Tenley-Janney Loses Apartments, Gains Consensus

In a surprise announcement from Mayor Adrian Fenty at Janney Elementary this afternoon, the ongoing battle between the Tenleytown community and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development over the mixed-use redevelopment of the Tenley-Friendship Library seems to have drawn to a close. The District announced today that it has split with developer LCOR Inc., which had previously been awarded rights to construct the library at the site, along with 174 rental apartments, by the Fenty administration this past July.

The District’s relationship with LCOR, however, went suspiciously unmentioned by Fenty or his staff during the duration of the press conference - an especially conspicuous omission, given that Deputy Mayor Neil Albert had previously reaffirmed his office's commitment to moving forward with the LCOR-led redevelopment as recently as January. Off-the-record sources from inside the District government confirmed that the change of direction at the Janney site had little to do the contentious war of words between the Tenleytown community’s reps on the DC City Council and ODMPED, but that instead, LCOR has been forced to the sidelines due the company’s inability to secure financing in the troubled credit market. For the District’s part, they’re leaving the door to mixed-use development open for the near future.

“There is the possibility that after the library is built, sometime in the future, there may be additional mixed-use on that site,” said Fenty, to a mixed reaction of both applause and boos – an illustration of just how divisive the residential component of the school/library redevelopment had become, even among Janney staff and parents.

With LCOR out of the picture (for now) and no residential units stacked atop of it, the library over the metro station will top out at a simple two stories and measure in at 22,000 square feet, based on designs by the Freelon Group. Forrester Construction has signed on as general contractor and the building will seek a LEED silver certification.

Whether today's deal is a bow to market forces or just public relations peacemaking (or both), ODMPED didn’t end the goodwill there; the schedule for construction of the new library and concurrent renovations to Janney Elementary, it was announced, has been significantly accelerated. Fenty pledged that the new library will be open by the end of 2010, while renovations to Janney, once scheduled to begin in 2014, “could begin as soon as December.” Both Fenty and Allen Y. Lew, Executive Director of Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, agreed that an architect for the renovation will be selected by June; other details, including whether the school will remain open during construction, had yet to be confirmed. According to Lew, the renovation could take as little as thirteen months.

Coast Guard First to Deploy at St. Elizabeths

With favorable environmental impact and National Capital Planning Commission reports in the bag, the General Services Administration (GSA) will issue a Request for Qualifications on March 23rd targeted at a new 1,100,000 square foot US Coast Guard headquarters at the St. Elizabeths Hospital West Campus.

Bidders on the design-build contract will be expected to meet “high performance green building design criteria” and to include provisions for a 990-space parking garage. Also of note, though the Coast Guard facility has been bundled together with the federally-owned West Campus, part of it will actually be erected on a northwestern piece of the DC-owned East Campus – a compromise resulting from the 1987 land transfer that the ceded the East Campus to District control. At present, the Office of Planning is proceeding independently with their plans for 2 million square feet of private sector, mixed-use development south of the Coast Guard site.

Funds for the new HQ will be drawn from the $346 million allotted to the GSA specifically for the St. Elizabeths redevelopment by Congress in the Fiscal Year 2009 federal budget. GSA spokesman Mike McGill told DCmud last month that “In terms of putting people in place on campus, the Coast Guard is going to be the first tenant. We anticipate that to be far enough along for them to begin moving in 2013.” GSA is currently projecting a April 2010 start for the Coast Guard project.

JBG Lays Out Plans for U Street Hotel

JBG has made public more of the details planned for the hotel it intends to build at U and 13th Street, a 10-story, LEED-certified hotel with stacked parking, art gallery, green roof and fitness club.

Matt Valentini of the JBG Companies and Michael C. Swartz of David M. Schwarz Architects met with the Cardozo Shaw Neighborhood Association (CSNA) last night to present plans for their proposed 250-room hotel at the current site of the Rite Aid at 13th and U Streets, NW.

