Jubilee Housing to Renovate and Expand Adams Morgan Property

A vacant, boarded, and derelict facade in Adams Morgan is set for a makeover and a fresh tenant in the new year, as local non-profit and affordable housing provider Jubilee Housing recently received approval from the BZA to renovate 2448 18th St, NW. The narrow, four-story brick building is sandwiched between the bright blue Reef and the red and white Draft Pix and will abandon its former life as a mixed use (residential/retail) building for new beginnings as a non-profit administrative headquarters.

The juxtaposition of eyesores and eye-popping color is a common theme in

Adams Morgan, but not necessarily a welcome one, as ANC1C voted unanimously to approve the developer's plans. One ANC member explained their appreciation for any change for the better to the BZA, saying of the property: "It’s been abandoned for six years, it’s gone through several different ownerships, it’s been blighted property during that entire time." Jubilee had apparently been the only entity to make a genuine effort to reach out to the community and communicate their plans for restoration and reuse. Such was news was ultimately appreciated by the local ANC and well received by the BZA.

Project architect Ronald Schneck of Square 134 Architects describes the building as being "in very poor condition," forcing a rather aggressive renovation (a level III renovation for the jargon-heads out there). This is essentially new construction, as almost 50 percent of the building will be gutted and renovated, with building codes forcing the installation of two new staircases and an elevator. These additions essentially made the traditional ground floor retail and residential space above unfeasible, as roughly 800 s.f. of usable ground floor space didn't exactly have local businesses lined up around the block for tenancy.

"You end up carving up the available space in such a way that you have bad housing and you have bad retail, neither works well," explains Schneck. As consequence, the space will become the operation headquarters of one of Jubilee Housing's affiliate organizations or another local non-profit with a "similar social mission": Jubilee Jumpstart Daycare Organization, Columbia Road Health Services, or Primary Healthcare Organization, etc.

Earlier this year Jubilee finished restoring the Ritz to use, and even more recently completed the resuscitation of the 23-unit Sorrento and the 47-unit Euclid with a well-attended ribbon cutting ceremony earlier this month. Without wading into the merits of subsidized housing, seemingly always a sticky subject on comment threads across the blogosphere, the revival of a dilapidated and crumbling facade is good news no matter how you spin it.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Congress Renews $5000 DC First Time Homebuyer Credit

Hidden in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, signed by the President on Friday, was a provision extending the $5,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers in DC for another 2 years. The tax credit had expired at the end of 2009 and was renewed for 2010 and 2011. The Federal tax credit is a $5,000 below-the-line credit against federal taxes for the purchase of a home in DC for taxpayers that did not own a principal residence in DC during the previous year. As happened this year, the credit usually expires and is renewed retroactively at the end of the year, leaving homebuyers a period of uncertainty about the tax ramifications of their purchase. The credit was tucked into the tax deal extending tax rates across the board to their current levels. The nationwide $8,000 tax credit for purchasing a home expired last summer. 

Washington DC real estate development news

Tysons Takes on Colossal Development Projects

Fairfax county has officially begun work today on the second of two projects that developers hope will constitute a monumental remake of the beltway suburb. Together, the real estate megaprojects will add two metro stations, millions of square feet of office, reshape the streets, and build untold condominiums and apartments on over 50 acres of land in central Tysons. County planners today "officially accepted" the Capital One application for study, and will now begin the long process evaluating the 23 acre development as they recently did for the Georgelas Group's "Tysonsdemo" project that will transform 28 acres over 3 sites in central Tysons. The two projects have more potential to change the face of Tysons than the sum of all other proposed projects combined, and County officials acknowledge that today they can move the process from the minutia of filing requirements to public consideration of its merits.

The Georgelas project was the first - possibly of many - accepted for consideration by the county under the auspices of the newly minted Comprehensive Plan, a restructured set of guidelines designed to move Tysons from its suburban inception to an urban grid. Tysons Planners have been meeting regularly with Capital One and Georgelas executives to hammer out a workable proposal, and today's technical acceptance of the Capital One plan moves the project to a full staff review with public comment periods. The staff will ultimately forward their recommendations for the two projects to the Board of Supervisors for judgment. The turning point, albeit a technical one, was welcomed not just by the sponsoring developers but by a county that has struggled for years to craft a metamorphic plan in what has been an urban planner's nightmare - wide, high-speed streets that isolate buildings and kill meaningful retail.

