Kelsey Gardens is for sale. Well, still. Okay, erstwhile developers of the 280 unit apartment building in Shaw's burgeoning development strip put the property on the market exactly one year ago, but now are rebranding - just a bit - their city-sanctioned project next to the (possibly, someday) O Street Market.
Metropolitan Development had enlisted the help of Ideal Realty Group in March of 2010 to market the fully entitled project, which had been rebranded from Kelsey Gardens of low-income, crime plagued housing project fame, into Addison Square, a new mixed-income project embodying more modern concepts of lower income housing. Metropolitan sought a joint venture partner, financier, or outright sale of the property. But one year in, Metropolitan has dropped Ideal Realty in favor of MAC Realty Advisors, and dropped Addison as a marketing name.
Kelsey Gardens adjoins the O Street Market along 7th Street as would be projects looking for a suitor but - also along the 7th Street corridor - the new Shaw Library, Progression Place (underway), Howard Theater, and 2 potential housing projects at 7th and Rhode Island (1, 2)
Metropolitan paid $7m for the property in 2004, and has secured from the city $18 million in tax abatement, as well as a zoning change to allow the density in the form of a Planned Unit Development - with the catch that 54 of the 280 units be set aside for tenants making 60% of AMI. A sale of the property would require a purchaser to follow the plans, or be required to start the zoning process anew. Bruce Levin of MAC says his brokerage has compiled a substantial portfolio of apartments since its inception just a year ago, including View14 which is also on the market, but pulls no punches about his predecessor's inability to sell the plans, calling the past year "the low point" for marketing such projects. "But the market is very robust right now," says Levin. "We're crushing it" he says of the firm's portfolio.
It wasn't supposed to take this long. Neat signs still announce the project "Coming in 2010", and Metropolitan Construction Manager Jim Wurzel said in January of 2010 that he was "hoping we can start construction this summer." But ANC Commissioner and Shaw Main Streets founder, Alexander Padro was more sanguine at the time."We're probably talking 2011 or 2012 before anything is even torn down."
Lessard Architectural Group designed the project, which will (theoretically) include 14,700 s.f. of retail space along 7th. For the sake of Shaw, let's hope MAC crushes it here, and quickly.
Washington D.C. real estate development news
Thursday, March 17, 2011
St. Patrick's Day Special: Kelsey Gardens for Sale
5
comments
Posted by
Ken on 3/17/2011 07:47:00 PM
Labels: MAC Realty Advisors, Metropolitan Development, Shaw
Labels: MAC Realty Advisors, Metropolitan Development, Shaw
Neighborhood Report: Capitol Riverfront Southeast
9
comments
Posted by
Melissa McCart on 3/17/2011 08:28:00 AM
Labels: Canal Park, Capitol Riverfront BID, Forest City, Monument Realty, Skanska
Labels: Canal Park, Capitol Riverfront BID, Forest City, Monument Realty, Skanska
"Our neighborhood is no longer emerging," said Michael Stephens, Executive Director of the the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District. "It has blossomed." Stephens cites 35,000 people who commute to work in the area every day and the rising number of residents to buttress the growing retail imprint just north of the Anacostia River.
Retail, restaurants and office space leases are filling in at a more rapid rate than counterpoint emerging neighborhood NoMa, where the snap-up of square footage has been dominated by office leases. Sexier retail - even indie tenants such as as Pound Coffee have defected to Capitol Hill, while Capitol Waterfront is a hot commodity for retailers.
It helps that temporary projects draw the young and artsy to the water - Trapeze School Washington, Sensorium Dining and Art at the Yards generate buzz. Then there's the developing Canal Park that's scheduled to open in May 2012, Yards Park which opened last year, and Diamond Teague Park that was completed in 2009. In the meantime, enter the bridge to connect the two parks. And of course there's the ball park.
Many completed office buildings have lassoed tenants. Monument Realty's 55 M Street S.E. is 86% leased, with tenants such as the FAA and DDOT. Several D.C. government offices plan to move to the neighborhood in the second quarter, and this month Booz Allen Hamilton moved into 20 M Street, bumping the building to 97% leased. And 1015 Half Street, the former Opus East LLC and Prudential Real Estate Investors partnership that was resuscitated by Skanska this past May, is slated to open in July.
Both Lumber Shed at The Yards Park Pavilion and The Yards Boilermaker Shops are among the most anticipated retail projects. Both buildings - the Lumber Shed at 100 Water Street and Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street - are part of the National Register of Historic Places, with Forest City Washington as developer and Gensler shepherding construction and design. Among other tenants, Neighborhood Restaurant Group has signed a lease for a restaurant that's expected to become a brewpub. According to Ramsey Meiser, Senior Vice President of Development at Forest City, 50% of the Lumber Shed and 70% of the Boilermaker Shops leases are tied down. Estimated opening date is early 2013.
Over at 400 Tingey Street S.E., Michael Stevens confirms that "a major health club" is signing a lease for 30,000 s.f. of this Forest City cite; sources tell DCMud that said major health club is VIDA Fitness, and that the lease is a done deal.
Also destined for the block at 401 M Street is a 50,000 s.f. Harris Teeter, above which will rise two residential towers with 220 units, with 20% affordable housing, also by Forest City. Environmental remediation will continue through the year with construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2012.
The big news as far as grocery stores in the area has been the potential for a Whole Foods at 800 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., however, the developer William C. Smith + Co. and the grocer are looking for tax abatement to the tune of $8 million over ten years. The groups have apparently been discussing a store for the site since 2002. With a city handing out tax breaks to far less game-changing endeavors - but now strapped for funds - the plan is still given better than even odds.
Among residential options, of Capitol Quarter's EYA development of 113 homes, phase I has sold out, and the 130 homes of Phase II are on the market now, with a move-in date of June 1. Construction had started in 2008, with Phase I construction completed in May of last year.
Other apartments include the off-then-on Foundry Lofts project at 201 Tingey Street S.E. which will offer 10,000 s.f. of retail and 170 market rate units. Forest City was able to resume building in September of 2010 as a result of President Obama's New Issue Bond Program (NIBP) that allowed for the D.C. Housing and Finance Agency (DCHFA) to fund the project and kick it forward. Leasing will begin this summer, with move-in likely in October.
In a holding pattern are several other projects awaiting financing. They include Factory 202, the SK&I-designed building that had been home to Federal Protective Services which was to have become a condo building. Forest City is still entertaining other plans for the site, but as of now it is considered a building for a later phase of development.
