Take a Chance on Me: Skanska Mulls Speculative Offices for NoMa

For a world of runaway debt, careening stock markets, sinking credit ratings and overall financial gloom, the Washington D.C. commercial real estate market is a surprisingly bullish place. One such believer is Skanska, fresh off success with a speculative office project in Penn Quarter, and mulling an encore for its NoMa project that it purchased last January.

With a potential for 680,000 s.f. of development, the site would be Skanska's largest DC area project to date, by far. But the developer is in a building mood, having now leased out 90% of its speculative downtown office project at 10th & G before the doors even open, and with "sincerely strong" interest in its Wilson Boulevard office project. With that tailwind, Skanska is putting the final touches on a design for a two-phase office project that could be moving dirt by next summer. With Davis Carter Scott at work designing 300,000 s.f. of office space for phase 1, the developer "is going full bore on all pre-development activity at this time," says Skanska Executive Vice President Rob Ward.

Not that Skanska would be the first polyanna to build without an anchor tenant already signed on, some of the largest office projects to date have kicked off without a financial savior, such as Monday Properties' 35 story office tower in Rosslyn and the CityCenter DC, both of which are well into construction without a single name to hang in the lobby.

And not that Skanska isn't working on a lead tenant; project supervisors have interviewed commercial brokers and expect to announce a leasing team next week. Still, Ward says the building is "100% funded" from internal capital, and the company can make the decision to build - or not - based on market conditions next spring when planning has run its course. "Its automatically a go if we get tenants, but we'll make that call by the middle of next year."

On the books so far is a large office project for phase 1, which Ward says will be a LEED Platinum design within the existing zoning envelope. Ward notes that while current zoning allows for 680,000 s.f. of development, "we'll be very careful how we build out to maximize light rather than the building footprint." While the retail component is not large - somewhere around 15,000 s.f. - Ward foresees a neighborhood enhancer rather than just a building-serving retail space; "a nice location for a good restaurant and bar."

Skanska's record bodes well for a spec project, and the NoMa numbers are still sound, with the vacancy rate just 9% within the NoMa BID according to Delta Associates.

At 10th & G Streets, Skanska is celebrating a 90% lease up of the office building - its first in the United States - that will complete next month after starting off sans tenant. Only about 16,000 of the 165,000 s.f. office building remain unclaimed, and the 4,000 s.f. ground floor retail space has been leased to Comma, which will serve 3 squares a day. 3 major tenants account for most of the leasing activity that is expected to earn LEED Gold certification.

Skanska bought the NoMa property at First and M Streets, NE, last January for $41 million from an affiliate of the Polinger Company. The site was designated as phases II and III of Capital Plaza, though Skanska will rename the project. Skanska is a Swedish-born company with offices in the United States, including Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

The Foundry Lofts at the Yards, Opening Soon

The Foundry Lofts, one residential component of The Yards development by Forest City in Southeast, began pre-leasing on August 1st the 170 apartment units that comprise the redeveloped Foundry building, with 10,000 s.f. of ground floor retail. There are three floors of one- and two-bedroom apartments, and 33 two-level penthouses. One-bedroom units will be in the lower $2000/month range, two-bedrooms "from $2,700" and penthouses "from $3,400," with unobstructed views of the Anacostia and beyond. The first apartments will deliver in mid October and the penthouses two months later. The residences will comprise just a few of the 2800 units completed to date in the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District, but will be conspicuous as the nucleus of the retail pavilion, overlooking the parks and surrounded by the new retail center. Retailers already leased at The Lofts include Potbelly's and Kruba Thai and Sushi. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Colbert Redesigns for Wallach Place and 14th Street

One month ago, Eric Colbert's design for a residential building at 1905-1917 14th Street NW was soundly rejected by the HPRB. Since then, Colbert seems to have taken comments from the Board, such as "it's more appropriate to K Street" and "looks too commercial," to heart. Colbert has reworked the building's design - for client Level 2 Development - and, as reported by U Street Dirt, presented a vastly different rendering to Wallach Place residents (compare below). 