"Its a big deal in the sense that Capital One [and Georgelas] are the first projects that will begin to transform Tysons" said Brian Worthy, Public Information Officer for Fairfax. "Its very exciting that these proposals are taking advantage of the new plan," said Worthy. "Capital One’s application helps to advance the transformation of Tysons Corner into a walkable, livable urban center because it proposes high-density, mixed-used development near the Metro. This is exactly the kind of transit-oriented development that the plan to transform Tysons calls for." Capital One officials were unresponsive, but other participants in the process made it clear they thought the proposal had strong transformative potential. The site plan calls for 5 millions square feet in total development - 2.1 million s.f. of office space rising as high as 392 feet, a thousand or so residential units rising 20 stories, as well as hotels, parks, plazas and retail, all connected to what will be a brand new Tysons East Metro station. The design team includes Bonstra Haresign as Urban Planner and Architect and William H. Gordon Associates as Civil Engineer and Landscape Architect.

The Georgelas Group plans to redevelop 28 acres on three sites throughout central Tysons, with 14 buildings totaling more than 6 million square feet designed by WDG Architecture and Parker Rodriquez landscape architects. The plan includes office buildings that rise up to 360 feet, a Metro station and surrounding plaza, central "civic park", apartment buildings, and retail incorporated into parking garages at street level to mask their street presence topped with "sky parks."
Development will be balanced with civic areas and hotels that planners gauge will result in an overall presence of 65% office space and 20% residential usage. All office buildings will be designed for a LEED Silver ranking and for residences to earn general LEED certification, all designed to achieve "the urban aesthetic vision for Tysons."

Still, the proposal's impact is theoretical, as the plan must meander through the approval process, and Capital One has little inclination to start building right away, or even committing to a time frame for its first building. While it tentatively calls its 15-story office building adjacent to the current headquarters "the most likely to be constructed in the near term," it only promises to keep the plan as "an option...should the need arise." Similarly, attorneys for the Georgelas Group note that a full build-out "will take years perhaps decades" to complete even under the most optimistic scenario. Work will begin first around the new Tysons West Metro station with its tallest office building and possibly a condominium and retail element at the same time, but no timeframe is even hinted at in the planning documents. Cityline Partners and Mitre will likely precede the two with plans for a 340,000 s.f. office building likely to move more quickly through approval and into construction.

"We're at the start of a 40 year process," says Worthy, cautioning against expectations of a sudden transformation for Tysons. In fact some involved in the process see significant technical and practical hurdles in a vision that ties in Metro stations and extends streets while attempting a more cosmopolitan texture. "These guys will be guinea pigs for a brand new process," says one source familiar with negotiations, "all of this is too new to make any bets on how quickly it will proceed."

Tysons Corner real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

I remember walking past this house years ago, on my way to Adams Morgan, and seeing squatters lurking in the driveway. At one point, I'm pretty sure it didn't even have a front door. Now it's been exhaustively renovated and you can grab the penthouse unit (pictured) for just under $1.5 million. I'd buy it myself, but I'm poor.

The property is eye-catching even from afar, a hundred year old Victorian mansion with a circular driveway and grand entryway. Entering off 16th Street, you head up a winding staircase to the penthouse, encompassing the entire third level of the house. The place is open and bright, with beautiful blondish hardwood floors and exposed pitted brick. Those curved, wraparound windows face west onto 16th, and are right off an italian-style gourmet kitchen, outfitted with Miele and Bosch appliances that are more finely engineered than most cars. Even if you can't cook, you could store shoes in them or something. There's a gas fireplace in the living area, custom tiled baths, and the whole unit wired for ipods and surround sound. They've really thought of everything.

There are three bedrooms and two and a half baths, which are all quite nice, but the real draw here is the roof access. It's not the typical roof access where you have to climb up a shaky iron ladder bolted onto the side of a crumbling facade; the centerpiece of this unit is a floating staircase that leads up to a massive skylight that opens outward to allow you to walk right out onto a large roof deck. You can see almost all the way up to Meridian Hill Park from up there, and it would be a perfect place to relax on a warm evening, or to send your significant other when they're being annoying. (I'm sure I'd still be with my ex if we'd had a roof deck for "time out.") There's even a large glass firepit up there, for grilling and whatnot. I couldn't help but imagine myself living there, looking sympathetically down on passersby from my roof, nearly all of whom would no doubt live in inferior properties. "Do you have a glass firepit in your roof garden?" I would shout down with just a touch of smugness. I would probably do this semi-regularly until someone called the police on me.

