What Came First, the Kitchen or the Egg

By Beth Herman

It was something like the old Kohler commercial where the homeowners walk into a voguish architectural firm, instructing the equally-voguish principal to build a house around a faucet.

For interior designer and decidedly more approachable Principal Beth Leas of Interior Revivals, LLC, a seminal grey brick cement terrazzo kitchen floor in a Great Falls, Virginia residence was considered a key style component of the home, and in many ways even defined the mid-1990s residence. Originally built and owned by an area architect, the kitchen nevertheless presented a two-pronged design challenge for Leas.

At first glance, the vast 1,800 s.f. space had a decidedly poor layout, with appliances spaced so far apart they did not accommodate the lifestyle of the busy young family living there now. Tantamount to that, the aesthetics of the existing floor did not impress the homeowner, who'd felt strongly about replacing it.

“To me, a house should have a certain look, and you should never destroy that look,” Leas said. While she maintained a home's personality is established through furniture, the contemporary and natural feel of this house was largely articulated through its organic kitchen floor.

Additionally, with the refrigerator and sink separated by about 14 feet, Leas counted this among other user-unfriendly elements. Because the homeowners, with three little boys, were from extended Italian families and loved to cook for parties and family gatherings, proximity and efficiency were determining elements in reimagining the space.

Better utilizing an empty counter in the center of the room, Leas created an island with cooktop, along with a peninsula and lower bar seating area for the children for snacks and homework, but which separated them from the potentially hot cooktop temperatures. In an effort to efficiently harness space and incorporate aesthetics, a favorite lighted wood and glass china cabinet was relocated to the cooking area, with its elegant display always in sight.

Framing a new granite composition sink that reflected the home’s natural elements, an existing and enormous window connected the space to a sunroom on the other side that angled down. “You didn’t look directly into the room, but you were looking through its angled glass roof,” Leas explained, adding she wanted to mitigate the openness and sightline. To that end, the designer introduced a stained glass element that let in the light, “but made you feel as though you were no longer standing in front of a big hole.”

Addressing the controversial kitchen floor, Leas conceded neither she nor her tile professional had seen anything like it (though she later saw it outside of a building, she said). A decision to retain it was predicated on power washing its three-inch cement grout component, which had become grainy-looking over time and needed brightening. To complement the floor’s grey tones, Leas painted existing Craftsman maple kitchen cabinets a muted grey and installed quartz countertops redolent of the terrazzo floor, tying the space together.

Lighting was achieved through an integration of recessed lights and hand blown Italian glass pendants. “Everything else was kept very simple,” Leas said, noting she introduced bright, sophisticated, artisan-like Oggetti Luce fixtures in a variety of colors. Subway tiles on the walls with granite and abalone shell trim reinforced the kitchen’s natural visage, and black appliances replaced existing stainless steel which the designer said conflicted with the cabinets’ grey palette.

“At the end of the renovation, the client said it felt like the kitchen was supposed to have been that way from the beginning,” Leas affirmed, “which is the way design is supposed to be.”

14th Street Project Altered, Moves Forward, After ANC Review

14th Street's newest residences have made it through community input, now a bit smaller, and with a new look. "The Irwin," a 6-story, mixed use building designed by Torti Gallas and Partners, will take the place of a 1960s-era warehouse at 1326-1328 14th Street, now with a new slightly shrunken design and new facade since it was first conceptualized six months ago, as a result of ANC, HPO and neighborhood input.

But in replacing the "hole in the urban fabric" on 14th, the Torti Gallas design team said that it has not been frustrated with the process. Conversely, they claim to have enjoyed working with the HPO (what architect doesn't want a committee to change their design?), the immediate neighbors, and the ANC 2F Community Development Committee in shaping the direction of the project.

The next step by owner/developer Irwin Edlavitch and architect Torti Gallas will be to take the revised design to the Historic Preservation Review Board for approval in December, and to the Board of Zoning Adjustment next spring with the request for a variance from parking and loading requirements and to allow multiple roof structures of varying height.