The team began their presentation describing the current Rite Aid-dominated single-story strip mall on site as a "suburban building type" that under-utilizes its prominent location. "The Metro being at the corner of 13th and U really makes this a focal point not only for the neighborhood by the historic district as a whole,” said Swartz. The architect’s stated goal in designing the hotel is to make something more “iconic and memorable,” who went on to identify numerous area precedents for the bayed brick design, including the Dunbar and Whitelaw Hotels.

Their current plans call for the building to top out a 10-stories, though they are alternatively exploring the possibility of limiting it to nine. A final determination on the building's height will be made once the development begins the approval process with local governing bodies such as the ANC 1B, the Historic Preservation Review Board and the Office of Planning.

At its’ current 90 foot height, the proposed hotel would require multiple variances in order to exceed the by-right height limit of 65 feet. Valentini countered criticisms that the hotel was a “colossus” by outlining the various benefits the project would offer: one hundred and fifty permanent jobs (sold!), a gallery showcasing the work of the local artists, future contributions to local community organizations, a public pool and spas, and guest vouchers to promote Metro use were among the items cited. “All those things are out there to be publicly consumed,” said Valentini.

According to the JBG representative, a project at the permitted 65 feet would not be economically feasible, especially considering that the developer must accommodate Rite Aid, which has leased the site until 2026. The hotel will retain the 25,000 square feet of retail presently available, though most of it will be devoted to the pharmacy. The remaining ground floor space will be allotted to glass-fronted retail and Valentini told the audience that JBG is “considering people on U Street today” as possible tenants.

Amenities planned for the hotel include the aforementioned gallery and pool, as well as a hotel restaurant, rooftop bar, meeting space and green roof – in keeping with the project’s pledged LEED silver certification. Furthermore, the development team stated that they had already amended their design to address a primary community concern: parking along already congested U Street. The current design features an all-valet two-story garage that will utilize mechanical stacking devices to far surpass the amount of spaces required by zoning.

JBG has yet to formally announce a flag for the hotel, but did say that they have reached out to hotelier Denihan Hospitality Group about the U Street project. “They do smaller boutique hotels, but we like their style and one of the things we’ve really talked about is this idea of a hotel club,” said Valentini. “Whereby, when we a build spa, when we have a pool, when we have a fitness center, that’ll be open to the public too.”

Following the meeting, CSNA President Bryan Martin Firvida told DCmud:

While JBG was able to speak to many of the questions and concerns raised during the meeting, there are a still a number that will need to be addressed as the plans move ahead...Even though we're only in the concept and planning stages today, this project has already made an impact on our neighborhood, and will continue to do so, during planning, construction, and most importantly, long after the front doors of the hotel open for business....The end goal of course, is to ensure that once complete, this project makes a positive impact on our already great U Street neighborhood.

Though JBG has yet to formally submit their application to the Office of Planning, the development team projects that the PUD process will begin in “late spring/summer.” At present, construction is tentatively scheduled for 2011, followed by a 2014 completion. In the meantime, the CSNA has opened up a website devoted solely to JBG’s 14th Street Hotel project: http://ustreethotel.csnadc.org/

The Residences Delivering on Georgia Avenue

The Neighborhood Development Company’s Residences at Georgia Avenue just finished construction, thanks to Hamel Builders. The 72-unit "affordable" apartment building sits in the heart of Petworth at 4100 Georgia Avenue, NW.

Financed by $28 million from a laundry list of contributors, including the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency, the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development, the Wachovia Affordable Housing Community Development Corporation and MMA Financial, NDC founder Adrian Washington says, “The Residences is a shining example of what can be accomplished when the private sector works hand in hand with the community and the District government to move neighborhoods forward.” The project was designed by local architects, Wiencek and Associates.

The project, which broke ground in September 2007, will also be home to the District’s second Yes! Organic Market in as many years (the first opened at PN Hoffman’s Union Row development in November). The new, 10,000 square foot Yes! - Petworth’s first boutique grocer – will open this coming summer following completion of its own independent, interior build-out.