The new design is still 7 stories tall, however the massing has been shifted to the southern end, where the entrance was repositioned, and the overall density has been decreased, allowing for a more significant stepdown at the back of the building (to an adjacent commercial rowhouse and Wallach Place residents across an alley). Level 2's plan for 154 units has been shaved down to 144, with a loss of approximately 4,000 s.f. overall - a net loss of ten, cozy 400-s.f. studio units - the same floor plan that makes up the majority (approximately 85-percent) of the building. A decorative cornice has been added around the 4-story (northern) section of the building and the two 4-story projecting bays on 14th Street. The new design has an exterior that is less glassy (i.e. windows have been broken down into smaller sizes), possibly in an attempt to make the building look "less commercial." The building's footprint remains unchanged, at nearly 16,000 s.f., and includes ground floor retail. Colbert and Level 2 principals David Franco and John Kardon met with Wallach Place residents last week in advance of meeting with the U Street Neighborhood Association (Aug. 11th), and ANC1B Design Review Committee (Aug. 15th). The development team will seek full approval with ANC1B on Sept. 1st and then revisit the HPRB, ideally, later that month. 

 Washington D.C. real estate development news

Fanfare for the Uncommon Man

By Beth Herman

One doesn’t have to love composer Aaron Copland (as I do) to appreciate award-winning interior designer Nestor Santa-Cruz’s equally exalted riffs in his bachelor client’s singular living space.

Designing what he calls a Washington loft (fundamentally open, though a little more divided than a NY loft) for an urbane returning ex-pat, in true loft fashion Santa-Cruz defined the space by continuity of a black, brown and neutral-toned palette (the riff!) throughout its 2,300 s.f., which included a rare 900 s.f. terrace. "Not a lot of people had looked at the unit because they thought maintaining a terrace of that size would be a big deal," Santa-Cruz said of the relatively new Union Row condominium at 2125 14^th St. NW. "But for many reasons it was actually the loft’s biggest asset."

Charged with reimagining a conventional, mid-level package which included standard cherry flooring that permeated the entire loft, in addition to oddly-hued brown/black/green marble countertops and plain maple cabinetry, the designer also needed to integrate exposed aluminum ductwork and sprinkler pipes in the 11-foot ceilings without evoking a cold, factory-look.

“The combination was not very attractive—or sophisticated,” Santa-Cruz said of the materials and finishes in general. “It had no character.” What’s more, though the space was contemporary in flavor, the homeowner, a real estate developer with 14 years abroad, had culled some personal, very traditional pieces from his London flat and had his own ideas about color, opting at first for neutrals.

In the bedroom

To that end, and to accommodate the homeowner but up the ante, Santa-Cruz elected to use a neutral tone on at least one wall in the more public spaces, and to continue this as the wall flowed into the master bedroom. In a NY loft, he explained, this kind of accent might be reflected in an exposed brick wall, but absent that element, continuity was established with color. Two other bedroom walls were painted a Benjamin Moore dark brown (“I call it Godiva chocolate,” the designer said). Strategic use of vinyl wallpaper resembling brown pony skin squares, from French company Elitis, provided a rich architectural accent on the remaining wall behind the bed. “He was a little hesitant about the brown color in the bedroom,” Santa-Cruz said of his client. “He did want a masculine apartment, but in the neutrals. I told him, ‘You know, it’s paint. Let’s test it and we’ll go from there.’” With a headboard in neutral flax linen from home décor mecca And Beige, color was again provided with the integration of a black faux-alligator dresser from the client’s London residence, and the addition of a rich grape Loro Piana cashmere throw that also belonged to the client.

In the guest bedroom, the designer retained the homeowner’s former bed adding a chocolate headboard that complemented strategic Mondrian-like paint squares on the wall. With a precise charge to the painter, Santa-Cruz said he drew every elevation and created the composition, selecting and manipulating colors that included gold leaf, brown, beige and ivory. “I essentially created my own wallpaper –my own mural,” he said of the custom design (ad)venture, having eschewed the idea of wallpapering the entire room in favor of the more creative painting process. Influenced by iconic 20^th Century French minimalist interior designer Jean-Michel Frank, who worked with artists using screens and fabric as their canvas, Santa-Cruz revealed his goal was to create a “…cocoon that would make the guest feel important and special in a very personal way.” It is a one-of-a-kind design.