1841 16th Street NW #4

Washington, DC

3 Bdrms, 2.1 Baths

Parking

$1,499,000

Lex Architects

By Beth Herman

The Japanese are famous for their economy of space. Who doesn’t recall the indelible “Seinfeld” episode where Kramer accommodated his Asian guests at bedtime by tucking them into large dresser drawers – and closing them. While this may be an extreme example that fired up TV ratings, for centuries, Japan, a California-sized country that supports 125 million people, has understood the profound impact of doing more with less. For D.C. and McLean, Va.-based FOX Architects, the concept of economy of space/maximizing workplace efficiency for area law firms, in light of evolving technologies and soaring real estate costs, is just the beginning of a litany of 21st century trends they must address, many propelled by progressive NY and European law firms.

With concepts such as the universal office, shared or interior associate offices, consolidated library or information spaces and flexible support areas already in play in venues such as NY, London and other points abroad, transforming the D.C. law office, firmly rooted in the "every attorney gets a windowed office paradigm,” is not a task for the shrinking violet architect. Observed FOX Architects Principal Jim Allegro, “It has taken the most challenging economy in decades for people to start thinking differently in D.C.”

Double (means less) Jeopardy

According to Allegro, in a down market a year or so ago, “…it was on everyone’s mind that if we were going to have to give back space, how would we make sure it worked within the minimum footprint?” To that end, and speaking initially at a D.C. Association of Legal Administrators meeting where he addressed return on design, the architect identified trends that have particularly taken hold in more adventurous law firm markets where associates double up and share a space, significantly reducing the firm’s footprint. “They’ll often start out that way when they build new space,” Allegro explained, “rather than it being just a growth strategy where you suddenly get invaded by a second occupant after you’ve been sitting in your office for a year.

“In some NY firms, they essentially have two attorneys facing a common work wall,” he said, with a shared work surface in between. Noting that he must frequently address the prevailing issue his law clients raise about maintaining confidentiality on conference calls and the like in shared offices, Allegro said some firms elect to handle this by providing more small meeting space where one leaves one’s office to make a call of that nature. And because the law profession is by nature collaborative with mentoring a common condition, the boon to working in a cohabited space is the opportunity to quickly share information–something limited and difficult at best if individuals are isolated.

Sanctioning Size

At the D.C. office of FOX client Reno & Cavanaugh, the firm has embraced universal office design and attorneys in shared spaces have everything they need to function including a work surface, guest chairs and overhead storage in each office. “Some of the meetings that may have occurred in partner offices are now in common, shared conference rooms,” Allegro said. “This particular office saw the value in streamlining office size, but it’s also a very egalitarian type of firm with less hierarchy compared to other firms.”

Though a “one size fits all” formula where fixed office size is assigned to both associates and partners is not a popular mindset, Allegro said, for those who understand and make it work there is increased flexibility. Based on the standard that the hiring of an associate, or the promoting of an associate to partner, traditionally precipitates the proverbial move to the corner, or larger window, office, if everybody gets the same size space personnel changes affect nothing, though occupants may differentiate their space with furniture. Reconfiguring of the perimeter is limited because everyone’s essentially in the same footprint. According to Allegro, an office like this may also be augmented by siting it next to a conference room, and a senior partner might have a door that connects his or her office directly to a corner conference room with easy access.

In terms of the prevailing D.C. windowed office issue, Allegro has produced a plan for a hypothetical 43-attorney firm, where perimeter (window) spaces include both partner and associate offices, along with a sprinkling of conference rooms. Support staff (paralegals; secretaries; law clerks) fills interior spaces at about 15 to 20 percent of the entire footprint, with the attorney/secretary ratio at 3:1, which Allegro called a fair metric today, adding that in some cases it is even 4:1.