In the meantime, the Residences at Georgia itself will become an official addition to the Georgia Avenue corridor after a ribbon-cutting ceremony – to be attended by Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser - on March 31^st at 10:30 AM.

Washington DC real estate development news

Waterfront Station 1 Tops Out in Southwest

Waterfront Station officially topped out today, and while that alone may be cause for celebration, backers must be more pleased that the office building is entirely leased. Once completed, the Southwest Washington, DC development - a joint venture between Forest City Washington, Vornado/Charles E. Smith and Bresler and Reiner, Inc. - will add 2.5 million square feet of office, residential and retail space to the former site of the Waterfront Mall at 4th and M Streets, SW.

District authorities, in particular, have reason to commemorate the project's construction milestone. City agencies, including the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of Planning, District Department of Transportation and Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, have already leased the entire 628,000 square feet of phase one’s Shalom Baranes-designed dual office buildings and are currently scheduled to move in once construction ends in March of 2010. The towers, which abut the Waterfront/SEU Metro station, will also include new space for the present Safeway, CVS and Bank of America locations on site, as well as an additional 85,000 square feet for restaurants and “neighborhood service-related” retail. Both buildings are aiming for a LEED silver certification. Clark Construction is currently serving as general contractor on the project.

Mayor Adrian Fenty, on hand to officiate the proceedings, also took time to wax nostalgic about his history with the project. “I’ve been the mayor for twenty-six months and ten days and I can tell you that this has been a priority of our administration for that entire time," he said. "I was on the City Council before that and I followed, as an interested appropriator, all of the discussions around Waterside Mall."

Meanwhile, Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells and Councilmember-at-Large Kwame Brown applauded the project for revitalizing a long-neglected Southwest site and proceeding as planned, despite the current state of the real estate market.

“I believe the financing [for this project] was closed on the day the Dow dropped 700 points [on September 29th, 2008]. This team saw it through,” said Wells. “You may see other cranes that have stopped working, other places that they stopped digging, but these guys are work because of this great development team.”

In between accolades, not much mention was a made of the development’s projected phase two component, which is intended to include nearly 1,000 residential units, along with more retail and office space, to fill Waterfront Station’s eventual 2.5 million square footprint. The current timeline calls for design work on the next phase of development to begin this coming May and Deborah Ratner Salzberg, President of Forest City Washington, Inc., was optimistic that the project will a be success based on its convenient location and the inroads made so far.

“People are going to come up from this Metro, they’re going to head home, they’re going head to school, they’re going to go to work and they’re going to shop. Waterfront Station will be an active retail hub,” said Salzberg.

Washington DC real estate development news

Unwanted Condos Get Affordable in Germantown

Prolific affordable housing providers, AHC Inc. - whose resume includes developments such as The Shelton and Macedonia in Northern Virginia - have just inked their first deal with Montgomery County. Using a total of $5.4 million in loans from County's Housing Initiative and Community Development Block Grant Funds, AHC has purchased 29 new condominiums at Fairfield Residential's Ashmore at Germantown development for the purpose of converting them in to long-term affordable rentals. According to the developer, "After the units are leased, AHC will refinance the property and return a portion of the funding to the County to be recycled into additional affordable housing initiatives."

While certainly not a boon to the development’s marketing strategy, the sale is certainly a relief for Fairfield; this past November, when faced with a declining market and a glut of unsold units, the developer put 45 two and three-bedroom units at the Ashmore up for auction - with some going for as little as $140,000, or one-third of the initial asking price, for those counting. Despite being sold to AHC at well below original point (the developer picked them up for approximately $186,000 each), the units at the Ashmore still boast standard amenities, including “custom cabinetry, ceramic flooring, crown molding” and a community center with a pool and fitness center.

For the County’s part, they seem pleased to have funded an arrangement that will provide affordable housing, while sidestepping the obvious the downsides of providing for a ghost town smack in the middle of the County (see the current market conditions in Florida for numerous examples of less fortuitous outcomes).

