Georgetown Library Emerges From Ashes Dapper As Ever

Closed since a rooftop fire and water damage compromised its structural integrity in 2007, like a Phoenix, the classy new Georgetown Library will be reborn this Monday, as it once again opens its doors to the public. Luckily for DCMud, DC Public Libraries offered guided media tours, enabling a sneak peak at the completed restoration. The District Library development staff in partnership with Martinez & Johnson Architects have done a remarkable job of resuscitating the historic library, creating a new and improved building, while maintaining and preserving its storied character.

By excavating and expanding the front porch and the back terrace, as well creatively reinventing the top floor attic space and the basement levels, the development team has significantly expanded the total square footage available for library programming. The once gutted and destroyed interior now features improved lighting, state-of-the-art electronics, restored or impeccably replicated millwork and wood furniture, and much more. There is an expanded dedicated space for teens, including several high-end Apple computers for arts and media-specific exploits. A more modern staircase has been installed through the middle of the building, intended to make the multiple levels the library has to offer more visible and obvious to visitors. A larger and artfully designed Peabody Room has been included, housing a collection of materials on the history of Georgetown. A new bright, and more open children’s room with a special glass-enclosed story time space, as well as an outdoor amphitheater-like, stair-cased grass terrace have been created for children's events. Words don't do the new library justice, go see it for yourself Monday. In the meantime, check out the photos below for a glimpse of the restored library.

Library will not tempt fate, fireplaces only for show

New teen room...not

Back facade

Terraced back lawn

Installation of new roof

Peabody Room

Perfectly crafted millwork

Modern stair case

The Fourth Story Man

By Beth Herman

Back in the ‘70s, comedian Steve Allen, already somewhat enshrined for his deft hosting of “The Tonight Show,” won an Emmy, a Peabody, an Encyclopedia Britannica Award and a few others for his cutting edge “Meeting of Minds,” what critics called “the ultimate talk show.” The format for PBS’ “Meeting of Minds,” which Allen created, produced and hosted, was both ingenious and simple: Take a group of history’s seminal characters from different time periods, and with significantly different values and perspectives (Cleopatra, George Patton, Socrates, Machiavelli and Thomas Jefferson, to name a few), put them in a room together to solve a particular problem, and let ‘em rip. Anachronism would never be the same.

On N Street in Georgetown, a three-story row house built in 1960 sits, perhaps anachronistically, among its more genteel and embellished 19^th century brethren. Without vocal chords, and though the interior emulates its more historical neighbors with flourishes such as a curved stair, niches and heavy molding, the home’s real voice is manifested in a closer relationship to its mid-20^th century roots: in other words, somewhat undistinguished.

I Can Dream, Can’t I?

For Douglas Rixey of Rixey-Rixey Architects, a progressive young homeowner and his fiancee’s desire to renovate the interior and also add a floor, thereby breaking through the proverbial Georgetown (glass) ceiling which mandates structures like this generally cannot build up, became a task of monumental proportion mired in research, hearings, personalities, reviews, variances and still more variances, not to mention adroitness with a magic wand and maybe some advanced spell-casting. In addition to navigating a sea of the usual bureaucratic boards and suspects, building up, where the property was concerned, would require feats of Georgetown geometry and construction contortion: The house is ringed by neighbors and their gardens, with no access to a backyard or public alley for scaffolding.

“The client had purchased the home from his parents a couple of years ago and was living there as a bachelor,” Rixey said. “He became engaged, married this month, and they are going to want to start a family and expand the house.” In short, the couple wanted to include a master bedroom suite as a top floor, or fourth story, to the house.

At a total of 4,500 s.f., 1,500 s.f. per floor, and at 58.7 percent lot coverage, the building was already very close to its allowable lot coverage, Rixey explained. In Georgetown, in the client’s zone, acceptable lot coverage is only 60 percent, so to try and build out with a master suite – with only 1.3 percent lot coverage remaining – would mean only a 44 s.f. addition, not exactly the type of master suite experience his client had in mind.

According to Rixey, who, along with wife and partner Victoria, has been plying his craft in Georgetown for 25 years, and rules and review boards withstanding, it’s extremely rare in the area to have a house in the first place that is able to receive another floor. “Most of the historic houses will have a fairly decorative top floor, maybe with turrets, decorative cornice or some sort of architectural embellishment that basically makes it so you can’t add on to the top without severely affecting the character,” he explained. The home in question was somewhat nondescript, “…sort of Colonial Revival,” Rixey said, “but with a very plain top and nothing extraordinary about the house.”

Mr. Rixey Goes to Georgetown

Still, the process to acquire permission to build up was daunting. In most of Georgetown, a three-story or 40-foot limit defines residential architecture. Because the house on N Street was mid-20^th century, however, and though it had three floors, the floor-to-ceiling height on each floor was at 8 and 9 feet, typical of more modern-day construction, Rixey said, where its towering Victorian neighbors’ homes clocked in at 10, 11 and 12 feet per story. In this respect, the house fell far below the mandated 40-foot limit. “We could add an extra floor and still be within Georgetown’s height limit,” Rixey said, noting they still needed a variance for zoning purposes.

