Near Southeast PUD Development Faces Re-Shuffle

Forest City Washington and Urban Atlantic (formerly known as Mid-City Urban, LLC) will go before the National Capital Planning Commission on May 7^th to face a second round of approvals for modifications to their Second Stage PUD redevelopment of the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Dwellings in what is now the Capitol Riverfront. The project stems from a $34.9 million federal Hope VI grant given to the District of Columbia Housing Authority in 2001; that agency, which selected Forest City and Mid-City Urban for the project in 2003, is aiming for a mixed-income redevelopment at the Near Southeast site, with a one-for-one replacement of the 758 public housing units lost to demolition, plus 525 new affordable units and 330 market rate homes.

"It's a PUD stage two application for Squares 882, which is at 6^th and M, SE. There’s a commercial office building on the south side of that, right up against M Street and then there’s a residential building behind it to the north. The other PUD site is Square 769 at 2^nd and L Streets that is a residential building,” said David Smith, Project Manager for FCW. “Those are the only two that we need the PUD vote for, so that we can move on.”

The development team – which also includes architects from Torti Gallas, the Lessard Group and Shalom Baranes Associates – had their first hearing regarding the changes with the DC Zoning Commission (DCZC) on March 19^th. Citing the economic downturn as a contributing factor, they’re now planning to cut the size of floorplans at their four pending residential buildings along Canal Park with the intent of increasing the number of units on site.

“We are basically shifting around the density of the residential units and moving some parking…we’re above the required zoning amount [for parking]. We’re increasing it some spots and reducing it others,” said Smith. “There’s reduced parking at the office building, but there’s increased parking on another parcel.”

FCW has also been pushing for an extension of time to build a new community center at 5^th and K Streets, SE – a project that has already been pushed back several times since it was first announced. The DCZC gave the team a conditional approval for both the unit increase and parking reduction with the hitch that construction of the community center must begin sooner rather than later – in fact, a full twelve months earlier than FCW’s requested 2012 start date.

“We had asked for a certain date for the community center because of the economic times. The financing’s not there for it and we’re hoping they understand…We’ll find out what their vote is next Monday,” said Smith.

Though the sprawling, 23-acre Department of Housing and Urban Development-funded redevelopment initiative often fails to generate as much buzz as work immediately surrounding Nationals Park (including FCW’s own Yards project), progress in the Capper Carollsburg has been progressing steadily. The new Capper Senior Center and 400 M Street have already taken on tenants, while EYA’s Capitol Quarter project - featuring 137 market rate townhomes, 75 workforce housing townhomes and 86 public housing units - held a grand opening this past Wednesday. Seven hundred thousand square feet of office space is still planned to be split between 250 M Street and the Capper Senior Center’s former location at 7^th and M Streets, SE.

Corcoran Seeking New Developer for Vacant Southwest School

One of the District’s many vacant school sites will be remaining empty for the foreseeable future, now that the Corcoran College of Art and Design and Monument Realty have parted ways over the mixed-use redevelopment of the Randall Junior High School in Southwest DC. The split, which occurred last August after financial backing evaporated, has led the Corcoran back to square one in their attempt to convert the 800,000 square foot property at 65 I Street, SW, into two nine-story residential towers with 420 units of housing and 100,000 square feet of new college facilities. Now Corcoran will need find another development team up to the task. The school had intended to occupy the rebuilt space by 2011.

"The Corcoran is currently entertaining proposals for the building, but we’re as of now trying to move forward," said Kristin Guiter, Manager of Media Relations for the Corcoran. "We’re just trying to find an appropriate partner."

The college purchased the 50-year-old middle school from the District government in 2006 for a reported $6.2 million dollars. After teaming up Monument and Shalom Baranes Architects for the redevelopment initiative, Corcoran officials had planned to sell the site to the development team for an estimated $8.2 million, while retaining a condo interest in the property. Suffice it to say, the sale never occurred and full control of the Randall School still rests with the college.

In the meantime, Corcoran higher-ups continue to vet candidates from the DC development community for the project. Guiter tells DCmud that college currently hopes to retain the Shalom Baranes designs left over from the Monument era, but even that – along with many other details concerning the project’s future - is far from a certainty.