Though Monument Realty's 55 M Street is filling up, there is no start date for the hotel or residential buildings at Half Street since funding has not been secured since Lehman Brothers' exit. The grand plans for this property tanked with the fall of the economy, leaving a crater sized hole in 2008.
Akridge's Half Street mixed use office, residential and retail tower is also on hold, as developers are in the process of securing an office tenant. "We've just picked things up again in regard to design," said Kathy McDaniel, Project Administrator for Akridge. "Three months from now, we will have more progress to report."
Still on the boards is the CSX plan to widen its rail lines that run under Virginia Avenue, which is not marketed as loudly, partly because it will be some time before the location will be affected. A $98 million TIGER grant will raise the clearance in 38 locations in three states; 23 more need to be funded and amended before the bigger clearance allows for taller trains. The Virginia Avenue tunnel is among the largest and the most expensive pieces of the project.
Washington, D.C. real estate development news
Retail, restaurants and office space leases are filling in at a more rapid rate than counterpoint emerging neighborhood NoMa, where the snap-up of square footage has been dominated by office leases. Sexier retail - even indie tenants such as as Pound Coffee have defected to Capitol Hill, while Capitol Waterfront is a hot commodity for retailers.
It helps that temporary projects draw the young and artsy to the water - Trapeze School Washington, Sensorium Dining and Art at the Yards generate buzz. Then there's the developing Canal Park that's scheduled to open in May 2012, Yards Park which opened last year, and Diamond Teague Park that was completed in 2009. In the meantime, enter the bridge to connect the two parks. And of course there's the ball park.
Many completed office buildings have lassoed tenants. Monument Realty's 55 M Street S.E. is 86% leased, with tenants such as the FAA and DDOT. Several D.C. government offices plan to move to the neighborhood in the second quarter, and this month Booz Allen Hamilton moved into 20 M Street, bumping the building to 97% leased. And 1015 Half Street, the former Opus East LLC and Prudential Real Estate Investors partnership that was resuscitated by Skanska this past May, is slated to open in July.
Both Lumber Shed at The Yards Park Pavilion and The Yards Boilermaker Shops are among the most anticipated retail projects. Both buildings - the Lumber Shed at 100 Water Street and Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street - are part of the National Register of Historic Places, with Forest City Washington as developer and Gensler shepherding construction and design. Among other tenants, Neighborhood Restaurant Group has signed a lease for a restaurant that's expected to become a brewpub. According to Ramsey Meiser, Senior Vice President of Development at Forest City, 50% of the Lumber Shed and 70% of the Boilermaker Shops leases are tied down. Estimated opening date is early 2013.
Over at 400 Tingey Street S.E., Michael Stevens confirms that "a major health club" is signing a lease for 30,000 s.f. of this Forest City cite; sources tell DCMud that said major health club is VIDA Fitness, and that the lease is a done deal.
Also destined for the block at 401 M Street is a 50,000 s.f. Harris Teeter, above which will rise two residential towers with 220 units, with 20% affordable housing, also by Forest City. Environmental remediation will continue through the year with construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2012.
The big news as far as grocery stores in the area has been the potential for a Whole Foods at 800 New Jersey Avenue, S.E., however, the developer William C. Smith + Co. and the grocer are looking for tax abatement to the tune of $8 million over ten years. The groups have apparently been discussing a store for the site since 2002. With a city handing out tax breaks to far less game-changing endeavors - but now strapped for funds - the plan is still given better than even odds.
Among residential options, of Capitol Quarter's EYA development of 113 homes, phase I has sold out, and the 130 homes of Phase II are on the market now, with a move-in date of June 1. Construction had started in 2008, with Phase I construction completed in May of last year.
Other apartments include the off-then-on Foundry Lofts project at 201 Tingey Street S.E. which will offer 10,000 s.f. of retail and 170 market rate units. Forest City was able to resume building in September of 2010 as a result of President Obama's New Issue Bond Program (NIBP) that allowed for the D.C. Housing and Finance Agency (DCHFA) to fund the project and kick it forward. Leasing will begin this summer, with move-in likely in October.
In a holding pattern are several other projects awaiting financing. They include Factory 202, the SK&I-designed building that had been home to Federal Protective Services which was to have become a condo building. Forest City is still entertaining other plans for the site, but as of now it is considered a building for a later phase of development.
Though Monument Realty's 55 M Street is filling up, there is no start date for the hotel or residential buildings at Half Street since funding has not been secured since Lehman Brothers' exit. The grand plans for this property tanked with the fall of the economy, leaving a crater sized hole in 2008.
Akridge's Half Street mixed use office, residential and retail tower is also on hold, as developers are in the process of securing an office tenant. "We've just picked things up again in regard to design," said Kathy McDaniel, Project Administrator for Akridge. "Three months from now, we will have more progress to report."
Still on the boards is the CSX plan to widen its rail lines that run under Virginia Avenue, which is not marketed as loudly, partly because it will be some time before the location will be affected. A $98 million TIGER grant will raise the clearance in 38 locations in three states; 23 more need to be funded and amended before the bigger clearance allows for taller trains. The Virginia Avenue tunnel is among the largest and the most expensive pieces of the project.
Washington, D.C. real estate development news
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
8021 Georgia Ave. to House Apartments by Priderock Capital Partners and DLJ Real Estate
13
comments
Posted by
Melissa McCart on 3/16/2011 03:05:00 PM
Labels: DLJ Real Estate, Preston Partnership, Silver Spring
Labels: DLJ Real Estate, Preston Partnership, Silver Spring
Last week, Priderock Capital Partners LLC and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners officially broke ground on apartments at 8021 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring, a nine-story complex that will offer 210 units and two levels of underground parking. The complex will be comprised of two older buildings already on the property and a new one that broke ground on the 1.88 acre site last week.
Building will unfold in two phases: new construction, followed by building rehabilitation of the remaining structures. During the first phase of building, as the new structures are built, the older buildings will be cleaned of asbestos and brought up to code. BEK Construction Management Group has been awarded construction for the project and The Preston Partnership will helm design.
"This complex will be a place where middle class, working people can live without having to own," said George Banks, co-founder of Priderock. "That's the only difference between these apartments and condos." The complex will offer a gym with simulated golf, massage area, concierge, swimming pool, and secured parking. 13% of the units are slated as affordable housing, in compliance with city code, said Banks.
