Mike and Kirk’s Excellent Adventure

By Beth Herman

Decorated since 1966 for their work in areas of preservation and sustainability, and listing a few “memorable” feats like successful rescue efforts to shore up Frank Lloyd Wright’s legendary Fallingwater in Bear Run, Pa. in their fight book, NY-based structural engineers Robert Silman Associates know something about building. When the time came to expand and renovate the firm’s Georgetown offices, and with an open office culture tantamount to sustainable elements, the conversation quickly turned to aligning discourse with daylight, collaboration with carbon footprint.

“The new space is like a big studio, more representative of an architectural firm than an office for structural engineers,” said architect Michael Sewell, who, in nothing less than a philosophical pas de deux with his client, created an open space that trumpeted RSA’s past, present and future.

Occupying slightly more than a 6,000 s.f. floorplate on the top floor of a two-story industrial building–the former Knoll Furniture showroom–at 1053 31^st Street NW for eight years, victims of what Sewell termed a “dental problem” where chopped offices characterized the space, RSA doubled its footprint in a 2010 lease renegotiation, seeking to consolidate its operation into “one cohesive whole,” said RSA Principal Kirk Mettam. Noting the D.C. office had grown from a force of one (himself) in a row house in 1998, to six people at the outset of the original Georgetown lease, to nearly 40 people today, Mettam called the current building’s location on the edge of a canal “one of its great, defining characteristics.”

With a north-facing wall and perimeter windows along the entire length, daylighting is a primary ingredient in a structural souffle that includes the calculated absence of elements like walls and ceilings. “Being structural engineers, we like the sort of tectonic idea of seeing structures and systems,” Mettam explained of the volume over his head. “It also provides a great opportunity for daylight to reflect upward,” he added, noting the addition of up/down lighting for short winter days. Removing two mason walls and replacing them with glass opened up the front space, which according to Mettam also provided an easy transition back into the workspace. “It lends itself very well to letting clients walk through without making them feel as though they’re onstage,” he affirmed.

As Long As There’s the Two of Us

Working together on past projects such as the renovation of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, before Sewell had whittled his own shingle, just prior to 2010 Mettam approached the architect with RSA’s laundry list–readily corroborated–which included ideas for open offices, more breakout spaces with a kitchen and library, exercise equipment, lockers and shower, and a bike rack. “We’re extremely bike-centric,” Mettam said of the office culture, speaking to the building’s prime, high transit location which inched it up in the LEED Silver certification process RSA is pursuing. Noting the firm’s mantra is “creating, renewing, preserving and sustaining,” Mettam said the new design clearly parallels all of this, crediting Sewell with supremely executing RSA’s vision, which the architect clearly shared.

“It’s infinitely preferable when you’re working with someone who speaks the language and understands what you’re doing,” Sewell said of the process, citing what he called “a steep education curve for people not used to the design or construction process.” Careful not to offend lay clients who make up the brunt of an architect’s practice, Sewell qualified his statement by quipping that now, “Kirk swipes all of my tricks.”

LEEDing the Way

Where LEED was concerned, Mettam revealed that RSA’s quest for sustainability is firmly rooted in the firm’s namesake’s–Robert Silman’s–indelible commitment to the same. The NY-officed Silman, for many years a green design leader of record in the general design community, as well as in the international engineering arena, underscored the firm’s search for the Georgetown space eight years ago with the mandate that “good, natural light and some degree of operable windows” be available, Mettam recalled. Accordingly, and even prior to the current renovation, RSA has kept partitions low, sacrificing privacy but embracing light, vistas and cooperation. Aligned in this regard and others with SRA’s NY headquarters, which occupies the top three floors of a Greenwich Village 12-story building, Mettam said RSA D.C. “debated ad nauseam” every conceivable green option, not only as each related to LEED, but to sustainability overall.

Saluting best practices as well as LEED, Sewell, who is also an adjunct professor of design at Catholic University’s School of Architecture and the University of Maryland, said all of the space’s finished materials are either high post-consumer content, high recycled content, rapidly renewable wood floors, low-emitting paints and high efficiency CFL light fixtures. “A lot of (RSA’s) clients, who are architects, are on the L - K Street corridor, a 10 to 15-minute walk from here, so staff can walk to their meetings from here,” he noted in a nod to pending LEED points.

