Thursday, December 02, 2010
If Faith Had a Color
Labels: Design, Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light
Ecclesiastes 11:1 - “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again.”
When members of approximately 300 congregations in 11 faith communities in the greater Washington, D.C. area set their sacred sails toward sustainability, the goal is not so much to find the bread again for personal gain, but to bake it into a world community that honors the resources of all religions, cultures and species resulting in an environmentally solvent planet.
Guided by the tenets and resources of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (GWIPL), a chapter of the national organization and project of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, congregants avail themselves of an organization that promotes green living and response to climate change with a three-pronged approach: education, replete with a faith-appropriate speaker’s bureau and film screenings of such titles as “An Inconvenient Truth” when it came out; greening congregations; advocacy. According to GWIPL Director Joelle Novey, the bottom line is that the group asks a fundamental question about what it looks like when people “really live their values.”
Liturgy and LEED
For Barry Lemley, past president of and current owner’s rep for Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church (CELC) of Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Md., GWIPL was highly instrumental in raising their awareness about what a small congregation can do to work towards changing the planet. A series of seminars called “Creation Care,” which spoke to ideas on improving the local and global environment, ensued both from the Church’s association with GWIPL and also Blessed Earth, an educational nonprofit that works with faith communities on environmental issues. Lemley also credited simple practices such as exchanging old light bulbs for energy-saving ones and reinforcing the idea of turning out the lights, as well as replacing windows in the congregation’s 1950s-era building, with raising CELC’s green awareness quotient. And while educating members about greening their own homes was a big part of CELC’s objective, perhaps the largest component for change is that the Church has been calculating a plan since 2003 or 2004, Lemley said, to redevelop its two-acre site on old Georgetown Road. “To just upgrade certain things and change some of the leaks wasn’t really the way to address environmental issues,” he maintained, adding it wasn’t the direction in which they wanted to go for the community. On October 26, Lemley said the county council approved CELC’s request to rezone the entire property with a goal of LEED Silver certification for the facility.
Chutzpah and Compost
At Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, Md., Green Tikkun (as in Tikkun Olam: repair of the world) Committee Chair Michele Lieban Levine, already an environmentalist who bikes or takes public transportation whenever possible, recalled attending a GWIPL-hosted meeting on faith-based environmental action in 2007 which resulted in a GWIPL-sponsored energy audit of her congregation. In search, initially, of what Levine and others called the “low hanging fruit,” the first matter of business was to reduce and eventually eliminate all use of Styrofoam that came from a daily breakfast, a regular Saturday lunch buffet following services, pre- and religious school refreshments, and other food-related activities of which Levine said there were many in the 1,100-family member congregation. Beth El also started a designated tax-deductible fund to receive contributions earmarked for green projects. “If it was going to cost more to buy recyclables or compostables,” Levine said, “that would be covered by the fund.” A decision to use dishes as much as possible, as opposed to any disposable products, followed, as did a series of “dumpster dives,” facilitated by a congregant in waste management, to analyze their waste content with a goal of 50 percent recycling. Funds were used to hire a professional composter to pick up compostable waste, and on Tu Bishvat, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the New Year of the trees, nursery school students learned about sustainability by utilizing a bag of compost to help plant parsley seeds.
Epiphany and Electricity
Following a stint at Green America, a national environmental nonprofit, and with lay training in clinical pastoral education where she participated in chaplain training at Washington Hospital Center (“…you talk to people from every background and no background, and you need to be a good listener and respond to their feelings more than anything else,” Novey said), Novey, who is GWIPL’s sole paid staff member, took the helm from the organization’s second director in September, 2009, when she realized the organization and its mission were a confluence of everything she cared about. “What does it mean to put our concerns about the world at the center of our religious community?” she asked, noting that because of our assault on the environment and accruing climate change, one-third or even one-half of the world’s current wild animal species population may not survive another 200 years. When Novey addresses groups about electricity, she examines that half of electricity which comes from coal, the environmental rigors of mountaintop removal mining, and pollution from coal processing and coal fire plants that precipitate climate change. “I bring it all back to the light bulb,” she said, indicating the connection immediately raises eyebrows and consciousness. “That’s the very first step.”