“It’s hard to say at this moment how we’ll move forward because of the economy and the current financial situation. It’s all TBD,” she said. “The Board is looking at proposals and we haven’t found the right partner yet, so it hard to say [when construction might begin].”

909 at Capitol Yards Opens

While the Washington Post may be increasingly skeptical about the viability of Southeast's Capitol Riverfront as either a residential or commercial neighborhood, it is certainly a strategy that developer JPI has bet heavily on. Next month, the developer will open the doors on the 909 at Capitol Yards project - their 421-unit "boutique-hotel themed" apartment building and third entry under their greater Capitol Yards development. According to the Capitol Riverfront BID, tours of the WDG-designed complex have already begun for prospective residents and move-ins are scheduled to begin late this month. JPI is apparently targeting that hard to pin down 18-35 demographic the project with an advertising campaign that boasts of amenities like a two-story bar and lounge, yoga rooms, a “pub room” with shuffleboard (?!) and Nintendo Wiis, an in-house movie theater, a rooftop swimming pool for hosting “raucous barbeques,” and a Twitter ticker in every elevator tracking losses in the housing market (no, not really). Should you feel the need for something more “classic and traditional” or an apartment with a little “industrial style,” JPI is directing inquisitive renters in the market around the Ballpark to the first two buildings completed under their Capitol Yards banner: the Jefferson and Axiom. Their marketing whizzes have even gone so far as to whip up a “personality quiz” to help choose from among their properties (sample response: "Call up your fav five and hit Banana Cafe for pitchers of Caipirinhas"). Though JPI still has one project in the pipeline– a 419-unit apartment building with 15,000 square feet of retail at 23 Eye Street – completion of Capitol Yards could be viewed largely as the developer’s curtain call the DC area. The Texas-based company had once targeted DC, along with New York City, as hot spots for condo development. However, after completing projects like The Byron and Jenkins Row – the latter of which is still selling four years on – the market’s prospects seem now much dimmer than they did just a few years ago and JPI has yet to announce any new plans for follow-up developments. Correction: 909 at Capitol Yards was designed by the Preston Partnership, not WDG Architecture. WDG designed two other neighboring JPI projects, the Jefferson and Axiom at Capitol Yards.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

Benning Station Yanked by DC

The much vaunted Benning Station project has lost its main tenant and developer in a recent twist that leaves its future in doubt.

Having long envisioned the Benning Road corridor in Ward 7 as one of the keystones of redevelopment in eastern Washington, DC, city planners aimed to realize their goals by not only attracting new retailers and residents to the long struggling area, but local government agencies – and the traffic that comes with them - as well. To the end, the Fenty administration has masterminded mixed-use projects, like the $108 "Downtown Ward 7" project at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE that will include large residential and retail components neighboring the new, currently under construction headquarters of the Department of Employee Services. But another project in the same vein may be in danger of falling through. And now community advocates are laying the blame at the feet of those that promoted it – namely the Office of Property Management and the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

Developer (and Fenty confidant) Ben Soto and DBT Development's $55 million, Bonstra Haresign-designed project was supposed to bring a new, 132,500 square foot headquarters for DC’s Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) to 4414 Benning Road, NE – along with 21,000 square feet of much needed ground floor retail and a future phase that would include sixty-two residential units. Then, last month, the developer told the local ANC that he could possibly be pulling out of the project, just as news came down from OPM Director Robin-Eve Jasper that CFSA would not be relocating to Ward 7 after all.

“[The] reason the CFSA lease was being pulled was that they had found a ready-to-move in space… in Ward 5, specifically NoMa,” says Sylvia Brown of the ANC 7C04. “The DC City Council passed legislation two weeks ago giving developers in that area a $50 million tax break for the next two years. When you look at the fact that Ben Soto has designed the Benning Station project for CSFA with no additional monies requested and he’s not asking for any tax subsidies, that move to NoMa contradicts what the city says about needing a ready-to-move-in space.”

