"Things Are Moving" for O Street Market

Think Eastern Market meets City Vista if you're trying to imagine what the CityMarket at O will look like, the $260 million dollar project to help revitalize Shaw's business district. "It will embrace an unusual combination of 19th century charm and 21st century technology," said Armand Spikell, Principal of Roadside Development about the Shaw project that will transform two city blocks in Shaw.

Though Roadside had applied to raze the Giant at 1414 8th Street at the end of January - the first of many permits - the demolition date is still hazy, though Spikell projects the store will close this summer. Between now and then, the group has been digging around the foundation and adding steel braces to support the historic market building.

The new Giant Foods will be larger than the Safeway that now resides in City Vista. 55,000 of the 87,000 s.f of retail space is slated for Giant, of which 13,000 s.f. will be underground. This includes the loading dock in particular. "During the initial meetings, the community stated they did not want the eyesore of the docks that take up 9th Street now. It is a very unusual move, but we've tucked all that out of sight," said Spikell.

Also out of sight are the 500 parking spaces, which will also serve as an option for the Convention Center so as not to congest the neighborhood, again at the behest of the community. The remaining retail space is slated for small local businesses, none of which have yet signed at this early date; businesses would not open doors until 2013.

"Working with metro on foundations, working on design, meeting with the community, securing funding through HUD, this is not a normal commercial venture," said Spikell, "and this all takes time." Having started in 2003, eight years later, "things are finally starting to move."

Washington DC real estate development news

From U to H, 2 Townhouses and Their Effect on Revitalization

On U Street, near the corner of 14th, a pair of historic - if dodgy - buildings sit, at long last for rent rather than just vacant, uncharacteristically forlorn, and out of sorts with U Street's thriving retail. Outward appearances aside, the perpetually run down pair at 1355 and 1357 U Street with a quirky history has had an oversized role in shaping the street, and might even be credited with the rebirth of the H Street corridor. The townhouses were once the negative of that image, the rare luminescence on a struggling strip, helping deliver U Street's nascent resurgence in the early '90s. Like many properties in the neighborhood, the attractive row houses had remained family-owned for decades, with little attention paid to them as the neighborhood declined. But a group of investors saw the potential for a nightspot, and one, an up and coming restaurateur named Joe Englert, thought a bizarrely themed bar might make it in the rough and tumble neighborhood. In line with neighborhood, the building at 1357 U Street needed work, having been neglected to the point of instability. "Even back then, the building was a mess," says Stuart Woodroffe, a General Manager of the bar. "We had jury-rigged half the place with reinforcements because we were worried the floor would give." "It was a wreck when we were there," said Englert of the building. "The place was falling down then." In spite of its decrepitude, Englert and company opened State of the Union, a Soviet-themed bar (appropriate for the decaying infrastructure and outward bravado) that brought together jazz musicians of all ages and later, roots music, house music, and rhythm and blues, a venue that fused the jazz history of the street with trendier club themes for the proletariat. 

When Woodroffe became the general manager, "he made it much cooler than I would have," said Englert. "I thought we should have a 200 pound go-go dancing babushkas shaking their rumps and table side cabbage roll preparation." Yum. The crumbling building and divisions within the partnership eventually took their toll on Englert, who pulled out of the project - his fifth or sixth bar - because of differences with the owner of the two buildings, Henry McCall. "He was a real character," said Englert of the man who lived - let's say modestly - on Alabama Avenue in southeast DC, and had little financial capacity or personal wherewithal to improve the building, nor interest in selling. Add the strained politburo-style partnership ("ten people owned it, three did all the work"), and the business folded in 1997. "So we had a revolution," said Englert. "The State of the Union was a failed Socialist republic." In its wake, Englert fled the corridor for H Street's Atlas District, where it might be said he had more success.