“It used to be that you had a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio–every partner had a secretary or a couple of attorneys shared one, but those days are gone,” Allegro said, with younger associates doing much more of their own word processing and administrative tasks. With some of the interior spaces collocated with a perimeter conference room, natural light filtering through mitigates excessive use of energy draining artificial lighting so often associated with office interiors. At 700 s.f. per attorney on a 30,000 s.f. space, this represents a very efficient floor plan, Allegro concluded. If one ups the ante and increases the attorney count from 43 to 50 and reduces the number of secretaries (a market trend Allegro said has already taken hold), the attorney/secretary ratio jumps from 3:1 to approximately 6:1. At 600 s.f. per attorney, that 100 s.f. per attorney savings, seen on an annualized basis at a current $50 dollar per s.f. rental rate, can deliver a savings of $250,000 in the first year alone, adding up to $2.5 million over a 10-year lease.

Leather Bound Graveyard

In the past, Allegro noted law offices mandated significant interior space for books, periodicals, filing, records management and other paper-intensive functions. Evolving digital technology such as scanned and barcoded documents precludes the need for previously dedicated massive law libraries of the past, resulting in spaces that require on average only a fraction of their original footprint. Because lawyers as a rule no longer spend hours in libraries perusing pendulous volumes, and with databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis readily accessible on one’s laptop, records footprints are minimized and in fact these interior spaces can become the office café, or a breakout space, where staff can get away from a desk, sit down and do some actual reading, for example. In fact Allegro has coined the term “Libr-area,” a hybrid space that merges the library function with utility space such as a café or circulation corridor. Carr Maloney PC and Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP are two D.C. law firms and FOX clients that have effectively incorporated Libr-area into their design.

For larger law firms such as the D.C. office of Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, the concept of collocating support functions such as conference rooms to create one large conference center is fairly commonplace now, Allegro said. With increased conference needs, sprinkling these rooms throughout what may be a multi-floor facility encourages separation and in effect polarizes colleagues who may never see one another, the architect explained. Channeling them into a conference hub promotes staff interaction and centralizes technical, hospitality and other accruing conference room functions for maximum efficiency.

Cutting Edge Discourse

Carrying the collaborative torch to its pinnacle where office configuration fosters frequent associate interaction, as well as partner to associate mentoring, Allegro said in many respects Europe is years ahead of the U.S. Citing the example set by pioneering global law firm Eversheds, which bills itself as “the 21st century law firm” and has won multiple awards for innovation from Dubai to Shanghai and more than two dozen countries in between, Allegro said Eversheds’ London office leads the way in the open law office concept. Attorneys sit in actual work groups, he explained, defined by furniture systems, adding that initially he and his group assumed this was done solely for economic purposes - to save real estate. “What was compelling was that their main goal was not economics, but to get attorneys talking and interacting more – to return the practice of law to a high level of collaboration and mentoring,” he said, noting that in the states, “most people would fall out of their chairs” at the mere suggestion of an open plan law firm.

Speaking to the future of U.S. legal design, and D.C. firms in particular, Allegro emphasized that characteristics such as function and flexibility are the cornerstones of maximizing workplace efficiency. “Trends withstanding, we do what we can to help the client,” he said.

Early Randall School Redevelopment Renderings Emerge

If it appears developers of the Randall School redevelopment project melted a stripper's platform shoe and molded it atop a replica of the historic Southeast school, you don't need to get your eyes checked; you're seeing correctly, as such is the earliest published rendering of Telesis's plans. Yes, it's rather gaudy, but don't hyperventilate just yet. Involved architect James Brown of Bing Thom Architects explains that the model was simply a very loose experiment to see how the massing of the structures might play out; but it was mostly "a way of getting people excited about the project," he qualifies. Excited, or scared?

"We're in the very, very early stages," Brown reiterated, it all (the programming and the design) "could change drastically." What is certain is that earlier this year the Corcoran Gallery sold the property and abandoned their plans to expand their College of Art after their partnership with Monument Realty fell apart. The buyers were Miami art collectors and museum founders Mera and Don Rubell, who forked over $6.5 million for the three-acre site, sporting a partnership with local firm Telesis, and grandiose plans to build a high-end hotel, a large residential component, and the first satellite location of their Miami museum.

Now, several months later, with some of the kinks in the original property disposition worked out, the development team is ready to hone in on their development plans. The schematic design process will begin in February, by which time the programming will be more solidified. The basic concept is certain: residential portion, art museum, retail (restaurants, museum shop, boutiques), and some sort of hospitality component, all totaling roughly 500,000 s.f.. What's left to be determined is whether the residential units will be condos or rentals, and exactly what shape the hotel-aspect takes on. The necessary market research is currently under way to aid in these sorts of decisions.