The news not only raised suspicions of community advocates, but was also an unexpected surprise. Soto himself had reportedly spent $11 million of “pre-development investment” funds to ensure the CSFA’s occupancy. Furthermore, according to the Ward 7 Citizens Coalition, the Benning Station project had already received numerous letters of interest from potential retailers, including CVS, TGIFriday’s and “other neighborhood serving retail” and has been tailored specifically to meet needs of the CFSA – making occupancy by another tenant unlikely, even as the project nears the end of the District-led approval process.

“Just this morning, it was before the Board of Zoning because it needs to have some zoning variations and it’s gotten the approval of the Advisory Neighborhood Commission, as well as the Department of Transportation,” said Brown. “This is a project that had acquiesced to the CSFA’s needs for an additional 50,000 square feet. How can you…negotiate that additional space to meet your particular needs and then pull out at the last minute?”

Director Jasper will be on hand to answer that question herself, when she attends a public forum concerning the future of Benning Station this evening, Wednesday, April 22^nd, at the Kenilworth Recreation Center at 4300 Anacostia Avenue, NE. The meeting will begin at 7 PM.

Washington D.C. retail and development news

Social Safeway Set for Demolition Next Month

Following last year's announcement that Georgetown's old "Social Safeway" at 1855 Wisconsin Ave, NW would disappear (temporarily) in 2009, now executives at the supermarket chain say the aging facility will meet the wrecking ball as soon as it closes up shop once and for all on April 26^th.

"Demolition will start immediately [following the store closing]," said Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. "We plan to have it done for a March 2010 opening." In the meantime, shoppers at Safeway are stocking up on discounted food as if there were light snow in the forecast.

But fear not, valued customers. As stated above, the new and improved Social Safeway is planned to open next year with a 21^st century design - courtesy of Torti Gallas Architects - and a new floorplan that will largely abolish the current store’s massive and congestion-prone parking lot. By reclaiming part of its underutilized footprint, the from-scratch storefront will bare more resemblance to CityVista’s so-called “Sexy Safeway” rather than it’s former incarnation. Muckle tells DCmud that the new building’s design is the result of a lengthy approval process that the company underwent with locals and DC authorities.

“We had a number of visits with [the Old Georgetown Board] and [the US Commission of] Fine Arts. We went back a couple of times as there were some revisions requested along the way. But I don’t recall there being anything wildly out of line or that needed to be redrawn significantly,” he said. “We did spend a lot of time with the ANC, so I think we can say safely that the ongoing conversation really made the process much less challenging.”

In the meantime, renovation procedures take a much more low-key tactic at the "Not So Safeway" at 1747 Columbia Road, NW. That store will remain open when it goes under the knife (as early as early next month) and, although the store will forgo demolition, the end result will be much the same as in Georgetown.

“Under the current situation, [we couldn’t close the store]. We would have liked to, but if we’re not able to that, we’ll do the in-place remodel. It will be a complete interior renovation and decorum upgrade,” said Muckle. “It will look like…our other upgraded Safeways, of which there are now nine or ten in the area.”

Washington DC retail and commercial property news

Spectacular Adams Morgan Loft

Luxury Hotel Sought for Georgetown Canal

Commercial real estate developer ICG Properties announced this week that it is seeking to redevelop the former headquarters of the American Trial Lawyers Association at 1050 31^st Street, NW through a joint partnership with Castleton Holdings. The Washington DC-based developer's goal for the prominent Georgetown location? An "ultra-luxury hotel" with top-tier retail.

"[We are looking for a] high-end, luxury hotel operator," said David C. Stern, a principal with ICG. "There’s an opportunity for a fantastic restaurant presence on the Canal side of the building…In keeping with its location in the heart of Georgetown, it’s going to be a high-end project."

In its current incarnation, the five-story building hosts 50,000 square feet of space with two-levels of underground parking and views of the C&O Canal, the Potomac and the surrounding Georgetown area. According to Stern, the development will doing little to alter that – at least, externally.

“It won’t be a demolition. The hotel renovation would be primarily interior renovation work,” he said. “We haven’t selected a project architect yet…It’s very preliminary right now. Decisions like the operator, financing and the hotel architect haven’t yet fallen completely into place.”

That, however, hasn’t scared them from locking down a timeline on the project. Stern says his group is negotiating with an unnamed hotelier and is planning to begin construction by the end of the year. "They are not currently in the District, but, like many other groups, they are very interested in starting operations [here]," he said.