Solar Sabbath
At the 25,200 s.f. Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Md., Rabbi Fred Dobb, who is also Chairperson of GWIPL’s steering committee and a religious environmental educator since his junior year at Brandeis University in 1990 when took a year off to join a cross-country environmental education march (nine months: L.A. to NY), leads a community rooted in green. With its structure - which incorporated, rather than demolishing, a single family dwelling on the property into its design - completed in 2001, recycled carpets, the use of cork, organic gardens, Energy Star appliances and six individually-controlled HVAC zones, among other things, have set the pace for a building about to make synagogue history, environmentally that is. While Adat Shalom was already heralded as one of the greener congregations in the region prior to its association with GWIPL, shepherded largely by Rabbi Dobb’s affiliations with such entities as the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life (COEJL.org) and the national interfaith environmental organization Religious Witness for the Earth, this year GWIPL Director Joelle Novey “…was an indispensable part of a solar working group within Adat Shalom which will lead to the installation of a 45-killowat solar array on the synagogue roof,” Rabbi Dobb said. The array, which will displace one-fourth or more of the building’s electric use for decades to come, will be operational by the end of the year.
Based on the premise that accountability is challenging and climate change - with its often irreversible repercussions - is daunting for many and has become highly politicized as well, Novey observed that even in the five years since GWIPL’s inception, fewer people think the science of climate change is sound. “People are shutting down (to the concept),” she said. “It’s sobering to realize that in the largest sense, we’ve failed to educate the public.” With that in mind, GWIPL’s objective is to stay on message in a safe forum – the congregation – where people do not feel isolated and in fact already experience a sense of connection to one another. “It’s a place where they come to strive to be better, whatever that means in their tradition, or strive to walk a holier path,” she explained. “It’s exactly the place where we do think about changing our lives, our choices, our habits.”
Speaking to GWIPL’s continuing and evolving work in light of its global goals, Rabbi Dobb said, “We have wonderful leadership and a fabulous, wider faith community in the area which has long supported GWIPL. We want to bring more congregations into the orbit so they can receive (GWIPL-sponsored) energy audits, take advantage of our many ongoing resources and so we can hear their success stories.
“We see defending creation as a religious imperative no less than worship or ecclesiastical education,” he continued of the group’s mission. “We are called to the sacred service of securing a sustainable future for all of God’s children and all of God’s critters.”
Images 1-3: Adat Shalom
Image 4: Washington National Cathedral
NDC Proposes Redevelopment of Georgia Avenue Strip Mall
Labels: Georgia Avenue, Grimm + Parker, Neighborhood Development Company, Park View
Washington reports that while not many of the details have yet to come to life, several green features are in the works, as well as an indoor gym and media center. He expects "some really good, local retail" to occupy the ground floor spaces, likely restaurants and cafes. Down the street, where many online commenters were clamoring for Trader Joe's to become the 10,000 s.f. retail anchor of The Heights, a deal has not been reached with any specific tenant. "We've been in talks with Gary Cha [President] of Yes! Organic Market and a couple hardware supply stores," says Washington, "but no commitments have been made."
Back up the street, The Vue's zoning application was recently set down by the Zoning Commission. NDC's legal representative Kyrus Lamont Freeman at Holland & Knight expects the hearing to be scheduled for late February, about the same time Washington's team anticipates a groundbreaking at The Heights. In anticipation of the Zoning review process, developers have already briefed local entities on their new development plans; most recently NDC met with the The Georgia Avenue Community Development Task Force and have scheduled an informal meeting with ANC 1A for December 8th. While the Vue's completion is distant, Adrian Washington expects to deliver the building within sixteenth months of a construction start, placing a ribbon cutting somewhere during second quarter of 2012.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Douglas Scales Back Tenleytown Plans
Labels: Douglas Development, Shalom Baranes Architects, Tenleytown, Wisconsin Avenue
Indeed, the proposal has reverted back to a simple retail project, likely "a restaurant with lofty twenty foot ceilings," says Bender. Shalom Baranes will trash their sketches of a multi-story addition but continue to work with Jemal on the design aspects of the now much smaller development plans. While the dream of increased density at the site is dead, the shrinkage is reportedly financially-driven, not a result of the perceived difficulty of earning community support, as many may assume. Tenleytown has earned a formidable reputation for harboring a relatively small but vituperative group of NIMBYs, routinely cited for extinguishing developer's hopes of high-density development in the area. The group's most recent victims include the currently stalled seven-story Akridge development at 5220 Wisconsin Avenue (deceased) and the Tenleytown Safeway development, which remains indefinitely motionless in planning approval-limbo. Surely, American University students, faculty, and staff are trembling at the thought of receiving the reaction from the Tenleytown ANC when they explain their 2011 Camps Plan and their wish to relocate their Washington College of Law to Tenley Circle.
