III

For the past five decades, Pentagon City has been primarily known for...well, not much other than its namesake. McLean-based developer Kettler, however, has been aiming to change that with their ambitious 8-phase, 10-building Metropolitan Park development – a project set to rank a solid second behind the world's largest office building in terms of size and scope. The first of those phases, the 399-unit Gramercy, opened its doors in 2006; the second, the 300-unit Millennium, is now under construction and on track to deliver in 2010. Now, wheels are turning on the project's third entry, which will head back before the Arlington County Planning Commission and County Board on February 9th for final site plan approval. Conveniently, they’re among the few plans in Pentagon City that aren’t top secret.

Designed by architects Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, the untitled Phase III development will include 411 rental residential units, along with 16,350 square feet of ground floor retail – making it Metropolitan Park’s biggest entry so far. The 18-story edifice will stand on a 2-acre parcel at the southeastern corner of South Fern Street and 12^th Street South, just steps from the Pentagon City Metro. The site currently houses two warehouses servicing DHL Express and Danker Furniture.

Amenities planned for the residential high-rise include a fitness center, plus a rooftop pool on the building’s sixth story wing. Per the green-centric tone of Northern Virginia development these days, Metropolitan Park III will also shoot for a LEED certification and three green roof areas, ranging in size from 1,740 to 2,000 square feet.

Pentagon City's infrastructure is also due for an upgrade as the project nears completion. Kettler intends to divide their “superblock” of development up with extensions of 12^th, Elm and South Fair Streets, and a pedestrian passageway linking South Fern and South Fair Streets. A 1/3 acre public park is also planned, featuring the works of landscape architects Lewis Scully Gionet and possibly a public arts component.

At present, Kettler projects little or no difficulty in getting their third installment Metropolitan Park through next month's site plan hearing. "We had an original master plan penned by Robert AM Sterns for the entire development. There were guidelines within that and we've followed them closely," said Jamie Gorski, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for Kettler. "Our internal meetings [regarding the project's future] have gone very well." According to Gorksi, construction is currently slated to begin in 2010, with completion following in late 2012.

Auction Raises $4.5 Million for Washington, DC

Last Friday's auction of District-owned "nuisance properties" netted more than $4.5 million for the city, according to documentation obtained by DCmud (pictured). In total, 28 of 31 properties listed were snatched up by new owners and there were some bargains, too. A Southeast property at 2321 Highland Street went for only $35,000, while none of the listings exceeded $400,000. Per Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) guidelines for the auction, the majority of the funds raised will benefit the District’s affordable housing fund.

“The potential revenue from the January 30 auction could be as much as $4.85 million for the District however, there are conditions (outlined in the disposition agreement) that have to be met before sales are final,” said Angelita Colón-Francia, DHCD’s Senior Public Information Officer. A public hearing will precede the settlements. We anticipate that closings will likely occur in early spring.”

Despite the disclosure of the District’s take from the sales, there’s still some question as to who actually purchased the properties. Some citizens at Mayor Fenty’s announcement of the auction expressed concerns that the derelict homes would immediately go to developers with deep pockets, rather than private citizens with a stake in the community. It can't be worse than the status quo ante.

Awaiting the New Bruce Monroe

Several District agencies are currently in the midst of coordinating plans for the demolition and subsequent reconstruction of the recently closed Bruce Monroe Elementary School. The 36-year-old educational facility and recreation center, located at 3012 Georgia Avenue NW, closed its’ doors this past June along with several other neglected DC public schools after years of making do with shrinking budgets, overcrowding and/or deteriorating conditions.

In a Request for Proposals issued by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) this past autumn, the 121,000 square foot lot will be repurposed with a new school and, in the words of the Office of Planning, "a mixed-use development project which [is being] developed to fund the new school." Though the Mayor's office has yet to announce a development team, DC Public Schools’ Office of Public Facilities Management has been tasked with overseeing the school's development, while ODMPED and the DC Department of Small & Local Business Development share the responsibility of seeking a partner for the project’s mixed-use component.

ODMPED’s Communications Director, Sean Madigan, tells DCmud that there is no firm timeline for when the demolition may take place, but the Deputy Mayor Neil Albert’s office is currently in the process of securing the necessary paperwork in order to expedite the process once an announcement is made.