"Given the fact that it’s primarily an interior renovation project, it would be a 12 to 18 month period for construction,” said Stern. “Our goal would be to open in the first quarter of 2011." Presumably by then a hotel operator will have been selected.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

Adams Morgan Fixer-Upper Gets Fixed-Up

The Kalorama / Adams Morgan neighborhood will soon have one less dilapidated tinderbox for neighbors to revile. Located at 2110 19^th Street, NW, the three-story apartment building at the site has gone from bad to worse over the past half-decade. Luckily for area preservationist aficionados, however, renovation (if you can call throwing out everything except the facade a renovation) is currently underway and, once completed, this real estate ugly duckling will emerge a swan - courtesy of DC apartment developer and management company Keener Squire Properties and the architects of Eric Colbert and Associates.

Originally known as the The Hilltop, residents of the then 15-unit tenement - described by The Washington Post at the time as a "badly deteriorated building" - were bought out of their leases in 2005. Another District development company, Nicol Development, then tried their hand at culling 22 condominiums out of the building shortly thereafter and summarily failed, leaving nothing but a condemned husk of a building in what was (ironically enough) one of the District’s more desirable neighborhoods. But then 2007 happened, and Nicol lost control of four local projects, this one to the lender. The property had been informally floated above $5 million by Nicol, then more formally listed at $3.8 million but still no takers. Cut to the summer of 2008, when Keener Squire was able to pick it up at the “fixer-upper” special rate of $2.1 million.

“My client bought it at auction,” said architect Eric Colbert. “Someone had tried to develop it a while back, but they didn’t know what they were doing and wound up abandoning the project…It must have been at least five or six years [since people lived there.]”

That's about to change. Keener-Squire is currently projecting a 12-month timetable for a complete renovation of the once-roughshod apartment complex. The building’s original 25,000 square foot shell will receive an extra 5,000 feet during the course of the build-out, allowing for a total of 35 new residential units and two new floors. Keener-Squire’s in-house general contractor, Wayne Construction, is overseeing work at the site. Sources say the building is being designed as rental apartments, but, as always, market forces will ultimately dictate the final outcome.

Donohoe Galvanizes Bethesda Development in the Woodmont Triangle

The Donohoe Development Company is in the early design and planning stages on what looks to be the largest mixed-use project to hit Bethesda since Bethesda Row went and upped the area’s chi-chi quotient a few basis points (see this month’s issue of Forbes for proof). Now, on the other side of town, in the decidedly less dapper (but getting there) Woodmont Triangle area, Donohoe has teamed with WDG Architecture to realize Woodmont Central: a multi-phase, mixed-use project that will bring office space, retail and, yes, apartments to Wisconsin Avenue and beyond.

Within the next few years, Phase 1A, as Donohoe is calling it, will be the 8280 Wisconsin - a commercial complex with 80,792 square feet of Class A office space, along with 10,820 square feet of ground floor retail, at the corner of Battery Lane and Wisconsin Avenue. At present, it's the site of a Texaco that boasts the area’s only car wash. Unfortunately for area auto buffs, both will be razed prior to build out. It will, however, be the first sign of new development at the very same intersection that had previously been slated to host the now indefinitely on hold Trillium Condominiums.

In a first for Woodmont Triangle development, Donohoe's office building will be followed by Phases1B and 2 - but not at the same site. It’s a split that will allow the development team to benefit from a recent amendment to Bethesda zoning statutes. Said Jad Donohoe, Donohoe's Development Director:

[The parcels] are three blocks apart, but in the same project…Back in 2006 there was an amendment to the Bethesda Sector Plan for the Woodmont Triangle. For the first time it allowed this transfer of density between sites that aren’t contiguous or are even across the street from each other…It’s a new idea and the thought was that because there is such fragmented ownership in that section of Bethesda, this would be a way to bring the density needed to make more of a Bethesda Row-type of experience. If you look at what Federal Realty Trust did on Bethesda Row, those things have been happening on that side of Bethesda for 10 years. By contrast, Woodmont Triangle has been kind of struggling. This is the solution and it’s one of the first projects to take advantage of that provision.