As for massing and the architectural detailing of the buildings, those specifics will come into focus as the Zoning process unravels; Brown says the development team hopes to submit their PUD application in September of next year, with construction drawings firmed up and permits issued by late spring, early summer of 2012. With an expected two year construction process, that puts a delivery somewhere in mid-2014. Brown explained that the development plans as they stand are rather ambitious for the site, forcing designers to push the density of the project towards I Street, with buildings likely cantilevered over the restored Randall School structures. Brown thinks the auditorium space in the old school buildings would be ideal for a restaurant, with "beautiful vaulted ceilings, and a plinth along the sidewalk that has great potential for tables and chairs." A portion of the historic school will likely operate as the lobby to the art museum, which will open out the back into a middle courtyard. The developers will also reestablish Half Street through the site, bringing it half a block in its current direction, and turning it left to connect with First Street. This will allow proper traffic movement through the site, and have the back of the buildings serve as the main entrance.

Given the historic nature and unique character of this project, an abundance of public meetings are sure to accompany all stages of this process. The development team, headed by Marilyn Melkonian President and founder of Telesis Corporation, has already held two preliminary meetings with ANC6D. Luckily, both the Rubels, who overhauled the Capitol Skyline Hotel across the street, and project architect Bing Thom, who designed the highly-regarded and well-received Arena Stage, have an established and positive relationship with the surrounding community. And they will surely need all the good-will they can muster if the final design looks anything like this early edition.


Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Fenty Gives DOES Staff Early Christmas/Goodbye Present

This morning Mayor Fenty and the Department of Employment Services (DOES) celebrate their brand new headquarters at 4058 Minnesota Ave NE with an official unveiling. Likely the government staff to have worked the hardest over this past year, it's fair to say they deserve some fancy new digs.

The five-story, Devrouax & Purnell-designed mixed-use building neighbors the Minnesota-Benning Metro Station, encouraging District employees to use mass transit, and offers over 200,000 s.f. of top-notch workspace, as well as 7,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail space and a four-story parking garage. The new headquarters is one of many efforts by the District and partnering developers towards revitalizing Ward 7; it is hoped the headquarters is eventually joined by the Linda Joy and Kenneth Jay Pollin Memorial Community Development and City's Interests' 15-acre Parkside Residential.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Your Next Place...

By Franklin Schneider

Buying property is definitely one of the major milestones in life, signifying "I am now an adult and an integrated member of society." Buying a place like this is sort of the next step, signifying "I am a god among men: bow before my twenty-five foot ceilings and private terrace (with a view of the Capitol)!!!” If I lived in a place like this, I'd carry pictures of it in my wallet.

Located in the 105 year old Bryan School, in Eastern Market, maybe my favorite DC neighborhood (busy but not as congested as Dupont or Adams Morgan, less stuffy and imposing than Georgetown or Capitol Hill proper), this place is an eye-opener for even the most jaded open houser. The first thing you notice when you walk in is that it's absolutely massive; with 25-foot ceilings that seem even higher, it feels like you could fly a kite in here. There are two bedrooms and two full baths spread out over 2400 square feet, and massive windows everywhere. It was overcast when I visited, but the place still seemed full of light. There's a spacious kitchen with granite countertops and a large bar, a dining area with a gas fireplace, a family room, and cherry floors. And topping it all off is a semi-autonomous den that opens via four sets of french doors onto a huge private terrace. From out on the roof you can see the Washington Monument and the Capitol, so close that it seems you might be able to throw a rock and hit the dome. If I wasn't such a patriotic American, I might try. (“But Officer, I have a constitutionally-protected right to political protest!”)

1315 INDEPENDENCE AVE SE
#PH34
WASHINGTON,DC 20003

$1,299,500
2 Bdrms, 2 Baths

Parking

Groundbreaking, Or At Least Ground-Moving, at Nehemiah Shopping Center

This past fall DCMud promised, after assurance from UDR developers, that the former Nehemiah Shopping Center construction site would be activated with a groundbreaking, and that the "rubble [would] at least be pushed around soon." It appears such has happened, as several earth movers have been seen rumbling around the site for the last few days. This is potentially (stress potentially) significant news for a project that seemed destined to remain unstirred; since the unveiling of plans from the original developer in 2008 and subsequent demolition in 2009, the lonely fenced-off block has seen no action.