Submitting first to the Old Georgetown Board (OGB) as the building is visible from a public space, the action required a simultaneous submission to the Advisory Neighborhood Committee (ANC), which reviews proposals with an eye toward community impact regarding open space, neighbor relations and the like, replete with letters of support from the neighbors. Filing for historic review – another step – was done “in concept,” because the architect wasn’t certain it would really be approved and was attempting to gauge reaction. When the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) did approve the concept, another application to ANC had to be made, this time for the variance.

With the variance process several months in duration and made up of components including public notification of intent by posting signs, photographing signs, notarizing an affidavit that signs were posted in a specific time frame and providing names and addresses of all neighbors within a 200-foot radius, a September hearing was scheduled. “The issue,” Rixey maintained, recalling that the 90-minute hearing was more like an inquisition as these things go, “was that they needed to be convinced we couldn’t glean extra living space by excavating below grade or doing an at-grade addition.” The dearth of remaining allowable lot coverage precluded an at-grade addition, and regarding a possible basement addition, the house had been built by excavating into a hillside, Rixey explained, basically already siting three sides of the first floor below grade, except for the façade. “In any other jurisdiction, the first floor of this house would have been considered a basement because of its lack of perimeter exposure and we wouldn’t have needed variance for what would only be a two-story house,” Rixey said. “D.C. is the only jurisdiction that measures the number of stories at the front of the building.”

Capitol Risk

Among more than a dozen fourth story design alternatives presented for review in the process was a loggia, or balcony, on the front facing N. Street, which also faced south, providing a view out on the city from an outside terrace. With rooftop decks or terraces controversial in Georgetown, and typically not approved, Rixey’s design was no exception. (According to Rixey, however, the front balcony was actually a response to design constraints – an attempt to make the mass of the building recede somewhat and make it a little more special than simply a front façade.) The client also wanted a lot more glass, and glazing is antithetical to historic work, Rixey said. Nevertheless a modern take on a mansard roof with a dormer, though not classically detailed, was approved.

With a final historic review step remaining in the approval process contingent on permit and construction drawings, actual construction remains another conundrum (here’s where the magic wand and advanced spell-casting may again be advantageous).

“Construction (expected to begin in the spring) will be tricky,” Rixey said. The building has some rear alley access but cannot be accessed from either side due to neighbors’ properties, which include a beautiful garden on one and a narrow, private walkway on the other. Building scaffolding and staging construction equipment conventionally is out of the question. To that end, the architect is contemplating such attack modes as prefabricating the brick worksite walls in sections, off-site, and having them delivered and installed by crane. According to Rixey, prefab walls are common in commercial work but not in residential. Another strategy is to suspend scaffolding from the building and not touch the ground – to hang it off the side of the building, cantilevered out over the neighbors’ property. “It’s iffy, to say the least,” he conceded, affirming that logistics are still very much in the investigation stage.

“Five years ago, the extra floor would never have been approved,” Rixey said. “The community would be up in arms about people doing additions and taking up open space. Now times have changed; people’s attitudes have changed. I kind of expected it, but it still amazes me that this additional floor was approved.”

Homeless Shelter Out, Highland Park Addition In

A Street Sense article recently expressed worry over the impending closing of the La Casa homeless shelter at 1436 Irving Street, NW and the prospect of 72 extra homeless men hitting the streets just in time for hypothermia season. The emptying shelter will in fact give way to construction crews and wrecking balls, as the property is set to feature a 143-unit addition to Donatelli Development's adjacent Highland Park apartment building, as well as brand new 82-bed community based residential facility.

Although the development team successfully obtained a two-year PUD extension from the Zoning Commission earlier this summer, citing (surprise) difficulty securing financing giving the economic downturn, the District will still follow through with the closing of La Casa. Trailers will be removed by November 1st, paving the way for construction to begin shortly after. Reggie Saunders of the DC Department of Human Services confirmed that the shelter will officially close this Friday, October 15th. With PUD extension in hand, developers will have until June 27, 2012 to file for a building permit, and until June 27, 2013 to commence construction, but Chris Donatelli, President of Donatelli Development, insists that the soon-to-begin environmental remediation work and demolition will quickly give way to actual construction in the coming months.

The news does not come as a surprise to Steven Jackson, Program Coordinator at La Casa Shelter, who says he's been "operating under the assumption that the shelter will shut down this Friday." Jackson says that plans have been arranged to accommodate current shelter residents by either placing them in "permanent supportive housing" or "reassigning them to alternative emergency shelters." Jackson confirmed that a few of the men had been reassigned to the La Casa Transitional Rehabilitation Program (TRP), a more comprehensive six-month program that "provides temporary residential services for homeless men to help them to achieve self sufficiency."

Old rendering

Originally approved as an 86-foot, 69 unit-addition, Zoning granted the development team a modification to their PUD late last week, accepting the applicant's plea to expand their residential plans from the original 69 to 143 units and push the building up to 90 feet. Additionally, a setback penthouse level will rise nine feet atop the roof line. Twenty percent of the new apartments will be "affordable," marketed at 80% AMI. The modification also permits architects to redesign the exterior facades to more smoothly blend the addition with the existing Highland Park apartment building. The newly amended PUD also rids developers of their parking space obligation, as future residents will be allotted space in the already constructed below-grade garage next door. The new Highland Park West apartment tower will front Irving Street and be directly connected to the original Highland Park. The new shelter residential facility will occupy the back half of the lot, and will stand separately from the apartment buildings.