The art deco diet

In the loft’s living room area, the homeowner had imported a sofa from his London residence that was reupholstered for a more cosmopolitan look, and sited to take in the extensive view out through the terrace. An antique Chinese black lacquer armoire from London conceals the TV. To feed his client’s voracious appetite for all things art deco, Santa-Cruz distinguished between what he called “Miami art deco” and a more elegant French art deco with softer materials and forms. Accordingly, reproduction French 1930s art deco pieces helped punctuate the loft (Santa-Cruz has many period sources in Argentina that were utilized), including a reupholstered chartreuse chair at a small bedroom desk that reflects the color of the draperies.

Acknowledging that often floor plans in Washington force a dining room and living room, even though the space is just square, Santa-Cruz said he decided a formal dining area was not required. To that end, a robust 19^th Century French steel table from Georgetown’s Marston Luce Antiques, of printing establishment provenance, was employed in the loft both as dining table and desk. “We made it sort of an English library feel,” the designer said, with the addition of a hardy leather chair.

In the kitchen, possibly the project’s biggest design challenge, Santa-Cruz said the nondescript maple cabinetry was spray painted a matte black, reminiscent of English pubs and club bars which are traditionally mahogany. An island – part of the loft’s original package—had been exposed underneath with four legs and a shelf. Electing to skirt it in the British style, the designer used outdoor “umbrella fabric” to resist incursions from daily use. A glass top was added, and a bit of Hemingway-esque drama created by the addition of a 3-by-4-foot black-and-white portrait of a Cuban campesino by his 1950s automobile, estimated to have been taken in the last decade. Photographed by British photographer Chris Simpson, the client had seen it in the home of a London friend and commissioned a print for himself. The print was subsequently flown to the U.S. via private jet to avoid any freight fatalities. “It was one of the last things we did and is like having an extra window,” Santa-Cruz said of the expansive portrait. “It makes that kitchen and gives it an edge.”

Fluent in duct

Also regarded among the loft’s edgier aspects, exposed aluminum ductwork and black sprinkler pipes meander through the space. A debate about enclosing what some may consider rogue components in drywall and creating soffits was ultimately settled by determining that to do so would make the apartment look smaller. With much of its character predicated on these anomalous elements, the pipes and ductwork crown the space much like a residential tiara and in fact become an integral part of the décor’s dialogue.

For the designer, addressing a 900 s.f. terrace was unprecedented though not as daunting as some might think. Extending the loft’s living room and essentially creating a continuous indoor/outdoor living space, Santa-Cruz pulled from a variety of Restoration Hardware collections to create an eclectic, comfortable and durable domain. These included an outdoor sisal rug, wicker furniture and metal chairs.

“The whole idea was to flow the design in/out,” Santa-Cruz said. “When you’re outside and look back into the apartment, it’s a great experience, especially at night, because you think you’re in one room.”

Noting that his work on the Union Row loft is about “proportion, texture and color as an accent,” Santa-Cruz maintained the space flows as though the homeowner, who incorporated his own cherished pieces, had put things together himself. “He’s well-traveled, very well-connected and has been in some beautiful homes,” the designer said of his client, the loft redolent of an uncommon life.

Washington DC real estate news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

While millions of Americans were off in the Civil War, shooting muskets at each other across muddy pastures and having unanaesthetized limb amputations, others were building this house. Now you can own this monument to their unpatriotic levelheadedness for just over a million dollars. (Contrast this with the product of my father's draft-dodging – a totaled motorcycle, several “bad trips” and … me. Pathetic.)

Located in historic Naylor Court, just a stone's throw from downtown, this restored antique rowhouse exudes more class than a sackful of duchesses. Heart pine floors, an amphitheater-like living room, an elegant family room with french doors opening onto the backyard, one of the largest kitchens I've seen in a while, with a granite-topped island that seats four. A sinuous staircase leads upstairs, to four spacious bedrooms and four baths.