“Creating and preserving affordable housing is one of my highest priorities,” said County Executive Isiah Leggett in a statement announcing the sale. “I am pleased that the Housing Initiative Fund is being used to acquire more than two dozen condominiums and make them affordable for eligible residents.”

Maryland real estate news

Georgia Avenue Parcel and Plans Up for Sale

Dying to buy land on Georgia Avenue, but just can't find a vacant lot? Now's your chance. Georgia watchers know that late last year a sign was erected at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Kenyon Street, NW (3205 Georgia Avenue) proclaiming the imminent construction of a new mixed-use development, courtesy of a team known as the “Carthage Group.” Like many promising parcels, development did not materialize. The developers were unreachable, their displayed web address led nowhere, and shortly thereafter, both the sign and chain-link fence surrounding the site disappeared overnight.

Now, with the Carthage Group out of the picture, the land is now in hands of one Mike Noorishad – perhaps best known to area residents as the one-time owner of Mike’s Chicken at 1110 U Street. Not only has Noorishad put the parcel up for sale along with the previously approved plans – designed by Ajalli Architects of Maclean - for a residential, office and retail complex at the site.

According to Nasir Bajwa of Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate Services, the plans on hand call for a 21,424 square foot, 5-story building with 4,500 s.f. of ground floor retail and 4,137 square feet of office space, topped off by 9,789 square feet of residential (or 18 units) – all of which was previously approved and permitted by District authorities in early 2008.

If there are any takers for Sperry Van Ness’ $3 million list price, the untitled project – formerly the Capital Building by Carthage - would be the southernmost entry in ongoing redevelopment of Georgia Avenue with a beachhead by other projects such as Park Place, 4136 Georgia, Lamont Lofts and the Heights. Hurry, act now, time is running out.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

JBG Plots a Mixed-Use Future in Tysons

Though commercial and retail development within the District has ground to a standstill, the reinvention of Virginia suburb of Tysons Corner is proceeding, at least on paper. In the wake of large scale projects such as BF Saul's Park Place II and Quadrangle Development's Towers Crescent, a JBG Companies subsidiary - JBG Rosenfeld Retail (JBGR) - intends to develop a sprawling 7-acre mixed-use development in an area that hosts not only the nation’s tenth largest mall, but its twelfth largest business district as well.

Dubbed the Tysons West Promenade, JBGR has taken on MV+A Architects to re-conceptualize the former Moore Hummer/Cadillac dealership at 8595 Leesburg Pike – directly across from the Tysons mall and less a thousand feet from the planned Tysons West Metro (now scheduled - in pencil - for a 2013 grand opening). Following demolition of the showroom and single-story structures currently on site, the multi-phase development will kick off with new construction in the form of a 250,000 square feet of retail and office complex, along with a pedestrian plaza and 1150 parking spaces. The only remnant of the site’s gas-guzzling past is to be the dealership’s 6-story parking garage, which JBGR plans to retain.

Phase I of development only scratches the surface of the development team’s vision for the property; current plans for a future second phase call for another million square feet of office, residential and hotel development. James J. Garibaldi, Jr., a Principal with JBGR, told Fairfax County’s Tysons Land Use Task Force in May that the “the site offers a remarkable opportunity for redevelopment into a pedestrian friendly, mixed-use, transit-oriented development in keeping with the goals and planning principles espoused by the [County].”

That redevelopment, however, will have to wait as JBGR reformulates their Promenade site plan. According to Brian Worthy of the Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs:

"The developer...had submitted a site plan to the County. That site plan was recently disapproved...because of concerns about grading along Route 7 not conforming with the work that's going to be happening there in anticipation of Metro. There were also some issues about how they were going to preserve trees on site and nearby...but the developer may be resubmitting their plan."

JBGR representatives declined DCmud's requests for comment on the current status of the project. Enquiring minds, however, will be able to investigate the developer’s plans for themselves this May 17^th through 20^th at RECon: the Global Real Estate Convention in Las Vegas, where the team will be showcasing a scale model of the Promenade.