Torti Gallas, designers of the adjacent Highland Park apartments, have passed off architectural duties to Bethesda's GTM Architects for the new addition. Initial designs which included a lily-like glass building called the Calla Lily, a design that would have been a significant departure from Highland Park and from the architectural standards of Columbia Heights, has been scratched. Instead of creativity and innovation, architects have tapped their best tracing abilities, as "the new building will look like an exact, matching extension of Highland Park," Donatelli explained. But hey, why mess up a good thing. Highland Park has been a popular residential success since it opened in 2008, and Donatelli confirms that the last retail space has just been leased, soon to feature a brand new sports bar named Lou's Bar and Grill.

It remains unclear how the District will foot the bill for the new shelter, or who will operate it once it's reopened, says Stephen Jackson of La Casa. Donatelli doesn't know either: "We're responsible for the demolition and the design plans, after that it's all on them." Them being the District government, and Lydia DePillis's reporting at City Paper makes it pretty clear that whatever money had been previously set aside for a new La Casa is now lost or spent, and one way or the other, unaccounted for. If and when the new La Casa is made a reality, the building will be quite an upgrade from the current mess of trailers that occupy the property. The planned shelter will not serve "emergency" needs, sandwiching 15 men into bunk-lined trailers, but instead feature private one-bed apartments, better suited to rehabilitate homeless men with drug and alcohol addictions and mental health problems. The Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit that currently operates the La Casa shelter, seems optimistic about its continued involvement at the Columbia Heights location, as its website reads: "The La Casa TRP was temporarily relocated to 1131 Spring Road, NW by the District government until the NEW state of the art La Casa Multicultural Center is built at its current location on 1436 Irving Street, NW." But then you would have known some of this had you shelled out the $1 for Street Sense last week.

DC Real Estate Development News

DC Title Insurance Rates to Become Uniform

Shopping around for title insurance will soon be a thing of the past. Legislation that regulates the price of title insurance goes into effect January 1, 2011, putting Washington DC in the same position as most other states, with regulated published rates for the purchase of title insurance irrespective of title company.

The Budget Support Act of 2011, passed September 24th, contained a provision that gave the DC Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (which can't seem to get its website working) the ability to regulate rates to insure property title against challenges. Maryland and Virginia both have similar regulatory regimes, and title attorneys say they have not seen much difference in the "published" rates versus the market rate, but the bill also requires licensing of title attorneys, and while that will add a bureaucratic veneer to the title industry, it will also give DC's title attorneys reciprocity in other jurisdictions where now there is none.

"Its a revenue source for the District" says title attorney Marty Stanton of KVS Law Group, a law firm that performs settlement and legal work in each of the three jurisdictions. "But I haven't seen an impact in Virginia and Maryland on the residential consumer." Though Stanton concedes there might be scarlet-colored tape, he comments that the upside is "more legitimacy to the process, and [is] ultimately better for the consumer. Rates in the 3 local jurisdictions are now competitive." The law applies to both commercial and residential property but does not affect other fees that could be charged by a title company that therefore differentiate settlement pricing within the District.




But there is concern that a proposed bill that would exempt commercial property from regulation, sought by the DC Building Industry Association, would give commercial purchasers the ability to negotiate better rates, forcing higher rates on residential purchasers. Roy Kaufman of Jackson Campbell is the lobbyist for the District of Columbia Land Title Association, and thinks the exemption is unwarranted. "Land is land is land," says Kaufman, "any exemption would be inequitable...Every other state regulates title insurance, if we are not the last we are one of the last."

Gail Edwards, Executive Vice President of DCBIA, says the market forces ensure the best rates. "It raises the cost of development by thousands and thousands of dollars, that's bad for development. The rates have always been competitive in the city, title companies have to market themselves, but with filed rates everybody pays the same." Edwards says regulated rates will raise the cost "dramatically."

Washington DC real estate news

Region's Tallest Building Breaks Ground in Rosslyn

Monday Properties' 35-story, 390 foot office building will break ground on Thursday in Rosslyn, setting the stage for what will be the region's tallest building when completed, at least for a while. Developers will hold a public ceremony for the 580,000 s.f. building that will rise above the Rosslyn Metro station.


The superlative for "tallest" is a contested one, with JBG noting their that their 31-story Central Place tower will also rise 390 feet, nearly the tallest allowable by the FAA along the Reagan National flight path, which caps at 500 feet above sea level. The buildings also both straddle N. Moore at nearly equal 80-foot elevations; nearly, but not exactly. Officials at Monday assure DCMud that their site sits a few feet higher in elevation, giving theirs the edge. In any event, with JBG's project in check, Monday's claim to size will not be in dispute when the building completes in late 2013. Nor will Monday's second first: the first LEED platinum certified office building completed in Virginia, if all goes as planned. Bragging rights for both should allow for equally high leasing rates, and despite a lack of tenants, Monday chose to approach one of the region's lowest commercial vacancy rates by self-financing $30m of the $300m project, something JBG officials must be eying with intensity. Monday says it is confident that that this will attract financial suitors, but that they are prepared to move forward with or without a financial partner, and promise an anchor tenant announcement within 10 months.

Arlington approved the project in December of 2007, but it has been on hold for nearly 3 years as developers sought financing and the right market. Davis Carter Scott designed the skyscraper that Clark will build, with Gensler assisting on interior layouts.

Congressman Jim Moran will join other speakers at the groundbreaking ceremony this Thursday at 11am, true construction will be underway by the end of the month.