But according to Bender, Jemal's plans for a six story mixed-use development had not drawn the ire of Tenleytown residents. In fact, the project had the ANC's support, he says. But the necessary PUD approval process, sometimes costing developers upwards of a million dollars, was not financially feasible, compelling Jemal to pursue a more modest project. While the rumors that Tenleytown now has a more nuanced and friendlier attitude towards development may be true, the economy remains decidedly less charitable.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
ICG's Luxury Georgetown Hotel Still Alive
Labels: BBG-BBGM, Castleton Holdings, Georgetown, ICG Properties
Certainly good news, but stay seated, there remains much work to be done, before the physical labor can actually begin. "Once we close on financing," says Stern, "we still have to get a final project architect on record, and then go through six to nine months of planning." Current designs, provided by BBG-BBGM, are very much preliminary in nature. But the finer details will be hashed in early next year as the community relations, HPRB, and Zoning processes commence.
As currently proposed, the five-story hotel will feature 48 guestrooms and suites and an upscale restaurant and lounge overlooking the C&O Canal. Other highlights include an executive boardroom, a rooftop pool and bar, and exclusive spa. Remodeling of the exterior will be mostly cosmetic. “It won’t be a demolition," Stern reiterates, "The hotel renovation would be primarily interior renovation work.” With an expected construction time of approximately 12 months, developers hope to deliver the new hotel by the end of 2012.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Monday, November 29, 2010
Del Ray Project Stalls
Labels: Alexandria, Del Ray, Maginniss + Del Ninno
Last May, would-be developer Julie Wadler anticipated that the project, more a passion than a business shift, would be underway this fall, integrating the community with design input, locally designed art projects for the facade, and public access to the rooftop garden. The city has not issued construction permits, and plans have been shelved for now.
The concept was to transform the property, which sat tantalizingly close to Wadler's Epiphany Productions, into refined, carbon-light office space worthy of a LEED Gold rating, phenolic panels (a recycled composite) and a "farmable, vegetated roof." Wadler purchased the property in 2005 for $1.2m and has spent the intervening time on its design and pushing it through the city.
"Part of the reason for building in the first place was to put something green there. If we're going to do it, we're going to do it right," said Wadler last May, who has now put nearly 6 years into the project.
Old Town-based Maginniss + Del Ninno designed the building, and Wadler held a competition for two mosaics that will adorn the building's entrance. A 9th grader from Alexandria and a 7th grader from Arlington won the contest for the 7' x 6' mosaics; their schools will be responsible for producing the final piece at the still indeterminate moment of production.
Alexandria, Virginia real estate development news
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Mr. Callison Builds His Dream House
Clearly architects, film buffs and maybe a few former Hollywood civilians, such as I, know the Cary Grant classic (see story title) by a similar name, where unwitting advertising executive Jim Blandings, wedged into a cramped NYC apartment with his family, takes leave of his home and his senses when purchasing a deeply plagued fixer upper in the hinterlands of post-war Connecticut.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Perseid Adventures at 14 & W
Labels: Dorsky Hodgson and Partners, FLGA, Helmuth Obata and Kassabaum (HOK), Perseus Realty LLC
Recently queried on the matter, Cohen would only answer that Perseus is unwilling to comment on the status of the project. He asserted that no official date has been set for a groundbreaking, but revealed that "[w]e'll be ready to announce something in the next couple weeks." Whatever could that something be? Developers Perseus, and their partners on the project Capmark Investments LP and FLGA Real Estate Group, had at one point anticipated a 2010 delivery date (the project "broke ground" in September 2008). But the market-plunge has booby-trapped the finance game, understandably complicating the developers' pursuit of funding, and Capmark declared bankruptcy in 2009, making the thought of a 2010 start date a pleasant surprise. Complicating the matter is the requirement to deliver a turn-key YMCA. But with lending spigots reopening for DC's multi-family market, and a passel of multi-family projects in the offing up and down 14th Street, Perseus and its backers appear to have found the heart to build now. The already thin District budget does not have any available funds to push the project along, and have previously granted a generous 20 years of tax abatement and $1 million in forgone sales taxes on construction materials for the project.
Helmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners provided the design for what several online commenters have called an underwhelming facade. The residential portion will rise six largely glass-paneled, rather-vanilla-flavored floors above 12,200 s.f. of ground floor retail space and 170 below-grade parking spaces. Although somewhat plain, the building does show potential for elegance, if it can acquire some of the stone and metal detailing that give appealing character to industrial buildings like the Central Union Mission, the Studio Theater, and the stylish car-showroom turned upscale Italian restaurant Posto.
Developers have promised that eighteen units will be reserved for families earning less than 60% of the AMI. The centerpiece of the development is the the new Anthony Bowen YMCA, a 44,000 s.f. recreational and community facility to feature a "pool, state-of-the-art cardiovascular and resistance equipment, group exercise studios, and a child care area." But for now, local residents will have to build endurance at nearby gyms or stick to in-house push routines, as the YMCA doesn't look to be redone anytime soon.
Update: If you haven't already noticed the reports from the comment thread below, the 14th and W redevelopment project was recently sold by a Perseus entity to Jefferson Apartment Group (JAG), an Akridge affiliate, for $7.5 million. JAG also brought the Rockpoint Fund to provide much-needed equity. Perseus will stay on as development partner, and construction is expected to start as early as December 1st.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Dominion Heights Development Anxious to Break Ground
"Community feedback was very positive," reports Christopher Companies Executive Vice President John Regan Jr., "Everyone just really wanted to get this thing started after five years of waiting." The County Board obliged, and now after several years of meddling with the real estate plan while lack of financing slowed up the project, developers are ready to move forward with a recent influx of capital. But a little more sitting and waiting is in order, as the final site plans must be okay'd and building permits issued. Designated a “Special Revitalization District, ” the project site will soon (relative term) feature four stories of residential space stacked atop 8,000 s.f. of ground floor retail which will likely feature a restaurants. Developers have also proposed a small office space for the building, as well as a two-story below-grade parking garage offering 130 spaces.
The brick building will be horizontally banded by precast light-colored stone and a detailed faux-wood, oversize cornice, as well as vertically accented by protruding, dark-green, aluminum bay windows. A minor setback of the top floor allows for penthouse residents to enjoy an outdoor deck; while a 5,000 s.f. landscaped terrace is also available for use by the entire building. Features like shower areas for bicycling retail workers and preferred parking for low-emission vehicles will help the building achieve their LEED Gold rating upon completion.
Developers are anxious to get their hands dirty as soon as possible, but don't expect the County to give the green light for a groundbreaking until April, says Regan. Construction will last 14-18 months.
Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News
Monday, November 22, 2010
NoBe Gateway: White Flint Blowin' Up
Labels: ProMark Realty, WDG Architecture, White Flint
The Sketch Plan is a rather new requirement in the Montgomery County Planning process that further drags out the frustration of developers, but extends the tantalizing spectatorship of real estate development junkies. Goldfarb explained it as literally the "very first step in a several year process." Although the Sketch Plan only offers a basic understanding of the overall development concept, with many details likely to change, it also provides an interesting chance to witness a development project slowly transform from a zygotic aerial diagram (this one drawn by architects at WDG) to full-grown actuality (one hopes). Upon completion of the first two phases of North Bethesda Gateway, developers intend to deliver three office buildings, a hotel, extensive ground-floor neighborhood retail options, and a variety of rental and condominium housing opportunities situated in three distinct multifamily buildings. Developers seek to create a pedestrian friendly atmosphere with this redevelopment; by including several large public plazas in their plans, streetscape improvements, and extensive landscaping, the project will provide a walkable transition from the White Flint Metro to White Flint Mall.