And take advantage they shall. Currently the home to a surface parking lot and "some old two-story buildings", the corner of Rugby and Del Ray Avenues will eventually host The Gallery at Bethesda - a high-rise with 457 rental apartments (including 51 MPDUs), 9,051 square feet of ground floor retail and public park that Donohoe describes as being comparable in size and scope to the nearby Veteran’s Park. "It’s really going to be one of the few green spots there in the Woodmont Triangle for public space,” said Donohoe.

Though still “a couple years away from breaking ground,” Donohoe speculates that "The Gallery will be home to approximately 900 new Bethesdans, with occupancy beginning in 2013. 8280 Wisconsin will deliver in late 2012." The team's first project plan was filed with the Montgomery County Planning Board in January and they're currently scheduled to make a second appearance before the Board on April 23^rd. Bethesda real estate is for sale.

Argent Resurrects Condos in Silver Spring

A lot can change in two years. But since beginning construction in 2007 at 1200 Blair Mill Road in Silver Spring, Perseus Realty, LLC’s plan for the building nearing completion at the site, The Argent, seems to be much the same as it was pre-economic doldrums. Representatives of the developer have told DCmud that the project will “definitively be condos” – a first (and perhaps last) for metro area development in 2009.

The $37 million, JSA Inc.-designed building will boast 96 units - ranging from 600 square foot efficiencies to 1,430 square foot two-bedrooms – on nine stories. Part and parcel with the Argent’s "urban oasis" atmosphere are amenities including art deco flourishes, nine-foot ceilings, an “elegant rooftop patio,” a front desk receptionist and a 4,200 square foot public park on the grounds, featuring landscaping by Mahan Rykiel Associates and a sculpture from local artist Mary Ann E. Mears.

“We’re planning to open with decorated models by the end of May. There’s not a certain date, but that’s what we’re shooting for,” said Barbara Causey of the Mayhood Company.

The Argent and its development team are apparently not brushing off the state of the market entirely; initially priced in the $400,000s before construction, Causey says that Perseus is currently reevaluating their asking price for a piece of the development, and "expects [final prices] in three to four weeks."

In the meantime, Clark Construction is working diligently at the site in order to have the building up and running in time for what is sure to be a (not so) brisk summer sales season.

Silver Spring real estate development news

Logan Circle Wardmans Revamped for Affordable Housing

With $8 million worth of renovations now largely complete, the R Street Apartments have gone a long way in proving that green building practices and affordable housing are not mutually exclusive. Purchased by tenants in 2007 through the Tenant Opportunity Act, the new owners’ first order of business was to form a partnership with the National Housing Trust-Enterprise Preservation Corporation (NHT) and the Hampstead Development Group (HDG) - one that would ensure the restoration, revitalization and environmentally sound character of their five historic buildings at 1416, 1428, 1432, 1436, 1440 R Street, NW in the District's Logan Circle neighborhood.

After two years of renovations, the apartments will meet, if not surpass, those goals. The 241 units in the 97-year old complex were initially constructed by famed DC developer Harry Wardman with architect Albert Beers and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. According to NHT, the laundry list upgraded amenities now available at the site include “new solar reflective roofs, new kitchens and bathrooms with energy star appliances and low-flow water fixtures, rain barrels to harvest water, an upgraded security system, American Disability Act accessible units and free high speed wireless internet access,” in addition to a slew of open community space and a new, energy efficient HVAC system.

The eco-friendly overhaul at the R Street Apartments is second its main raison d'etre: affordable housing in an ever more gentrified (read: increasingly expensive) Northwest neighborhood. Under the terms of the project’s restructured rate system, only 6 of the newly minted units will be renting at market-rate with varying “tiers” of affordability below that – starting for residents making 60% area median income (AMI) all the way down to 30% and below - compared to the 30% AMI cap that had been in place prior to the renovations and ownership change. Per the terms of the Five Voices of R Street Tenant Association’s agreement with the NHT and HDG, the apartments shall remain affordable for the next forty years.