While UDR refused to confirm or deny the start of construction, as it is "internal policy not to comment on such" according to one anonymous developer at their Washington office, it seems apparent field marshal (a.k.a. general contractor) Donohoe Construction has ordered troops (a.k.a bulldozers) into the field of battle. It marks the beginning of a who-knows-how-long (developers won't say) process to stack 255 one and two-bedroom apartment units on top of 18,500 s.f. ground floor retail. The project calls for 198 parking space to be half hidden, half buried on the back western portion of the site. The retail spaces could house as many as five different tenants, or as few as two, and will be reserved for businesses that supply neighborhood wants and needs: such as a grocery/convenience store, restaurants, bank, café, etc. UDR's corporate headquarters are expected to release more specific information about the project once it becomes official in the company's next quarterly report, those numbers are likely to come out in early February.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

National Harbor To Get 350-Unit Apartment Building

National Harbor, the 300-acre multi-use waterfront, Pleasantville-wannabe development on the shores of the Potomac River in Prince George's County, Maryland, is set to receive its first apartment building in the nearish future. With an expected late-2011 groundbreaking and 2013 delivery, the recently-announced project will see 350 new apartments atop 25,000 s.f. of ground-floor retail courtesy of Bozzuto Group. The Peterson Companies, which originally spawned the concept of National Harbor, and has seen nearly 75% of its 400 current condominiums sold, 40% of its 46 townhomes sold, and four manor homes sold, not to mention the construction and opening of the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center as well as a plethora of neatly packaged retail. Peterson contacted Bozzuto over the summer about bringing the “fourth residential food group" (i.e. apartments) this to the development site. With the market steadying, and long-held dreams of building at National Harbor, Bozzuto gladly accepted the offer.

National Harbor, which will eventually feature 10 million s.f. of development programming if Peterson's ambitious plans are left unhampered by any future market meltdowns, already contains a whopping six hotels, two marinas, three condo buildings, and a slowly growing number of shops and restaurants. The new apartment building is proposed for the intersection of American Way and Fleet Street, catty-corner from a new CVS and Potomac Gourmet Market, both set to open their doors within 120 days, according to last week's press release. Even more action is on the way, with a 500-room, 15-acre Disney resort hotel project promised by the entertainment conglomerate in 2009, the 140,000-square-foot Children's Museum expected to break ground next year, and the return of Cirque du Soleil in 2012. The apartment building will be LEED certified and will include the standard throng of amenities, a pool, fitness center, cyber cafe, billiards room, media room, and one wild card feature, a "Zen garden" (sounds mysterious, and also a little cheesy).

For those who wonder what kind of soulless creatures would seek shelter in a cookie-cutter concrete jungle so vanilla and seemingly void of authenticity; first, lose the self-righteousness and nauseating alliteration, and second, you're apparently not alone. Residential population remains only around 500, with condo sales slow after a fast start out of the gate in 2007. However, swaths of convention-goers keeps the area feeling busy.

By no means a full-blown, sell-out hit, the development has, however, had slow but steady improvement and a strange cult following, as well as a heavy influx of visiting shoppers and diners arriving in the summertime. But National Harbor is not without its detractors. Despite the myriad of freeways within reach, and a couple water-taxi services, Smart Growth advocates have cited the limited mass transit options as a significant flaw in the development, and a Metro stop doesn't look to be arriving any time soon. Furthermore, cuts in local public busing budgets have angered Prince George's County residents, all while the County has subsidized a new bus line shuttling tourists and Harbor residents between the Green Line's Branch Avenue and the Harbor's convention center.

While it might not be the most environmentally-friendly operation, or beacon of smart-growth development innovation, it's hard to argue with the market, as the project continues to line up a healthy list of big-name suitors, pack its convention center and hotels with corporate conferences, as well as keep residential sales relatively steady.

Prince George's County, MD Real Estate Development News

Four Points Teams With Comstock On Two DC Redevlopment Projects

After a lengthy hibernation in development limbo, Four Points LLC's W Street Townhomes, which earned HPRB approval in 2007 and a go-ahead from Zoning in 2008, is finally moving forward after developers announced their newly formed joint venture with Comstock Housing, a move that no doubt provided the capital injection necessary to jump-start a couple dormant projects. The project, now being nicknamed Cedar Hill, is planned for the corner of W Street and 13th Street SE; at roughly 40 units, it will be one of the most significant multi-unit residential construction projects to hit the streets of Historic Anacostia in many years.