The initial design concept from June is seen below. The design was for 61 residential units, ground floor retail, 5.3 floor-to-area-ratio (FAR), 75' tall (size permitted by the Art Overlay zoning regulations).  The HPO requested a one story reduction, an increase in the "attic reading" at the top story, and that the "frame" of the building be brought to the property line. This design was taken to the ANC at the end of August, which requested that the design be presented to immediate neighbors and that the building "relate more to the historic context of 14th Street and be made to look more residential".

In light of the new directive, the building was given a new skin and distinct bays. The new version was submitted to the Board of Zoning Adjustment and presented to the ANC in September, which asked the design team to eliminate the "frame" and replace the terra-cotta rainscreen with masonry materials.


The end result of the participatory process is the current design, which will go before the HPRB in December, after a presentation to the full ANC. As described by Sarah Alexander, Associate with Torti Gallas, "This design incorporates a more traditional skin of red brick masonry with still keeping the playful 'artistic' moves [including the] entry canopy and rooftop stair towers." There will be an entry lobby visible from the street that will have an "art gallery feel."


With approximately half the ground floor space taken up by a lobby, garage entry and loading space, there will be around 4,000 s.f. left for use by a retailer. The project includes 53 residential units, 20 parking spaces (all covered or below grade), a small fitness room and roof terrace.

On the other side of the restaurant at Thai Tanic, located next to The Irwin, C.A.S. Riegler is in the process of creating a 5-unit boutique condo, at 1324 14th Street.

Next door, 1320 and 1318 are currently under construction, to be turned into The Pig, a "nose and tail, farm to table" creation by Eatwell DC, which should be open for business next spring, and more apartments by Tikvah Inc.

Washington D.C. real estate and retail development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

When I first saw this place, I was sure it was the house from the Eighties sitcom "Who's the Boss?" I don't know quite why I mention this; maybe just because I spent twenty minutes googling it (it's not – that house is in upstate NY) and I don't want that time to be totally wasted. Also, anyone and anything that's ever been on television is automatically fifty percent more attractive. Just ask Doug Hutchison from “Lost.”

Not that this house needs a TV bump. A beautiful Colonial-style home right on Rock Creek Park, it has plenty of natural appeal. I feel like when a house is described as a “Colonial,” it gives the impression of a sort of staid, uptight aesthetic, but this house is anything but staid. Beautifully updated, the interior is totally unique and even a bit flashy (just check out the dining room). The house also boasts a two-story atrium, a chef's kitchen, a large stone patio out back, and a stunning master suite that features a white marble fireplace. Situated just this side of the Maryland/D.C. Line, it's just minutes to Silver Spring and Bethesda, if you have business in Maryland or are just a masochist.

Also, it's right on Rock Creek Park, which you can't put a price on. (Actually, you can: just scroll down a bit.) But seriously, this is huge; live here and your backyard is one of the East Coast's finest public green spaces. If you have kids or a dog or just want to dispose of a lot of discarded household appliances at night, park access will increase your quality of life by a thousand percent. And numbers don't lie (even made up ones).

8132 West Beach Drive NW
4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$995,000

Southwest Wharf Developers Move onto Design Phase

With Zoning Commission approval of the First Stage zoning application secured last week, PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette - joint developers of the $2-billion Wharf in Southwest - now turn to the completion of the Second Stage PUD, in order for submittal early next year.

The Hoffman-Madison team has been gaining momentum in filling its 3.2 million s.f. development along the northern shore of the Washington Channel and aims to begin construction on the first phase (of three) in the first quarter of 2013.

The first phase of construction, expected to take four years, will build out 40 percent of the entire development with parcels 2 thru 5 (seen to the right).

Site designs, in order from north to south, will include: two apartment towers above a 100,000-s.f. multi-purpose theater (parcel 2); a four-star, 268-room hotel by Carr Hospitality and InterContinental Hotels Group, which purchased the site in early October, and office space with signed tenant the Graduate School USA (parcel 3); an apartment and condominium building (parcel 4), and two JBG Companies-operated hotels, a limited service and an extended stay (parcel 5). All of the parcels will include ground floor retail, with the combined total approximately 300,000 s.f.