Rosslyn Virginia real estate development news

Clarendon: Urban Planners Taken with New View of Urban Churches

Late last year, the Views at Clarendon emerged unscathed from a cloud of lawsuits and officially kicked off construction. Now one of the region's more intriguing mixed-use projects is on schedule, and attracting national attention as a model for unique partnerships. The Views at Clarendon Corporation's mixed-use, mixed-income building will hold 70 affordable apartments and 46 market rate apartments, not so outstanding by itself, but that it was done through the auspices of the church is turning the heads of urban planners around the country.

As the First Baptist Church of Clarendon faced a budget shortfall a decade ago, it could have reacted in the typical fashion, selling out to a developer and moving to a cheaper, less urbanized community. That would have shut down the church's daycare center and local mission. Instead, the church chose to protect its historic building, stay local, keep the daycare center and double down on its mission by setting up a non-profit corporation to run an affordable housing project. First Baptist - now the Church at Clarendon - sold its air rights to the non-profit, of which it held 3 of 7 board seats, allowing the non-profit to cater to low-income and disabled residents, consistent with the church mission. Other urban churches have retained a portion of the new structure after selling its land, but the model of expanding its influence is a new one. Architect Michael Foster, a principal of Arlington's MTFA Architecture, thinks of this as a paradigm shift. "This has really been watched closely, and nationally, for mixing an existing church at the base of the building in this way. Most mixed-use is office-retail-residential. One that's dominated by public housing is not totally unprecedented, but as a land-use model, it helps us all think a little differently about preserving the role of churches and communities."

Not all the attention has been positive. Local groups tried to stop the in-fill project, then protested that Arlington's subsidies for the new non-profit Views at Clarendon constituted an Establishment Clause violation, and the organization found themselves twice in the chambers of the Virginia Supreme Court and several times the subject of Washington Post news fodder. Vindicated by the courts, the non-profit has now nearly finished excavating the site and underpinning the church, and expects to start building up by next month. The church "sandwich" will give them two floors as a condominium and a 3-floor building on the side, the non-profit will own the apartments above and the parking garage below.

Of the 70 affordable apartments, the majority will be priced at 60% AMI, six of the apartments will be 100% accessible (visitable and adaptable), 12 units will have "support of services" provided to those with disabilities, and six of them will be offered to families under 50% AMI. The church will continue to operate the 180-child daycare center, Arlington's largest, as well as expanding its urban ministry, all within a block of Metro. Foster, the project architect, thinks this will help churches remain active in the social fabric, and that the importance of this should not be underestimated. "This represents a dramatic change in how the church engages the community," and that planning organizations are taking note. "We've been getting many calls about this" says Foster, whose firm is also working on a similar type of project in Bethesda, with the church as developer rather than outgoing owner. The non-profit Views has hired Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) as a consultant to help them achieve their affordable housing vision.

The old steeple will remain the tallest structure, with the new building rising just below the steeple height by design. Foster says the building is meant to adapt a mid-rise to colonial architectural style. "The base of the building is designed to fit in with the colonial heritage with the church steeple and remaining school. Its not really meant to be pure colonial, and not meant to be neoclassical, but it does represent what remains on site and the compatibility with the adjacent neighborhood."

Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

Art House Open House This Thursday

Sponsored Story
Arbor Media and Realtor Megan Shapiro of Remax Allegiance Capitol Hill present the first autumn "Art House Open House" event at 748 Seventh St., SE, Unit C. The public is invited to a happy hour Thursday October 14, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm to browse the work of local artists and to view the property. Wine and amuse-bouches will be served compliments of Marvelous Market Capitol Hill.

The work of the following artists will be represented:
Geoff Ault- photography (CITY Gallery)
Tim Conlon- graffiti artist (Studio H)
Ellen Cornett- pastels (CITY Gallery)
Sherill Gross- cut outs (CITY Gallery)
Liz Lescault- ceramic scuplture (CITY Gallery)
Katherine Mann- mixed media painting (Hamiltonian Gallery)
Steven Pearson- mixed media painting (Studio H)
Pam Rogers- mixed media painting (CITY Gallery)

About the Property
Perched above seventh Street SE only two beautiful blocks from Eastern Market Metro, 748 Seventh Street SE Unit C epitomizes Capitol Hill luxury. The open floor plan of the living space easily accommodates all of your guests both for dinner and for cocktails around a built-in gas fireplace. The beautiful Italian glass tile backsplash of the home's kitchen is a work of art in its own right. Your inner-chef will marvel at the stainless steel appliances and ample granite counter-space. As an added bonus, the kitchen spills onto a family room and a private outdoor terrace. Upstairs, the master bedroom suite boasts year-round views of the Capitol, a massive walk-in closet and a bright, spa-like bathroom. Down the hallway, two bedrooms and an adjoining bathroom finish off this 2000 square foot new construction masterpiece. In addition, you'll never have to circle the block for parking as the unit comes with its own secured space behind the building.

About Art House Open House
As native Washingtonians, we can assure you that the most talked about topic in Washington has never been politics- it has always been real estate! Art House Open House, professionally curated by gallery director and owner Phil Hutinet, gives both real estate hounds and art lovers the opportunity to preview DC's hottest real estate while viewing the work of renowned local artists. See what art work looks like when it is taken out of the gallery and installed in the home.