Dunbar Place Schedules Start Date

Years of planning appear to be paying off for the for NoMa corridor. As other District projects see their timelines extended ad infinitum in the face of market declines, development in the neighborhood surrounding Union Station are managing to stay on track and spawn secondary projects to boot.

One such project is Thoron Development’s Dunbar Place development, which will occupy the former site of six rowhouses at 1322-1330 North Capitol Street and 7 Hanover Place, NW. Despite receiving initial approval in May of 2008 and projecting a late 2009 completion, Thoron’s Robert T. Taylor now tells DCmud that construction will be underway by sometime in “March or April.” Once completed, Dunbar Place will top out at five stories and offer 29 new condominiums (along with ground level green space and a rooftop deck) to the North Capitol corridor.

Other projects currently underway in NoMa include Northwest One (part of which will be constructed at the site of the recently demolished Temple Court housing complex), the Washington Center’s intern dormitory at Third and K Streets, NE, and the Cohen Companies’ Union Place at the very same intersection.

Washington DC real estate development news

Bethesda's First New Apartments of 2009

While a number of large projects in downtown Bethesda failed to lay brick one during 2008 (Trillium, Edgemoor, 4823 Rugby Avenue, The Monty, 4913 Hampden Lane), smaller projects are making it to the finish line sans marketing blitz and loan defaults. Such is the case with the Jaffe Group’s new apartment building at 7809 Woodmont Avenue – right next to such familiar locales as the Tastee Diner and Veterans’ Park. But, hey, financing is easy when your development partner is a bank.

The 12,000 square foot project will add not only three new rental apartments to one of Bethesda’s most trafficked thoroughfares, but an expanded Eagle Bank location as well. As Gary Jaffe, principal of the Jaffe Group, tells DCmud: “The building is four-stories and a basement. On the first floor is Eagle Bank with a drive-thru. The second floor is for the Chairman of Eagle Bank. Then we have two one-bedrooms on the third and a bedroom and den on the third with a large rooftop patio.”

Coming in at a cost of $6.5 million, each of the project’s three residential units will measure in “just shy” of 1,000 square feet and feature the design work the Bethesda-based architectural firm, Michael Fanshel Associates, plus all the requisite modern amenities (plenty of stainless steel). And completion is now just weeks away. “We’re hoping [to end construction] in about three weeks on April 4th or 5^th,” said Jaffe. “We plan to be completed and have our construction done, but the bank will probably still be doing some outfitting on their space. We’ll be ready to lease in mid-April.”

Bethesda Maryland commercial real estate news

St. Elizabeths Gets the Green Thumbs Up

After years of preparation and political wrangling, DC's famed (but rarely visited) St. Elizabeths may at last have the authority it needs to begin a titanic redevelopment effort to turn the one-time insane asylum into the next headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security. Thanks to a pair of approvals over the past two months, the General Services Administration (GSA) has prevailed in their effort to relocate the DHS to the vacant St. Elizabeths West Campus, in Southeast Washington DC. According to GSA, the only hindrance now is to allocate the funds and select the team.

In December, the agency received a favorable Environmental Impact Statement concerning the project; the following month, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) sealed the deal with their approval of the GSA’s master plan for the site. In all, it’s a green light for the first relocation of a federal government agency east of the Anacostia - and one that paves the way for the District to pursue their own redevelopment initiatives in the surrounding Congress Heights neighborhood.

DHS’ workforce is currently housed in 70 buildings at 40 locations throughout the city, which, in the words of the report, “adversely impacts critical communication, coordination and cooperation across components.” Hence, over the course of five years of research, GSA determined a move to St. Elizabeths “to be the only reasonable alternative.” It’s a maneuver that will require the construction and renovation of some 4.65 million square feet of office and shared use space, plus construction of a new Coast Guard headquarters and the requisite parking.

According to the GSA’s own legally-mandated environmental assessment, any strain on the eco-system related to the move would be negligible at best. Though the report does point to “moderate” impact on streams, wetlands, groundwater and vegetation at the site, it finds them tolerable and expected, given the large influx of population, vehicles and infrastructure that will accompany DHS.