Given that the development site is adjacent to the White Flint Mall, White Flint Plaza shopping center, and less than a quarter mile from the White Flint Metro, as well as bounded by Rockville Pike with the North Bethesda Marketplace just across to the West, developers believe they have the epitome of a transit-oriented urban infill project in the works. The development, though still in the embryonic stages, joins a wealth of activity in the area's development pipeline. JBG's North Bethesda Phase II, and Federal Realty's Mid Pike Plaza are in line on the train of development that Goldfarb insists will eventually make White Flint "the economic engine of Montgomery County." Chew on that Bethesda.
Montgomery County, MD Real Estate Development News
Stonebridge to Start Phase 2 in NoMa
Labels: Harris Teeter, HOK Architecture, NoMa, SK and I Architects, StonebridgeCarras
Firstenberg, who pre-leased 100% of Phase 1 to GSA and DOJ before trading the building, said Phase 2 will be "targeted to go after some of these large GSA bids that are out there." Stonebridge will again use SK&I Architects to design the residential space and HOK Architecture for the commercial portion. The residences are expected to be available by late 2012, the office space should be ready for the first tenants in early 2013. The third and final phase of the 7-acre site, still in conception, will add 470,000 s.f of office space.
Firstenberg says the restaurant, to open in March along with the hotel, will be "NoMa's first upscale, sit down restaurant," good news for residents at the Flats 130 where 60 of 440 units have leased since its opening October 1st, and where significant retail leases have already been signed. Stonebridge is expected to flip the office building once lease-up is complete. "We're not long term owners in the project" said Firstenberg.
A Black Belt in Kitchen Design
In the ever-evolving, big-ticket world of kitchen renovation, particularly in the toniest of D.C., northern Virginia and suburban Maryland neighborhoods where the average culinary redesign can cost $50,000 - $200,000, eviscerating the kitchen is not for the faint of heart. At the apogee of kitchen reinterpretation, former North Carolinian Beverly Glover-Wood of Bethesda-based Glover-Wood Interiors has spent the last decade transforming tired and/or inefficient kitchen spaces, emulating trends while simultaneously honoring timeless, traditional style (an admitted favorite).
“I love houses and hunkering down,” Glover-Wood said of her passion for residential design. “I love what dwellings give people: They’re a place of refuge. I love the solace a house gives you.” As for her deep-sea dive into kitchen design, Glover-Wood said at the outset of her design career in 2001, she’d envisioned doing everything residential work required – every room in the house, which is still the thrust of her business. However because clients continue to be centered on kitchens as seminal gathering places, creating spaces that reflect both the heart and hearth of the homeowner is often the direction of her work.
Pen to Panache
Leaning toward more classic design herself, Glover-Wood revealed that her father, an architect who retired only last year and is currently 88 years old, is every inch a contemporary architect and many of her kitchen (and other) designs are a confluence of different time periods. With an interior designer-mother and a sister also in the design world, Glover-Wood’s immersion into the industry was admittedly exciting and comprehensive (as a child she accompanied her father to some of his jobs), though unwitting.
“I didn’t go into design first and was actually an English lit major who worked as a writer and editor,” Glover-Wood revealed. “As a writer, you’re inner-focused because you’re creating in your brain. But as a designer, you’re always noting design out in the world: how buildings are designed; arrangements of furniture; color - which is wonderful. It’s a different kind of creativity.”
Applying her own creative stamp to kitchens, the designer has observed a shift in the last few years away from the “more is more” modus operandi back to thinking less is more. “Because our economy was booming, we were always going up, up, up and people were doing more and more grandiose things with their kitchens,” she recalled. “They had to have top-of-the-line everything: faucets; sinks; stoves – everything kept getting bigger.” She added that one can only have a kitchen that’s so big, because pretty soon it’s no longer a workable space.
