Cheers to the Australian Embassy

The Australian embassy on Scott Circle celebrated its 50th year in 2019, but that was its last, with demolition underway to build a new chancery seven blocks due north of the White House in the diplomatic heart of Washington D.C.  Bates Smart, the Australian architectural firm that designed the original mission, has fashioned a replacement that will up the sustainability ante while "paying tribute to the unique Australian landscape."  The embassy staff has meanwhile decamped at the National Geographic headquarters on 17th Street during construction, demolition of the structure is nearly complete.

Having outlived its useful life - the familiar scaffolding and Australian scenery cocooning the building protected passersby from the crumbling exterior - its successor will be clad in vertical strips of glass, an interior atrium, and will be designed to achieve the "highest global environmental design standards available."   A green roof with photovoltaic panels will top off the building, while the white Tennessee marble of the prior facade will be replaced by what its designers claim will be a slightly shifting facade, heavier on the north side where marble dominates, turning to a "crisp... vertical horizon edge" facing Scott Circle.  The new embassy will take roughly the same shape, set back again from Massachusetts Avenue, when construction completes in mid 2022.

Project:  Australian Embassy

Address:  1601 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington D.C.

Architect:  Bates Smart

Construction:  Clark Construction

Expected Completion:  Mid 2022

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Starburst Delta Towers

The starburst intersection in northeast DC, a name given for the five main corridors that radiate outward is, like its astrophysical counterpart that generates exceptionally high star formation, the epicenter of a great deal of commercial development in a relatively small space.  The next real estate project to complete, at the hub of the five corridors (Benning Rd., Florida Avenue, H Street, Maryland Avenue and Bladensburg Road) is the Delta Towers project that faces H Street but carries a Bladensburg Road address.

Delta Towers will be joining Phase 2 of Kettler's Flats at Atlas, adding 325 rental units to Maryland Avenue early next year, 1402 H Street, which completed 28 condos last year, 180 apartment units at 1701 H Street (still being contested) and the gestating Hechinger Mall redevelopment which will transform 8.6 acres into an enormous mixed-use project, to name just a few.

The project is owned by the historic Delta Sigma Theta sorority (founded by Howard University graduates), and includes the '60's era tower next door.  Partnering with Dantes Partners and Gilbane Building Company, the new Delta towers will include 179 subsidized apartments entirely for seniors.  The project is the culmination of decades of work, according to Tom Donaghy of KGD Architecture, the project architect.  On the design of the building for seniors, Donaghy noted the differences from traditional apartment buildings, such as differentiated designs and colors by floor to help with navigation and, to fight loneliness, a double-sided entrance that meets in a central gathering space, as well as universal design principals that make access within individual units easier.  On top, the residents will have their own spaces for private gardens, and the Delta sorority will maintain their headquarters in the new building when it completes late this year.

Project:  Delta Towers

Address:  808 Bladensburg Rd, NE, Washington DC

Developer:  Dantes Partners, Gilbane Building Company

Architect:  KGD Architecture

Construction:  Bozzuto Construction

Interior Design: Determined by Design

Use:  179 subsidized apartments

Expected Completion:  Q4 2020

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Today in Pictures - Metro's New Offices

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners are jointly developing an office building adjacent to L'Enfant Plaza, a project that gutted and skinned a dated office building, and add 3 new floors to the 7-story skeleton.  When completed in late 2021, the project will serve as the new headquarters for the transit organization, which is being relocated from 5th Street, NW, part of its consolidation plan into a 200,000 s.f. building.

Project:  WMATA Headquarters

Address:  300 7th St., SW, Washington DC

Developer:  Jair Lynch

Architect:  Studios Architecture

Construction:  Gilbane Building Company

Use:  200,000 s.f. of office space

Expected Completion:  Q4 2021

Towering Over Rosslyn

The Highlands, Penzance's new mixed use development on Rosslyn's highest perch, is still a year away but taking its final shape as the buildings have now topped out.   Named for it's high seat atop the hill at Rosslyn's Highlands Park, the ambitious construction project includes 3 towers with a collective 884 units - 331 rental units spread over 23 floors at The Aubrey, 104 condominiums over 26 floors at The Pierce, and 449 apartment units in a 27 story tower at Evo.  Both the Evo and Pierce top out at 270' above ground.

The towers were built on the site of an office building owned by Penzance (1555 Wilson Blvd), and a fire station owned by Arlington county.  The county gave Penzance a lease of up to 125 years (including options) for its site, with rent calculated based on land value minus the developer's improvements to the property, and included a new fire station incorporated into the project facing Wilson Boulevard.

So far, CVS and Vida Fitness have signed as retail tenants, which together with the residents will be served by a 4 level, 1060 space garage below ground.  Hickok Cole, the Georgetown-based architect designing two of the three towers (Evo and Pierce), is anticipating a LEED Silver rating for the buildings.

While the Aubrey will sit on the west side of North Pierce Street - a new extension not in alignment with the existing street, Pierce (the condo) and Evo will share a "resort style pool and cascading waterfall feature" on the roof of Evo, according to Rhea Vaflor of Hickok Cole, while the condo will have its own private rooftop features, and in between will be a 3rd floor garden terrace overlook.  Vaflor describes the buildings as "transformative" to that area of Rosslyn, with apartments "right-sized for the single professional and young couple" with high-end features.  The project aims to finish in the 3rd quarter 2021.

Project:  The Highlands

Address:  1525 Wilson Boulevard, Rosslyn, VA

Developer:  Penzance

Architect:  Hickok Cole Architects, Studios Architecture

Construction:  Whiting-Turner 

Use:  884 Residential units

Expected Completion:  Q3 2021

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Flats at Atlas, Phase 2

The second phase of the Flats at Atlas, the new apartment community in the Carver / Langston neighborhood of northeast DC, has now moved to exterior work, with completion slated for early 2021.  The project, perched on a hill with direct views down Maryland Avenue, offers vistas that end at the Capitol dome for some of the 325 rental units.  The project sits directly across the street from the Hechinger Mall, a parking-dominated strip that is also slated for redevelopment.

The first phase of the Flats, a 257-unit apartment building initially titled Arboretum Place for its close proximity to the national gardens, was built by Clark Realty Capital in a two-year construction project that broke ground in 2010.  In 2016, Clark sold the project, including the completed Flats of Phase 1 and adjacent lot, to a JV between Kettler and Westbrook Partners for $95m.

Project:  Flats at Atlas, Phase 2

Address:  1676 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington DC

Developer: Kettler, Westbrook Partners

Architect:  Dwell Design Studio

Construction:  CBG Construction

Use:  325 apartments

Expected Completion:  Early 2021

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news