Equal to the Task

In light of staff spirit and revealing what he called a “trial balloon,” or upcoming practice the office hopes to implement, Mettam’s “green ceilings” project is admittedly in a nascent stage but not without potential. Because of its ability to flourish in ambient and reflected natural light, RSA plans to purchase a number of Devil’s Ivy plants, something Mettam describes as a “fast growing and creeping” (one employee boasts she has one that is currently 30 feet long). Weaving the plant in and out of the open ceiling’s trusses, “we’re going to have a little race,” he said of his staff’s intrepidness, noting plants will start out over various desks, careening toward the outside wall. “We’re really excited about this,” Mettam quipped.

Of their collaboration in creating RSA’s D.C. design, Mettam said because his group had occupied the space for so long, they knew what to ask of it. “We knew all the answers before Michael showed up,” Mettam said wryly, “but he challenged us when we needed to be challenged, and we probably challenged him too. What resulted was something so well thought out that functions beautifully. The design represents the quality and aspirations of the firm.”

Camden Readies to Build New South Capitol Apartments

While land development in southwest DC takes on a somewhat leisurely pace for most, some developers think the time is just right, especially if the soil in question is right across from the stadium, which is not really southwest, after all. Such is the case for Camden Property Trust, which is about to start developing a 276-unit apartment building on South Capitol facing Nationals Stadium. The WDG-designed building will take up the now vacant site north of O Street, sparing the historic townhouses along North Capitol, with a very small retail space. Mark Coletta of Camden says the project will break ground in March with a June 2013 completion date, with the timing warranted by the generally full capacity of the adjacent Capitol Riverfront area. "The supply and demand fundamentals are now back where you can start to make sense of new development, by the time we deliver there will be a bit of a [housing] shortage." 

Coletta says the residence will offer a rooftop pool and deck, underground parking, and possibly (no explicit promises here) droolable views into the ballpark just across the street. Most units will have balconies and floor to ceiling glass for Nationals fans to watch the game from their couch and save time spent in an expensive beer line. No matter that southwest is still in its development infancy, just look east, not west. "The entire neighborhood is what you'd call an emerging neighborhood...now you're hoping you can get the retail to come and fill in some of the gaps, then you're going to start to complete the neighborhood....it will be a pretty cool feel on game day," says Coletta. With near southeast nearly at capacity within its completed projects - both commercial and residential - the development of southwest has an obvious logic. And with no other projects south of the Capitol building - SE or SW - near construction, Camden will have the only new building on the market, with enviable marketing exposure to large crowds, new parks all around, and possibly a long bike trail wrapping around it, even if the retail is still wanting. Camden acquired the property in 2007 and has hired Donohoe as the general contractor. 

Washington DC real estate development news

A Kick Start for Buzzards Point?

Buzzards Point, the southern tip of the District above Anacostia, is about as desolate a neighborhood one can find in the DC region - empty lots, equipment storage fields, and an overall post-industrial decay that makes ballpark visitors quicken the walk back to their car late at night. An actual buzzard circling above would not seem entirely out of place. But all of that is going to change, and one local developer thinks that time might just be nigh.

The promise of the area is obvious, close to the Capitol and a focal point for DC's highways, the region is still secluded and private, and is surrounded by water, and the area's largest developers like PN Hoffman (along Water Street) and Steuart Investment (with more than 5 acres at the tip of South Capitol) and Akridge among them. But Duane Deason, who bought the empty 20,000 s.f. lot on the Anacostia back in 2004, when a new baseball stadium was maybe, just possibly, coming to southeast, has plans for an Eric Colbert-designed condominium, and thinks the time is right to start.

On the boards is an 80-foot high, 97 unit condominium nearly fronting the water behind the marina. "If you had asked me in the 3rd quarter of last year I would have said we were quite a ways away, but right now I'd say we are moving much faster...the market has notably improved, and I think its a good time to take advantage of that." Deason has an upcoming hearing before the Zoning Commission and is actively pushing ahead. "This is our first hearing before Zoning; there's no such thing as matter of right here, but we're sort of there, we don't need a PUD [zoning change] to do this."

Deason has little company at the moment, the other Buzzard Point developers are sitting on their hands, reasoning that there it makes little sense to develop in isolation without a pre-signed tenant. "Eventually I think it will be a great place" says one developer with skin in the game nearby that is choosing to wait. Deason is confident. "Eventually there's going to be other places, with the PN Hoffman development there, but there's a view of the water, the Coast Guard is there for another 5 years or so. There is the planned riverwalk, that will come. There are a couple of big landowners there that will cause a huge change." Deason says he paid under $1m for the property, including all costs associated with the acquisition, and that while he doesn't have a development financier, he has no financial pressure and will consider a joint venture partner.