The impeccable master bath could probably hold thirty people (just stating a fact, not making a suggestion). The two-car garage in back has custom mahogany doors that are probably worth more than my last two cars. There's a beautiful deck overlooking the backyard, and a huge magnolia tree in the front yard. If the magnolia market takes off, you could be sitting on a veritable gold mine.

937 N St. NW
Washington DC 20001
4 Bedrooms, 4 Baths
$1,124,999






Washington D.C. real estate news

Part of Kelsey Gardens Redevelopment Moves Forward

A couple of highly anticipated commercial developments in Shaw - CityMarket at O, Addison Square (Kelsey Gardens redevelopment) - have been stalled due to a lack of financing, caused by a delay in receiving loans from the swamped U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  But a break-off-piece of Addison Square will now go forward, with the land in control of a new owner/developer. 

Twelve townhouses, formerly a part of Addison Square, will be built at 8th and P St, NW (751 P Street) by Capital City Real Estate (CCRE), which bought this part of the PUD from Metropolitan Development in March. The project consists of six 2-unit townhouses, for a total of 12- 2bed/2bath units, each around 1100 square feet. Anthony Bozzi, of CCRE's brokerage company Stages Premier Realtors, confirmed that construction will be underway soon, and sales will begin next spring, with a price point aiming for $500,000 per unit. Bozzi added that the project will come across visually like a string of rowhouses, retained from the original Lessard Group design. Though there is no parking designated at each unit, townhouse owners will have the option to buy a spot in a garage that will be built whenever the rest of the Kelsey Gardens redevelopment moves forward, but exactly when that will be is unknown. Metropolitan had hoped to sell the entire PUD back in March of 2010, however developers can now pick it up piecemeal, or investors can align with Metropolitan Development, who has the property listed for sale.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

New Details for U Street Condo Project

Construction of the residential building planned for 11th and V Streets, NW, which DCMud reported last February, has added a few details to their plans. In April, Loford LLC selected Ellisdale Construction & Development as general contractor for the project, who is currently bidding subcontractors for the project (with the deadline one week from today). Now, Ellisdale has posted an image of what the 33-unit building may look like (very conceptual), and the owner has indicated that the project will be condominiums. The $4.5 million project will consist entirely of new construction. A two-story building on site will be razed - although the permit has not been approved - to make way for a 6-story (plus underground garage), 38,160 s.f. building. The garage and first floor will be constructed using concrete and metal framing, above which there will be five floors of wood framing. The 33 units vary from 615 to 750 s.f. No architect has been selected for the project yet. 

 Developer Habte Sequar purchased the land in August of 2010 for $2.7 million. Sequar is in the midst of developing another condominium at 14th and R Streets, which began construction last month, as well as the Renaissance at Logan and the Josephine Condos at 440 Rhode Island Ave., NW. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Eastern Market Concepts OK'd by Historic Review Board

The biggest development on Capitol Hill in recent memory - development of the aged Hine Junior High School - was reviewed before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) yesterday, with the board approving designs for the C Street public plaza, overall landscape plan, and both the north and south residential buildings. In keeping with Capitol Hill's style, the design includes: newly added cornices, brick sidewalks, granite curbs, 36-inch iron "hair pin" fences, and a continuous perimeter of trees in 6' x 6' tree boxes.  New design elements (since April) include: a 2-foot reduction in height of the North residential building, whose façade has been split into five distinct sections - what was one long continuous gallery has been broken down "into a series of repeating storefront windows." 