And so the building that was once a center of U Street's gentrification continued its decline. Prior to 2007 1355 U Street was worth $1.5 million dollars. Despite their peak value, by 2010 the properties were listed in the Notice of Real Property Tax Sale for arrearages of $73,758.59 for 1357 U and $19,087.20 for 1355 U Street and scheduled for auction. The back taxes were paid, and McCall's family, who inherited it when he died three months ago, plans to keep and rent the one that's in better shape at 1355 U Street. Norris Dodson, the listing agent, notes that the family prefers a tenant that's not a bar or club "though the owners are trying to be open minded," said Dodson. The property has been on the market since September and the rate has dropped at least once to $7500 per floor. And as for Englert, the businessman behind many of the area's watering holes, from Dupont's Big Hunt and Lucky Bar to DC9, to the Pour House and Capitol Lounge on the Hill, took a special liking to the eastern half of DC, having invested in The Pug, Rock and Roll Hotel, Granville Moore's and The Argonaut, which had reopened recently after a fire. He's sticking with H Street, with plans for more restaurant and bars to come. Next up? Rumor has it Englert is writing a book on the history of H Street, and has plans to open a barbecue joint called Joe's Coal and Ice House, perhaps for this summer. Sounds strange; we'll see if it works. 

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

Canal Park Underway Next Week

Work on southeast DC's grand Canal Park will get underway next week, as general contractors begin the construction of the 3-block urban park that will be a centerpiece for the ballpark (Capitol Riverfront) neighborhood "by February 15th." District of Columbia officials and representatives Canal Park Development Association had anticipated an earlier start date and 2011 completion date, and held a kick-off party last August, but "financing issues" have delayed construction, until now. The 3 acres of landscaping will offer "a stunning urban park on the site of the historic Washington Canal" with a variety of water features, a large pavilion/restaurant (LEED Gold or Platinum certified) designed by Studios Architecture and two smaller pavilions, 2 large fountains, wintertime ice skating rink, rain garden, multiple lawn spaces, an electric car charging station, and bicycle racks. The park will also collect and recycle its own rainwater and that from the neighborhood and nearby buildings, filtering through its rain garden for use in fountains and ice rink. Last summer the CPDA selected Davis Construction to build out and Blake Dickson Real Estate to locate a restaurateur for the park's pavilion. Philadelphia-based OLIN is the landscape architect. Chris VanArsdale, Executive Director of CPDA, says the financing and permitting issues of yore have been worked out, allowing CPDA to issue a work order to Davis next week with construction immediately thereafter and completion expected next spring. The District is ponying up $13.5m of the estimated $28m development tab. William C. Smith & Co., one of the early developers in the area, is providing in-kind support and an undisclosed amount of financial assistance. VanArsdale says that the difficulty in obtaining approval was caused by financing using the new markets tax credits. The federal government owns the land in arrangement that gives control to the District, which in turn has a 20-year agreement with the Canal Park Development Association to develop and manage the land. The canal that once ran across the site connected the Anacostia to Tiber Creek (now buried under Constitution Avenue), which ran to the C&O canal.

Washington DC real estate development news

Your Next Place...

By Franklin Schneider

Located in DC's Colonial Village, this striking home (designed by architect David Baker, with an update in 2000 by architect Richard Zambito) looks, at first, sort of like a cross between a flying saucer and a beached houseboat
(but in the best possible way). But it's not just novelty for novelty's sake. Like most architects' homes, all the idiosyncrasies are practical too. The structure is supported by eight internal steel beams (exposed, for a really cool industrial vibe), and most of the house's exterior is made up of windows. You've never seen a house with a view like this; it's almost 360 degrees. And it's right on Rock Creek Park, so the view is spectacular. I mean, my apartment sort of has a lot of windows (albeit nothing like this), but they look out on a bus parking lot surrounded by razor-wire. Not exactly the sort of thing you enjoy looking at while sipping your morning coffee.

The general impression given by the house is light and clean lines and open space; even on a overcast day the house is impossibly bright. It has 3.5 baths and four bedrooms, the largest of which is a newer rooftop addition. This master bedroom is nearly all windows, and being in the room is like being in a light-filled crow's nest. Paradoxically, though it seems quite exposed, it's completely private and discreet, owing to the elevation, no worries about the neighbors snickering about your physique. (Not that they would, all the neighbors seemed totally nice and nonjudgemental.)

2141 Sudbury Place NW
4 Bdrms, 3.5 Baths

$895,000

DCRA to Open Small Business Resource Office by Spring

The Washington DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) is taking a stab at making government more efficient. If you're following the agency's Twitter feed, the goal is apparently to save time and garner good will by expediting permit requests.

The agency has already established a Homeowner's Center, dedicated to helping expedite permitting for home repair and renovations. And now they're setting up a Small Business Resource Center, scheduled to open at 1100 4th Street SW in the spring.