"Being only 75 feet off there water, there's just not alot out there that currently that offers that, with a view of your boat...I love the waterfront and I just thought it was a fantastic location" said Deason. "The views are phenomenal because its on a point, almost every unit in the building will have an outstanding view of the water." Deason says most of the units will be less than 1000 s.f., and the new inclusionary zoning rules mean another 7200 s.f. of affordable housing.

While Deason may not have any immediate residential neighbors on the waterfront, another residential developer in southwest has the same sense of potential value and will break ground much sooner, you can read about that at DCMud this afternoon.

Washington DC real estate development news

Your Next Place...

By Franklin Schneider

You know how when you buy a new pair of shoes, you almost don't want to wear them for fear of soiling their fresh-out-of-the-box perfection? That's how I felt as I stood at the threshold of this cozy Federal nestled on picturesque 35^th Street in Georgetown's West Village. Everything about it, from the pristine white walls and furniture to the gleaming hardwood floors and clean lines, conveyed the impression of a place almost too nice to live in. Of course, if I had $799K lying around, I'd already be reclined on the sofa by the time you read this, gleefully spitting sunflower seeds onto the floor. But alas, not on a blogger's salary.

One enters into the bright living room, which is outfitted with a gas fireplace. Farther back is a dining area and a sleek kitchen. A spiral staircase leads up to the large bedroom, which has a closet so incredibly vast it could probably be rented to an intern as a bedroom. (Laugh if you will – I once rented a room that was almost exactly the size of a twin size mattress.) The bathroom (also commendably bright) boasts a large basin and a huge shower with clear glass doors, so you never have to worry about someone sneaking up on you with a knife while you shower. And finally the private semi-enclosed patio is perfect for having people over to subtly rub your success in their faces. And really, isn't that what home ownership is all about?

1257 35TH ST NW

1 Bedroom, 1 Bath

$799,000

Deanwood Heights Subsidized Housing Project Starts Today

An affordable housing development team will kick off construction of its project in northeast Washington DC today. The team of Denning Development, UrbanMatters Development Partners, Beulah Community Improvement, and NCD Management, which the Fenty administration awarded with city funding in September of 2009, will build 63 subsidized units at 400-414 Eastern Avenue, NE (29 townhouses), and, in a later phase, the empty 6100 block of Dix Street, NE (34 townhouses), an area that can be conservatively described as blighted and in need of economic development. Square 134 Architects designed the new townhouses.

Eden Place will be available to families making up to 120% Area Median Income (AMI, which is $103,500 for family of 4). Home prices are based on income, but the 3 and 4 story townhouses will run from $199,000 to the high $200's, ranging in size from 1,484 s.f. to 1,680 s.f., with price based on income. Though the project will be entirely affordable, bucking prevailing wisdom of mixing subsidized and market housing, developer Raymond Nix of UrbanMatters says occupants will still span a range of incomes. "This is really mixed income, it provides opportunities for first-time homebuyers, but it goes up to 120% AMI, the phrase affordable housing is really a broad one."

Today marks the beginning of demolition only, but Nix thinks the first units could deliver by mid-Summer. In awarding the project, Mayor Adrian Fenty predicted that construction would begin in February of 2010, but Nix says that was never a realistic timeline, and that construction of phase 2 is "sales dependent."

UrbanMatters was also awarded the contract to redevelop the M.M. Washington School last March, and will turn the historic school into 90 subsidized apartments for seniors, a project that was criticized by some for excessive government funding ($6m to $8m) while competing developers asked for less city money, several of whom questioned why the District chose a publicly funded option over what the losing bidders viewed as more regenerative types of projects. Financing for Eden Place will come from DC's New Communities Program, with the city kicking in $3m, or $47,619 per unit, according to Nix, with no HUD funding. Eagle Bank is the construction financier. "We're really rooted in grassroots community development and community serving affordable housing" said Nix of UrbanMatters' mission.

Ajia Meux, immediate Past President of the Deanwood Citizens Association said that just about anything in the area is a net positive. "Because of the environment around those buildings I don't like going over there much. Its been boarded up for at least a year, and even though its an affordable housing project, I'm glad that ward 7 is getting some attention...We are the most underserved ward in the District, and I'm exicited to see economic development happening in the city, but especially here. Hopefully this will stabilize the neighborhood a little bit." The only cloud inside the silver lining was the price tag. "I question how affordable it really is," said Meux, noting that houses in the area often sell below $100,000, though remodeled houses start around $150,000, but Nix points out that new townhouses in the area tend to sell in the high $200,000's and low $300,000's.