The PGN-designed development will include a combination of larger, single-family townhomes and duplex-style units that double as condominiums. The seven single-family homes will each offer three bedrooms, a parking spot and a front yard. "What we tried to do is capture along W Street the historic nature of Anacostia," explains project architect Jeff Goins, "and then also create something unique for the neighborhood." Developers are waiting to hear back on their applications submitted for necessary building permits, but expect that they'll be able to break ground by mid-2011.

The joint-venture between Four Points and Comstock will also initiate redevelopment of a Lamond Riggs community, a development that went before the Zoning Commission as far back as 2006. The Northeast project that was most recently dubbed The Hampshires, with the design process headed by Arthur C. Lohsen of Frank & Lohsen Architects, proposes approximately 110 units, a healthy mix of townhomes, single family homes, and condominiums. The project also include a generous amount of green space, arriving in the form of a large, centrally located “great lawn,” as well as a number of smaller parks and gardens. The development will replace what was most recently the Med-Star Health facilities, and utilize a series of vacant lots along the 6000 block of New Hampshire Avenue, Peabody Ave, and Quakenbos St.

Each development will offer 10-20% of the total units at affordable housing rates. In a press release issued by Comstock last week, Four Points Principal Stan Voudrie said "We are big believers in the continuing demand for reasonably priced, for-sale housing in Washington, DC. These joint ventures with Comstock will allow us to deliver exactly that in both the Lamond Riggs and historic Anacostia neighborhoods." Christopher Clemente, Comstock's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer added: "We believe the strength of the Washington, DC area economy, and the demand for new housing in the District of Columbia provides tremendous opportunity to complement our existing platform in the greater Washington DC area."


Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Tax Abatement For NW1 On the Way, Groundbreaking Around the Bend

Phase One of the Northwest One project, located at 2 M Street NE, is progressing steadily towards their predicted 2011 late first quarter groundbreaking. A tax abatement bill for the property passed smoothly through the first round of deliberation at last week's District Council meeting, and has been put on the consent calender for the next Whole Council meeting on the 21st. The 10 year abatement would begin in the fiscal year 2015, and relieve developers from up to $5.7 million in District property dues. Developers at William C. Smith and Co. also report that they're nearly half way through the process to lock up financing through HUD’s Section 220 loan program. It seems a waiting game on multiple fronts, with plenty of time to cover all the bases before construction begins; project manager Steve Green reports, "We're in for every building permit there is."

The 12-story building, designed by Eric Colbert & Associates, is the first new construction project under the District-conceived New Communities Initiative, a program aimed at improving both the physical and social conditions of some of the District's most troubled neighborhoods. Not only will the transformation offer affordable places to live, but will also include social services; comprehensive efforts will be made towards connecting residents with job opportunities, offer guidance towards financial stability, and programs to reduce crime and substance abuse. The new construction, to be carried out by WCS Construction, will offer upon completion 314 units, as well as an on-site fitness center, pool, and basketball court. Fifty-nine of the residential units will be reserved for those earning 30% AMI, 34 at 60% AMI, and the remaining 221 will be rented at market rate. The building will also include 4,000 s.f. of ground floor retail.

Earning a lot of firsts, the building will be the initial installment of the Northwest One Initiative, the first neighborhood makeover of the New Communities program. The expansive project will offer much-needed development-first-aide for the scarred, crime-plagued real estate extending from K Street in the south to New York Avenue in the north, and stretching from North Capitol Street in the east to New Jersey Avenue in the west. The initial building will claim $82 million of the estimated total of $700 million in development and construction costs. The project's next phase will likely be the construction of a building directly to the north of phase one, but developers aren't getting ahead of themselves just yet; the lengthy two-year construction time for the first phase projects a delivery in the early part of 2013.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Country Club Redux

By Beth Herman

When members of Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, Md., mulled over a makeover in 2007, the architectural equivalents of Botox, Juvederm or Restylayne simply weren’t going to cut it. In short, and because the two-story, then 34-year-old facility found itself addressing the needs and requirements of a young, progressive membership, cosmetics were only part of the picture.