The first phase also includes the restructuring of portions of 7th and 9th Streets at Maine Avenue, a new Capital Yacht Club, two new piers - "City Pier" off of 9th and "Transit Pier" - and a major infrastructure overhaul of Water Street, the grand scheme being to turn Water Street (running parallel to the shore) into a promenade with 60' of width shared between pedestrians, streetcars, bikes, and outdoor diners.

The Wharf is being developed in partnership with the District, which agreed to provide $200 million in public financing in 2008. Madison Marquette joined PN Hoffman as a partner in the spring of 2010, after the partnership with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse faltered. PN Hoffman and Struever were selected by the now-defunct Anacostia Waterfront Corporation as the joint Master Developer for the Southwest Waterfront in 2006.

Update: 11/7 Added in residential plan for parcel 4, corrected second pier name to "Transit Pier," and changed "Office of Zoning" to "Zoning Commission"

Washington D.C. real estate development news

American Institute of Architects Opens New DC Center Tomorrow

How stressful is it for the architect chosen to design a new center for architects? According to the winning team at Hickok Cole, not that stressful. Hundreds of architects will have their chance to judge the design tonight as the DC chapter of the American Institute of Architects unveils the District Architecture Center. The new Penn Quarter showroom, an 11,000 s.f. retail space for architects and public education of architecture, will offer free admission to the public beginning tomorrow to "learn more about the importance and impact of architecture design and the profession," and will kick off the week with a series of public lectures throughout the week.

Hickok Cole won the design competition from 16 submissions to design the architecture headquarters, beginning a full renovation this May that is still wrapping up in advance of tonight's private unveiling. The remake transforms the two-story retail space on 7th Street - once the Obama souvenir shop - into offices, classrooms, and instructional space that serves to educate AIA members while pulling in foot traffic to engage and instruct with videos and links to DC's better examples of architectural design. The AIA wants you to appreciate the sense of transparency:

[the space has] two distinct volumes: a wood room that signifies solidity, and a glass room that suggests openness. Together, the two rooms produce a sense of warmth and openness. The use of glass walls and a glass ‘bridge’ for the center classroom in the heart of the building extends the feeling of openness and makes the building appear more spacious, while connecting it to the lower level. Natural daylight flows through the street storefront into the glass volume, and down to the lower level.

With interior walls composed almost entirely of glass, most of ground floor is visible from the street, back to the rear board room, filled in between with polished concrete and walnut floors and a two-story glass box that serves as offices (below) and a meeting room above. A floating glass bridge serves to connect the two meeting spaces while illuminating the subterranean office space. Exposed I-beams lend a design motif to the center, with railing stanchions and desks imitating the shape and color of the original beams. "We tried to create as much transparency as possible," said Tom Corrado, an architect with Hickok Cole that was responsible for executing the design vision.

The $1.9m makeover (about $400,000 over budget, alas) was contrived to achieve a LEED Gold ranking within the 1917 Oddfellows Building, and precedes, just barely, the 125th anniversary of the AIA that will be celebrated in Washington D.C. next year, drawing architects from around the country for the convention.

While conspiracy minded architects might note that Hickok Cole was not only the winning bidder, but also on the AIA DC board and judged the competition (and a major donor to the center), Michael Hickok assures DCMud that the competition was blind and - really, truly - judged as anonymous bids.

Hickok shrugged off the pressure from being judged on his work by the many architects that will use the space, saying the design was routine. "You do what you do. We didn't give this more attention" than other projects. Hundreds of architects are likely to be on hand tonight to judge for themselves if the inspiration was worthy of DC's public face of architecture. For those that can't make it to the center, check out the DC architecture app for your phone.