"We're trying to put quality housing stock back into the city by offering a nice place to live," he said. "We want to get these buildings back on the tax roll for the city." Banks expects for a grand opening date of October or November of 2012.
Priderock and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners have contracts to buy at least three other properties on which to develop housing around the city. Banks has asked to withhold revealing the exact locations until after the close.
Washington, D.C. Real Estate
Building will unfold in two phases: new construction, followed by building rehabilitation of the remaining structures. During the first phase of building, as the new structures are built, the older buildings will be cleaned of asbestos and brought up to code. BEK Construction Management Group has been awarded construction for the project and The Preston Partnership will helm design.
"This complex will be a place where middle class, working people can live without having to own," said George Banks, co-founder of Priderock. "That's the only difference between these apartments and condos." The complex will offer a gym with simulated golf, massage area, concierge, swimming pool, and secured parking. 13% of the units are slated as affordable housing, in compliance with city code, said Banks.
"We're trying to put quality housing stock back into the city by offering a nice place to live," he said. "We want to get these buildings back on the tax roll for the city." Banks expects for a grand opening date of October or November of 2012.
Priderock and DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners have contracts to buy at least three other properties on which to develop housing around the city. Banks has asked to withhold revealing the exact locations until after the close.
Washington, D.C. Real Estate
Monday, March 14, 2011
From Candidates to Color Tiles
By Beth Herman
It’s a long way from Warsaw to Washington, and for former foreign correspondent Izabela Eisemann, owner of Eisemann Design,the journey from the rigors of reporting to the drama of design put her precisely where she needed to be.
Arriving in the U.S. in 1999, via a stint in Brussels, to work for a Polish division of BBC radio and later for Polish Radio ESKA, Eisemann’s professional interests ran the gamut from politics to social issues, art and culture, which she dubiously studied and reported to international audiences. “When you live in a new country, you’re curious about everything, so I was basically soaking (everything up), like a sponge,” she recalled of her early days in D.C.
Tiring of life in a media pressure cooker and mining a creative vein she admitted she’d always had, Eisemann, who loves color, sought ways to express herself artistically in Washington, taking art classes at a local college. “That led me into design classes,” she explained, adding she’d moved so often abroad for her work, creating a new home for herself each time and also extending ideas to friends, becoming a design professional was a natural evolution of her talents. “I went back to school and got a degree in design,” she said, eventually forming Eisemann Design. “I wanted to learn more and be more professional about it.”
Cellar Color
In 2005, while still navigating the end of design school (and still working in news), and clearly before Eisemann had hung her own shingle, she participated in a National Symphony Orchestra-sponsored design house. As the gods would have it, a phone call followed from a couple who’d seen the design house project. “They wanted me to work on a Silver Spring area basement,” Eisemann said, “a very cluttered, disorganized space.” (In a stroke of validation that Eisemann had indeed chosen the right course for the next phase of her life, ASID later gave her a chapter award in a student category for the Silver Spring basement project, as she’d begun the work while barely out of school.)
At 930 s.f. of undivided space, the size of a small home, the designer was tasked with creating a TV/game viewing area, a section for a pool table, a collectibles display area and a bar/beverage space. Confronting challenges in the way of pipes, protruding columns, soffits and other irregularities, which many would instantly camouflage, Eisemann realized the true expression of color when she elected instead to use them to her advantage - storing speakers inside a column, for example - punctuating them with rich maroons, antique golds and more saturated colors. In fact, with the husband of Indian ancestry, the Silver Spring homeowners had requested an Indian theme for their basement recreation area which Eisenmann achieved using the aforementioned traditional colors of India. A Taj Mahal theme ensued, with arc’d window treatments made of MDF’s (medium density fiberboards), pendant billiard lighting and wall sconces, from Pottery Barn, the latter of which were born as floor lamps.
“Color is the first thing I suggest to my clients when I see walls that are just beige or no color at all,” Eisemann said of her overall design philosophy, basement or otherwise. “I think designers use it more and more often, especially in this economy when people don’t always have thousands of dollars to renovate a space. Irregularities like soffits or columns, a nook or obstructions that hide chimneys - I like to emphasize these using different colors,” she affirmed.
Color Causality
At a turn-of-the-century townhouse in Adams Morgan, Eisemann’s proclivity for color transformed a home-based 1,300 s.f. law office from nondescript white walls that disappeared into the space to a rich, robust environment. Sited on the second and third floors of the three-story structure and comprised of an office for the attorney, a conference room, secretarial space and small kitchen, the designer replaced white walls with a pigeon blue, a color she called “atmospheric,” with chocolate brown and deep orange used in accent areas such as a staircase wall. Also applying deep orange to a bump out wall that concealed the chimney, Eisemann said when these items are painted differently, “…they don’t look like accidental elements; they look like they were designed to be that way.”
Utilizing an original cherry colored desk and file cabinet, and incorporating office furniture from West Elm and IKEA (the designer endorses some, though not all, IKEA lines, like office furniture which she said is well-constructed), a definitive dark brown was a recurring theme. For the floor, Eisemann chose FLOR carpet tiles, which are rated for heavier or lighter use and come in a variety of colors and patterns. “That’s another way I introduce color into the area,” she said, adding she used them in the center of the room, to absorb office traffic, leaving a hardwood floor border. Irregularities in the space, like a nook, were filled with two built-in shelving pieces that accommodate an office fridge, with a granite countertop for a coffee maker and tray with mugs. This precludes ascending to the third floor kitchen and back when clients are present.
Consequential Color
When Georgetown’s Jelleff Boys and Girls Club came calling, Eisemann used a primary (red; blue; yellow) color scheme to transform a tired, institutional-looking space with a repetitive dark coffee-and-milk color scheme into a bright, vigorous environment. A succession of doors, each one painted red, blue or yellow by the designer in a continuing pattern, created a vivid corridor; light floor tiles with accent colors also in red, blue and yellow replicated the theme. In fact, children have been known to use the tile squares interactively for games. Conversely, an upstairs gym painted a monochromatic navy blue that wouldn’t reflect light, natural or otherwise, was lightened, with the end result preserving energy. “The head of the Boys and Girls Club came back and said he saved on the lighting bill because he no longer needed the lights on in the gym, at all times, the way he had in the past,” Eisemann said.
“Color is such an easy fix,” the designer said, acknowledging that except for benches and a few other items, little was changed at the club except the color scheme. “It is a major factor in design.”
It’s a long way from Warsaw to Washington, and for former foreign correspondent Izabela Eisemann, owner of Eisemann Design,the journey from the rigors of reporting to the drama of design put her precisely where she needed to be.