With recommendation from HPRB for architectural diversity appropriate to Capitol Hill real estate, the South residential building (on 7th) now takes inspiration from Late Victorian architecture (not High Victorian) and boasts a "tripartite" facade (lighter gradations in masonry color). It has also been separated into vertical sections, like the North residential building (shown above), with an addition of 3-story protruding retail bays. Located at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill, between 7th and 8th Streets along Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, and across from the Metro station, the 3.2 acre Hine Development is most notably where the flea market portion of the Market has been held every Sunday, year round, since the 1970s. The development team led by Stanton and Eastbanc has been seeking ongoing conceptual review with HPRB since April, when the mixed-use project was first reviewed in its entirety. A small chunk of the project was unanimously approved by the Board last month, with the remainder also unanimously approved by the Board today. The development team was selected in July of 2009, and in turn selected landscape architect Oehme, Van Sweden & Associates, and lead architect Escoff & Associates. The open meeting was a showcase for some heartfelt lamentation of the overall size, but most passionate were those who spoke out against a decrease in public space, and in the flea market operations (down to 68 tents). It was agreed that approximately 120 vendors are currently on site (in the Hine School yard/parking lot) at any one time on Sundays. It was also generally agreed that this does not fall into the jurisdiction of the HPRB, and so all parties (interested in the number of tents on site) will reconvene at the Deputy Mayor's office, where the future of the flea market vendors will be determined. 

Last month, HPRB approved revised designs for the 8th Street residential building and the Pennsylvania Avenue and 7th Street office and retail buildings. HPO staff reviewer Steve Callcott stressed the desire for the development's new retail components - along 7th Street - to serve as a connector between Eastern Market and Barracks Row. The next step for the development team, after a visit to the Deputy Mayor's office, is a trip to the Zoning Commission for PUD approval, which could be in September, if the project is to keep the timeline set by the District. 

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Donatelli Selling Multi-Family Buildings in Petworth, U Street

Donatelli Development Inc. will sell off two of its existing multi-family buildings, a newly completed building in Petworth and the transformative Ellington apartment building on U Street.

Donatelli's 49-unit residential building at 3801 Georgia Avenue NW has been close to delivery for the last few months, and the development team had been considering both leasing units as apartments and selling them as condos. Now the vacant building has been put on the selling block by MAC Realty Group.

Donatelli is also unloading the 190-unit Ellington apartment building, completed in 2005 and currently asking (and getting) some of the higher rental prices in the city. A source says that a "well-known" pension fund is under contract to purchase the building. Comparing the sale to the sale of the 185-unit View 14, a transaction that grabbed headlines when UDR Inc purchased the building for $104 million - $616 per residential square foot or $520,000 per unit - the source tells DCMud that the Ellington will trade for "a similarly attractive price." Donatelli had long pondered the idea of selling the Ellington as individual condos.

The Griffin, Donatelli's second Petworth project, was "designed as for-sale condominiums" according to MAC, though Donatelli never initiated sales. Speaking to the rental market in Petworth is Park Place, another Donatelli mixed-use development that delivered in 2009 across the street, the leasing manager says the 161-unit apartment building is 95.6% leased.

Designed by Eric Colbert & Associates, the 7-story Griffin is comprised of one- and two-bedroom units that range from approximately 660 to 1,100 square feet.

As a 38-year-old corporation, Donatelli has made investments in up-and-coming areas of the D.C.-metro market for years. In addition to The Ellington, Park Place and The Griffin, the Bethesda-based corporation also developed Kenyon Square condos and Highland Park in Columbia Heights, designed as condominiums but later switched out to rentals. Donatelli is currently building an addition to Highland Park that will add more rental units.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Capital City Market to Get Pop-Up Restaurants?

For several years now, DC's Capital City/Florida Avenue Market area has had its generous, but fully stocked, 27 acres ogled by big developers and investors - MRP Realty, Sang Oh Development, J Street, Edens & Avant, to name a few - without any action post-PUD approval or, in one case, even District support.

Yet a new role to be assumed by Richard Brandenburg, well-known D.C.-area foodie and formerly of the ThinkFoodGroup, signals that some real development could be happening in the market area, and soon. Brandenburg has been hired by Edens & Avant, a large national property developer and owner, as its director of culinary strategy - a newly created position. As reported by the Washington Post - Brandenburg's job will center on restaurants and the Capital City Market. Sources familiar with the project now say Brandenburg is planning pop-up restaurants as a short term way to enliven the space.

Eventually, Brandenburg sees the potentially valuable commercial land as a "wholesale-retail center with multiple restaurants, a culinary school, even a USDA hub." But Edens & Avant's long-term goals for its property - based on Brandenburg's ambitions - might be a while in the making.