To that end, and with energy efficient appliances always paramount, many of her clients are moving away from the commercial stoves of the beginning of the decade into more practical appliances. Some of that may have to do with condo living in the District and retirees and empty nesters downsizing, she surmised. “Once you’ve had a 42-inch stove, with so many burners, and you’ve done all that (she added the mammoth stoves are harder to clean), you learn that you can do just as well with a 36- or 30-inch stove today. Viking and Wolf make more traditional products, with Dacor a little more contemporary, but all with special features perhaps not even available 10 years ago. “You can get a 30-inch GE glass top electric stove that has five burners and one that can handle a grill,” Glover-Wood said, also speaking to the age-old gas vs. electric debate. “I’ve always loved gas because it’s very quick,” she explained, “but the new electric cooktops are phenomenal in that they’re about as fast – or faster – and probably just as hot.” GE’s Advantium oven promotes what the manufacturer calls “speed cooking,” with features that include convection and microwave options.
Baby, It’s Cold Inside
Where refrigerators are concerned, Glover-Wood referenced a 19th Street D.C. row house redesign where a neglected basement became the centerpiece of an active family’s home life. “It was a perfectly good basement (structurally) that walked out into the back yard with a hot tub,” she said, where the family did much of its entertaining. The basement was accordingly gutted and made into a play space for the children, as well as into a little kitchen to complement the primary one upstairs. “I was able to get small but really good appliances,” the designer said, noting the ice maker and tiny Viking stove, as well as a Lieber refrigerator – very narrow, to acclimate to the small space. “I’m also seeing a lot of under-counter refrigerators,” Glover-Wood said. “Doing two refrigerators but putting them under the counter works well in a small space.”
Trend-wise, in full-size spaces many people are opting for “counter-depth” refrigerators as opposed to the older 31-or 32-inch models. Explaining that a counter-depth refrigerator has a trajectory of only 25 inches from the wall (the handle may contribute to an extra inch), and the counter itself is 24 inches, aesthetically it works better “…and you don’t have a chance to grow green things in the back because you’ve forgotten about them,” the designer said. Revealing that she likes the look of stainless steel juxtaposed against warmer wood elements in so many kitchens today, the designer said stainless steel is better on a large appliance anyway so people don’t have a big wood refrigerator. “It’s a clean, contemporary look in the middle of a traditional kitchen,” she explained.
Counter Culture
“Some people are actually coming back to Formica and Wilsonart for countertops and saying, ‘It’s not so bad; maybe we should go with that,’” Glover-Wood affirmed, citing a digression from expensive granite. “I do think granite is dying out. It’s not quite as popular as it used to be,” she said. Acknowledging that so many products are in use today, she noted people are still using marble though at one time the industry thought it might phase itself out because it’s a softer material. “The British have been using it for eons, and I see it creeping back into kitchens,” she said, adding that quartz products such as CaesarStone, Silestone and Zodiaq have also remained in vogue. “People do want new things, but they are a little more balanced about how they spend their money,” she said, adding that the trend in islands – even small ones that respect a smaller space – can serve to eclipse a long trip from the sink to the refrigerator and may therefore be a practical investment. “I put a small, 18-inch-deep island into a 12x14-foot kitchen (in a new house, an island is generally 4X7 feet), where we only had 3 feet to walk around on each side, but that’s all you need,” she said.
Declaring that paint, for her, “is the be-all, end-all,” Glover-Wood said that if somebody just wants a new look, paint can entirely change the space. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, she explained, painting 1980s townhouse kitchen cabinets, for example, will refresh and modernize that space without spending thousands of dollars.
“I think the thing today is that everybody really wants a workable kitchen,” she said. “As designers, even with everything that’s out there, it’s our job to keep it that way.”
Friday, November 19, 2010
Hilton Residential Addition Gets 2-Year Extension from HPRB
Labels: Beyer Blinder Belle, Canyon-Johnson, Lowe Enterprises, Washington Hilton
As Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Steve Calcott explained to the Review Board (HPRB) earlier this week, like so many others development, "this project has been put on hold due to the depreciation in real estate values, increasingly stringent lending requirements for residential projects, and general economic downturn." This time represented by Architectural Historian Andi Adams of Goulston Storrs, developers successfully acquired a two-year extension on their nearly expired HPRB consent as per Calcott's recommendation. It was a more somber success than their 2008 victory.