Arriving in the U.S. in 1999, via a stint in Brussels, to work for a Polish division of BBC radio and later for Polish Radio ESKA, Eisemann’s professional interests ran the gamut from politics to social issues, art and culture, which she dubiously studied and reported to international audiences. “When you live in a new country, you’re curious about everything, so I was basically soaking (everything up), like a sponge,” she recalled of her early days in D.C.
Tiring of life in a media pressure cooker and mining a creative vein she admitted she’d always had, Eisemann, who loves color, sought ways to express herself artistically in Washington, taking art classes at a local college. “That led me into design classes,” she explained, adding she’d moved so often abroad for her work, creating a new home for herself each time and also extending ideas to friends, becoming a design professional was a natural evolution of her talents. “I went back to school and got a degree in design,” she said, eventually forming Eisemann Design. “I wanted to learn more and be more professional about it.”
Cellar Color
In 2005, while still navigating the end of design school (and still working in news), and clearly before Eisemann had hung her own shingle, she participated in a National Symphony Orchestra-sponsored design house. As the gods would have it, a phone call followed from a couple who’d seen the design house project. “They wanted me to work on a Silver Spring area basement,” Eisemann said, “a very cluttered, disorganized space.” (In a stroke of validation that Eisemann had indeed chosen the right course for the next phase of her life, ASID later gave her a chapter award in a student category for the Silver Spring basement project, as she’d begun the work while barely out of school.)
At 930 s.f. of undivided space, the size of a small home, the designer was tasked with creating a TV/game viewing area, a section for a pool table, a collectibles display area and a bar/beverage space. Confronting challenges in the way of pipes, protruding columns, soffits and other irregularities, which many would instantly camouflage, Eisemann realized the true expression of color when she elected instead to use them to her advantage - storing speakers inside a column, for example - punctuating them with rich maroons, antique golds and more saturated colors. In fact, with the husband of Indian ancestry, the Silver Spring homeowners had requested an Indian theme for their basement recreation area which Eisenmann achieved using the aforementioned traditional colors of India. A Taj Mahal theme ensued, with arc’d window treatments made of MDF’s (medium density fiberboards), pendant billiard lighting and wall sconces, from Pottery Barn, the latter of which were born as floor lamps.
“Color is the first thing I suggest to my clients when I see walls that are just beige or no color at all,” Eisemann said of her overall design philosophy, basement or otherwise. “I think designers use it more and more often, especially in this economy when people don’t always have thousands of dollars to renovate a space. Irregularities like soffits or columns, a nook or obstructions that hide chimneys - I like to emphasize these using different colors,” she affirmed.
Color Causality
At a turn-of-the-century townhouse in Adams Morgan, Eisemann’s proclivity for color transformed a home-based 1,300 s.f. law office from nondescript white walls that disappeared into the space to a rich, robust environment. Sited on the second and third floors of the three-story structure and comprised of an office for the attorney, a conference room, secretarial space and small kitchen, the designer replaced white walls with a pigeon blue, a color she called “atmospheric,” with chocolate brown and deep orange used in accent areas such as a staircase wall. Also applying deep orange to a bump out wall that concealed the chimney, Eisemann said when these items are painted differently, “…they don’t look like accidental elements; they look like they were designed to be that way.”
Utilizing an original cherry colored desk and file cabinet, and incorporating office furniture from West Elm and IKEA (the designer endorses some, though not all, IKEA lines, like office furniture which she said is well-constructed), a definitive dark brown was a recurring theme. For the floor, Eisemann chose FLOR carpet tiles, which are rated for heavier or lighter use and come in a variety of colors and patterns. “That’s another way I introduce color into the area,” she said, adding she used them in the center of the room, to absorb office traffic, leaving a hardwood floor border. Irregularities in the space, like a nook, were filled with two built-in shelving pieces that accommodate an office fridge, with a granite countertop for a coffee maker and tray with mugs. This precludes ascending to the third floor kitchen and back when clients are present.
When Georgetown’s Jelleff Boys and Girls Club came calling, Eisemann used a primary (red; blue; yellow) color scheme to transform a tired, institutional-looking space with a repetitive dark coffee-and-milk color scheme into a bright, vigorous environment. A succession of doors, each one painted red, blue or yellow by the designer in a continuing pattern, created a vivid corridor; light floor tiles with accent colors also in red, blue and yellow replicated the theme. In fact, children have been known to use the tile squares interactively for games. Conversely, an upstairs gym painted a monochromatic navy blue that wouldn’t reflect light, natural or otherwise, was lightened, with the end result preserving energy. “The head of the Boys and Girls Club came back and said he saved on the lighting bill because he no longer needed the lights on in the gym, at all times, the way he had in the past,” Eisemann said.
“Color is such an easy fix,” the designer said, acknowledging that except for benches and a few other items, little was changed at the club except the color scheme. “It is a major factor in design.”
Monument Pays $7.3m for its Downtown Development
4
comments
Posted by
Melissa McCart on 3/14/2011 09:41:00 AM
Labels: Cunningham + Quill, Monument Realty
Labels: Cunningham + Quill, Monument Realty
Sources say that Monument Realty shelled out $7.3m for its purchase of 627-631 H Street at an Alex Cooper auction, one of the last opportunities for buildable development in downtown Washington D.C.
In its place, Monument will build Gallery Tower, an 80,000 s.f. office tower that will feature either one or two floors of retail space.
Monument tapped Cunningham+Quill for design but has yet to choose a contractor. Though the company is actively looking for a pre-lease tenant, the company acknowledges it may build on spec. "We believe in the vibrancy of this location in downtown Washington," a source told DCMud. "We don't believe we'll have a problem securing a tenant."
The parcel Monument purchased is near 675 H Street, N.W., which McCaffery Interests Inc. and Douglas Development bought from the same auctioneer within the same week. The property had been owned by Yeni Wong of Riverdale International, who had defaulted on the note several times which had led to foreclosure.
The property had been the site of China Doll Gourmet which had closed in 2006 and has since been razed. Monument anticipates breaking ground by the year's end.
Washington, D.C. real estate news
In its place, Monument will build Gallery Tower, an 80,000 s.f. office tower that will feature either one or two floors of retail space.
Monument tapped Cunningham+Quill for design but has yet to choose a contractor. Though the company is actively looking for a pre-lease tenant, the company acknowledges it may build on spec. "We believe in the vibrancy of this location in downtown Washington," a source told DCMud. "We don't believe we'll have a problem securing a tenant."