Into the Light

By Beth Herman

In 1882, when the Edison Illuminating Company shined its 110-volt incandescent light on a brave new world from the Pearl Street Station, the lives of an estimated 59 trend-setting customers in lower Manhattan would never be the same.

When lighting specialist John Seward entered the world of lighting design and sales 101 years later, and with Edison’s parturient idea of the light bulb morphing into such behemoth concepts as fluorescent, metal halide and halogen lamps (or bulbs), compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s), decorative neon and that swinging ‘70s and’ 80s confection: track lighting, consumers were faced with choices rivaled only by the late 20^th century’s emerging electronics technology.

Confronted even more today with ecological, economical, aesthetic and progressive choices that may have rendered even the reportedly indefatigable Mr. Edison catatonic, merchants, designers, engineers and consumers face an evolving market that, by the 4^th of July, has already relegated the previous January’s breakthrough product to the cornfield.

The Incredible Shrinking Filament

“The tendency is actually about less lighting now, if anything, in the interest of energy costs,” said Seward, who is now president of D.C.-based Illuminations, Inc., which provides product showrooms and expert solutions for lighting. “Rather than just putting in a dozen recessed figures at 150-watts a pop, people are much more concerned with the number of fixtures that are going in there,” he explained, noting consumer reaction to trends that point to a smaller carbon footprint.

Observing that the commercial lighting industry has changed entirely with a stringent 1-watt per s.f. government mandate, Seward said the requirement has filtered into the residential market as well. Savvy homeowners are increasingly aware that incandescent lamps (or bulbs), such as the 100-, 75-, 60-watt versions, are scheduled to disappear from the market, with the 100-watt lamp gone within the next 24 months, Seward believes. “People are beginning to wonder, when they purchase a fixture, is it going to be adaptable to the changes in lamps that we’re now seeing,” he said.

LED There Be Light

According to D.C. interior designer Susan Stine, president of RedTeam Strategies, everyone wants to switch to LED (light emitting diodes) lighting. “All of my clients - commercial and multifamily residential - they’re all beginning to look at this technology,” she said, citing LED’s energy and cost savings, as well as its property limitations, in its current form. “It costs $360 a year to operate one (conventional) light bulb; it costs $36 a year to operate one LED bulb,” she explained. The problems, however, are that because the technology is still in a relatively nascent stage, LED lights are not powerful enough, as they are more about accent or spotlighting, and their “color temperature,” or range of color, is lifeless or very white - at the higher end of the color spectrum. “We are used to incandescent (and halogen) light, which is at the lower end,” Stine said, adding that residential, hospitality and retail expectations are in line with those products’ warmer, more natural light. 

In fact Seward said that when sustainability-minded residential customers ask to do an entire home using LED technology, he dissuades them and opts instead for LED in tandem with more mature forms of light. “It’s coming, but the technology just isn’t there yet,” he said of the former.

Acknowledging that his showrooms have always displayed a lot of fluorescent fixtures, Seward, whose business caters largely to the commercial trade, said the merits of using CFL technology include longer lamp life over incandescent, as well as a color temperature that doesn’t emit heat, unlike the former, thereby straining the HVAC system. 

When residential customers are approached about using fluorescent lighting, however, Seward said many recoil at the thought, recalling early incarnations of the technology which rendered it cold, flat and blue or white, much like LED lighting is now. Fluorescent lighting works much better with skin tone now, according to Seward, and color temperature can be variegated, making it more acceptable for kitchen and bathroom use, with the only caveat being CFL’s inability to work with dimmers. “Most people want the fluctuation in a dining room to create different atmospheres in that room,” he explained.

Time for Recess

Where recessed lighting is concerned, people are beginning to embrace the idea of CFL’s in their recessed fixtures, according to Seward, because again incandescent light is synonymous with added heat. Fluorescents’ longer lamp life - about 10,000 hours as opposed to 500-700 hours for an incandescent A-19 bulb - is important, though it is nowhere near as long as LED lighting where a fixture reportedly left on, unattended, could potentially last nine years. “We’re just reaching the end of tests on LED to figure out how long they do last,” Seward said, in that they are part of an industry that has not yet been regulated. 

Somewhere in the middle, halogen lights, popular in retail spaces and in lighting residential art due to their color rendition, have a lamp life of about 3,000 hours.

On the environmental downside, fluorescents contain mercury, Stine explained, which creates a disposal problem. To that end, she often uses metal halide, around since the early 1960s, in her commercial designs. Though it has slow start-up properties, “it’s a very bright, powerful, clear light, and low-wattage."

Tasks-R-Us

With task lighting the new black, or rather green, and consequently in a huge bow to sustainable office practices, Seward said that instead of just covering the ceiling with light, businesses are using more and concentrated light such as a 3-watt LED task light. “You can see how that would take precedence over a 24- or 36-watt fluorescent in the ceiling,” he affirmed. Citing a trend popular in Europe for about eight years, high-powered fluorescent floor lamps with motion sensors act like torchieres, Seward explained, and are portable so if you change your space, you just pick up the lighting and take it with you.

At the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Illuminations, Inc. is involved in a 70-office project where floor lamps with bases in the shape of a platter, with powerful fluorescent lamps in the base, use the ceiling off of which to bounce light. A diffuser also impacts the light, so that task lighting is as available as the aforementioned ceiling light.