Winmar will serve as the General Contractor, with Bowman Civil Engineering. A ceremony will be held today at 2pm.

Washington DC real estate development news

Recycling Lumber and Lives

By Beth Herman

For those of us who forfeited innumerable Sigma Chi blowouts to spend a hair pulling, head banging, nail biting, teeth grinding mandatory semester of our otherwise carefree college years in the library, grappling with philosopher Jacques Derrida’s concept of deconstruction, aka deconstructionism (guilty as charged), good news abounds.

At the more contemporary Al Gore School of Global Warming, deconstruction has come to mean something other than Derrida’s multitudinous interpretations of a single text. In fact, today’s deconstruction, as it applies to taking down a house piece by piece, and recycling or repurposing hundreds and thousands of components as opposed to outright demolition, is something that benefits its “students” both morally and often financially. Its principles, though earth-friendly and entirely transformative, are simple, even leaving time at the end of the day for that sorely missed bottle of flat frat house beer.

For environmentalist and entrepreneur Paul Hughes, the decision to transition from a career as a nonprofit grant consultant to the founder and president of Fairfax, Va.’s DeConstruction Services, LLC followed a period of painstaking due diligence, in which he admits investigating about 60 different environmentally-oriented businesses. “I looked into everything from catfish farming to investing in alternative fuel vehicles,” Hughes said, explaining that he and wife Linda, a high school history teacher of international baccalaureate seniors, wanted a green business that wouldn’t require traveling all over the country and where they could “make a difference in (their) little piece of green earth.”

A member of the Renewable Energy Business Network, Mid-Atlantic Chapter, Hughes attended an Annapolis meeting in 2003. The speaker, as the fates would have it, was a representative of a Portland, Ore. deconstruction nonprofit successfully operating there since the late 1980s or early ‘90s. Subsequently exploring the mid-Atlantic market for deconstruction, Hughes launched his own DeConstruction Services, LLC in August, 2004, an operation which, nearly seven years later, is still without competition.

Harvesting Hope

“That’s because it’s going 180 degrees against the trend,” Hughes said of his multifaceted green business which focuses on recycling human beings as much as materials. “Most contractors are trying to get away from employing a lot of people…so they can offload expensive liability costs, worker’s comp and matching social security. They contract everything out to subcontractors and let them worry about where to get laborers (often just day laborers to whom fewer laws apply).”

To that end, DeConstruction Services, LLC, whose work in disassembling residences from roof to basement and everything in between is highly specialized, frequently employs workers with what Hughes calls previous “ad hoc employment situations.” Many were day laborers with little hope of consistency and its accruing benefits in their lives, but even more, some employees were graduates of drug rehab programs or had court judgments against them for child support delinquencies because of their economic situations. According to Hughes, one candidate applied wearing an ankle bracelet during his probation. “They were non-violent offenders,” Hughes was quick to point out, “and they were really looking to work.”

Dissecting deconstruction, Hughes explained that in a personal sense “it is grubby work. In the summer it’s hot; in the winter it’s cold to be taking down a roof–shoveling the snow off to be able to begin taking the shingles off.” But the satisfaction of clearly seeing the results of a two- or two-and-a-half-week effort that will keep hundreds of elements out of landfills, and knowing their work and paychecks will continue, is positive for everyone, Hughes affirmed.

Benefits of Conscience

Where the process itself is concerned, Hughes said deconstruction generally starts with a call, often where the client – either a homeowner, builder or architect – wants a quote over the phone. “We have to actually see the inside of the house first to get a sense of what the quantity and quality is of the material is on the inside – the building components,” Hughes explained of the assessment phase, adding that logistics such as how far materials must be carried down extreme driveways, vs. hoisted right out of a window into a waiting roll-off (a long dumpster that slides onto the back of a truck) also factor into costs. Photographs are taken for documentation and an itemized proposal is put together for the client, and for tax auditing purposes should they arise. If the proposal is accepted, Hughes asks that the client also enlist the services of an independent appraiser so no stone remains unturned. “It does require that the client put money upfront but is heavily driven by tax benefits which may yield a profit,” Hughes said, citing benefits that have ranged from about $2,000 to, in one extreme case, $60,000 for the homeowner. For many, keeping the contents and materials from a 2,000 or 3,000 s.f. house out of a landfill are the benefits of conscience they really seek.