The parcel Monument purchased is near 675 H Street, N.W., which McCaffery Interests Inc. and Douglas Development bought from the same auctioneer within the same week. The property had been owned by Yeni Wong of Riverdale International, who had defaulted on the note several times which had led to foreclosure.
The property had been the site of China Doll Gourmet which had closed in 2006 and has since been razed. Monument anticipates breaking ground by the year's end.
Washington, D.C. real estate news
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Tewkesbury Condos - Newly Renovated Homes on Rock Creek Park
Sponsored Post
In a leafy corridor of Washington’s Northwest 14th Street lay Tewkesbury Condominiums. This singularly attractive & modern light-filled building, composed of 26 units on four floors, has just finished a complete renovation, and almost every aspect of the building has been replaced with brand new components. This includes all windows, elevator, complete HVAC system, hard wood and ceramic floors, stainless appliances, granite countertops, a modernized lighting system, and washer and dryer as well as a ceiling sound system in every unit.
The parts of the building that were kept intact are the concrete floors and walls that separate the units, making for a very quiet abode, as well as the covered individual parking garages. Blocks from Rock Creek Park golf course in the quiet neighborhood of Brightwood, the building has 1 and 2 bedroom condos priced from the upper $100,000's to the upper $200,000's - an amazing value (see website for pictures and floor plans). Open Sundays from 1 to 3. For more information and appointments please call Gwen at 202-251-5260.
Tewkesbury Condos
6425 14th Street, NW
Washington DC
Open Sundays 1-3pm
In a leafy corridor of Washington’s Northwest 14th Street lay Tewkesbury Condominiums. This singularly attractive & modern light-filled building, composed of 26 units on four floors, has just finished a complete renovation, and almost every aspect of the building has been replaced with brand new components. This includes all windows, elevator, complete HVAC system, hard wood and ceramic floors, stainless appliances, granite countertops, a modernized lighting system, and washer and dryer as well as a ceiling sound system in every unit.
The parts of the building that were kept intact are the concrete floors and walls that separate the units, making for a very quiet abode, as well as the covered individual parking garages. Blocks from Rock Creek Park golf course in the quiet neighborhood of Brightwood, the building has 1 and 2 bedroom condos priced from the upper $100,000's to the upper $200,000's - an amazing value (see website for pictures and floor plans). Open Sundays from 1 to 3. For more information and appointments please call Gwen at 202-251-5260.
Tewkesbury Condos
6425 14th Street, NW
Washington DC
Open Sundays 1-3pm
Your Next Place
By Franklin Schneider
The first thing you notice when you enter this fantastic Gothic-ish mansion at 1st and V St., NW, is the oblong custom-made three panel stained glass window that stretches up to the living room's vaulted ceiling, a height of nearly two stories. All country club-style woodwork and exposed brick, this majestic area opens onto a massive kitchen; from there you go through a pair of oversize sliding doors leading out to a spacious patio. Come spring, it'd be a perfect place to have breakfast, read the paper, and ask random passersby if they have two-story stained-glass windows in their living rooms. (“You don't? I do.”)
Up to the second floor; there's a beautiful sitting room and a sun- filled southfacing nook. There's also a waist-high overlook, from which you can survey the ground floor; in a unique touch, the top is planted with ornamental cacti. It looks stylish, and it's a clever way to remind guests not to put their empties there. I noticed that on each floor, there seemed to be an identically-shaped closet in the very same spot; it turns out that there used to be an elevator shaft running through the middle of the house, which was converted into closets. If it had been up to me, I would've kept the elevator, and just thrown all my shoes and underwear in there. But then I'm an exceptionally classy person
The third floor is the master bedroom suite, a mini-Xanadu with a heated jacuzzi, gas fireplace, and enclosed patio, perfect for nude sunbathing. Along another side of the house is a long, open deck overlooking the street; on a clear day you can see the Washington Monument. All in all, there are five fireplaces, 3.5 baths, and two-car attached garage. There's also a one-bedroom english basement rental unit, so you could probably get some recent college grad to heavily subsidize your mortgage payment. Ah, America!
2100 1st St., NW
Washington, DC
3 Bdrm, 3.5 Baths
Parking
OPEN SUN 1-4
The first thing you notice when you enter this fantastic Gothic-ish mansion at 1st and V St., NW, is the oblong custom-made three panel stained glass window that stretches up to the living room's vaulted ceiling, a height of nearly two stories. All country club-style woodwork and exposed brick, this majestic area opens onto a massive kitchen; from there you go through a pair of oversize sliding doors leading out to a spacious patio. Come spring, it'd be a perfect place to have breakfast, read the paper, and ask random passersby if they have two-story stained-glass windows in their living rooms. (“You don't? I do.”)
Up to the second floor; there's a beautiful sitting room and a sun- filled southfacing nook. There's also a waist-high overlook, from which you can survey the ground floor; in a unique touch, the top is planted with ornamental cacti. It looks stylish, and it's a clever way to remind guests not to put their empties there. I noticed that on each floor, there seemed to be an identically-shaped closet in the very same spot; it turns out that there used to be an elevator shaft running through the middle of the house, which was converted into closets. If it had been up to me, I would've kept the elevator, and just thrown all my shoes and underwear in there. But then I'm an exceptionally classy person
The third floor is the master bedroom suite, a mini-Xanadu with a heated jacuzzi, gas fireplace, and enclosed patio, perfect for nude sunbathing. Along another side of the house is a long, open deck overlooking the street; on a clear day you can see the Washington Monument. All in all, there are five fireplaces, 3.5 baths, and two-car attached garage. There's also a one-bedroom english basement rental unit, so you could probably get some recent college grad to heavily subsidize your mortgage payment. Ah, America!
2100 1st St., NW
Washington, DC
3 Bdrm, 3.5 Baths
Parking
OPEN SUN 1-4
Friday, March 11, 2011
Two Story Restaurant for 14th Street Historic Building
1 comments
Posted by
Melissa McCart on 3/11/2011 02:53:00 PM
Labels: 14th Street, Bonstra Haresign Architects, U Street
Labels: 14th Street, Bonstra Haresign Architects, U Street
A two-story restaurant with a soon-to-be-named tenant will fill the vacancy at 2208 14th Street, NW. The project has been helmed by Kensington-based N & C Construction, LLC and Bonstra Haresign Architects, the firm behind Studio Theatre and Parker Flats at Gage School.
