Crescent Falls Church Construction Complete, Minor Finishing Touches Await

A representative of Texas-based Hanover Company confirmed that construction teams have nearly wrapped up the Crescent Falls Church project and the building received their Certificate of Occupancy earlier this summer. This is Hanover's second major development in the Metro area, having completed Ashton Judiciary Square in 2009. The 6-story, 214-unit Crescent, a mixed-use and multi-family residence in Arlington near the East Falls Church Metro, was delivered only ever so slightly behind schedule, originally set to finish earlier this spring. Given that the developers planned to start leasing this summer, and now report the building 25% leased, there is plenty for Hanover to celebrate in a downmarket summer that has seen many more groundbreakings, affordable housing plans, and proposal extension requests than ribbon cuttings. The finished community neighbors the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (W&OD) and Falls Church Park, but the area surrounding East Falls Church Metro remains underutilized - largely a commuter zone, often simply passed over by shoppers on the way to Tysons. This development is part of a larger effort by Arlington and Falls Church officials to encourage denser redevelopment that will help transform the vicinity into a more urban, mass-transit friendly locale.

The new building is stockpiled with the standard amenities: private screening room, concierge, daily hot beverage service, two courtyards – one with a fire-pit and outdoor grilling and dining areas, and the other with dual-sided fireplace and outdoor grilling and dining areas. Like Hanover's previous venture in Penn Quarter, the apartment building focuses heavily on a variety of sustainable features. Developers believe that its metro location, recycling center, technical features, "oversized" bike room, and underground parking garage with priority for low-emission vehicles will help the building receive LEED certification upon review.

Hanover's nationwide record of apartment construction and operation likely helped the company muster proper financing and get this project completed. Other projects originally expected to be delivered on a similar time-line continue to limp along through the recession with little material progress to show for their efforts. Akridge's nearby Gateway development, set for the 500 block of N. Washington Street and unveiled way back in 2006, has yet to get off the ground. Delayed by the economic downturn, developers continue to bicker with city officials over the ratio of commercial (offices and retail) to residential square footage. Akridge is proposing one 73-foot, 5-story office building with 71,000 s.f. of office space and 12,000 s.f. of retail, coupled with a slightly shorter second 5-story building, this one offering 200 units (averaging 800 s.f. in size) and 2,500 s.f. of ground floor retail space. Their current plans offer a 70-30 percent split between residential and commercial, but officials look to push developers closer to a 50-50 setup.

Hekemian's "Northgate" development, a mixed use project, including 124 rental apartments, on the N. Washington St. side of the old Pearson Funeral Home, also had an initial expected completion date in 2010, but continues to trudge through the final site plan approval process and futilely fish for financing packages. A site plan amendment to incorporate the approved North Washington streetscape design is currently under consideration; it is unknown when construction will start.

Falls Church real estate development news

Construction on Tysons Corner Apartment Building to Start Next Month

Tysons has it good these days. What was just a few years ago a distant, forgettable suburb with prohibitively wide streets that looked nothing like its urban neighbor to the east, now has the hope of a new comprehensive urban plan, a foursome of Metro stations on the way, and developers queuing up to build. The latest is AvalonBay, which paid the Penrose Group $13.3 million for just 2.64 acres of land on Westpark Drive and plans to start construction of a 354-unit apartment building next month.

The new Avalon Park Crest, as it will be called, follows on the heels of Capital One's application to create a gridded street system and multi-phase development on 23 acres at the Tysons Metro stations. With construction already approved by the county and designed by the Lessard Group of Tysons, the units are expected to be occupied in early 2012. Arlington- based AvalonBay will build, own, and operate the apartment building. AvalonBay will not seek LEED certification, but will incorporate "numerous" green features.

The site is now within Park Crest development that currently includes condos, apartments and a Harris Teeter grocery store, and already includes the 558-unit Avalon Crescent. Despite being an aggressive investor with 171 buildings and more than 50,000 units to its name, this is the first new community AvalonBay has built in the mid-Atlantic since 2005, though it has been planning another new community in Wheaton.

The building will hold a 2-1/2 level underground parking garage, wifi lounge, "ample" bicycle storage, and two private one-quarter acre courtyards with a pool, and outdoor cooking.