Edens & Avant controls approximately 140,000 square feet (3.2 acres) of land on the eastern edge of the market along 6th Street, NE, through a joint venture with J Street Development. The property slated for new culinary inputs borders Gallaudet and co-mingles 3.8 acres owned by the university. With low overhead and no real commitment, pop-up restaurants have been touted as a venue offering restaurateurs the freedom to experiment with concepts, without a large up front financial commitment. It's also a way to get money coming in quickly, as an intrepid chef, or property owner, and is a growing trend in big cities nationwide.

There have been many plans for redevelopment of the market over the past decade, including a small area plan by the Office of Planning in 2009, but the market has been a real estate quagmire: 120 lots, with 108 owned by 68 different entities, many still operational. No word yet on whether Edens & Avant and J Street are looking to roll up their shirt sleeves and try to acquire more market property.

Edens & Avant is "temporarily holding off on discussing [Brandenburg's] full position" until he is officially on board, says a press release, along with its vision for its market property, though a media contact noted that Brandenburg will have a broad role that will impact the entire Edens & Avante portfolio of 125 properties along the East Coast.

The Capital City/Florida Avenue Market is the current incarnation of the Union Terminal Market, opened in 1928 to replace D.C.'s Center Market, first opened in 1802, which was razed to make way for the National Archives.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Rustic Gorgeous: Slave Quarters and a Toll Keeper's Cabin Find Life in the 21st Century

By Beth Herman

Gazing at the august 3,300-foot summit of Old Rag Mountain, visitors to Shenandoah National Park say they experience a profundity of thoughts and feelings, many spiritual in nature. In addition to its heavenly vistas, the region itself is rife with history—its lush forest floors an eternal home to Civil War cavalry and conscripts, slaves and sentries.

For homeowner and real estate developer Joe Svatos, the prospect of living in the shadow of the iconic mountain was slowly realized beginning in 2004 when he purchased a 200-acre parcel in conservation easement that was part of Rappahannock County’s Montpelier Plantation. Pre-dating the presidential Montpelier in Orange County, and built circa 1740 as a summer residence for Fredericksburg merchant Francis Thornton II, the parcel provided Hazel River frontage and unparalleled panoramas.

Somewhat inconvenienced, however, by what he labeled a dilapidated “shack” on the property he figured was makeshift 1930s housing for displaced area residents, due to construction of the national park, Svatos tolerated the blight in light of the surrounding scenery. “I really had no idea what it was,” he conceded.

Three years later, a shedding of the structure’s siding revealed the presumed 1930s shack was in fact a 1794 toll keeper’s log cabin, with an 1856 clapboard addition gilding the historical lily, so to speak— dating determined by saw blade marks and construction style. Buoyed by its provenance and in an effort to expand the tiny structure to what would ultimately become a 2,480 s.f. rustic retreat, Svatos responded to an ad in a local newspaper describing 180-year-old (presumed) slave quarters—called Chestnut (log) cabin— located at Mount Joy Farm in Howard County, Md. Earmarked for demolition due to a Howard County zoning quagmire, Chestnut cabin had been dismantled and catalogued when put up for sale, and Svatos purchased and brought it to his Virginia property. In time it would be sited and rebuilt adjacent to the 1794 cabin with its aforementioned addition.

Rallying the regiment

Initially engaging a design builder whose ideas ran contrary to his own thinking, Svatos soon inquired of David Haresign of Bonstra | Haresign Architects, with whom he had worked on larger projects. At stake was precisely how to connect and convert these inchoate structures into a comfortable contemporary retreat without destroying their historical fabric.

“I’m predominantly a commercial architect doing mostly institutional quality corporate work, master planning and multi-family housing,” Haresign said, adding it is not uncommon for him to helm million square-foot projects. But when he drove out to the property along the Old Sperryville Pike, he was struck by the sight of Old Rag Mountain where his father had taken him half-a-dozen times as a boy. “It was one of those special, touchstone places for me,” Haresign said. “I told Joe, ‘Sure, I’d love to help you out.’”