The Buzz in Southwest

Early this year, Duane Deason was just beginning the Office of Zoning's review process

for his Eric Colbert & Associates-designed residential building on a nearly 20,000-s.f piece of Anacostia riverfront property at 95 V Street in Southwest's Buzzard Point. Now, with Zoning approval secured in early August, seven years after the land investment was made by Deason, he is finally able to focus on the pursuit of "a variety of options including sale or joint venture." The 8-story, 110,760-s.f. building known as "Marina Place" will offer 97 units, with 9 set aside at less than market rate. On the ground floor, on the corner of V and 1st Street, will be 1,788 s.f. of retail space. Below grade will be two levels of parking split up into 108 spaces. In January, Deason said, "The views are phenomenal because its on a point, almost every unit in the building will have an outstanding view of the water." 

Deason bought his plot of Buzzard Point with the inkling that waterfront property was bound to deliver a substantial return on investment eventually, but it's been slow going for development projects slated for Buzzard Point, with any kind of concrete news much anticipated. Of interest to the area is the South Capitol Street Bridge project, to replace the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, which is "finally proceeding forward," said Deason. The new bridge is part of the planned South Capitol Street revitalization effort to turn the thoroughfare into "a grand, urban boulevard... [with] elliptical traffic circle that will serve as open space for future monuments and memorials." The project, part of the larger Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, includes bringing the Anacostia Riverwalk around the Southwest bend. A DDOT project manager for the South Capitol Street Bridge said, "The Final Environmental Impact Statement was approved this summer which provided a preferred alternative conceptual design. We are currently advancing the plans to proceed with the Land Acquisition phase of the project. Construction is currently unfunded." Although DDOT confirmed that the project is going forward, exactly when is vague, and depends greatly on funding. Deason added that one improvement to the Anacostia waterfront area will involve the large Pepco substation located just north of his Marina Place residential building, "The generators are officially decommissioned in March of 2012 which will allow the removal of the large generators and petroleum storage tanks."

A healthy chunk of Buzzard Point currently waiting on development is privately owned by commanding D.C. developer Akridge: the 9-acre "100 V Street." The site is a game changer for the area, and of particular interest, to not just Buzzard Point but the entire District, as speculation continues that a new stadium for D.C. United on a portion of Akridge's three-block property between T and V Street is being hashed out; a deal that would keep the soccer team, now frustrated with its home at RFK stadium, in D.C. Akridge would not comment except to say that murmurs of a deal are "still just speculation." Steven Goff's Washington Post column "Soccer Insider," has an ongoing poll soliciting reader opinion on D.C. United's future, with the last option being: the team will "remain at RFK until the final brick crumbles, pipe bursts, raccoon visits." Goff also grilled D.C. United's president Kevin Payne recently on the search for land and the pursuit of local investors. For the time being, the sole project underway in Buzzard Point is Camden Property Trust's 276-unit apartment building "Camden South Capitol," to the west of the Nationals' Stadium on the corner of O and South Capitol Street. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Yeesh. I've described many places as having “lots of light,” but as soon as I walked into this place, I realized that I'd been lying all those other times. (To claim your refund for those posts, simply write a letter that includes your name, address, and the dates you read the erroneous posts, then tear it into pieces and throw the pieces in the trash.)

Now THIS place has light. Massive floor to ceiling windows that really flood the unit with natural light. People say candlelight is the most flattering light, but it's not really; it's just dark, so people can't see your smoker's teeth and laugh lines. Natural light, though, is clarifying AND flattering. I looked ten years younger in this place. I took out my phone and tried to quickly take a new profile pic for Facebook, but the agent went bananas when I started oiling my torso. I tried to explain to him that the oil dripping everywhere was good for the hand-stained hardwood floors, but he wouldn't listen.

But there's more to the place than just windows, and at 1100 square feet, there's a lot to love. Two very fine, large bedrooms (each with its own full bath), a separate dining area, high ceilings, and a private balcony with a breathtaking view. It seems breathtakingly high up and you're really able to look down on the entire city - literally, not the way I do it, by just walking around curling my lip at people. There are also remote control shades for the incredibly huge tall windows, and the unit comes with a parking space and storage unit. Just a block from the U Street metro, in prime territory for shopping, nightlife, and four pound, three-thousand calorie slices of pizza for $1.99. America!