McLean, Virginia real estate development news

Wisconsin Giant "Launch Party" this Thursday

Despite a pending legal battle that has tied up the Wisconsin Avenue Giant, developers are moving forward - pretty soon - with their 56,000-s.f. grocery store project that will add additional retail, residential, and office space. Developer Steet-Works has announced a "launch party" for this Thursday to celebrate the impending demolition of the abandoned 1950's era G.C. Murphy Co. store and existing Giant, which will yield to a newly renamed "Cathedral Commons."

Parent company Stop & Shop owns the site bounded by Idaho Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, and Macomb Street and divided by Newark Street, all of which now contains a mostly-abandoned, one-story retail strip and surface parking. Upset with the parking provisions, the threat of increasing density in the area, and even challenging the Commission's authority to make the specific zoning amendment ruling that approved the project, the Wisconsin-Newark Neighbors Coalition (WNNC) had filed a lawsuit to prevent the project, challenging, as they had previously, the Zoning Commission's 2009 approval of the project.

Despite the burst of optimism on the ultimate outcome of the development, the litigation has not yet been resolved, and Street-Works does not plan to begin construction until March of next year. DC officials and President of Giant Food Robin Michel, among others, will gather to announce their commitment to moving forward, ambitiously marking the last days of the 50-year old block that is a deteriorating and out-dated eye-sore. In an official press release Giant promises: "the development will create new jobs and feature neighborhood retail shops, restaurants, a 56,000-square-foot supermarket, townhomes, apartments, engaging open spaces, and an attractive streetscape." Developers insist that the current tenants will relocate into the new retail space upon completion.

When asked what circumstances changed to justify throwing a launch party this week, Sharon Robinson, a consultant for the Giant Team, explained that "this is simply a chance for the company to publicly voice its support for the project, and its commitment to move forward." She added that it will provide the opportunity for Giant officials to elaborate on the details and timeline of the development plans going forward. Councilwoman Mary Cheh is one of the many invested individuals who is happy to hear the news. "I am delighted, as I'm sure residents are," Cheh explained, "that after waiting for many years for this development, that we are finally on the threshold of it actually happening." There is always the worry that the litigation will again prove a hitch in the development's progress, but Cheh has been assured that the legal case of the opposition is not very strong.
In total, the proposed project will contain approximately 136,500 square feet of retail space and 140-150 residential units. After construction begins, developers expect the entire project to be completed within three years. How the project will be phased - likely in two phases - and how developers plan to transition from the old grocery store into the new, remains unsettled. Perhaps those answers will be revealed on Thursday.

Update: The launch party, as predicted by our prescient poster below, has been called off. Giant recently sent out an e-blast saying: "Giant Food wants to give all members of the community an opportunity to join us to launch the new project to redevelop the Wisconsin Avenue Giant and Friendship Shopping Center, which will be known as Cathedral Commons. To honor the High Holy Day, Rosh Hashanah, we will postpone the previously announced launch event." A new date has yet to be set.

Washington DC real estate development news

Reston Station: Planning for the Last Stop of the New Metro Line

When it comes to development along the new Dulles Corridor Metrorail Silver Line, connecting downtown Washington D.C. to Tysons Corner and Dulles Airport, developers think big. Reston Station, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development soon to be brought into the orbit of Washington DC as the terminus of Phase 1 of the Silver Line, is no exception. Zoned for 1.3 million s.f. of development and incorporating three office buildings, two residences, one hotel, retail space and a 2300-car underground garage, developers expect to break ground on the garage next March and start the residences in late 2012. Davis Construction, now at work on Reston Station's county-sponsored underground garage, intends to complete work by 2013 to sync with the Silver Line's debut.

Comstock Partners, the Reston-based developer behind the vision, is just now beginning to market to prospective office users and hotel operators to fill up the 60,000 s.f. of retail, 650,000 s.f. of office space, and 220-key hotel that have been planned 3/4 of a mile east of Reston town center. Comstock has just begun design process for the 500,000 s.f. of residential space with the search for an architect, but already plan pair of residential buildings, 205 and 140 feet high, with a total 370 units, 19.5% of it designated for workforce housing.