In 2005, the building had been abandoned and was purchased by Neftali Benitez of N & C, with Bonstra Haresign signing on in 2006, said Brian Forehand, project leader for the design firm. The historic building will maintain several facets of the original, in compliance with Historic Preservation Review Board guidelines. "To the right of the facade, we have preserved an original door and window detail," said Forehand. "The left section is modified in that we will create a more contemporary bay and a new entry canopy." Much of the base building renovation has been completed. Additional work will include expansion of the storefront as well as expansion of the back of the building.
The former rowhouse-turned-retail has an interesting history as documented by The Humanities Council of Washington D.C. in that it had been The New School for Afro American Thought, an Afro-centric humanities organization founded by Howard University student activist (and now a Berkeley, California resident) Don Freeman and the late Washington D.C. poet Gaston Neal in 1966. Once the school moved in 1971, it fell into disrepair and was eventually abandoned.
The building is one of many developments burrowing down on 14th Street, the others of which include Utopia, the massive, mixed use project by Georgetown Strategic Capital (GSC) that is scheduled to begin in the fall 2011. Furioso Development has begun work on a seven-story residential building at 1525 14th Street, in between Posto and Great Wall Chinese restaurants. Douglas Development and R2L Architects have partnered in the creation of a six story apartment house at 2221 14th Street. The JBG, Grosvenor and Shalom Baranes condo project broke ground this fall at 14th and S Streets, and UDR has begun initial work in the giant pit of the former Nehemiah Center at 2400 14th Street as well.
Washington, D.C. real estate development news
In 2005, the building had been abandoned and was purchased by Neftali Benitez of N & C, with Bonstra Haresign signing on in 2006, said Brian Forehand, project leader for the design firm. The historic building will maintain several facets of the original, in compliance with Historic Preservation Review Board guidelines. "To the right of the facade, we have preserved an original door and window detail," said Forehand. "The left section is modified in that we will create a more contemporary bay and a new entry canopy." Much of the base building renovation has been completed. Additional work will include expansion of the storefront as well as expansion of the back of the building.
The former rowhouse-turned-retail has an interesting history as documented by The Humanities Council of Washington D.C. in that it had been The New School for Afro American Thought, an Afro-centric humanities organization founded by Howard University student activist (and now a Berkeley, California resident) Don Freeman and the late Washington D.C. poet Gaston Neal in 1966. Once the school moved in 1971, it fell into disrepair and was eventually abandoned.
The building is one of many developments burrowing down on 14th Street, the others of which include Utopia, the massive, mixed use project by Georgetown Strategic Capital (GSC) that is scheduled to begin in the fall 2011. Furioso Development has begun work on a seven-story residential building at 1525 14th Street, in between Posto and Great Wall Chinese restaurants. Douglas Development and R2L Architects have partnered in the creation of a six story apartment house at 2221 14th Street. The JBG, Grosvenor and Shalom Baranes condo project broke ground this fall at 14th and S Streets, and UDR has begun initial work in the giant pit of the former Nehemiah Center at 2400 14th Street as well.
Washington, D.C. real estate development news
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Your Next Place
By Franklin Schneider
This newly-built, imposing three-story house, just a couple blocks from the New York Ave. Metro, is known as Capitol Overlook Phase III/IV (Phase V involves launching the house into orbit). Fronted by beautiful, massive windows, the row house has legitimate two-story cathedral ceilings - the living area is so huge, you could fly a kite within, or erect a trapeze. Upstairs, a sort of catwalk partially encircles and overlooks the first floor, and there's an oversized stainless steel ceiling fan that looks strong enough to power a small plane (I mean that in a good way.) It's a dramatic space; for the first time ever, I didn't feel foolish wearing sunglasses indoors. Two large bedrooms with notably generous closets – a big plus if you're a clothes horse like me – and two baths, sunlit den, on-site laundry, and more.
Reading back over my description, I fear it doesn't quite do justice to the place. It's newly-built, and as much as I love the “old bones” of a renovated classic, you've got to love something that was designed and made right now. There are a dozen little touches in the house –the light fixtures in the kitchen, the offset planes of the front of the house, the aforementioned catwalk – that strike you as utterly new, but also totally sensible. Why aren't all houses like this? It's the sort of thing you really should see for yourself.
Also, if you haven't been to the area in a while you might be surprised by how much stuff is already over there; coffee shops and a Potbelly and a new Harris Teeter, even a new Capital Bikeshare station. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor and win the nonexpiring privilege of looking down your nose at everyone who moves into the neighborhood after you. I was the first gentrifier on my block in Shaw, and I work that little fact into every single conversation I have with my neighbors. They don't invite me to cookouts anymore, but then that's not the point, now is it?!
233 R St. NE Unit A
Washington, DC
2 Bdrms, 2 Baths Parking
$429,900
This newly-built, imposing three-story house, just a couple blocks from the New York Ave. Metro, is known as Capitol Overlook Phase III/IV (Phase V involves launching the house into orbit). Fronted by beautiful, massive windows, the row house has legitimate two-story cathedral ceilings - the living area is so huge, you could fly a kite within, or erect a trapeze. Upstairs, a sort of catwalk partially encircles and overlooks the first floor, and there's an oversized stainless steel ceiling fan that looks strong enough to power a small plane (I mean that in a good way.) It's a dramatic space; for the first time ever, I didn't feel foolish wearing sunglasses indoors. Two large bedrooms with notably generous closets – a big plus if you're a clothes horse like me – and two baths, sunlit den, on-site laundry, and more.
Reading back over my description, I fear it doesn't quite do justice to the place. It's newly-built, and as much as I love the “old bones” of a renovated classic, you've got to love something that was designed and made right now. There are a dozen little touches in the house –the light fixtures in the kitchen, the offset planes of the front of the house, the aforementioned catwalk – that strike you as utterly new, but also totally sensible. Why aren't all houses like this? It's the sort of thing you really should see for yourself.
Also, if you haven't been to the area in a while you might be surprised by how much stuff is already over there; coffee shops and a Potbelly and a new Harris Teeter, even a new Capital Bikeshare station. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor and win the nonexpiring privilege of looking down your nose at everyone who moves into the neighborhood after you. I was the first gentrifier on my block in Shaw, and I work that little fact into every single conversation I have with my neighbors. They don't invite me to cookouts anymore, but then that's not the point, now is it?!