2020 12th Street NW #709
2 Bedrooms, 2 Bathrooms

$639,900

Artist Loft Project Near U Street Under the Knife Again

Last week, the Historic Preservation Review Board denied approval for a proposed residential and retail project featuring live-work artist lofts at 1932 9th Street NW and requested a significant "modification to the massing" of the 4-story building; a reduction-in-density request that threatens the project's viability.

Regardless, owner/developer Paul So remains committed to the project, and will continue to work with HPRB through project architect Greg Kearley of Inscape Studio to come up with a suitable design that will be deemed compatible with its surroundings in the Historic U Street District locale.

As one Board member pointed out, however, the inability of the project to blend in comes from both its size, given its location on a double-wide (36') lot in the midst of singles, and its style, which is distinctly modern.
The project was first denied by the HPRB in 2009, and subsequently shelved for economic reasons. The current, revised design, in addition to being one story shorter and with compressed floor heights, includes several other changes in appearance from two years ago: recessed balconies, the addition of a cornice, a modified storefront, a change in color of cladding tiles, a pulled back roof deck on 9-1/2 Street (the back, alley side of the lot) the relocation of a stairway, and submerged mechanical functions.

Though Kearley said "the changes [made] were very specific to the concerns raised by the Board in December of 2009," the Board still felt that the height, two stories higher than immediate neighbors, was not appropriate, and that the design was not quite right.

One option available to the developer in order to save his investment, which is currently being considered, is to "get a zoning variance on the occupancy ratio as to extend the back end of the building on top of the originally proposed parking spaces [to] potentially gain back more marketable square footage lost from the height restriction."

So purchased the property in July of 2008 for $1.4 million, and in 2009 a few doubts were raised over the project's economic feasibility, considering a large component of the building would be artist lofts asking low rents. While there will be artist live-work lofts clustered toward 9-1/2 Street, there will also be market-rate apartments included in the project, and ground-floor retail.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

The Story of Light and Wind

By Beth Herman

For one homeowner in northwest D.C., long since moved away, the addition of a 1969 solarium to a 1929 residence meant capturing the sun in a light-filled space. But based on construction standards of the day, the structure was not without serious problems that included sweeping temperature variances. Cold in the winter and hot in the summer, untempered, single pane glazing further aided and abetted the building’s botherations. And because key energy and safety issues plagued the cavernous space, its use was limited for the current homeowners who relished observing the weather and the great outdoors.

With a configuration of an up-and-down space that had actually involved two additions, joined by a stairway, the larger space was 20-by-12 feet and the long, thin L-shaped space was slightly smaller. “When you went from the house into the larger space, you very much felt like you’d walked into a garden or greenhouse,” said Principal Amy Gardner of Gardner Mohr Architects, noting among the goals was to extend that feeling into the L-shaped space as well.

Lighting the way

In addition to addressing these intrinsic issues, and in a modern application of elements, Gardner used both natural and electric light as art in an unusual design challenge to recast the space. “They were really focused on what we could do with lighting,” Gardner said, noting lighting design specialist John Coventry was retained for the job.

At the same time, the homeowners did not want the solarium’s mid-century quality entirely subjugated to 21^st Century design dictums. “They wanted to bring it up in time, but keep what was really timeless about it,” Gardner explained, adding still another facet of the redesign was not to make it so au courant that one might look back in a few years and know exactly when it was renovated.

Twenty-one feet at its apogee, the solarium created what Gardner called “an acoustically spectacular space” for the homeowners who appreciate music, and an opportunity to strategically employ skylights, transparent and translucent glass in realizing the design. To that end, glass wall panels, doors and windows were placed where the homeowners knew the sun rose and set, marking the passage of light in each day and each season. Because of the orientation of each addition, and despite a dominant north face, multiple skylights were employed to capture even the south light, Gardner explained, to bounce off various surfaces and reflect down into the space. “In a sense light became the art in the room,” she said.

Desiring a pristine ceiling plane, thereby eschewing traditional recessed lighting, ample ambient and task lighting was achieved and textured in part by placement of a translucent shoji-like screen panel, lit from the base by concealed LED lights. In the evening the panel glows from the inside out, and pivotal exterior lights in turn focus lighting from the other side. Pieces from an art collection are illuminated by spots and a smattering of track lights that, according to the architect, “…became a kind of jewelry in the space.” In essence, and especially referencing the screen panel, surfaces themselves became light fixtures, Gardner said.