Will it help? "Your homeowner building permit office is great!" tweeted Margaret Holwill, head of PR for the H Street NE Festival and owner of Holwill & Company media. "Could you do a one-stop shop for small biz?"

Helping people navigate purgatory is not in character for a government agency, but that's the intention. "We are envisioning laying out the steps and serving as a point of contact for updates on progress for the many agencies involved in the permitting process," said Helder Gil, spokesperson for DCRA.

DCRA hopes the new office will cut permit wait time in half by acting as a liaison between business owners and many government agencies. Small businesses that might benefit from the center include new retail, restaurants and non-profits in particular.

Washington DC real estate news

Transforming Dulles

Virginia’s Dulles Airport has undergone tremendous changes in the past decade. In 2000, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) embarked upon a program of capital investment aimed at modernizing the airport and preparing it for future 21^st century growth. After years of construction, many of the projects have recently been completed, wringing out a new aesthetic from the Eisenhower era design. Meanwhile, planners envision the next step of connecting the airport to the rail system now headed in its direction. With the Silver Line that will serve the airport as early as 2016, MWAA's construction of Phase I will extend it just past Tysons Corner by 2013, while planners debate where to situate the Metro station at Dulles. MWAA recently rejected a proposal to put an above-ground station in front of the main terminal, partly out of concern that it would block the view of the famous, if not universally beloved, Eero Saarinen-designed building (pictured, top, with permission from Andres Ramirez). Three alternatives remain, two underground, one above. The below-ground stations would be close to the terminal while the above-ground station would find a home at the daily garage, requiring passengers to drag luggage about 600 feet to reach the terminal. The original plan called for an underground station close to the terminal, but estimates of placing the station 600 feet away from the terminal project about $640 million of savings and don't require additional tunneling. Still, some commentators have argued for proximity, even with the additional cost, given the long-term benefits of an efficient rail connection, and point out that many fewer people took the Metro to National Airport before the new terminal opened in 1997 with a direct connection to the train station.

Within the airport itself, other improvements have elevated the dowdy atmosphere. After years of planning and construction, the new security checkpoint opened in late 2009 followed by the new AeroTrain in January 2010. Passengers now descend an escalator from the departure level to a new, 121,700 s.f. security screening area. Moving the security checkpoint opened the rear of Saarinen terminal (terminal interior pictured at right) to light and lifted congestion, making it possible to appreciate the aesthetics of the terminal today in a way that was not possible in the years following 9/11, when security checkpoints popped up like gophers in the rear of the terminal.

Passengers now check-in on the departures level (see diagram, in green), descend an escalator to the new security mezzanine (red), and descend to the AeroTrain station (blue). Arriving passengers take an escalator from the AeroTrain station (blue) to the arrivals level/baggage claim (purple).

After passing through the TSA frisk lottery, passengers descend another level to the AeroTrain, which they take to their concourse - a Tron-like traveling system used in Dulles airport today. The AeroTrain system (pictured, above) has mostly replaced the sci-fi era mobile lounges, which for decades have transported passengers from the main terminal to their concourse or directly to their airplane. Some have operated since the airport opened in 1962.

Other airport renovations continue. Concourses C & D, built in 1985 as temporary concourses, still serve United’s large hub at Dulles Twenty-six years later.

Few will miss the old Concourse C with its low ceilings and lack of windows, or its cramped rush hour condition. The new Concourse C, which will be above the already-built AeroTrain station, will be a more open and brighter place to pass long airline delays.

With a conceptual Concourse C on the way, MWAA placed its AeroTrain station at the site of the future concourse rather than the temporary one. But plans for a permanent concourse are nowhere near finalized, and with an uncertain timeline (delivery could be as late as 2020), and airlines hesitant about expensive infrastructure improvements, travelers are stuck with a station several hundred feet away from the concourse itself, requiring another passageway between the AeroTrain station and the concourse (see picture, below). This will be ameliorated with the opening of the permanent concourse, but until then travelers will continue to enjoy the famously long walks within the airport. Passengers flying from Concourse D must still take the mobile lounges until the new concourse opens.

The other permanent midfield concourse, Concourse A/B, initially opened in 1998 and was extended in 2008. A modern, bright, and airy terminal (see picture, below. Copyright Dan Brownlee) it serves every other airline at Dulles, excepting United, whose passengers don't have use of this terminal.