“Everybody seems to be concerned about doing the right thing,” Seward said, comparing the explosive growth of the lighting industry only to that of computers. “The industry is changing dramatically, and as business owners and lighting design specialists, we are constantly researching what’s next.”

All hail the Pearl Street Station.

Rosslyn's New Metro

Construction on Rosslyn's Metro upgrade will begin this month, adding a new entrance to handle Rosslyn's growing pull on the region, already crowded Metro station, and increasingly taller and denser neighborhood. The Metro station is already Virginia's busiest, with numbers likely to rise in proportion to Rosslyn's ongoing office and residential projects.

An official start date is not yet known, but Arlington officials expect work to commence by late October for a project that will replace the single slow-motion elevator with 3 high-speed elevators, a stairwell, and new entrance mezzanine at platform level. Arlington officials say they see the project as a boon to Rosslyn's development, increasing the capacity on the currently strained infrastructure with a redundancy that will not only handle rising traffic flows (now 36,000 daily), but eliminate the need for transfer buses and rerouting when the single elevator is shut down.
Designed entirely by WMATA and built by Clark Construction, the elevator bank will sit on North Moore Street just to the north of the existing elevator - on land owned by WMATA and by JBG, which intends to build its stalled Central Place project. JBG has granted an easement to Arlington for construction of the shafts. Arlington has authorized $35m in funding for the Metro addition, which it will build and manage until completion, at which point it will turn over the property to WMATA. The completed elevators will empty near the bottom of the existing escalators, creating a small new walkway - same ruddy octagonal tiles - to enter into the platform.

Construction is expected to be complete by early 2013, and will contribute to an intensive downtown construction schedule, coinciding with the start of construction at Monday Property's 1812 N. Moore St, work on which is expected to start immediately.
Arlington Virginia real estate development news

The Architect Also Rises

By Beth Herman

For intrepid Bethesda, Md.-based architect Mark McInturff of McInturff Architects, the brass ring opportunity to create what the press, and later the awards gods, would consider a monument to an equally intrepid theatre company wasn't found in a box of Cracker Jacks. Nor was it left under his pillow, or handed to him on a platter of warm Toll House cookies. For McInturff, who specializes in residential architecture, the opportunity to design a three-story, 35,000 s.f., 265-seat theatre replete with offices, production shops, a rehearsal hall, classroom space and two cafes in the Washington D.C.’s vibrant Penn Quarter wasn't a cakewalk, but it did come as a life-altering experience. "We were up against some big firms,” McInturff recalled about his somewhat unanticipated quest to build a new home for Washington’s audacious Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, “and some theatre firms – people who’ve done a lot of that kind of work – people with a big name for it: New York firms – and us.” By chance, according to McInturff, in the early stages of development, a member of Woolly Mammoth’s search committee had heard about the architect’s award-winning home designs and had said, “Maybe he can do a theatre,” McInturff quipped, still a bit incredulous that he eventually won the job. When push came to shove and the committee was in the home stretch of a painstaking selection process, McInturff said, “I told them, ‘The bad news is I haven’t done this before, and the good news is I haven’t done this before. So it’s going to be tailored to you and not to the last client I did a theatre for.’” Too Many Cooks Located at 641 D Street NW, and part of a large, mixed-use development for the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, wherein an arts component is government mandated, the theatre is a space within a building, or actually in the basement of the building, called the Jefferson at Penn Quarter - now the Lafayette condos. According to McInturff, at one point he and his team were, in fact, battling the developer in terms of the amount of parking space the latter needed for 421 condominiums and an array of shops, vs. using it for theatre space. “It really was about taking a piece of a building which was of almost no other use and making it work as a pretty significant cultural institution,” the architect stated. Sited 100 feet into the block and under a courtyard, and though largely subterranean in nature, McInturff said there were three floors in all that needed to factor into the design, noting “…it was very hard to decipher their relationships. They didn’t stack up – the way they went together.” He also recalled attending a play at the theatre’s former home in an industrial building off 14th

Street, where the space felt very constricted and the lobby separated the dressing rooms from the theatre itself. “It was not a conventional relationship (of rooms),” he reflected, explaining that patrons could be purchasing tickets and the actors, occasionally even nude depending on Woolly Mammoth’s de rigeur programming, would have to cross through to the stage. “The whole thing of seeing an actor in a public way - and then going back and watching them in the show – I thought that was really kind of interesting to take what is normally backstage and bring it forward,” McInturff said, compiling his list of possible components for the new space.

Raw Ingredients 

Inspired by Woolly Mammoth artistic director Howard Shalwitz and his peers, whom McInturff calls “brilliant, dedicated, tenacious and respectful of everyone’s creative process,” and at his own expense at the outset of the project, the architect elected to take a small contingent from his firm, including architects Julia Heine and Stephen Lawlor, on a kind of fact-finding expedition to London’s theatre district. Emblematic of the Woolly Mammoth’s proclivity for risk-taking, McInturff said he was not afraid to take his own risks and reveal how little he knew about the soul of a theatre, and how much he wanted to learn. Prevailing upon Shalwitz and a group from Woolly Mammoth to accompany his firm, McInturff asked the D.C. theatre contingent to show them “things that they really loved.” Accordingly, each afternoon was spent touring green rooms and back-of-the-house elements of a specific theatre, with a return to that theatre at night to observe the production itself from several different vantage points. “At intermission we’d switch seats,” McInturff explained, “so you could be in the mezzanine – you could be anywhere – and by the time you left at the end of the night, you understood the space entirely.” He also said that among the key ingredients produced by this kind of investigation was the intimacy ratio: audience to actors, which would inform his D.C. design. “The next day we did it again, and the next day we did it again,” he said of the firm’s multi-theatre experience. “It was very exciting. I was simply a sponge.”