Warmth, weather and wood

Where heating and cooling were concerned, over nearly four decades insulation had become compacted and inadequate, needing to be replaced. With an improved envelope, and though there is auxiliary heat and air conditioning, a radiant floor was selected for comfort and efficiency, and to mitigate the effects of considerable glazing.

Because the homeowners like to experience weather, skylights are operable providing for natural ventilation when utilized. Doors and windows were strategically located for ideal cross-ventilation and to court the natural convection of the space where air moves from high to low, or low to high, depending on seasonal temperatures. “We tried to make use of as many passive strategies as we could implement for light and ventilation,” Gardner said.

Wood used in the redesign is rapidly renewable eucalyptus, and the indoor/outdoor flooring is a charcoal-colored brick paver. A simulated slate sloping roof on one section is by EcoStar, which is recycled material, with a thermoplastic polyolethin (TPO) roofing membrane on the structure’s flat roof aspect.

As the space was technically considered an alteration rather than a formal addition, the architects were not tasked with bringing it up to code. Nevertheless they did so, accomplishing it by improving the building envelope with more efficient materials, elements, strategies and systems within the late 1960s infrastructure—and in fact exceeding current energy efficiency code requirements by 28 percent. “We did this without substantive modification of the envelope itself,” Gardner affirmed, noting wall and roof cavities were not increased, nor was the floor structure modified.

“Working with what was there was really important,” Gardner said of the distinguished ‘60s solarium, “but we were also driven by the goals of capturing light and wind.”

Photos courtesy of Boris Suvak

14th Street Post Office Development Ready to Begin

A few months ago, there were stirrings that a lively bistro concept featuring modern Southern fare from New York-based Chow Down Inc. was en route to an infill site at 1407-1409 T Street, NW, just off 14th Street. Though that plan has died, construction is expected to be underway in the next few weeks, with the owner now developing the space into two 2-story buildings designed by Steve Karr of Rockville.

John Dempsey of Chow Down Inc. had been interested in buying the 4,000-s.f. property, consisting of a historic post office and an empty lot (postal truck driveway), from owner/developer Ron Eichner of New Legacy Partners. But after a storm of sorts in response to a liquor license application, Dempsey withdrew his offer.

Eichner believes potentially incoming entrepreneurs have no cause for concern regarding liquor licensing or neighborhood backlash. A bakery interested in the site wouldn't serve spirits, and the second interested tenant, a well-known local restaurateur, would most likely serve beer and wine, but with "reasonable" hours, said Eichner, clarifying that the establishment is "not a bar type."

The new plan is actually the old plan. Despite having listed the property for sale – resulting in more than one interested buyer wading deep into purchase territory over the last few years – Eichner had originally intended to develop and lease the property. Eichner's agent, Karen Nelson of Blake Dickson Real Estate Services, explained that selling was considered only after numerous inquiries from eager buyers. "Every single call I got was 'would you sell'?" said Nelson.

The property is still listed, for $2.2 million, which is twice what Eichner paid in June of 2008, however, Nelson reiterated that "the idea was never to sell."

With a building permit issued and financing secure, Eichner said he expects 9 months of construction to begin, by Eichberg Construction, "in the next few weeks." The project includes the adaptive reuse of the long defunct post office, a compact limestone structure built in 1940 and run by African-Americans, with the primary local post office located around the corner at 1438 U Street (which happens to also be for sale/lease). There will also be a second-story addition set back 15' on top of the post office.

A new 2-story building will be constructed on the slim empty space, now gated and filled with old furniture. The exterior of the new building will be visually distinct from the limestone post office, with the use of glass, metal and dark gray stone.

Located in the U Street Historic District, plans were approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board back in September of 2008, and as a modest by-right development, Eichner did not have to go through the Office of Zoning for approval.

Washington D.C. real estate development news