Turning what looks, at least aerially (mislabeled picture above courtesy of MWAA), like a land of parking lots dotted occasionally by office buildings, into a community that is "edgy, contemporary, with easy living and walking to the Metro" as Comstock's Maggie Parker puts it, will require a bold metamorphosis. Anchored by the indispensable Metro station, various groups are working to design a more urban Reston. Reston 2020, a committee of the Reston Citizen's Association, which represents residents of Reston in the Reston Master Plan Review process, has outlined its own optics for the area, A Strawman Proposal for The Wiehle Area Metro Station, that envisions a thriving mixed-use, beyond 9-5, transit-oriented community. The group calls for increased residential uses, pedestrian and bike interconnectivity along the Silver Line corridor, embracing the urban center paradigm and integration of growth along the corridor. According to Penniman, Strawman Proposal author and board member of the Reston Community Center,

"Reston is a wonderful, planned community of urban and village centers, but running in the middle of it is the toll road, which has historically been lined with office buildings. With the arrival of the Metro and three stations running through Reston, there is an opportunity to add some urban flavor that would allow more people to live, work, walk and play...If we can create more pedestrian connections and manage traffic, that should do a lot to energize the corridor and would fit in well with the image of Reston as a community of open spaces and quality architecture."

Not everyone would agree that Reston calls to mind architectural splendor or exudes urbanity, but Comstock hopes their site next to the Metro will afford the opportunity to change that. Comstock plans on entering Reston Station in the running for LEED-ND (LEED for Neighborhood Development) certification, a relatively new category in the LEED rating system, which the US Green Building Council, the Congress for New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council developed collaboratively to certify neighborhoods that are planned according to smart growth principles with attention to urban planning and environmental design characteristics at the community scale.

Debate on the project has focused on traffic mitigation from the beginning. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority began increasing tolls on the Dulles Toll Road last January by 33% to help finance the Silver Line, with further toll increases expected in 2012. With increasing gas prices and suffocating traffic, the commute along the toll road has become less sustainable.

Comstock's Parker says the developer has focused on traffic management from the start, making the most of the pedestrian bridge that will link its project to the Metro station. Planners have designed Reston Station Blvd. as a new cross street, "an east-west spine road parallel to both Sunset Hills Road and the Dulles Toll Road provides a key cornerstone to the ultimate goal of a well-planned grid of streets." "We have proffered to significant traffic modifications to accommodate the suggested increase in traffic with the arrival of Metro. We are also committed to conducting other traffic studies as the development progresses through an aggressive Transportation Demand Management plan designed to reduce automobile trips generated by the office and residential uses" explained Parker.

Ultimately, construction timelines will be determined by economic realities, with even citizens groups acknowledging that "development will not proceed as fast as might have been thought a couple of years ago." With three years to go until the Metro station opens, time will tell what awaits sojourners venturing out to the end of the new metro line.

Reston, Virginia, real estate development news

New Grocery Store Chain to Land In Northeast

The supermarket wars rage on, now with a new competitor. The poor man's Trader Joe's is coming to Ward Five next week, as discount grocer chain ALDI will break ground on what is set to become their first store in the District of Columbia. Work will officially begin on September 7th at 901 17th Street, NE; ALDI executives will be joined by Ward 5 Councilmen Harry Thomas Jr. to celebrate the good news. ALDI summarizes their unique business model as this: "A select assortment discount grocer featuring its own ALDI select brands, ALDI applies smart and efficient operational and business practices to save more than 20 million monthly customers up to 50 percent on their grocery bill." With limited shelving, and most products displayed on the same wooden pallets they're shipped on, it seems as if the end product will be the less complicated, groceries-only version of Costco.

As it is now

Looking more like Soviet Safeway here

Although it may be tempting to poke fun at the grocer as the District becomes overpopulated with gourmet supermarkets, it will likely be a vast improvement upon the "UnSafeway" just next door. With a neglected Safeway on Rhode Island Avenue shut down earlier this year, it is clear that northeast has not received anything like the attention from grocers lavished on northwest. In Germany, where ALDI originated, the chain was once sneered at and dismissed as a low-quality, thrifty-alternative for impoverished shoppers, but has now gained momentum as hip and simplified shopping for the parsimonious. Future customers be warned however, you must come armed with a quarter (redeemed upon return of the grocery cart), and cash or a debit card (credit cards not accepted). Customers are also required to pay for the grocery bags they use, so bring your own reusable cloth sacks to save time, money, and the environment.