Identifying elements that run the gamut from switch plates to appliances, interior and exterior doors, windows, wires, bathroom and light fixtures, wood flooring, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, all of which are reclaimable, Hughes said his firm also looks for material like asphalt shingles which can be “crumbed” at an asphalt plant and used in road patch on highways and in parking lots. Wood can also be ground up for bike paths and mulch. In short, nothing is left of the house except the masonry walls and a broom-swept basement, if there is one Hughes said, adding that when the excavator comes in behind them, masonry that includes concrete, bricks, cinderblock, kitchen and bathroom tiles–considered “clean masonry”–can also be recycled.

A Home for the Hardware

According to Hughes, finding a home for deconstructed items became an evolving, major issue existing almost from DeConstruction Services’ inception. Content, initially, to contract with Virginia’s Alexandria and Chantilly-based Habitat for Humanity, which would send volunteer-coordinated and driven trucks to pick up extracted elements, Hughes said he quickly learned that depending on volunteers, though they may have the best of intentions, can be challenging at best.

“We were taking down these houses and perfecting it to a point where it’s all like clockwork,” Hughes recalled, noting that sometimes the truck didn’t come, his crew forced to stack disassembled kitchen cabinets and counters in the middle of the floor while taking down the drywall and ceiling plaster above them. “Even with tarps, it wasn’t helpful for the product,” he said of the thick dust and debris that accumulated. Switching over time to Hyattsville, Md.’s Community Forklift, which sells new, used and recycled building materials and more to the D.C. metropolitan area at fractional prices, problems arose when they couldn’t always accommodate lumber due to limited warehouse space. “We’d have taken the whole framing package down on a house–got it de-nailed and everything else–rafter length pieces, joists, 2x4’s, all of it–and had it sitting in the front yard,” Hughes said. “We had a couple of times where we had to bite the bullet and it went to the dump.”

Confident there was a better way to ensure the fruits of their labor would circumvent the landfill on their way to the public, in 2008 Hughes founded ReBuild, a 501(c)(3) organization that recycles and repurposes deconstructed material at greatly reduced prices through its Springfield, Va. warehouse, and which opened for business in March of 2009 (wife Linda often pinch hits as a cashier on busy Sundays). Not content to stop there, ReBuild’s multi-mission agenda includes community education in the form of weekly green workshops on weatherizing, beekeeping, repurposing kitchen cabinets, organic gardening–anything to do with affordable sustainability. “The other idea is to make money off of ReBuild and use that to train at-risk workers in green collar jobs,” such as geothermal system installation, storm water management, wetlands restoration and asbestos abatement, Hughes explained, saying there are currently about 10 jobs offered for training on their list, with programs in four or five already executed.

“The heart and soul of what we’re all about is more than keeping materials out of landfills and reclaiming it for all the reasons you’d think of,” Hughes said. “We’re also about saving people’s lives.”

The Smallest Condo

Sure, an expansive penthouse with a view is ideal - but, for those of us not born Rockefellers there's a need for something a little more diminutive. To the Everyman we showcase the ideal home for less-is-more 2011: the smallest condo for sale in DC, a 274 s.f. condo in Glover Park on the market for $175,000.

The 82-year old subterranean condo - the size of a Potomac McMansion closet - somehow features a separate bedroom, "little desk," and even boasts a "hidden" stacked washer and dryer within its newly renovated walls. The urban vista from the 3 small casement windows is serene, with an arboreal view (on your tiptoes), overlooking the trunks of mature shrubs and an alley. The living space is essentially a large kitchen, saving the owner money on a couch, coffee table, and wall art.

"These places sell themselves, but this one has been a bit trickier," says Sarah Brodsky, the listing agent. The property has been on the market for more than 6 months despite the newly refinished hardwood floors, built-in bedroom cabinets, and new kitchen. While hoarders may find lack of floor space discouraging, the appliances are as good as in condos 3 times the size. And so what if Starbucks' handicapped accessible bathroom is larger? A new owner can do the laundry, wash the dishes, and cook dinner, all from the same spot. Now that's true luxury.