Making sure they last that long, however, didn’t come cheap for the government. Together, the two development partners raised a total of $24.5 million for the purchase and renovation of the properties via Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits, federal Low Income Tax Credit equity, tax-exempt bonds, a Department of Housing and Community Development acquisition loan, a $50,000 Enterprise Green Communities Grant and a healthy smattering of “owner capital.” According to Michael Bodaken, President of the National Housing Trust, it was well worth the effort and expenditure.

“By 2010 more than 10,000 affordable apartments could be lost in the city as owners contemplate exiting government programs and raising rents…[The R Street Apartments] could easily have been converted to condominiums or higher priced rentals, but by maintaining their affordability, we are safeguarding the well being of the families and seniors who call R Street home,” said Bodaken in a press release announcing the project’s grand re-opening.

A ceremony highlighting the development’s new lease on life is currently scheduled for April 17th at 11 AM. Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Kelly, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans and members of the R Street Tenant Association and development team are all expected to be in attendance. Remarks to the public will followed by a tour of the revamped apartments and a reception.

Anacostia to Get its Own Boathouse Row

With the District-led attempt to bring development to Southeast Washington DC's Poplar Point now stalled for the foreseeable future, both the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) and the Office of Planning (OP) have now turned their collective bureaucratic eye across the Anacostia River and towards a section called Boathouse Row.

In the spring of 2008, the District agencies assembled a team to consider options for the riverfront, which has now gone public with a Planning Study for the stretch of land that runs along M and Water Streets, SE on the Anacostia’s west bank. As is, the site - largely overlooked by development next door at the Capitol Riverfront - is currently home to half-a-dozen maritime operations, including a cadre of "yacht clubs," the former Anacostia Marina, and installations servicing the DC Department of Public Works, the US Army Corps of Engineers and the DC Water and Sewer Authority. Rehoboth Beach it won't be, but for the local government, redevelopment at Boathouse Row represents a shot at making the Anacostia River a recreational destination again for the first time in half a century.

The outcome of the study hinges on the proposed dredging of the polluted and endangered river – a procedure that has yet to be budgeted or approved by the DC government. As such, the team presented two concepts for the site – one contingent on a clean-up, the other not.

Concept I, which assumes dredging will in fact take place, would see the Anacostia Community Boathouse Association expand its location underneath the 11^th Street Bridge, while the other boat clubs along the riverbank will be permitted to build-out “either perpendicular or parallel to the shore.” The team envisions three open “community spaces” at intermittent points along the river with amenities like canteens and bike rental kiosks, in addition to a revitalized and expanded Anacostia Marina for motorized watercraft.

Concept II, “a response to the possibility that dredging the Anacostia River will not take place,” assumes that the river will remain impenetrable to boats of any significant size. The locations of the various yacht clubs would be reconfigured, while the Sewer Authority’s work station would be relocated off-site in order to provide for a “continuous waterfront edge.” This plan too calls for three large community spaces along the river, but improvements to the Anacostia Marina would be significantly downsized and it would be outfitted to service only non-motorized boats.

No matter which route the District takes at Boathouse Row, neither will be realized soon. According to the report, “Several District infrastructure projects will need to be completed before improvements to Boathouse Row can be implemented.” That includes renovations to the 11^th Street Bridge, completion of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative’s Riverwalk Trail and the possible relocation of the Federal Channel. At present they’re projecting those procedures to run until at least 2014, with implementation of either concept expected to be complete by 2020.

It should also be noted that control of Boathouse Row currently sits with the National Park Service; a formal transfer of the land to District government is planned for later this year. The entire Planning Study can be read in its entirety at the ODMPED homepage. homes are for sale in washington dc.

Freelon to Design African American History Museum

The Smithsonian Institute announced today (via their insanely popular Smithsonian Channel Blog) that the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates and Davis Brody Bond in association with SmithGroup have been selected to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture. To be constructed at 15^th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, the 350,000 square foot museum will stand on the very last vacant parcel of the National Mall.

Since the prospective designs went public last month, the winning team has gone on to beat out a formidable list of competitors that included Diller Scofidio and Renfro and KlingStubbins;" Devrouax and Purnell Architects, Pei Cobb Freed and Partners; Moshe Safdie and Associates and Sulton Campbell Britt & Associates), Foster and Partners and URS and Moody Nolan Inc. and Antoine Predock Architect.