The new store should look something like this

Since their business philosophy is a no-frills shopping experience that focuses on cutting costs and passing the savings onto the customer, it's hard to imagine the architecture being inspirational. And like the majority of ALDI's business relationships, they've contracted with a single entity, ADP Engineering and Architecture, to bring their new stores across the country to life. No official construction timeline has been published, but it is expected the turn around will be fairly short. The need for better shopping options in the area certainly remains strong.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Smithsonian's New Museum of African American History and Culture Unveils Latest Design Changes

Awarded the rights to design the Museum of African American History and Culture by the Smithsonian back in April of 2009, a Smithsonian presenter and team of architects from Freelon, Adjaye Associates, and Davis Brody Bond unveiled the newest plans for the National Mall's next museum yesterday. Responding to initial concerns about the large size of the building and it's impact on the views of the Washington Monument and surrounding Mall, the team presented their augmented designs - lowered, and shifted back - to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). This is the first of many give and take meetings that will play out before the building is finally built and opened in November of 2015. Next stop: the Commission of Fine Arts will review the newest concept design, final approval on the design will not come until 2012.

The three tiers (the "Corona") of bronze, porous, pumice-stone-like material still form the bulk of the structure. What was originally a large base of the building, the "Porch," has been mostly pushed below grade so only the top pierces ground level, a concession to the prominence of Washington's Monument. The raised platform will retain its mezzanine functionality as a place to install skylights to illuminate below grade programming. Planners are proposing to mound the earth around the structure to replicate the sloping dimensions of the neighboring Monument grounds.

Overall, the building's footprint and profile have been reduced, and adjusted slightly to the south, to diminish the perceived brutish visual intrusion of the building as initially rendered. Although the designers admit that this new position shifts the building a bit offline from the center alignment of existing museums, the changes were made to create a less obtrusive structure, and allow more open sight lines to and pleasantly framed views of the Washington Monument from Constitution Avenue.

Initial renderings showed the Porch rising high above ground

Revisions on technical matters - security, landscaping, loading and docks - will continue, but the Commission had approved previous conceptual designs, and no comments from the NCPC panel appeared likely to derail the overall concept. But persisting complaints highlighted the difficulties that lay ahead for this design team. A long road to appease a plethora of the different guard dog and policy making entities awaits: DDOT, National Park Service, NCPC, the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, Office of Planning, and more. One panelist commended the design team for both their efforts at middle ground and their endeavor to blend a modern design into the setting of the Mall. "I sympathize greatly with the design team...With all of their demands, it seems a lot of my colleagues seem to want to you build a building that is invisible." With that being unlikely, the design may well retain the form presented at yesterday's unveiling. Another interesting reaction was that of Commission member Herbert F. Ames, who after applauding the design team, slammed down his fist and implored Congress (who I'm pretty sure wasn't in the room) to put a stop to any new projects set for the National Mall. "We're going to ruin a national treasure," he said, "the Mall was full years ago, and the Mall is full now."

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Feds Enable Affordable Housing Surge in the District

Significant press coverage has been granted to The Yards' Foundry Lofts over the last several days, and in the past as well, a project that will move forward thanks to the DC Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) multi-deal bond release under President Obama's New Issue Bond Program (NIBP). This is all big news, as there are a few firsts here: the first HFA in the country to issue an escrow release under the new program, and the Agency's first mixed-income transaction, as 34 of the Foundry Lofts' 170 new rental units (20 percent) will be marketed to families making only 50% of the Area Medium Income (AMI). But the same funding mechanism also enabled yet more public housing; So Others Might Eat's (SOME) "The Scattered Site Project" will also move forward with the assistance of the released funds.