3520 W Place, NW
Washington DC, 20007

The (Distant) Future of Getting from Home to Work in DC

Equity Residential unveiled the latest gadget today in its "flagship" apartment building, a recharging station for electric cars, a move it hopes will have instantaneous appeal to apartment dwellers and, someday, practical application for commuters. Equity demonstrated the new charging station at 425 Mass, which opened last year as Equity's highest priced apartment building in the DC Metro area, and has already generated its own positive charge after buying out defunct Broadway Development and leasing 40 of the 557 units per month on average, making it now 68% leased. But that doesn't photograph as well as a new Tesla, and promoters had one on hand to demonstrate how an electric vehicle owner could plug in, swipe their credit card and, for $1 - $3 per night, recharge sufficiently for most DC area commutes. Equity touted the feature as one of its "environmentally conscious" design features, and will soon offer Zipcar as another green alternative. The message: live in style here, drive in style nearby, and save money, time and the environment. The $109,000, fully electric Tesla Roadster can charge in 3.5 hours at the high voltage outlet now at 425 Mass, or in half a day (1 hr per 5 miles) at a typical 110v outlet (adapter included). The plug-in station is currently available only to building residents, but several other charging stations such as at the Capitol Hill Hyatt offer public stations, and sites like MyChargePoint.net offer apps to find the nearest station. The Roadster - "the smoothest acceleration on the planet" - says a corporate rep, needs no oil, gas, and almost no servicing, but don't expect to see a garage-full soon. Only 2 of the building's 560 spaces are sequestered for it's lone charging station, and even promoters know to take a distant view of the technology. "The cars just aren't there yet" says Andy Kinard of CarCharging, which installs the stations for free and gives Equity a kickback on sales of electricity at the plug. CarCharging and Equity plan a slow roll-out together, with stations to open in Boston and Seattle as "testbeds" to gauge and prime the market. Kinard sees the future of voltage-powered autos in "smart" technology in multi-family buildings and public garages, where the plug feeds usage data to the power source and shows its location to the public. But this is the company's first DC locale and it has no immediate plans for a second. Equity, the largest owner-operator of apartments in the country with 133,000 units, is well-placed to guide the technology but is not rushing headlong into the market, though it can quickly add more plug-in stations if needed. Equity also owns 2400 M and 1210 Mass, and is "increasingly focused on urban core, mixed-use" property, says Area VP Robert Grealy. Equity entered the DC market in 1995 with a portfolio purchase of the Artery Group's apartment buildings, garden-style apartments it has been shedding in favor of "higher quality" residences since 2005. Washington DC real estate development news

Developer Submits for 500-Apartment Virginia Square Project

The Dittmar Company is preparing for another large residential project in Virginia Square. TBD reports that the Vienna based developer has plans to build about 500 apartments in two buildings next to the Amelia, a 102-unit building it completed in 2009. The site is one block from the Virginia Square Metro, and largely unoccupied, one of the last sizable empty lots along Wilson Boulevard.
The site plan submitted by Dittmar requests two buildings, a 12-story building along Fairfax and a 6-story building fronting Wilson, divided by an extended 9th Street, the street extension is a concept called for in Arlington's Virginia Square Sector Plan. Arlington planners say the initial concept shows two U-shaped buildings facing outward, with a shared interior courtyard divided by 9th Street with pavers connecting the courtyard halves, a concept that would imply a slower, pedestrian-favoring 9th Street. The buildings would share an underground parking garage connecting the two buildings beneath the street, which would likely require a developer-owned street with city right-of-way.As with past projects, Dittmar has chosen SBE Associates for design of the building. Developers would not comment on the project, at all. "We normally don't talk to anyone from the press, ever, so there's no one to speak with" informed a receptionist, but planners say the untalkative developers plan for retail on the first floor, but that the "swing space" retail might yield to apartments. Planners called the site plan submittal "the very beginning" of the process; the next step is review by the Site Plan Review Committee, which could happen over the next several months.

Arlington, Virginia real estate development news

DC's Islands to Reopen - Better, Greener, Smarter

50 acres of island in the Anacostia River will soon reopen to the public, now with more federal dollars, a new educational mission, and a greener look. Kingman and Heritage Islands, both closed last September for a makeover, will come back online within the next week as recreational parks with a mandate for environmental education, and a new federal law to fund restoration and education.

The islands have had their challenges - begotten from a polluted source, the islands were created from the residue of dredging excessive agricultural sedimentation that gummed up the Anacostia, the never ending recipient of the trash-laden effluvium. Kingman (42 acres) and Heritage (7 acres) are now in the midst of a restoration that will eventually add 3 outdoor classrooms spaces, a 9/11 memorial grove, outdoor seating, and observation deck. Preservationists will add a nursery where the public can make their own contribution with tree plantings, and habitat restoration will remove a host of invasive species - from trees to groundcovers - and replace them with "an extensive list" of native species.