The extension is precautionary, as their approved plans and stated course of action are far from set in stone. Project developers recently submitted construction plans and a permit application, and reviewers determined that the plans are inadequately detailed and proposed alterations that would require further HPO vetting and HPRB final approval. VP of Construction Managment Mike Mansager at the Lowe's Washington Hilton confirmed that the project was on hold, and that details like number of units and architectural specifics remain up in the air. "This is entirely market-driven," he explained, "everything is in flux and subject to change." Dansinger did admit that a two year extension doesn't mean two years of inaction, as the project could get moving again quickly if the market continues to improve.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Thursday, November 18, 2010
The Arts at 5th & I: Closer Than They Were
Labels: Donohoe Companies, Holland, Shalom Baranes Architects
Memphis Holland of Holland Development says that she and her team are optimistic that financing will be wrapped up by mid-December. Talks concerning the release of the property from the District to developers are "still in process" according to Holland. She promised, however, that they are "closer then they were," and hopes to have a deal finalized by the end of the year. But even if the deal can't be wrapped up prior to Vincent Gray's inauguration as Mayor, Holland explained that "we've been in communication with Gray's transition team for some time, and they're on board." Such words point to slow but steady movement in the right direction, but certainly do not serve as a precursor to groundwork, as the Zoning process awaits, and architectural details must be ironed out through a succession of informal and formal meetings.
Correction: Jad Donohoe of the Donohoe Companies recently contacted DCMud to amend one of the above facts, saying "I’m the project manager on this effort, and we are not in talks with the Gray team." Memphis Holland confirms this misinformation and apologized for the error. It should be affirmed, however, that the current DMPED staff has been in communication for some time now with Gray's transition team members, briefing them on all major projects.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Classically Styled Townhomes in Old Town Get a Modern Kick
Labels: Old Town Alexandria, SGA Architects
These days it seems every new proposed multifamily condominium in the metro area has some sort of green roof involved, but it's rare that one reads or hears about green-roofed townhomes. For architect and developer Sassan Gharai of SGA Companies, who recently finished a twin home project in Old Town, it seemed logical to offset the heat island effect with a little rooftop landscaping, no matter what size the building. The rooftop not only provides environmentally friendly greenery, but a superb deck that offers spectacular views of the Monument and the District's treasures lying just beyond the Potomac. Listing agent Alan Dalton of ADMC Realty Group says of the property, "This is an unusual amount of space for Old Town, with both modern finishes and classic charm of the historic neighborhood—and everything you could need at your fingertips. Another rare treat is the phenomenal 1,000-square foot master suite with fireplace, luxury bath and walk-in closet that is the size of most bedrooms!"
While many of Georgetown's luxurious old homes offer an explicit glimpse of economic tensions, as two, three million dollar brick mansions stand opposite decaying subsidized apartment complexes, Gharai's newly finished rowhouses offer a vision of a modern, sustainable, mixed-income community. Just down the street development group EYA are spearheading the long overdue redevelopment of the rundown James Bland Additions, currently operated by Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA). The five full blocks of redevelopment will be named Old Town Commons, adding 245 market-rate and 134 affordable homes to the neighborhood. This more attractive and harmonious juxtaposition of diverse and distinct socioeconomic groups is mirrored in the design of Gharai's building, as the the simple aesthetic is reflected onto two halves of the home, one half utilizing brick, and the other employing side paneling.
Although each home is accompanied by a spacious backyard and two parking spaces, other modes of a transit are readily available. Each home has two parking spaces, and is located just four blocks west of the Braddock Road Metro. Residents can enjoy the outdoors in their spacious backyards or head four blocks east to the Potomac River for a walk, run, or bike ride on the beautiful Mount Vernon Trail. There's plenty of space indoor to explore as well, as each home swells to a whopping 4,000 s.f., making sure there's enough room for the five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths, lower level au-pair suite or home office with kitchen and separate entrance, elegant, state-of-the-art kitchen, and living and dining rooms. If all this sounds like a great place to call home, make your next address 712 Wythe Street for $1,249,000. Having labored some five years through the trying zoning approval process in Alexandria, Gharai says he is looking forward to finally finding two happy families to enjoy the comforts of his creativity.