The Scattered Site Project has been in the works since early 2007 according to SOME's Housing Development Director Troy Swanda, and has been on the starting line and ready to go for sometime now. But with the market downtown, the start gun was without powder, and the project has idled. Now, the recently released bonds combined with tax credits, grants, and SOME's private fund raising will make this multiple-site development a reality. Totaling more than $36 million, the specific funding numbers go as follows: $8.1 million from DCHFA's Tax Exempt Bonds, $11.5 million DHCD Housing Production Trust Fund, $6.7 million from Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Proceeds, $2.9 million from DC Housing Authority LRSP Capital Grant, and $7.3 million from SOME's own financing. SOME and their team of contractors were so poised for action in fact, that they began construction the very day the bond release was finalized. The aptly named development consists of five different properties strewn across Wards 7 and 8 in the Southeast. Three of the properties (350 50th St, 3828 South Capitol St, and 2810 Texas Avenue) will be intended for single adults, while one property (730 Chesapeake St) will be geared for families, and the last (1667 Good Hope Road) for seniors.

The five buildings will offer a total of 245 apartments, all classified as affordable housing, meant to shelter residents making 0-30% AMI. Keeping carbon footprints to a minimum, the properties will feature very limited parking amenities, as residents of affordable housing projects are typically some of public transportation's most devoted users. Two buildings will feature green vegetation roofs and one will be topped with a passive solar water heating system. "Building to green standards is in mind with construction and design of every building," says Swanda. Local firm Nelson Architects is responsible for the design of each building. Developers expect to deliver their first building in early 2011, and will complete the roll out of all five by the end of that year.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Georgetown Streets on Track for Reconstruction

While the eastern half of Washington DC searches for ways to build tracks for its dust-collecting trolleys, the western half of DC has long been dealing with the opposite problem: plenty of tracks, no trolleys. The west side's problem may be at an end within the next two months. The District government will rebuild Georgetown's historic trolley lines that have divided Georgetowners over the fate of the iconic streetcar lines.

The District is proceeding with plans to rebuild the trolley lines that, depending on your perspective, are either an indispensable piece of Georgetown's culture and character, or make driving and parking a dangerous tightrope walk, or both. The problem is in fact not so much the trolley lines, which have remained intact, but the cobblestones that form the street that have sunk around them, creating a mid-street ridge as much as 4 inches high in some places. The city has wrung its hands over the issue for decades, with minor repairs that included patchwork asphalt that did little to quell the debate. Now the District will repair O and P Streets between Wisconsin Avenue and 37th Streets, removing the cobbles and tracks, laying a new foundation less prone to sinking, and reusing as much of the existing materials as possible. After renovation work the stone and rail will be flush. Motorists will still be able to test their driving acumen by aligning their tires on the rails, but without the tire-scorching thud now associated with an errant swerve. Sidewalks on both streets will also be rehabilitated.

Not all residents see the wisdom in repairing the rails. "Why not just cobblestones? Why do we have to have the rails? I don't quite see the need" said Georgetown resident Arne Peterson. Work on the project is expected to commence in "early November," according to a DDOT official familiar with the project.