Approvals in hand, the federal government expects actual construction to commence by the third quarter of 2009. Mike McGill of the GSA detailed just what steps remain before shovels hit the ground at St. Elizabeths. "We have to get an appropriation in the Fiscal Year 09 Omnibus Appropriation Act passed by Congress. Right now, we’re operating under a continuing resolution that expires March 6th," said McGill. "The present FY09 budget asks for $346 million for St. Elizabeths. That would cover the cost of construction of Phase I, the Coast Guard Headquarters and the cost of design for Phase II. Assuming that we do get that appropriation, we would then advertise this summer for proposals from general contractors, select a contractor and have them under contract before the end of the fiscal year [on September 30th]."

What's not to be crazy about? For one, locals fear the project may become a high-security fortress that fosters no interaction with the local economy. Others decry potential harm to the environment, government assurances aside, that such a massive build-out would risk. But preservationists have been fit to be tied about changes to St. Elizabeths historic character.

The NCRC report makes no bones about damage to St. Elizabeths buildings, despite the fact that the West Campus was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 1990. It almost guarantees “direct, major, long-term, adverse impacts on [St. Elizabeths] historic buildings,” including the demolition of an unspecified number of the century-old (or more) structures. Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which had previously included St. Elizabeths on its 2002 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Places, wrote the following in a Washington Post editorial designed to rebuke the GSA’s feel good assessment of the hospital’s prospects as the DHS headquarters:

“[DHS] needs and deserves a consolidated headquarters – but this campus isn’t the place for it. The National Park Service calls the GSA plan ‘wholly incompatible’ with the preservation of St. Elizabeths. What’s more, the government’s own projections show that after all the tearing down and building up and paving over are done, the St. E’s campus still would not provide all the office space that DHS needs…in the meantime, a unique urban asset would be wasted, a historic treasure would be turned into a fortress and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spark revitalization in a long-neglected neighborhood would be lost.”

Since the West Campus is a federally-owned parcel, the District's own, typically stringent Historic Preservation Review Board has no bearing on what happens to the structures on site; however, the preservation thread was one picked up on the following month, in the NCPC ruling – albeit without the same level of tenacity. After taking into account the historic nature of the West Campus and its contribution to the evolution of modern medical and psychiatric care, the security needs of both the DHS and its staff were found to trump the historicity of the present facilities. At the same time, the NCPC stressed that the gross majority of the vacant buildings on site will not face demolition and, in fact, receive their first renovations ever in their decades-long history.


“[St. Elizabeths] includes 82 contributing buildings, 62 of which are on the West Campus. Fifty-one of the 62 contributing buildings would be rehabilitated in the accordance with the Final Master Plan,” states the NCPC report. Measures will also be undertaken during construction to ensure it would “minimize impacts to historic landscapes.” At the same time, the few West Campus areas left open to the public over the past decades – the Point, the Cemetery, and Hitchcock Hall – will remain so, and receive infrastructural overhauls. Overall, the NCPC sees the project as boon to not only a historic landmark that has been vacant since 2002, but to a part of the District that has been isolated from the rest of DC development for far longer.

That’s because NCPC approval – one of the final steps for the DHS relocation - means that the Fenty administration, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and Office of Planning can proceed unimpeded with plans to redevelop the District-controlled Eastern Campus into more than 2 million square feet of mixed-use development.

All of it would put an increased strain on the infrastructure of the surrounding Southeast neighborhood, tempered by proposed infrastructural improvements to Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenues, SE - two Congress Heights traffic arteries that could not cope unaided with the expected increase in daily use.

St. Elizabeths West is to be built in three phases over the next 8 years – the first of which is intended to start by the end of the year. Though the District has yet to commit to a timeline for their development of the campus' eastern flank, McGill says that, “In terms of putting people in place on campus, the Coast Guard is going to be the first tenant. We anticipate that to be far enough along for them to begin moving in in 2013.”