Layers and Layers

Assimilating the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation structure’s raw, coarse basement-type elements (exposed concrete; block walls; unrefined joints, to name just a few), along with the building’s aforementioned directionless tiers and the findings of the London junket, into McInturff Architects’ ultimate design, the results were what Shalwitz eventually termed the “transparent theatrical laboratory.” Loosely based on open-concept restaurant design where everything is visible, the theatre’s offices, classrooms, rehearsal spaces and more are exposed to the public, some behind glass panels, communicating that while its thespians are widely celebrated, the Woolly Mammoth machine is far greater than actors on a stage. “All most people see when they go to a theatre is a small lobby, they see the show, and then they go home,” McInturff explained. “When you come to the Woolly, you understand that this is the result of tremendous amounts of effort by a lot of people working in the background, whether it’s the people in the office, or the box office, or in set design, or in rehearsal, or in classrooms – all leading up to what you are going to do, which is to see the event itself.” And the feeling of “the theatre within the theatre,” McInturff said, in respect to the courtyard model seen in London and reproduced in D.C., where the audience surrounds the stage on three sides, is manifested in a warm, wooden space within a concrete shell – like furniture dropped into a black box, he explained. The design is such that the audience connects and experiences real participation. “This really was one of the great projects of my life,” McInturff reflected, speaking to Woolly Mammoth’s commitment and creativity and his own personal journey, and comparing the theatre’s design and execution to building another signature residence. “It felt like doing a big house – a family house,” he observed. “It was the same kind of emotional involvement I have with my residential clients. I would just call it a different kind of house.”

Washington DC architecture and design news

Strand Theater Redevelopment Moves Forward with Zoning Approval

Yesterday developers and architects presented their plans for the redevelopment of the historic Strand Theater and won unanimous approval from the BZA. The Board also granted several zoning variances, permitting developers to expand a historic landmark and a contributing historic structure, as well as an increase in the FAR and a reduction in the required parking. The Strand Theater and the adjacent contemporaneous building located from 5127-5131 Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, NE in Deanwood are being packaged together in a redevelopment plan that sees both structures stabilized, renovated, and facades restored to their original grandeur. The ground floor of the renovated buildings will feature new retail options, while the second floor will house small incubator office space for "small and local disadvantaged businesses out of the Ward 7 corridor." In 2008, the District originally awarded the property's development to Washington Metropolitan Community Development Corporation (WCDC) and Banneker Ventures, but WCDC cut their ties with Banneker shortly after their initial proposal, and have since partnered with the Warrenton Group. Serving as fee developer, Warrenton's Principle Warren Williams attended the hearing in support of the project, providing the Board with a brief summary of the proposed redevelopment.

Architectural duties have been assumed by local firm R. McGhee & Associates, and their design plans, in cooperation with guidelines set by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), will assist in restoring the historically significant architectural features of the Strand (such as the lengthy front awning and detailed cornice work) and its accompanying sister-building. An in-fill brick addition serving as the "building core" is also in the works, intended as a contemporary interpretation of what the Strand might look like if built with modern materials. The interiors will be extensively gutted and renovated to accommodate the ground floor retail space (likely featuring a restaurant or two) and “affordable” office space set to occupy the building upon completion. Principal Ronnie McGhee, who was recently appointed to the DC Board of Architecture and Interior Designers by Mayor Adrian Fenty, presented the architectural specifics to the BZA, and assured the Board that their plans had official approval from the HPRB and ANC7C. McGhee also promised that the iconic, the lighted Strand Theater sign, would be restored to the roof of the renovated building, bringing a welcome glow back to the area's skyline at night.

In 2008 Mayor Fenty bragged that: "There will be more energy back on this corner for the neighbors who live in the Ward 7 community, east of the river in general and for the entire city." Unfortunately, that energy has remained bottled up in storage these past two years, as the property continues to sit vacant and derelict. The Holy Christian Missionary Baptist church across the street, calling the structures as the currently stand an "eye sore," is also excited about the re-ignited redevelopment plans. Reverend Steve Young testified before the Board in support of the project and offered up use of the church's parking lot to alleviate parking concerns, saying: "whatever is needed to accommodate the project we're willing to comply." Developers also cited several convenient bus-lines that may service future retail patrons as justification for a reduction in required parking. By way of community benefits, developers additionally promised that a dug-out basement level will provide space to be used as a community meeting center, and that newly planted trees will improve the streetscape in compliance with the Great Streets Initiative. It was also noted that the area is currently "starved of retail options." The Board agreed that this was a impressive and commendable project that offers a big first step in revitalization of the surrounding area, as well as thoughtful preservation of a historic landmark. While there is still no timeline for expected groundbreaking and subsequent construction, this Zoning approval activity is a positive sign that developers are moving forward with their plans. In the next step forward, developers and architects will seek the blessing of the National Park Service.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

County to Develop Arlington Mill Residences as Low Income Housing

As promised at the Arlington Mill Steering Committee meeting in September, during which details for the five-story, Davis Carter Scott-designed Community Center were presented to the public, Arlington County has selected Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) as the official developer of the residential portion of the Arlington Mill project. Groundbreaking on the Community Center is expected in early spring of next year, while construction on the 122-unit Arlington Mill Residences is expected to begin in June of 2012.