At present, the bulk of Bruce Monroe’s former student body and staff have been consolidated into nearby Park View Elementary at 3560 Warder Street NW - which itself will be closed once school bells start ringing at Bruce Monroe Elementary’s newest incarnation. According to ODMPED, Ward 1’s newest old school is currently scheduled to be “open in time for the fall of 2011.”

Barry Weighs in on Poplar Point

While the inevitable fallout from the Poplar Point decision continues, one of DC’s most controversial politicians has made it plain where the blame lies: Mayor Adrian Fenty. Councilman Marion Barry opined on the subject of the District’s split with developer Clark Realty Capital over the $2.5 billion Poplar Point redevelopment in Southeast – a project once slated to deliver a hundreds of new residential and hotel units to the neighborhood, along with a new stadium for the DC United.

This past Friday, the former mayor and current Ward 8 representative issued a statement condemning both Mayor Adrian Fenty and Deputy Mayor Neil Albert’s handling of the development process. The full text of the letter follows below, courtesy of The Washington Post [grammatical errors in the original].

January 30, 2009

Honorable Adrian Fenty
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Mayor Fenty;

This letter is to express my disappointment at the way you and your administration has handled the Poplar Point development. The announcement this afternoon terminating the partnership with Clark Realty is another staggering blow to a project that was already hindered by an unfocused approach. I told you over a year ago that your quick change in direction to put the project out as an RFP would stall the efforts to keep things moving in the right direction. I still believe that the original approach was the best option to rapidly plan and execute this critical development. The setback today demonstrates how your administration's decision making places the promise that is Poplar Point farther out of the reach of the residents of Ward 8.

For over three years the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, heads of civic associations, ministers and other community persons have spent hundred of hours giving input in what we in Ward 8 wanted to see at Poplar Point. Moreover, I have personally met with Deputy Mayor Neil Albert at least a dozen times as it relates to the development of Poplar Point. Early on he discussed with me the attitude of Council as it related to the original approach to the project. I told him repeatedly, that the great majority of Councilmembers, for the sake of urgency and expediency, would support the sole source deposition if the community were in agreement with the plan, which they were.

It has always been understood that this would be a complicated process. The clear attitude was to support a direction that would allow planning and other preparations to keep pace with the mountain of federal requirements that have to be satisfied. This is no longer possible, at minimum a year has been added to the process.

I have never seen the Ward 8 community so unified behind a project such as Poplar Point. Now I will be forced to face my constituents and community leaders to tell them we are headed back to the drawing board. Over my concerns and those of the people, many of whom it took a long time to convince to support any project at Polar Point, you charged ahead without us. I am certain that this serious misstep will have a lasting negative effect on the public support for the project. In addition, it will be difficult to attract a quality developer to the project. Even so, I remain optimistic that your administration will move quickly to resolve this situation. Your next steps will be crucial in maintaining the promise made to the citizens of Ward 8.

I look forward to your response on this important matter.

Sincerely,

Marion Barry
Councilmember, Ward 8

Building Peace on the National Mall

Construction of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), is well under way at Constitution Avenue and 23^rd Street, NW – the so-called "war and peace corner" of the National Mall. Once a simply a surface parking lot for the neighboring Naval Potomac Annex, the site is due to be reborn as $185 million, LEED- certified testament to the United States' "commitment to building peace around the world."

The new 5-story white glass edifice will serve as the new headquarters for the USIP – a congressionally funded think tank dedicated to resolving international conflicts and increasing “peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide” – in addition to serving a bevy educational purposes for the public at the large. The latter will be served by a 20,000 square foot Public Education Center for visitors that will count a “Peace Lab” and theatre sponsored by the Chevron Corporation among its publicly accessible features. These will be joined by a conference center that is planned to include a 230 seat auditorium, a 45 seat amphitheater and 8 meeting rooms, as well as a public plaza and garden in the Institute’s inner courtyard. The USIP’s three uppermost floors will house office space for the Institute’s 200 or so employees and rotating roster of visiting researchers.