233 R St. NE Unit A
Washington, DC
2 Bdrms, 2 Baths Parking
$429,900
Wednesday, March 09, 2011
Ellsworth Slated For April Groundbreaking in Silver Spring
10
comments
Posted by
Melissa McCart on 3/09/2011 03:58:00 PM
Labels: AR Meyers, Fenton Group LLC, Perseus Realty LLC, Silver Spring
Labels: AR Meyers, Fenton Group LLC, Perseus Realty LLC, Silver Spring
The Ellsworth Apartments in Silver Spring is set to break ground in late April or early May, said Karl Alt, Development Project Manager of The Foulger-Pratt Companies. The apartment building, positioned two blocks from the Silver Spring Metro, will offer residents a courtyard, fitness center and pool. It was originally billed as a luxury condo development.
The 217,655 s.f. building will be built to LEED-Silver certification levels and will offer 222 market-rate apartments and 19 low income units. Alt said the project will take over the entire block from Ellsworth Drive to Cedar Street to Pershing Drive and Veterans Drive. SK & I Architectural Group, the firm behind View 14, Union Row Flats and Arlington's Lofts 590, is steering the project's design. Foulger-Pratt is responsible for both development and construction of the project.
Foulger-Pratt Development Executive Briggs Bunker said the apartment exterior closely resembles the drawing above, despite that the project has been retraded as rental apartments. Of course it's still being dubbed as luxury residences. "The materials used in each unit are what make it a luxury rental," said Bunker. "Marble counter tops in each unit, for example." The common spaces are also what the developers consider a notch above: "Not many rental buildings have a common courtyard, a pool, a fountain, two areas for outdoor barbecues, and an outdoor fireplace." The building will also feature a fitness center, a game room and cybercafe.
The Ellsworth is one of the few projects in Silver Spring to move forward without substantial subsidies for affordable housing, which Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has made clear is a staple of real estate development.
Projects like The Argent, an affordable housing project developed by Perseus Realty at 1200 Blair Mill Road that opened last year, have been able to move forward with local and federal grants for below-market housing, while Galaxy will rise at 8025 13th Street, with 113 market-rate apartments and 82 subsidized units designed by A.R. Meyers & Associates.
So while the proliferation of development in the suburb just north of the city may offer some sunny optimism regarding the housing economy, the roll out remains slow, with projects often scaled down and subsidized. Development of the Ellsworth, in that light, is a sign of more faith in the market forces.
Silver Spring, Maryland retail and real estate development news
Bethesda's Trillium Site Sold, Residential Project Planned
6
comments
Posted by
Ken on 3/09/2011 10:44:00 AM
Labels: Bethesda, StonebridgeCarras, Walton Street Capital, Wisconsin Avenue
Labels: Bethesda, StonebridgeCarras, Walton Street Capital, Wisconsin Avenue
StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital have paid $29,250,000 to purchase the Trillium site in Bethesda. The Wisconsin Avenue site had hosted a hotel, demolished in 2007 to make way a the high-end condo project by Houston-based Patrinely Group, but the ill-timed development never broke ground.
Davis Carter Scott had designed 3 residential towers for the project with southward facing glass sheer walls, but Stonebridge says it will create "a new plan" for the site that will have to go through the Montgomery County approval process again, and will feature a retail component below the residential spaces that will now be rental apartments. StonebridgeCarras says it will have plans ready to submit this summer for the 1.6 acre site. The building will occupy the southern end of the block (see map) northern part of the block is owned by NIH.
Stonebridge founding principal Doug Firstenberg says the team is starting from scratch to build "over 300 rental units" above 50,000 s.f. of retail, but has not selected an architect for the project. "We expect entitlements to be about 2 years, we hope to break ground early 2013, and deliver by 2015" says Firstenberg. "Its a really great opportunity to do a mixed use site, you've got a gateway site, less than a half a mile from the red line Metro station, with the medical center adding several thousand new jobs. This could really anchor the redevelopment of Woodmont Triangle."
This is the third joint venture between affiliates of StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street, which included Constitution Square in Washington DC and 8000 Jones Branch Drive in Tyson’s Corner. The previous developer began sales of the condominiums, which ranged from $500,000 to $3,000,000, but never achieved enough sales to satisfy investor requirements to start construction.
Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news
Davis Carter Scott had designed 3 residential towers for the project with southward facing glass sheer walls, but Stonebridge says it will create "a new plan" for the site that will have to go through the Montgomery County approval process again, and will feature a retail component below the residential spaces that will now be rental apartments. StonebridgeCarras says it will have plans ready to submit this summer for the 1.6 acre site. The building will occupy the southern end of the block (see map) northern part of the block is owned by NIH.
Stonebridge founding principal Doug Firstenberg says the team is starting from scratch to build "over 300 rental units" above 50,000 s.f. of retail, but has not selected an architect for the project. "We expect entitlements to be about 2 years, we hope to break ground early 2013, and deliver by 2015" says Firstenberg. "Its a really great opportunity to do a mixed use site, you've got a gateway site, less than a half a mile from the red line Metro station, with the medical center adding several thousand new jobs. This could really anchor the redevelopment of Woodmont Triangle."
This is the third joint venture between affiliates of StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street, which included Constitution Square in Washington DC and 8000 Jones Branch Drive in Tyson’s Corner. The previous developer began sales of the condominiums, which ranged from $500,000 to $3,000,000, but never achieved enough sales to satisfy investor requirements to start construction.
Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Court Hears Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Avenue Giant Project
19
comments
Posted by
Melissa McCart on 3/08/2011 04:49:00 PM
Labels: supermarkets, Wisconsin Avenue, Zoning Commission
Labels: supermarkets, Wisconsin Avenue, Zoning Commission
The D.C. Court of Appeals heard this morning arguments by the Wisconsin Newark Neighbors Coalition (WNNC) against the D.C. Zoning Commission to determine whether development of the Wisconsin Avenue Giant will move forward as planned. The project, named Cathedral Commons as of last year, includes a new 56,000 s.f. grocery store, 55,000 s.f. of ground floor, street-level retail, 150 condos or apartments and over 500 parking spaces.
Last July, the Zoning Commission gave their unanimous approval of the project, to which WNNC responded by filing an appeal, claiming that the Zoning Commission does not have the power under the PUD (zoning change approval) to eliminate a neighborhood commercial zone designation on the subject lots. In short, WNNC objects to the changes incurred in the rewriting of the Comprehensive Plan that was first drafted in 2006 that they perceive will increase height of the project and density of the area.