Lee and Associates, a DC based landscape architectural firm, is working with the District to give the parks a more natural aesthetic, while keeping the visitor center, hiking and biking trails and building environmental workshops in "outdoor classrooms." Access points are being improved - from both sides of the river - at Benning Rd. and from RFK stadium (parking lot #6). Living Classrooms, hired by the District in 2008 to manage the parks, provides the educational element with environmental instruction throughout the school year and volunteer opportunities in the summer, highlighting the challenges of environmental stewardship in an urban setting. "We see the trash flow down the river," says Matt English, Kingman Island Programs Coordinator for Living Classrooms, of the distant tidal forces that raise the water levels up to 3 feet, "and then we see it flow back up."

But thanks to more federal largess - President Obama just signed a bill providing funding to restore the Anacostia River ecosystem - and to educational efforts, conservationists hope that will be a decreasing problem. Footbridges to both parks allow for ample public access when the parks reopen. Matt English says the next event is scheduled for the Martin Luther King holiday, so the team is working to finish the first of three phases before that date. "Fingers crossed," says English.

Washington DC real estate development news

The Wine Man Cometh

By Beth Herman

It's his time, by design. For venerated former French pastry chef Michel Richard (writer’s note: in the 1980s, my Valley girl friends and I doubled our Jane Fonda workouts due to weekly pillages of his S. Robertson Blvd. patisserie in L.A.), reinventing himself as a celebrated Hollywood restaurateur, and then again in Washington, has had several iterations, but maybe none as personal as his latest venture: Michel.

Hanging his toque in the former Maestro (restaurant) space at the Ritz-Carlton, Tyson’s Corner, Richard encouraged his friends at Group Goetz Architects (GGA) to use a pinch - or maybe a gallon - of alchemy in creating a space that naturally reflected his signature style and food, but genuinely trumpeted the wine connoisseur within. With his D.C.-based Citronelle and more moderately-priced and GGA-designed Central, restaurants representing a more high-end and down-in-the-(Manhattan) boroughs kind of ambience, respectively, the concept for Michel is more bistro than urbane, though Richard’s sophisticated palate and passion for the grape are manifested in its velour fabrics and deep, sumptuous colors.

"He wanted the look to be contemporary but also like going to a winery, a vineyard,” said GGA Principal Al Gooden, noting the celebrity chef’s robust personality and penchant for randomly seating himself at a table to ask surprised diners how he’s doing. “He’s not interested in your coming, eating and going,” Gooden continued, explaining that the traditional measure of restaurant success is the quick turnover. “He wants you to make an event of it.”

Wood, Walls and Wine

Located off the 4^th floor Ritz Carlton lobby, the 4,800 s.f. Michel came together in a warp speed-like 14 weeks, thanks to Forrester Construction Company, with a magic budget of about $800,000 (far less than most high-end restaurants of its ilk). The space boasts a 19-ft.-tall glass wine room displaying all of the restaurant’s wines, adjacent to the space’s entrance stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs, where the maître d’ is posted, a pickled grey wood wall – actually a large sliding door – swings out and becomes a total opening, according to Gooden, with the effect both dramatic and contemporary. For the first image as diners enter the restaurant, which takes into account what Gooden called Richard’s “unproclaimed logo: the tossing of plates” (echoed in Citronelle and Central), the architects used LED lighting to illuminate a 6-foot stack of translucent plates, 3 feet in diameter, which appear to float as they are tossed into the air. In the dining area, raised leaf-pattern bolsters in a light green color, such as one might see in a vineyard, complement burgundy banquettes and mahogany tables redolent of wine country colors. Built for 124 patrons, which includes the option to incorporate 16 seats of a private dining room directly into the space, Gooden said among the room’s focal points is the 9x3½-foot chef’s table made of honey-colored alabaster with deep purple veining. Strategically backlit (it glows), the team decided to suspend the table with cable using one small leg to stabilize it.

Retaining the previous restaurant’s coffered ceilings, the architects removed crown molding and added silver leaf which they uplit so that it sparkles like champagne. A white tensile fabric, suspended from the ceiling in individual bowl-like fashion, contains LED lighting that meanders from various purples to greens to ambers, and an open kitchen design makes diners a part of the process. “Michel wants you to have a real experience here,” Gooden affirmed. “The funny thing about the space is that the color scheme, lighting and selection of materials is very regal,” he said, acknowledging his client’s homage to quality and great wine, “but the seating and placing of elements are all very casual – very relaxing.”