Moshe Safdie and Associates was selected as architects, following a nationwide design competition. Composed of “three distinct sections linked together by atriums covered by large-span undulating roofs,” the new USIP will be clearly visible from the nearby Lincoln Memorial, as well the adjacent Korean War and Vietnam Veterans Memorials (the latter of which has too been singled out by Congress for a significant expansion).

A ceremonial groundbreaking for the new facility took place this past June, with both then President George W. Bush and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in attendance. The project boasted bipartisan support in Congress as well - the body that allowed now disgraced former Alaska Senator and then-Senate Appropriations Chairman, Ted Stevens, to allot $100 million in funds for the development. USIP is currently in the midst of seeking approximately $6 million more in private donations – a quarter of which was met in September by the BP America Foundation.

USIP has been represented throughout the development process by local developer John Stranix, who is also currently spearheading efforts to redevelop the District’s Parkside Additions public housing project. Clark Construction is serving as general contractor on the project (a webcam of their progress at the site is available here). The project is expected to open in the fall of 2010.

Unpoplar Point - Clark and District Sever Ties

The District announced Friday that it is ending its agreement with Clark Realty to develop Poplar Point, the 110-acre parcel that fronts the Anacostia River. In an unusual late night announcement, Deputy Mayor Neil Albert said "Clark is a great local company that will continue to do excellent work in this city. But in this extremely challenging economic environment it is no longer practical for Clark to pursue the deal structure we currently have in place." The District announced on February 14, 2008, that Clark had been selected to lead the development team. Development had always been contingent upon several key factors, such as transfer of the land from the federal to the District government and a favorable environmental impact study. Several groups have since contested the project, noting the diversity of wildlife that exists on the site, and the desirability of converting it into a 70-acre park and mixed-use development. In an interview with DCMud last May, the Deputy Mayor said the project remained on track. "Poplar Point is off in the distance, but Clark, the main developer hasn’t had problems getting the money they need. There is such a strong interest in the development of the District that as long as that interest remains, these projects will stay on schedule." Development was never expected to be imminent, with most of the interested parties pegging construction over a 10 to 20 year timeframe, the announcement is a setback for the District, which began the official search for a development partner back in August of 2007. "The District will continue the planning process for Poplar Point and pursue avenues for site remediation and infrastructure development. In the near future, the District will issue a solicitation for vertical development partners for site. All development activities will continue to be contingent upon the outcomes of the environmental impact study process," said Albert.

Washington DC commercial property news

Auctioning Babes

If any one thing comes to embody the zeitgeist of real estate skepticism, it may be the comeuppance of would-be developments, outlived even by their own ephemeral marketing life. First among that class may be the sad story of Babe's Billiards, purchased and shuttered by Clemens Construction to make way for the Maxim at Tenley, a condominium development at 4600 Wisconsin Avenue, NW that will go to auction as a recent victim of foreclosure.

Popular watering hole Babe's was prematurely closed by the new owner - an easy sacrifice for the nearly 70 condo units intended for the site. Clemens began their pursuit of the elusive project in 2006 and had their intentions reaffirmed when the DC Zoning Commission ruled in their favor the following year.

But the approval was only the beginning of a long and arduous - but eventually mortal - debate with the community. In a coup de grace similar to what may befall neighboring Tenley-Friendship Library/Janney Elementary project – the project was downsized past the point of viability, ultimately ending at approval for a 36,000 s.f. building with a maximum of 42 units and a puny retail component fronting retail starved Wisconsin Avenue.

The combination of the real estate market and reduced scale proved fatal, leaving the blackened building skinned in "coming soon" signs for a prominent epitaph.

Now the entire 12,661 square foot lot, including the store fronts at 4600-4608 and 4614 Wisconsin, has been bundled for the auction, along with its Cunningham & Quill Architects’ designs. In addition to the blueprints, the high bidder will also inherit the development’s previously approved status – meaning that a well financed developer could resurrect the project (or bring back Babes, we hope).

At this time, Clemens still owns the property; the auction is being sponsored by a third party and will take place at the DC offices of attorneys Ober/Kaler (1401 H Street, NW) at 11 AM on February 5^th. The winner will be required to provide a deposit in the form of a cashier’s or certified check for $100,000 at the time of sale.

Washington DC retail and real estate news