According to designer I. Michael Winegrad of I. Michael Interior Design, with members on the younger side and despite cutting edge classes that included “cardio tennis,” the emphasis was still on golf with an eye to the club’s Rees Jones-designed course. At the same time, a demographically different club roster wanted anything but a staid country club crown-molding-and-wainscot environment. “They are much more contemporary,” Winegrad said of his clients who were seeking redesign of the venue’s three restaurants, conference rooms, boardroom, locker rooms, ballroom, foyer, pro shop and more. “They wanted to emphasize food and décor as much as golf. They wanted to create real atmosphere.”

Under the Knife

Renovated several times, including facelifts and more invasive changes in 1988, ’92 and ’95, according to Lakewood General Manager and CEO Eric Dietz, the 33,000 s.f. club house was somewhat outmoded in its design and features and had anemic function space in some areas that undermined both its goals and ledgers. While a commercial or hospitality renovation is often precipitated by circumstances that may include a leaky roof, worn carpeting, peeling wallpaper and frayed or damaged furniture, and Lakewood’s redesign was propelled primarily by the 21^st century lifestyle of its members, the comfort card also factored in. “The foundation for the project was something that a member told me,” Winegrad said. “He called the club a second home,” so the renovation needed to reflect that.

To that end, Lakewood’s Rees Jones Grille –a heavily-trafficked but tired 1,600 s.f. space accessible from the golf course where, with no dress code and cleats on their feet, golfers could relax over a burger and beer–received a 1,713 s.f. addition. Winegrad said because the popular Grille was really the focus of Lakewood’s renovation, multiple concepts were explored with the end result a defining, masculine, upscale sports bar that includes a marble bar, recessed lighting, dropped ceiling of sapele wood veneer for intimacy over the bar, fabric and sapele wall panels, a sturdy porcelain tile floor that emulates the look of wood and various flat screen TV’s visible from every angle. The addition itself, which for view purposes at most country clubs would have reverted to an all-glass structure (an attempt was made to do this by Lakewood’s architect), was redirected by interior designer Winegrad who had his own philosophy about framing views vs. bringing the outside in, the latter of which is a common request.

“For me, uninterrupted glass is not a good thing and I limit it,” the designer said, adding that it does not allow definition of the space. “You need to have a sense of human scale to the room to feel secure and comfortable. It’s the same reason people are so much more comfortable watching TV in a small room than in a big one,” he explained. To achieve that balance between comfort and view, Winegrad used wood panel separations between the glass, where lighting and art could further define the space and help frame the view.

In another area of the Grille, the floor had been dropped about 10 steps down, Winegrad said, like a dated pit. The resulting space was unusable and enigmatic at best, with a small TV stuck in a corner, so he raised it to a two-step drop and created a functioning card room atmosphere, delineated with bifold glass doors so it wasn’t quite as open or susceptible to noise.

Guest Augmentation

In Lakewood’s foyer, dramatic in scale but muted slate grey upholstered wall panels (textile panels also punctuate the hallway) and wall sconces characterize a sophisticated space. According to Winegrad, the club decided to make this area more of a concierge point, as the original reception desk was not located here, and it was important to create a signature first impression.

In the ballroom, which can accommodate 265, among other moderate changes doors were relocated for flow, and crystal-droplet-and-fishing-line lighting fixtures add sparkle to formal functions. Possibly paramount to the ballroom changes, Winegrad combined a space across the hall used to store tables and chairs with another room, converting them into a single 300 s.f. bride’s changing suite. “This is a big selling point for the club,” Winegrad said, in that Lakewood’s ability to host weddings was mitigated by its inability to support their casts. In the new design, the bridal or wedding suite has an elegant, ample changing area, full bath, multiple bays for hair and make-up furnished with Swaim white leather chairs, wall sconces, silk tasseled draperies and other graceful notes. “This is income for Lakewood,” Winegrad stressed.

Prescription for Prosperity

With hundreds of residential, commercial and hospitality designs on his dance card, Winegrad admitted Lakewood, whose redesign met with considerable acclaim by its members, was one of the few country clubs he’d ever undertaken as an interior designer (Seawane Country Club in Hewlett Harbor, NY, was his first). Establishing that each club is different, with some choosing to emphasize tennis over golf, or children’s amenities, swimming and the like, he said he applied the same principles used in the balance of his work to the Lakewood project, completed in 2009, with function being the only changed element.

“My approach and aesthetic value and judgment are always the same,” he reflected. “Designers have a position they come from – their design criteria. What’s important, even more than individual materials, is what the space looks like, its feeling – the end result. I guess that’s what you would say is the signature of any designer.”