Ansel Adams Slept Here

by Beth Herman

Well, OK, he didn't exactly sleep there, but for Group Goetz Architects (GGA) President and CEO Lewis J. Goetz, making a home at The Wilderness Society, 1615 M Street NW, for 75 of Adams' seminal landscape photographs was a design of somewhat personal proportions. "I got to meet him once," Goetz said, reflecting on his own interest in black and white photography and what it meant to stand before the iconoclastic naturalist and photographer himself. "Ansel Adams was a hero for a lot of photographers back then,” he affirmed, having purchased his first Nikon with the funds from an architectural award he received in college. "Adams was able to capture pure black and white and every shade of grey in between, not to mention the incredible sights he was able to photograph,” Goetz said. Because Adams and the Washington, D.C.-based Wilderness Society, founded in 1935 to protect and preserve natural resources and public lands, had confluent missions, it was both fitting and immensely generous that the photographer would have donated what Goetz believes is the largest assembly of his art to any institution. “Every famous picture he’s done is here, which is pretty amazing,” he said. The problem, according to Goetz, was that only about 20 percent of the collection had been displayed in the Society’s dark lobby for many years, with “portable elements” on which they’d hang lights. “The pictures are not that large,” he observed. “They’re 16x20 and some are smaller than that. There is very intricate and delicate detail. (The way they were displayed), you couldn’t see the pictures – this amazing collection.”Citing periodic economic delays and several subsequent efforts to pare down GGA’s initial concept for the gallery space (what should have been an eight-month design/construction effort stretched into 18 months), The Wilderness Society eventually secured the necessary funding to move forward with the gallery design, which complemented a renovation of its existing D.C. headquarters. Supported by art consultant Cynthia Reed and John Coventry of Coventry Lighting, Goetz maintained that gallery space wants to be about the art, not the gallery, noting the great galleries are secondary to what’s showing. “It’s the simplicity of it that sets it apart,” he explained, adding that you don’t want to compete with the subject. That said, designing for a specific, permanent collection instead of a revolving space that may support many different artists over time had its own set of advantages and challenges. While standard operating gallery procedure is to have a space that is clean and unfettered - a simple box without distractions, Goetz explained, because Adams’ photographs were black and white, it made sense that the space should also be black and white. And because the art reflected different subject matter, though within an environmental realm, the team decided to separate or break down the gallery so that it wasn’t just one 2,900 s.f. room. In this regard, and with extensive linear wall space, jagged breaks, or openings, were created to bisect the space so that visitors could peer through to other parts of the exhibit. The angular openings, resembling large, rugged faults in Adams’ natural rock formations, serve to mirror and enhance the experience rather than detracting or calling attention away from it. With Ansel Adams’ work, Goetz observed, “It’s not about the space. It’s standing two feet from the wall as you walk through it.” At the end a concealed door leads from the gallery into the Society’s conference room, with the objective that all who enter the building must first pass through its special gallery space, which is open to the public. With an eye to sustainability and where LED lighting was considered, in the end the team decided that generationally it doesn’t have the right quality for gallery use, though in another year, Goetz speculated, it may be considered. Occupying the entire second floor of the building, The Wilderness Society’s headquarters also underwent a makeover with an emphasis on sustainable features such as low-VOC paint, water saving fixtures in the bathrooms, recycled drywall and a concrete floor that was made in place, requiring no manufacturing. The mechanical system was zoned to provide a lot of control, according to Goetz, in order to save on energy, with lighting that utilizes motion sensors and controllable dimmers. With what may loosely be termed more ebullient designs in their passbook, such as Michel Richard’s Central restaurant, Goetz explained the firm has “a very pragmatic approach to design,” which enabled them to create a space that subordinated itself to something else. “To me, design is about solving problems,” he said, “so if we solve the problem, then we did a great job, and if we can do it in a beautiful, poetic way, then we did an even better job.” A good photograph is knowing where to stand. – Ansel Adams

Howard Theater Redevelopment Team Ready To Break Ground

DCMud is always happy to report project groundbreakings, especially when historic preservation is involved. But when redevelopment plans, mired in financing complications, have remained in holding patterns for years, it is only natural to question the legitimacy of a phoenix-like ground breaking, especially in election season. Despite that, it seems that Shaw's Howard Theater groundbreaking scheduled for tomorrow is paid for and ready to build.

Plans to redevelop the historic Howard Theater have been in the works for years, but like so many idling Shaw development plans and Ellis Development's other nearby project Broadcast Center One turned Renaissance Project, the financial hurdles have been frustratingly difficult.

Earlier this March, the Washington Business Journal confirmed that fund raising efforts for the Howard Theater redevelopment non-profit group and their development partner Ellis, through both private fund raising means, an eight million dollar public grant, and tax credits, had secured 74% of the needed $15.5 million. But developers were reported to have still been laboring fruitlessly for further bank financing.

Now, Chip Ellis of Ellis Development has confirmed that funding is in place, and the team will begin actual construction next week. Ellis added that a TIF loan and a five million dollar loan from Eagle Bank helped finalize phase one financing plans, adding to money already promised by the District government. Ellis qualified the good news, adding that $3.5m more needs to be raised in order to commence and complete phase two of the construction, which will extend and widen the back of the theater, making room for classrooms, offices, a library, and museum. So while a time table for a final ribbon cutting still remains conditional upon the speed with which the last few million is secured, the news confirms that the groundbreaking is more than symbolic.