Old Town Alexandria, VA Real Estate Development News
Forest City's Parcel D: The Yards Gets Moving
Labels: Affordable Housing, capitol yards, Forest City, Shalom Baranes Architects
Under their current Parcel D plans, two towers totaling 225 apartments (20% of which will be offered as affordable housing at 50% of AMI) will rise 102 feet in the air, extending from a single differentiated base structure that will house the 50,000 s.f. grocery store (rumored to be Harris Teeter) a 30,000 s.f. health club, and a few smaller "neighborhood-serving" retail spaces. Developers are in final negotiations with several tenants, and will make announcements as soon as leases are executed, for now renderings reveal them simply as "grocery" and "health club." Below grade parking will serve the retail uses, while a third floor parking deck sandwiched between the grocery store and apartment towers will provide spaces for residents.
Project Manager Alex Nyhan of Forest City told ANC6D that he and his team were optimistic that the predicted LEED Silver certification could be upgraded to an ambitious Gold rating by the project's end. Shalom Baranes is responsible for the building design, which has evolved significantly over the last three years as architects and developers responded to the suggestions of the HPRB, the NCPC, and the surrounding community. While plans are firming up, there is still plenty of work to be done. Senior Vice President of Development Ramsey Meiser at Forest City explains that even if all goes swimmingly next month at the zoning hearing, architectural plans will still need to be finalized, and building permits must be secured, likely a six to ninth month process. "I'm hoping to have construction under way by the middle part of next year," Meiser says. Once a groundbreaking happens, excavation and subsequent construction is expected to last 20-24 months.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Rosslyn Mixed Income Apartments Redeveloped "Using Density Not Dollars"
Labels: Affordable Housing, AHC Inc., Arlington, Bush Construction, Rosslyn, WDG Architecture
Although traditionally the goal of AHC Inc is to pack as much affordable housing into a development as possible, with this project half of the proposed 160-170 units reserved as affordable housing. But developing a mixed income community makes the project more financially sustainable, and most-importantly, negates the need for County subsidies, a selling-point in the approval process. Indeed, compromise is the name of the game, and in cooperation with the surrounding neighborhoods, developers have reduced the bulky mass and originally proposed height of eight-stories, to a slimmer, more manageable, and community-requested six floors. But support for the building's size and density is far from overwhelming, so developers will continue to appeal for more widespread community input and support, as they feel theirs is a worthy cause.
Built in the 1940s, the aging affordable apartment community is a reminder of inequality and inefficiency amidst the ever-expanding hustle and bustle of the business-centric Rosslyn. Not far from where two of the regions soon-to-be-tallest buildings recently broke ground, aging heating systems, inefficient windows and appliances, no central air conditioning, and handicap accessibility issues make the 41-unit building at 1545 Key Boulevard a candidate ripe for a radical makeover.
To put their new motto to the test, AHC is proposing to transfer development rights from an affordable apartment community they finished renovating in 2007. Because the project adhered closely to the historic character of the Gates of Ballston aesthetic, with its low-rise garden-style design, the project remained under developed, leaving excess development rights available for transfer and reuse. This technique is rather common, reports AHC, but transferring rights from one neighborhood to another (Ballston to Rosslyn) is "an innovative approach to maximizing affordable opportunities in the transit corridor." Although it's uncommon to transfer development rights from projects separated by some two miles, developers believe the opportunity to create transit-oriented, energy-efficient, affordable housing justifies the unique strategy.
Preliminary architectural schematics for the 70 ft. tall building are being offered by WDG Architecture. Developers have purposefully offered limited detail in their renderings; in order to remain adaptable and responsive to the always evolving back and forth of the community involvement process; Joseph P. Weatherly, Senior Project Manager at AHC explained his team had refrained from "engaging WDG to put too many specific ideas on paper until we feel like we have more comprehensive support from the entire community." However, designers have included planning for a rooftop terrace and green roof. The proposal also includes underground parking, a community center, neighboring park, and a landscaped courtyard. The community center would serve as a base for various resident programming, including after-school programs for children. AHC continues to work diligently alongside Bush Construction Corp., their general contractor and development partner. But with community dialog still ongoing, and the County Site Plan approval process still to come, developers don't expect construction to commence until at least January of 2012, and the expected delivery date arriving some twenty four months later.
Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News