Embarking on what was clearly a virgin venture for all involved, where a confluence of reclamation and rustic luxury were the order of the day, Rappahannock County-based builder Greg Foster of Timberbuilt Construction was also brought in. With issues of connectivity and sustainability among the more obvious requisites, the triumvirate also faced engineering challenges involving modern adaptability of centuries-old notched log cabins, originally held together by mud chinking.

When fascines fail

According to Haresign, at the outset, logs were restacked as the walls for the most part had bowed. And in addition to utilizing notches as their ancestors had, modern technology suggested wood blocking to separate each log with the spaces between sprayed with 3-inch R-15 value foamed insulation, followed by an epoxy-based material troweled on the exterior: a kind of weather surface for the chinking.

Tantamount to that, Haresign described structural measures that needed to be implemented as log cabins are dynamic. While the 1794 toll house cabin was less of an issue, the larger Chestnut cabin was stabilized by a series of threaded steel rods and plates staggered and buried between the logs. “These compress everything so it doesn’t move,” Haresign explained of the bracing, the logs unable to expand, contract or break out of the chinking.

To site and integrate the cabins so that they spoke a common language—and looked as though they had simply developed that way over time, Haresign used a glass connector with stone flooring (the stone locally sourced from Culpepper, Va.) on the first floor, and glass flooring above, where the master suite loft is located. Except for the loft, the flooring for the second story was removed to create double-height spaces. “It’s as modern as we could make it without being ‘in your face’ modern,” the architect said of the design. “In fact it’s almost ‘all window’ on either side of the connector,” he added, affirming the notion of a seamless transition.

Better than a bivouac

On approach, which is from the south, the cabins look as they did post-Revolutionary and pre-Civil War, respectively, when they were built. Desiring to honor original window placement, Haresign, Svatos and Foster elected not to alter existing fenestration with the exception of adding western exposure large scale windows and a new dormer. These frame the Hazel River and Old Rag Mountain. A sweeping curve carved into the land establishes a plinth on which the buildings sit, with a set of stairs descending to the flora and fauna below (Svatos reports he has spied wild turkeys, deer, black bears and snakes).

On the eastern side, to establish the rest of the baseline for the cabins, again the land is marked by a gently sweeping curve and also has a stone wall creating an area Haresign calls the Zen garden. “It’s quiet and contemplative there,” he said, “a contained space.”

Where materials were concerned, about 75 percent of the wood used in the project was reclaimed, for example red siding and parts of a tin roof were reused when renovating the 1856 clapboard addition ceiling. “New” flooring in the Chestnut cabin was gleaned from an 1840s Madison County, Va. courthouse, 40 miles from the site. Cherry treads and trim on the steel stair and modern oak objects inserted into the historical fabric were locally sourced and milled at a facility in Front Royal, according to Haresign, also within a 40-mile radius of the site. Fabricated industrial-grade steel for the interior railing and columns was married with locally-sourced wood filler for warmth, scale and texture—and even some additional bracing. “It’s all about how to craft common materials and make them really special,” Haresign said.

Beneath the Chestnut cabin, which works its way downhill, a newly-minted stone cellar might be considered below-grade on the east, north and south faces, but is clearly exposed on the west face. Haresign said the windows embedded in the stone foundation wall can consequently “peek above grade.” The cellar contains a guest suite and houses all of the mechanical, electrical, security and audio systems. These include a dual-purpose water heater also used for radiant floor heating. Low-flow fixtures, double pane low-emissivity glass and Energy Star appliances make the cabins modern and sustainable. Wired for iPhone docking stations in each room, state-of-the-art technology is camouflaged by design in deference to historical roots.

In the kitchen, the same Madison County courthouse wood flooring underscores modern wood cabinets and appliances, and what the architect playfully calls a translucent glass-and-wood “indoor outhouse” (i.e. powder room) punctuates the living space beyond it.