Midtown Silver Spring Bides its Time

The long-delayed Midtown Silver Spring is again moving forward, at least in its planning, this time with Home Properties, following an early 2008 sale by the original developers, Kettler. Despite the change of hands, Home Properties is still pursuing the same WDG design for 1009 Ripley Street – one that aims to deliver two towers worth of residential and retail to the Silver Spring Central Business District. Don Hogue of Home Properties tells DCmud that though the project was fully approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board, they’re biding their time until they get it just right.

"We have final site plan approval, but we have to take it all the way through construction drawings," said Hogue. "One of the things that the Planning Board commented to us was that maybe we had a little bit too much parking. It was designed as a condominium [project], so we may be altering that…but we’re still in the very early stages.”

The original WDG plans for the Midtown – which Home will rebrand with a new title once the project moves forward – call for 314 apartments in dual, 19-story luxury high-rises and 5,380 square feet of retail space. Hogue projects that once construction begins it will be the second such project on the block, as the Washington Property Company is currently soliciting general contractors for their Ripley residential development across the street. As such, a start date for the Midtown currently remains up in the air.

“We hope to start the remainder of the architectural work this year. The goal would be to get the project ready to start when we think market conditions are right, but we’re not exactly sure when that’s going to be,” said Hogue. Nor does anyone else.

Double BZA Approvals on the SE Waterfront

The District's Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) gave the green light to two prominent Capitol Riverfront projects this week that will allow construction to proceed unimpeded into 2010 and beyond.

The first round of approvals centered on Akridge’s Half Street development a block from Nationals Park. Despite a ceasefire in legal wrangling between the Akridge, neighboring developers Monument Realty and WMATA, construction on the 704,000 square foot development – which is slated to include dual office towers, a 300-unit residential building, 75,000 square feet of retail and an open-air marketplace/plaza – has yet to formally commence. The BZA’s approval clears the way for that to change, as Akridge can now clear and prep the site for its planned 2010 start date.

In a concurrent development, the BZA also consented to Forest City Washington’s plans for a second phase of construction at the so-called Yards Park. Those plans call for more than 35,000 square feet of new retail on the site, half of which will be culled from a renovation of the historic, pre-war “Lumber Shed” at M Street and New Jersey Avenue, SE. The development will also include the beginnings of a Capitol Riverfront boardwalk – the highlight of which is scheduled to be a 60-foot stainless steel monument designed by James Carpenter Design Associates. The National Capital Planning Commission previously approved the same development early last month; work on the project’s first phase, a 5.5-acre public park is already under way.

Dual MoCo Apartments Headed for Approval

Two long-gestating residential projects - The Monty in Bethesda and Bonifant Plaza in Silver Spring - will (finally) be cleared for approval by the Montgomery County Planning Board at their scheduled March 12^th meeting. Together, they'll signal the MPBD’s largest residential approval of the new year and contribute nearly 300 new residential units to the county.

Located between Fairmont and St. Elmo’s Avenues in the Woodmont Triangle area of Bethesda, the 17-story (!), SK&I-designed Monty will usurp the present two and three-story storefronts on site, only to replace them with up to 200 residential units, 7,700 square feet of ground floor retail and a 5,500 square foot public plaza. Developer Monty, LLC - who received previously received Board approval in early 2008 to nearly double the number of units contained in the project at the expense of once expansive floorplans - will dedicate 20 the said apartments to affordable housing.

Meanwhile, in Silver Spring, developer Theo Margas’ Bonifant Plaza project will be moving ahead with its planned 115,000 square foot, AR Meyer & Associates design. Sporting 72 rental apartments – 9 of which will be affordable – Bonifant Plaza will stand on the so-named Bonifant Street – a site, coincidentally, within earshot of the MCPB offices in downtown Silver Spring. Margas told DCmud in January that the meeting will be “only for the budget plan” for the Bonifant, but expects the approval to solidify a timeline for the project, which has been in development since at least 2006.