WNNC wants the city to revise the PUD as a two-stage application, and have asked the court to overturn the Commissions decision to grant the PUD within a neighborhood commercial overlay zone district, in what is a fairly typical zoning decision, claiming the Commission lacked authority.
Despite vocal neighborhood opposition, many quieter residents embrace the project. Trudy Reeves, D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner 3C says she moved to the neighborhood after learning about the project. "I fully back the PUD," she said. "I bought in this area ten years ago because I heard the Giant was going to expand and that the project would bring with it more retail and make the area more vibrant."
In the meantime, ground level retail that flanks the grocery - The Kellogg Collection, a dry cleaner, Starbucks and Sullivan's Toy Store, for example - are in the midst of plans to vacate the premise to make way for construction. An unnamed retailer in the project tells DCMud that the developer has given them notice to move by late May. Once the Wisconsin Avenue Starbucks closes, Cleveland Park will lose its only remaining coffee shop, with the Connecticut Avenue Starbucks location having shuttered last year.
Councilwoman Mary Cheh's office (Ward 3) has also been supportive of the project and has been advised that the likelihood of the project going forward is strong, said Chief of Staff David Zvenyach.
The Wisconsin Avenue Giant Project has been saddled by at least a decade of delay as result of planning, zoning and neighborhood protests. Though Street Works has been consulting on development of the project, Giant Spokesperson Sharon Robinson says they're in the process of deciding upon selecting a development partner.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Last July, the Zoning Commission gave their unanimous approval of the project, to which WNNC responded by filing an appeal, claiming that the Zoning Commission does not have the power under the PUD (zoning change approval) to eliminate a neighborhood commercial zone designation on the subject lots. In short, WNNC objects to the changes incurred in the rewriting of the Comprehensive Plan that was first drafted in 2006 that they perceive will increase height of the project and density of the area.
WNNC wants the city to revise the PUD as a two-stage application, and have asked the court to overturn the Commissions decision to grant the PUD within a neighborhood commercial overlay zone district, in what is a fairly typical zoning decision, claiming the Commission lacked authority.
Despite vocal neighborhood opposition, many quieter residents embrace the project. Trudy Reeves, D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner 3C says she moved to the neighborhood after learning about the project. "I fully back the PUD," she said. "I bought in this area ten years ago because I heard the Giant was going to expand and that the project would bring with it more retail and make the area more vibrant."
In the meantime, ground level retail that flanks the grocery - The Kellogg Collection, a dry cleaner, Starbucks and Sullivan's Toy Store, for example - are in the midst of plans to vacate the premise to make way for construction. An unnamed retailer in the project tells DCMud that the developer has given them notice to move by late May. Once the Wisconsin Avenue Starbucks closes, Cleveland Park will lose its only remaining coffee shop, with the Connecticut Avenue Starbucks location having shuttered last year.
Councilwoman Mary Cheh's office (Ward 3) has also been supportive of the project and has been advised that the likelihood of the project going forward is strong, said Chief of Staff David Zvenyach.
The Wisconsin Avenue Giant Project has been saddled by at least a decade of delay as result of planning, zoning and neighborhood protests. Though Street Works has been consulting on development of the project, Giant Spokesperson Sharon Robinson says they're in the process of deciding upon selecting a development partner.
Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News
Southwest Waterfront Gets Stadium
The newest stadium in Washington D.C. will indeed be in southwest, but it won't be soccer. The Washington Post has reported that the Washington Kastles have a deal to build a stadium on the southwest waterfront, replacing the temporary stadium on the site of the CityCenterDC project, which is scheduled to begin construction within the next month. The new stadium will also be temporary, with the hope that a more permanent stadium will be incorporated into the plans for the greater waterfront redevelopment project.
The southwest waterfront project, headed by PN Hoffman, Madison Marquette, and design firm EEK, has been long on plans but short on specifics, though developers have put forward a late 2012 start date for development. The two-year deal with the Kastles therefore won't interfere with any development plans, though the "stadium" - small and temporary - could allow it to stay until the moment other construction is underway. The Kastles won't release details of their lease - which has not yet been signed - other than to say it will cost them "$10m over 2 years for construction and programming," according to a team spokesperson. The tennis season runs only from July 4 through July 24 this year, designed to begin after Wimbledon and before the U.S. Open, so the current contract ties up the space only until July of next year, in plenty of time for the redevelopment project even under the most optimistic projections. At the same time, the spokesperson indicated this was a positive indicator that the team could work out a longer term deal to remain on the waterfront.
The stadium will occupy the former Hogates site with a 2700 seat, "semi-permanent" structure that will entail pouring a concrete pad for the court with "high end bleacher seating" akin to scaffolding, with concessions and even waiter service to some of the seats. A spokesperson for the project called the size "a little larger than most" of the tennis stadiums in the league. "We were approached by many developers," said the spokesperson, who declined to offer other developers or sites, but it was "very important to us to stay in Washington D.C." Neither contractors nor a designer have been named, but the deal could be signed "any moment," and construction will have to start quickly, so that announcement should be days away.
Washington D.C. real estate development news
The southwest waterfront project, headed by PN Hoffman, Madison Marquette, and design firm EEK, has been long on plans but short on specifics, though developers have put forward a late 2012 start date for development. The two-year deal with the Kastles therefore won't interfere with any development plans, though the "stadium" - small and temporary - could allow it to stay until the moment other construction is underway. The Kastles won't release details of their lease - which has not yet been signed - other than to say it will cost them "$10m over 2 years for construction and programming," according to a team spokesperson. The tennis season runs only from July 4 through July 24 this year, designed to begin after Wimbledon and before the U.S. Open, so the current contract ties up the space only until July of next year, in plenty of time for the redevelopment project even under the most optimistic projections. At the same time, the spokesperson indicated this was a positive indicator that the team could work out a longer term deal to remain on the waterfront.
The stadium will occupy the former Hogates site with a 2700 seat, "semi-permanent" structure that will entail pouring a concrete pad for the court with "high end bleacher seating" akin to scaffolding, with concessions and even waiter service to some of the seats. A spokesperson for the project called the size "a little larger than most" of the tennis stadiums in the league. "We were approached by many developers," said the spokesperson, who declined to offer other developers or sites, but it was "very important to us to stay in Washington D.C." Neither contractors nor a designer have been named, but the deal could be signed "any moment," and construction will have to start quickly, so that announcement should be days away.
Washington D.C. real estate development news
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