Elsewhere at the airport, a new Air Traffic Control Tower opened in 2007. A fourth runway opened in 2008 and a fifth is planned. Unlike most airports in the country, Dulles' remoteness from urban centers - an inefficiency multiplying the expense of the rail line - endows it with a surplus of land for expansion in the coming decades, despite the persistent onslaught of sprawl. Dulles has seen a steady expansion of international flying over the last decade; in the last four years alone Dulles has gained non-stop flights to Rome, Geneva, Moscow, Accra, Istanbul, Doha, and Bogota.

To process the increased number of international passengers, MWAA renovated and expanded the Customs and Border Protection hall. When the expansion is complete this year, the facility will approximately double in size and capacity, processing 2,400 passengers per hour.

Over the years, despite the new look, MWAA has made a conscious decision to maintain airport signage in vintage 1960's/70's historic font. Due to smart planning and investment by MWAA a decade ago, Dulles Airport now has much of the infrastructure necessary to propel the airport forward in the coming decades. Once the Metro serves the airport, Washington D.C.’s two major airports will both have convenient rail access, a rare feat for an American city. The growth at Dulles will be even more substantial in coming years with development of the Silver line and growth of nearby Tysons Corner. By the end of the decade, Dulles's two modern concourses, direct rail service to downtown, and efficient security screening area should put an end to disparaging comments by travelers comparing Dulles to third world airports. And while many still don't consider the original design fetching or worthy of an international gateway, Dulles Airport has a come a long way towards becoming a world-class airport.

Story by Reese Davidson (RJDavidsondc @ gmail.com)

Reston Station Announcement Heralds Coming Development

Comstock Partners made the expected announcement today that it has selected Davis Construction to build its underground garage at Reston Station, setting the stage for a "spring 2011" groundbreaking for the 1.3 million s.f. facility on the new Silver Line. Comstock had previously projected a March start to the project in order to get the garage open in early 2013 when the Metro line is scheduled to run its first train. Davis has already been at work building the other parking component on the site for Fairfax County, but today's announcement kicks off what will be the start of new "office, retail, residential and hotel uses in multiple buildings surrounding a public plaza," according to a Comstock press release.

Comstock's massive mixed-use project is planned 3/4 of a mile east of Reston town center, the developer plans to build the 500,000-s.f. residential component as the first step in the process. The two towers will have 205 and 370 units, 19.5% of it designated for workforce housing.

Reston, Virginia, real estate development news

Bethesda's Smashing Summer

Lattes, IPads, Peg Perego strollers - downtown Bethesda on a wild night. But Bethesda's tranquil, manicured status is about to come to an end. By late summer, developers will take over the downtown, digging holes, tearing up streets, and reshaping the downtown streetscape now dominated by moms in heels. Relax, its only temporary. But by July, a pair of local developers say they plan to dig out the two metered parking lots in the center of Bethesda and close Woodmont Avenue for almost two years as they construct a giant underground parking garage, erect two new buildings that will extend Bethesda Row, and reconfigure the Woodmont Ave - Bethesda Ave intersection.

Stonebridge Associates and PN Hoffman, real estate developers selected by the county to joint-venture the project, have approved plans for an 88 unit condominium on the east side of Woodmont and a 170-unit residence (sale or rentals not determined) on the west side of the rebuilt street, a public-private underground parking garage 5 stories deep with 300 private spaces and 1100 public ones, and 40,000 s.f. of retail that will grace Bethesda and Woodmont Avenues, extending Bethesda Row south by a full block, built for small scale retailers. The buildings were designed by Bethesda's SK&I Architectural Design Group,

But all that infrastructure can only come with construction, and lots of it. And while developers are breaking eggs for the $150m development, they will also take the opportunity to remedy the distorted "X" of the intersection, shortening crosswalks and drawing together corners, giving Woodmont a more graceful, traffic-calming arch. Developers intend to close Woodmont south of Bethesda Avenue for up to 20 months, build the garage underneath, then deed the street back to the city.

The first building will be the Darcy, an 88-unit condominium (pictured, top), with 60 market rate condos and 28 home buyers getting subsidized views overlooking Bethesda Row; marketing and sales by PN Hoffman is expected to start "very shortly" says Stonebridge founding principal Doug Firstenberg. Retail will wrap around the building's first floor.