“[We] set up a poll on the Smithsonian Channel Blog asking readers who they think should win and although the Moody Nolan was the clear favorite, another design took home the win,” said Filippa Fenton of Smithsonian Networks. So much for democracy.

According to the Smithsonian, the selected “bronze-tiered design” (aka “the corona”) represents a “melding of cultural symbols, traditions and movements” from “the working landscapes of the American south to the crowns of Nigerian Yoruba artifacts.”

Construction of the $500 million complex is currently scheduled to begin in 2012. For a detailed look at Washington’s soon-to-be newest museum, check out the swanky virtual tour of the design, courtesy of the Smithsonian.

Dupont Apartment Building Reopens After Renovation

In keeping with its past successes buying and renovating historic but neglected apartment buildings, Urban Investment Partners (UIP) is putting the finishing touches on their $1.8 million renovation of the Absecon Apartments - now named The Shelby - in Dupont Circle. Located at 1706 T Street, NW, the Shelby is just one of the century-old rental properties in the area that's been blighted by years of mismanagement and poor upkeep. According UIP’s Steve Schwat, the condition of the building took even the seasoned real estate professionals by surprise.

"When [buildings] are fully furnished have a nice young couple living in there, they don’t look so bad. But everything in the building is at twice its expected useful life,” said Schwat. “[At T Street], we had units in the basement that were built but never permitted…It was just crazy in there - holes in the floor, holes in the walls. It was as bad as I’ve ever seen it.”

Luckily for prospective renters and the neighborhood in general, the developer - working in tandem with Bonstra Haresign | ARCHITECTS and their in-house general contractor, Urban CM – has succeeded in completely overhauling the once dilapidated building and its 24-units. Said Schwat: "The entire building was renovated, we performed selective demolition, all new electric, all new plumbing, all new separately controlled HVAC, granite counters and stainless steel appliances. It’s pretty much condo-grade finishes, but it’s a rental building."

Additionally, UIP has taken it upon itself to reincorporate original elements of the building’s façade that vanished from lack of upkeep over the intervening decades. As a contributing site to the Strivers Historic District of Dupont Circle, the development team will be outfitting the Shelby with a steel and glass version of its original awning. Other architectural flourishes, along with a new front entry door, will round out the renovation for what Schwat calls an “Ian Schrager, boutique hotel kind of feel." The Shelby is currently leasing up with occupancy set to begin on May 1^st. Open houses for potential residents are scheduled for April 17th, 18th, and 19th, 9-5 each day. For more information call 202-244-3811.

UIP is doing much the same with two other concurrent rental renovations in the District: at The Macklin at 2911 Newark Street, NW and a second at 1921 Kalorama Road, NW.

Washington DC real estate development news

Archstone Ponders More Residential for National Gateway

Of all the large-scale projects in development at the National Gateway, Archstone-Smith's "luxury residential towers" in Potomac Yard has been the least talked about - despite the 1.5 million square feet of LEED certified office space currently going up in the same neighborhood. Now the developer is seeking an "extension of time to...submit a building permit for two land bays and park concept design plan" from the Arlington County Board at their April 25^th meeting.Archstone acquired a large swath of the Meridian Group’s National Gateway project for an undisclosed sum in May 2007 with the intent of bringing 691 residential units to the site. But Archstone has yet to move soil in their 135,402 square foot parcel bounded by Jefferson Davis Highway, Potomac Avenue and Crystal Drive, nor has an architect been formally linked to what is being called the “Archstone National Gateway,” though permitting records indicate that they have taken on Tishman Speyer as a development partner. 

"We’re still in the drawing stage, but we should have something by the end of the month as far designs and proposals go," said Joshua Custer, Archstone-Smith's Marketing Coordinator. In all, planners hope for an eventual 1500 residential units with the recently opened 386-unit Camden apartments and 479-unit Eclipse condominiums, which began sales in 2005 and still have nearly 100 condos left to go. Ouch.

As for other adjoining pieces of the National Gateway pie, Camden Property Trust has already delivered there, while another nearby parcel was sold off to Marriott International for development under their Renaissance and Residence Inn brands is already well into construction.