The restoration of Howard Theater, once a mecca for listeners seeking out the performances of African American musical stalwarts like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and later Sammy Davis Jr., is vital to the revitalization of Shaw. It also makes sense to anchor a significant new performance space, part theater, part museum, in this particular area, sandwiched between the wealth of music venues along the U Street corridor to the north and the entertainment heart of the city in Chinatown to the south. Local firm Martinez & Johnson Architecture, which also redesigned the Strand, continues to carry the burden of design planning. Architect Naomi Ueki said the most important goal in this project, like so many restoration efforts, is to "keep the historical elements that define the theater in tact and work around them." The first order of business is the demolition of the interior - a complete gutting - while making sure to protect the footprint of the building. Excavation of the ground floor will follow in an effort to dig out a basement level. In addition to general masonry improvements, replica windows, signage, historical lamps, openings and architectural details will all help bring the famous theater facade back to life. The available financing and long to-do list is expected to keep construction crews busy through January; by then developers hope to have secured the additional funds to transition smoothly into phase two.

Shaw residents who are tired of being strung along by promises without much action to follow will finally hear some racket from the construction site at at the corner of 7th & T Streets. This is at least reason to put on a jazz record and smile. Now, we can hope for the Wonder Bread Factory to provide an overture.

Correction: Steve Cassell of Four Points LLC has informed DCMud that while the name "Renaissance Project" was thrown around the idea table it was never finalized. "Progression Place" is the official project name for the development formerly known as "Broadcast Center One," while the residential aspect of the project has been dubbed "7th Flats."

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Shaw Community, Public Officials, Set to Celebrate CityMarket Groundbreaking Wednesday

Approved by the HPRB way back in August of 2007, and then by Zoning in May of 2008, Roadside Development's mixed-use CityMarket at O project apparently has a long shelf life. Developers have regularly attempted to quell the usual doubters with news of restructured financing, and updated timelines, but will finally lay uncertainty to rest, as a groundbreaking shindig is dated for Wednesday afternoon of this week. Festivities could include some palpable political tension, as mayoral candidate rivals political-polling master Vincent Gray and the Smart-car-piloting Mayor Fenty will likely both be in attendance. After the two year stall in action, a strategy becoming evermore popular in development world, Roadside's shovel plunge at CityMarket is an important step in the revitalization of the Shaw district.

Now residents are set to receive their long-awaited attention with a one million s.f. urban infill project that will solidify, restore, and protect the historic facade of the enduring O Street Market, constructed in 1881 and now only a shell, as well as populate four lonely acres of mostly abandoned land between 9th, 7th, P and O Streets, NW with residential (over 600 units) and commercial buildings (87,000 s.f. of retail). Shalom Baranes Architects has been trusted to oversee the design process. A heavy snowstorm destroyed the roof the Market building in 2001, but architects and developers are confident the building will be restored to its original grandeur. Project architect Andrew Taylor says that they intend on avoiding a monolithic design theme, and that each building will have its own personality. "There is an effort...to create a composition of buildings surrounding and drawing attention to the Market, using modern elements that pick up on the more playful elements of the Market's Victorian architecture."


The project also includes the demolition of the current Giant grocery store, with plans for a much grander replacement. Roadside says of the planned Giant: "The new store will combine the charm of the 19th Century with 21st Century efficiency to create one of Washington's largest food stores and the East Coast's most unique and interesting shopping experiences." Stabilization of the O Street Market building for the purpose of preservation, and protection from subsequent ground excavation, is the first order of business, beginning this week. Demolition of the current Giant is next on the agenda, scheduled for later this winter, with the 24-month shot-clock commencing on January 15th, counting down the time developers have to deliver the new grocery store. The redevelopment won't be fully realized until sometime in 2013. Clark Construction is handling general contracting duties.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

North Bethesda Developers Seek Density as Solution to Sprawl

Developers of North Bethesda, having just completed the county's tallest residential building and the Pike's largest recent project, are hoping for an encore. Now nearing completion of the North Bethesda Market, developer JBG has begun courting the community for a second phase, seeking an increase in density for new office and residences that will produce demand for the 200,000 s.f. of retail built in the first phase.