Next at bat is the more complicated west side of Woodmont, with 170 or so units still in the design phase and carrying the brunt of street-grade storefronts. Retail will be mostly parceled into smallish shops that roughly match Bethesda's current shopping district, with an anchor tenant as large as 9,000 s.f., large but significantly smaller than the Barnes & Noble across the street.

Stonebridge-Hoffman also has an agreement with the county to rebuild the adjacent section of the Capital Crescent bike trail, better integrating the path into downtown and fixing its dead end into Bethesda Avenue, where developers will widen and landscape the path with pavers. "Now there will be a place to stop" says Stonebridge's Firstenberg. "You will have a beautiful hardscape telling you you're in the middle of this urban area." Firstenberg also has plans for a bike drop-off on Woodmont once the residences are complete, now that bikers are loosing their unloading point, with a connection behind the building to the trail.

But developers will bury the most controversial portion, the project's 1400-space garage, for which the county approved $89m in 2008, a decision many saw as unwise, unnecessary, and wasteful. The complex land agreement with the county, which owns the land, requires developers to pay the county in a plan Firstenberg calls "tantamount to an air rights deal." The county will pay the Stonebridge team for its costs to build the public parking, up to $89m. "We're certainly hoping to spend less" says Firstenberg, who notes falling construction costs. "The construction world has changed." Project architect Federico Olivera Sala of SK&I notes that the team is "trying to reduce" the overall number of parking spaces.

But transit and smart growth organizations, while applauding the overall development as urban in-fill and transit-oriented, have called parking a boondoggle that puts cars before public transit, with a Metro stop two blocks away and the Purple Line coming soon across the street. "Montgomery County could lease parking from nearby office spaces. We need more flexible strategies...I think looking at pricing is the only way to effectively manage parking, there's plenty of parking within a couple of blocks. Given everyone's budget crisis, spending $80,000 per space hardly seems like a strategic investment," says Cheryl Cort of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, which opposed the spending. Firstenberg disagrees. "There is clearly a parking shortage in Bethesda... Bethesda is one of the county's prime economic engines. Other developers have large projects coming up in the area, those are all major plans. There's a parking shortage today, much less when all the development takes place."

Parking shortage or not, in 3 years Bethesdans will have another garage, an extended Bethesda Row, and calm, freshly paved streets for quiet meandering. Which should be just about the time that JBG digs up the opposite intersection to build a 200,000 s.f. office tower and 250-unit residential tower, and most likely the start of construction for Bethesda's Purple Line station in 2014 right next door. Looks like Bethesda is about to get busy.

Bethesda, Maryland Real Estate Development News

Shaw Developers Celebrate Step Forward with Progression Place

One of Shaw's chief development projects, slowed by lost tenants and missed start dates, is finally having its day as developers celebrate a "groundbreaking" Monday for a project that began in late 2010. Developers of Progression Place began work last December on the 320,000 square foot, $150 million development, with 100,000 square feet office space, a 205-unit residential apartment building, 20,000 square feet of street-level retail, but on Monday its developers will fete themselves and the sale of an office condo to anchor occupant United Negro College Fund (UNCF). UNCF officially purchased half the project's office space on December 24th, but developers were already doing site work on the vacant lot in anticipation of the settlement and Eagle Bank's $13m loan made possible by the sale, which was in turn made possible by the city's $3.6m financing subsidy for UNCF. Ellis Development, The Jarvis Company, and Four Points combined forces to build a project that would be hard to overestimate in importance as a beacon for Shaw's development, adding housing, jobs and retail in an area that had little investment in any of those markets. Progression Place is adjacent to the Howard Theater, also being developed by Ellis, and will build in parking for the historic theater and add a rebuilt Metro entrance. UNCF's office condo and the "7th Flats" will both be ready for occupancy in mid 2012. With a new library in place just to the south, and the Convention Center Marriott already underway, the O Street Market remains the largest holdout that could tie together development along the 7th Street corridor. Design is being handled jointly by architects Eric Colbert & Associates and Devrouax and Purnell, and built by Davis Construction and Gilford Corporation. The public ceremony will be held at the Lincoln Theater at 11am on Monday. 

Washington DC real estate development news