The low-rise apartment building, designed by local firm Kishimoto Gordon Dalaya Architecture (KGD) will offer six efficiency units, 18 one-bedroom units, 73 two-bedroom units, and 25 three-bedroom units. The entire building will be marketed as affordable housing, the majority of the apartments offered at 60% AMI, with a smaller portion (roughly a tenth) priced at 40% AMI. Developers boast that the design both complies with Columbia Pike Form Based Code and "will be constructed utilizing green building design and will be Earthcraft certified." Earthcraft offers a sustainability designation less rigorous than LEED certification. An open field for public use will provide ample green space for residents, and hoping to further encourage green transportation and exercise, developers designed the site with a direct link to the neighboring Four Mile Run park and bicycle trails.

Developers have projected the total cost at $30 million. To lighten the financial burden, APAH will seek financing from the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) through permanent mortgage financing and Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Paradigm Companies will serve as general contractor and property manager, Studio39 is slated to shoulder landscaping design duties, and VIKA will assist the team as civil engineers. Paradigm and APAH worked together with Arlington officials to complete the Parc Rosslyn affordable housing project in 2008.
Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

Arlington Boulevard Development Ready to Break Ground with New Owners

In January of 2008, the Arlington County Board approved plans to redevelop two "decaying old" strip malls at 2201 N. Pershing Drive into a mixed-use development consisting of 188 residential units over 35,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space. The project plans were originally developed by Abbey Road Property Group and anticipated to break ground in late 2009. But like so many development plans approved in 2008 just before the market rolled southward, the property has idled for the last two years. That may change. Equity Residential acquired the property and the accompanying development plans earlier this spring, and now the project looks set to move forward. In September, developers held a preliminary meeting with the Lyon Park Citizens Association, during which the attending public was informed of impending construction. Currently in the process of securing final building permits, and looking to award a general contracting bid next week, the development team expects to break ground on the project by December of this year.

Designed by SK&I, the traditional composite of brick, stone masonry, glass, and Hardie paneling (brick-like "cementitious" fiberboard product) will be set back several feet atop the glassy ground floor retail facade. The project consists of two buildings, each utilizing the same materials and rising four and five stories, designed to be LEED certified. Of the 188 units, 18 will be designated as affordable dwelling units. Structured parking behind each building will service retail shoppers, while a one level below-grade garage will provide parking for residents. Each building will hug its own small, central, landscaped courtyard, outfitted with benches, trees, shrubbery, and a small water fountain.

The Washington Smart Growth Alliance lists "reusing older shopping centers as a key smart growth strategy," making this development an apparent choice for its "Recognized Smart Growth Project" designation despite not being adjacent to a metro station (Clarendon Metro is about 7 blocks or three quarters of a mile). But adjacency to major bus routes makes the project a better example of urban in-fill. The influx of new restaurants and shops set to occupy the future retail spaces will make for an more walkable living experience for residents given the lack of immediate options. To further encourage public transit and green transportation alternatives, and garner more green points, over 85 bicycle spaces are being included in the design.

Pedestrians in Arlington may find it difficult to recognize any semblance of a recession on the street, but residential developments that were once popping up like spring tulips have been largely absent since the financial collapse. But clearly, Equity senses a barometric change. By investing in what is currently a relatively isolated block across from Ft. Myer, Equity Residential seems to be banking on a widening of the dense but narrow Ballston to Rosslyn corridor. While many projects remain on ice, signs of a thaw are significant. With such major local projects now on the docket such as 1812 N. Moore's speculative build out, Rosslyn Commons, and Skanska's Rosslyn office project, indicators of increased construction are apparent. Or perhaps Equity is enjoying the greater DC market, having signed leases with 182 new tenants within its first 90 days at its recently acquired 425 Mass Ave apartment, and is hoping for the same kind of success across the river.

Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

President Carter Digs Ivy City

President Jimmy Carter is in town today, but far from his old residence, as he starts his latest project in the District's Ivy City neighborhood. With few developers choosing Ivy City for their next big apartment project, the District of Columbia took matters into its own hands in 2008 and awarded 4 non-profit developers the right to redevelop, with District help, a smattering of vacant properties in northeast DC. Mi Casa, Inc., Manna, Inc., MissionFirst, are all taking part, but none as visibly as DC Habitat for Humanity with its former president in the roster.

While Mi Casa began their project earlier this year, Habitat is renovating 8 duplexes along Providence Street, beginning today, with the hopes of building several dozen more over the next few years to serve families at less than 30% of the AMI. Habitat has sold 7 of the 12 homes - 6 new and 6 renovated - and future owners will begin working alongside the professional contractors to complete the requirement of "300 sweat equity hours" for each owner. Less ambitious homebuyers can enlist "friends and family" for 150 of those hours, so those with friends moving to Ivy City might want to avoid phone calls from those friends in the near future.

The District is subsidizing the various projects through DHCD’s Ivy City Special Demonstration Project, the District is subsidizing the acquisition price for each property, in a bid to help stabilize a neighborhood isolated from development money and new construction.

The octogenarian president is in town only for the day, moving on to Annapolis tomorrow to throw his own sweat equity into his next project.

Washington, DC Real Estate and Development News