Developers of Rockville Pike in North Bethesda have long hoped that if development continues, and smart urban planning matches pace, the congested corridor might make the triple-jump to a walkable urban district. JBG unveiled initial plans to the community last week, still just conceptual, that would add 745,000 s.f. of development with a 40% increase in density to the block just north of its current project. JBG isn't the only player in the game, as the White Flint Sector Plan highlights several other major developments in the area, including Federal Realty's "Mid-Pike Plaza," and LCOR's White Flint development. JBG submitted initial plans to the Montgomery National Capital Park and Planning Commission early on Friday the 27th, depicting additional retail fronting Rockville Pike and a series of residences on the block behind it. Approval could take anywhere from 18 to 24 months, so construction on the newest phase is not expected to start until late 2012 or early 2013.

After announcing earlier this summer that Florida-based restaurants Season 52 and Dolcé Amoré Café, along with furniture juggernauts Arhaus, will join Whole Foods and L.A. Fitness at the round table of tenants in the nearly completed North Bethesda Market, JBG hopes to broaden the scope of NoBe (or NoBeMa, take your pick) with an array of new residencies, office space, and expanded retail options. NoBe sales representatives said they are hoping Whole Foods will open for shoppers by spring of next year.

The new site extends the Market north to Nicholson Lane, replacing three low density 40-year-old office and retail buildings, and one new office and retail building. Torti Gallas will stay on as the planning architect. One of the goals in maintaining some sort of unifying theme within the development is the extension of Paseo north into Phase II.

Paseo is the "concept of an intimate, pedestrian-oriented, retail lined street" that is meant to tie together the residential and commercial aspects of the project.

Senior VP of Marketing Matthew Blocher depicts the community feedback so far as positive, as developers expect the enthusiasm surrounding the opening of the first phase to carry over as they continue to unveil second stage plans. But one of the obstacles to moving forward with redevelopment is getting the community and county officials on-board with the increased density. Developers say a minimum base density of 3.5 FAR is necessary to buoy the requisite investment, and appropriate given the proximity to the White Flint Metro, but authors of the White Flint Sector Plan currently recommend 2.5 FAR. County officials have been keen on spurring the kind of redevelopment that JBG is pursuing across the region, but have also been conscious of just how fast that growth is developed.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

EYA Announces Construction Start for Brookland Metro Project

After last week's announcement of Bozzuto-Pritzker Venture's new alliance with Abdo in developing the $200 million project on Catholic's South Campus, every propogator of real estate news (including DCMud), was happy just to have something printable during a lazy August. But the cash infusion into the neighborhood was good for other developers too; namely EYA, which rebroadcast the news in advance of its own groundbreaking around the corner. The area's current access, or lack thereof, to quality, independent eateries and retail is regrettable, and any chance of more commerce, whatever the time-frame, is good news. Now piggybacking on these housing-market huzzahs, EYA has given the area's residents and real estate news junkies more to cheer about, announcing that their expansive LEED-certified residential development will break ground on Tuesday. As proof of the regional renaissance, EYA also notes "the massive 40+ acre Dakota Crossing development and the Rhode Island Avenue Metro redevelopment".

The 10-acre field of grass EYA purchased from St. Paul's College is now tilled, and come the first week of September foundations will go in and construction will start moving vertically. EYA expects to deliver their first townhouse models in February or March of next year. Upon completion the whole project will bring 237 Lessard Group-designed single-family townhomes to the former campus field. The townhouses are currently being offered from $470,000 to $590,000. According to EYA, only 206 of the total will be officially "luxury townhomes" while the remaining 31 will be marketed as "affordable dwelling units." Half will go to those unit-dwellers (a.k.a. humans) earning 50% Area Median Income (AMI) and half to those earning 80% AMI.

EYA began marketing their Chancellor's Row houses in May, before they had even finished constructing their sales center. Not to be misled by the subtle art of neighborhood cartography, neighborhood watchdogs have pointed out that the "Brookland Metro" development lies a few blocks west of the unofficial "official" dividing line (9th Street NE) of Brookland, in Edgewood.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News