Energy, Efficiency and Eggs

Avoiding landfills by retaining some of Maestro’s elements for sustainability purposes was paramount in Richard’s plans. To that end much of the older kitchen equipment - such as grills, steaming pots and fryers - was refurbished, with the addition of more efficient burners. Various functions of the Ritz’s current restaurant kitchen (or room service restaurant kitchen, as Gooden referred to it), shared space with the former Maestro kitchen, and Richard elected to maintain the shared facilities, such as the dishwashing area, though some Energy Star equipment had to be purchased. “It saves energy and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of construction,” Gooden said. “It was a very good move.” In best practices form, any new woods used in the restaurant space, including the entrance’s grey pickled wood wall, were reconstituted and came from within 500 miles. Adhesive for the ceiling’s silver leaf was low-VOC, carpeting has a minimum 30 percent recycled product and fabrics and finishes were all local and readily available.

Noting that the firm really had two clients, Richard and the hotel, Gooden said Ritz-Carlton, owned by Host Hotels and Resorts, was adamant about being involved in the design and all approvals. “The restaurant is, after all, only accessible through the hotel, without its own entrance,” Gooden explained, adding that the corporate design team was present throughout the entire process. “They were definitely active, which worked out really well because the great thing is they are really excited,” he said, noting the plan to position Michel, which the restaurateur has designated his flagship, as a “destination restaurant,” with customers coming to dine and then perhaps deciding to stay over (the opposite of most hotels). Additionally, like his predecessor in the space, Richard has elected to serve breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner, to perpetuate the D.C. “power breakfast” paradigm, but ideally with his own signature patisserie offerings – the hallmark of his early career.

“We teamed with a lot of really good people to make this happen,” Gooden said of the project. “You can sit down and totally focus on the experience.”

Photo credit: Len Depas and Sokol Kokoshi

District Condos Construction Monday

While the rest of the real estate world is still rubbing its eyes and trying to take stock of 2011, development work is racing ahead in some quarters. Take JBG, for instance, which let fly yesterday that it would start building Rosslyn Commons in two weeks, and today said that it and partner Grosvenor are starting work on their other high-visibility condo project - District Condos - on Monday.

A source within JBG says groundbreaking for the 125-unit, Shalom Baranes designed building, is in fact scheduled for Monday on Logan Circle's trendy 14th Street. JBG will also incorporate the former AIDs clinic at the southern end of the lot for additional retail that will wrap around the corner of S and 14th Streets. The Chevy Chase developer has teamed with Toronto-based Cecconi Simone Inc. and local retailer Vastu for interior design and finishes, respectively. Unit sizes will trend smaller than might have

been built a few years ago, with a preponderance of 1-bedroom condos, respecting the more conservative outlook (fiscal, of course) of the average buyer in the neighborhood, where turnover of small units tends to be quick even at a more pricey range than is found in adjacent neighborhoods.

JBG had earlier predicted that construction would commence at the end of 2010, and the site still has to be cleared of the buildings that are not being preserved, putting delivery well into 2012. Sales are expected to start sometime in the late spring.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

NCPC Takes Action on District Development Plans

The National Capital Planning Commission met yesterday and approved a series of amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, a roadmap for the District's urban planning and economic development. The Commission also deferred action on design of the last section of Georgetown Waterfront Park and approved a series of changes to the District's zoning laws governing building heights.

NCPC, which has the authority to block land development by the District that impinges on the federal land, agreed to allow more than 100 amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, last modified in 2006. The changes were submitted by the District's Office of Planning and set Washington DC's development priorities. Approved amendments include:

-Prioritizing development of the Center Leg Freeway (pictured) and Burnham Place behind Union Station,

-A resolution to encourage more transit-oriented development within the District, as well as a generalized support of public transportation options such as increased bus, bike, and pedestrian accessibility.

-Various modifications to the environmental impact of development, including support of the Kyoto Protocol,

-Proposals under the Capital Space plan to better link District and Federal parks and develop a shared database to report issues, inform the public, and manage the parks,

-Concept approval for development of a Marriott hotel and retail center (pictured, at right) at the corner of Michigan and Irving Streets. Developers have long sought to build out the 5-acre federally owned parcel next to Catholic University, and

-Increase density along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE.

The Commission put off until its February meeting review of the National Park Service plan for the last section of the Georgetown Waterfront Park, stretching from Thompson Boat Center to the Kennedy Center. The final phase of the project includes a resurfaced asphalt bikeway, a new asphalt-tile pedestrian promenade, and replacing the Sycamores now on the site.The Commission also approved a report to the Zoning Commission regarding proposed text changes to the city’s zoning regulations on permitted uses and building heights. In 2007 the District undertook a comprehensive review of its zoning regulations, last updated in 1958. The approval does not change overall height limits in DC, which are governed by federal law, but bring the code up to date to better reflect current ideas and technology.