As of this writing, both projects have been earmarked for approval by MCPB staff – an opinion that the Board itself rarely dissents against.

Prospects Announced for Park Morton

Following last summer's Request for Proposals, Deputy Mayor Neil Albert has announced the three development teams contending for the $170 million redevelopment of the Park Morton housing project in Northwest Washington. Per the specifications of the RFP, all three are vying to reinvent the troubled public housing complex with more than 500 new units of affordable and market-rate housing and 10,000 square foot park.

The teams named by Albert are the Park Morton Partners (Pennrose Properties, LLC, FM Atlantic, LLC, and Harrison Adaoha, LLC); another Park Morton Partners (Neighborhood Development Company and Community Builders, Inc.); and, lastly, Park View Partners (Landex Corp., Warrenton Group and Spectrum Management).

"We need a partner that [is] capable of more than just building housing,” said Albert in a prepared statement. “We are looking for someone who is committed to building a healthier, safer new community. This response, especially in light of the current economic conditions, speaks volumes about the value of this opportunity.”

The Park Morton project was greenlighted under the of the New Communities initiative – a District-led program to transform blighted public housing complexes into “mixed-use, mixed-income communities." Other such developments targeted for redevelopment by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) include the long-gestating Northwest One, Barry Farm and the Lincoln Heights/Richardson Dwellings in Northeast.

According ODMPED, the bidding development teams will make public presentations regarding this plans for Park Morton at an unscheduled time “later this spring.”

First Look at the New Whitman-Walker Site

Just last Thursday, the JBG Companies received approval from the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board for their mixed-use redevelopment of the Whitman-Walker Clinic’s headquarters at 14^th and S Streets, NW. JBG supplied DCmud with exclusive renderings of the Shalom Baranes-designed, seven-story condo project. Once completed, we're told, in 2011, the untitled project will feature up to 130 residential units, accompanied by sizable base of ground floor retail – directly across from local hotspots like the Black Cat, the Saint-Ex Café and Pulp boutique.






Update: JBG is currently projecting that the 120,000 square foot 14th Street project will feature between 130 - 140 units, in addition to 18,000 square feet of retail .

SE Development Parcel Up for Grabs

Like so many properties on a Monopoly board, parcels in the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood (aka SE near the stadium) have changed hands frequently over the last 5 years. What used to be one of Washington, DC's least desirable neighborhoods has transformed into some of the metro area's more interesting commodities; and now there’s another up for grabs.

The ICP Group is currently seeking inquiries for a sealed bid sale of their parcels at 810, 816 and 820 Potomac Avenue, SE. IPC had initially purchased the pair of Barrack's Row office/retail buildings and adjoining 20,000 square foot lot in 2005 for $9 million with the intention of transforming it into a multi-phase, mixed-use development. Now they've teamed with Lincoln Commercial Services Inc. and Hollywood Real Estate Services, LLC to hand it off to the highest bidder and, according to the developer, they’ve already received a number of inquiries, including “a Navy Yard-focused hotel and apartments, University Campus, retail and offices, and a childcare center for Navy Yard employees.”

Back in 2005, ICP announced three different projects within the Capitol Riverfront: 810 Potomac Avenue, the Admiral at Barrack’s Row, and the redevelopment of four historic townhomes on L Street SE. Despite receiving approval from the city for the Admiral – a 17-unit, $6 million condo project – and projecting a 2008 completion, ICP dodged a bullet when the plan was delayed, and the condo idea shelved altogether. The townhouse project has also not materialized. But despite ICP's non-development, other interested parties in IPC’s circle seem to think they’ll have no problem disposing of a property in one of DC’s hottest development districts.

“This is perhaps one of the most active sub-markets in the country for redevelopment… and also one of the few areas where development financing is still readily available, aided by federal programs along with market conditions,” said James Connelly, Vice President of Government Relations for LPC Commercial Services, a co-advisor to the bid.

The former development team will be accepting bids on the Potomac Avenue parcel until March 15th.