Finally, in a gesture that embraced both green energy and the past, poised inside the 1794 cabin a study with post-Jeffersonian era desk faces one of two original floor-to-ceiling stone hearth/chimneys that were severely deteriorated, according to homeowner Svatos. “We were able to restore them and bring them back. Now they are fully functioning fireplaces—and very prominent focal points in the cabin.”

“This is the most organic project I’ve ever worked on,” Haresign said, contrasting it with his prominent portfolio of mega-office buildings which are “machined…very tight.

“Cabins are not precise, and the design process never really stopped. It goes on today,” he continued, referencing an 1840s Berks County corn crib slated to become a pool house on the property, and a “drop-dead gorgeous” gate entrance projected to be a modern piece set in the pastoral landscape. The team has just been notified it is to receive a Builder’s Choice award in October.

“This project in my view is the highest form of rustic art available,” Haresign concluded.

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Photos courtesy of Anice Hoachlander

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Ah, Shaw. I know I've talked a fair amount of trash in this space about Shaw, but it's really hard to beat, as neighborhoods go. I

house-sat for a friend in Adams Morgan this past week, thinking it would be a welcome change from my almost morbidly quiet Shaw neighborhood. But I was wrong. The very first night I was there, someone stole my bike. The next night, I threw on some “comfy” clothes to go pick up a pizza a block away, and when I crossed paths with a group of bargoers, they looked at me like I was Casey Anthony. I mean, come on, it was a Tuesday night at 6:30! If that had happened in Shaw, I would've been congratulated for wearing any pants at all. I learned my lesson; you want to be near the action, but not in it.

With that in mind, this five bedroom renovated Shaw rowhouse would be the perfect homebase; your retreat from the city, in the city. Roundabouts 1st and P Streets, NW, it's really close to everything (Chinatown, U Street, Logan Circle, etc.) without being neck deep in it. And location aside, the house is beautiful. There are wide plank Brazilian Cherry floors throughout the house, and the walls are painted in light but rich tones. There's a chef's kitchen, with a Wolf gas range, and there are tons of little touches, from the M.C. Escher-esque tiling in the master bathroom, to the future-retro marble fireplace in the living room, that would make a great t-shirt if it wasn't, like, 1500 pounds. The banisters, instead of using the usual wooden dowels/planks, use a heavy metal mesh, to striking effect, and the entire house is wired for sound, so you can inflict your musical “tastes” on everyone else in the house whenever you want. In the back is parking for two cars, and a private fenced patio.

Plus, the house is right on the alley, cutting your odds of having a loud, annoying neighbor by fifty percent. Take it from someone who used to live sandwiched between an elderly gameshow enthusiast, and a married couple who communicated chiefly by screaming: this is huge.

118 Bates St. NW

Washington DC 20001
$685,323

Abdo to Build Out Vacant Logan Circle Site

Abdo Development will build out one of the last vacant parcels of Rhode Island Avenue west of Logan Circle, filling it with an 8-story apartment building on a site backing up to Whole Foods.

Abdo bought the land in 2001, along with the early 20th century buildings on either side of the lot, and has had plans since to build a multi-family residence on the site. The Logan Circle based developer renovated the flanking apartment buildings in the '90's, creating the Zenith and Willison condominiums. A pair of late 19th century Romanesque townhouses on the site were razed in 2007.

Design of the building will mirror the adjacent buildings, designed by William Harris in 1929 and 1930. The new addition will add "a classical tripartite organization, with a two-story stone base, a five-story midsection clad in brick, and a brick attic story with a cornice." Abdo Development is seeking a zoning variance for reduced parking, and will share the existing driveway to a planned underground garage.

The Historic Preservation Office has recommended approval of the project, HPRB and BZA must still review the plans. In a staff report, the HPRB noted that "the stretch of Rhode Island Avenue from Logan Circle to Scott Circle is a particularly fine example of a grand residential boulevard from the early decades of the 20th century. With a few exceptions, these blocks are characterized by large distinguished residences and dignified apartment buildings...[t]he proposed project continues in that tradition, wisely eschewing the temporary vogue of a scale-less all-glass façade for a dignified and relatively quiet classically-inspired building that will relate to and enhance its context."

Washington D.C. real estate development news