For Meridian’s part, they are well on their way to realizing the 1.5 million square feet of office and 200,000 square feet of restaurants and retail included in Phase I of their National Gateway. That project is set to deliver this coming November.

Washington DC real estate news

Homes Near the Pros in Capitol Heights

The Redskins may (still) disappoint, but the same can’t be said of the impact that construction of their newest home at FedEx Field has had on the surrounding Prince George's County (Capitol Heights) community. The area has been awash in new retail and commercial development since the Skins came calling in 1997 and, now, a handful of developers are aiming to transform Capitol Heights into the area’s newest suburban commuter enclave.

First and foremost, the Glenwood Hills development at Central Avenue and Addison Road is currently set for a large-scale expansion, per a recent approval by the Prince George's County Planning Board. The project - the first phase of which boasted 90 single-family homes, 117 townhouses and a "central recreational pod" - was sold by the original owners, Avanti Properties Group and Upshire Realty Advisors, to Berman Enterprises in 2006. Now, the new management is planning to get underway on 63 new single-family homes and 134 duplexes in February 2010. The new homes will range in size from 1,873 to 3,596 square feet. Berman has also presented the Planning Board will a proposal for Phase III that is planned to include another 45 single-family homes, along with 144 “multifamily dwelling units.”

Closer to the DC line, the Beazer Homes Corporation is set to proceed on a single-family development. Their Brighton Place development on Rollins Avenue is planned include 68 single-family homes and 60 townhouse units, ranging in size from 2,100 to 3,000 square feet. Construction has yet to commence on home one, but the developer has priced the standalone units from the mid-$300s with the townhomes starting in the mid-$200s.

Townhouses are also the order of business for the Villages at Peppermill, a project from Structures Unlimited and Foster Communities that broke ground in 2006 on a 20-acre plot with the already established 50s-era Peppermill Village development. While the 96 homes at Central Avenue and Cindy Lane are still aiming to reach their proposed 2010 completion date, a few details have fallen by the wayside in the interceding months since the project was first announced. Namely, both a proposed community center and police substation with the development have been nixed by the developer.

That, however, hasn’t stopped Structures Unlimited President Kareem Abdus-Salaam from pushing for more development in the Capitol Heights area. Two weeks ago, he was one of the local entrepreneurs involved with Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson’s proposal for the land transfer from Metro to the County to make way for a new 24,000 seat DC United Stadium at the site of the current Morgan Boulevard Station. If that $195 million dollar project comes to fruition (something which the District government couldn’t pull off at Poplar Point), perhaps it will wind up finishing what FedEx Field started more than a decade ago.

Prince George's County, Maryland real estate development news

New Mixed-Use for Arlington Strip Mall

Fairfax-based development company Walnut Street Development (WSD) hopes to bring some needed mixed-use development to their backyard. Just across the county line, the company has teamed with architect Ann Ardery for a mixed-use makeover of an Arlington strip mall at 2515-2525 Lee Highway.

The three to four story project aims to deliver 22 new apartment units, along with 13,000 square feet of retail. The 22,643 square foot lot currently hosts a one-story, 4,500 square foot edifice whose sole retail contribution is now a 7-11 and adjoining vacant storefront. WSD’s project plan also calls for a “predominately underground garage” with 73 parking spaces and a LEED silver certification. Though the developer has yet to specify what kinds of retailers they’ll be courting for the project, they have assured local residents that some sort of “convenience retail” – ala the current Sleven at the site – will be included.

The project’s dimensions have shifted somewhat since it was originally submitted to Arlington County in 2004; the project’s first incarnation called for 24 residential units with a diminutive 3,750 square feet of retail. Through meetings with the Planning Commission and Transportation Commission, as well as presentations to the residents of the neighboring Cleveland House Condominiums and the North Highland and Lyon Village Civic Associations, not to mention market forces, the project has re-emerged with stronger emphasis on the planned retail space. The project goes back before the Arlington County Board again April 26^th.

In the meantime, WSD is also well underway on at their Residences at Old Town Square development. That project, located at the former site of the Fairfax City Library, will contain 80 new condos in two buildings and is scheduled to deliver later this year.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news