Historic Landmark Status Arises in Plan for Old Wonder Bread Building

An adaptive reuse plan by Douglas Development for the old Wonder Bread building has recently encountered a new factor in the mix - potential Historic Landmark status. An application, signed by Douglas and the D.C. Preservation League, was filed with the Historic Preservation Office on August 8th, requesting the Landmark status of the early-20th century industrial craftsman building.

The old Wonder Bread building at 641 S Street, NW in Shaw, is part of a seven-building industrial complex built between 1913 and 1936. The building was purchased by Continental Mills in 1936, and much more recently by Douglas Development (d.b.a. Jemal's Wonder LLC) in October of 1997.

As reported by the Washington City Paper, the 2- and 3-story, 60,000-s.f. building will be redeveloped as office space. Paul Millstein, in charge of Douglas' construction happenings, confirmed this fact, but acknowledges that there is uncertainty as to first-floor uses: "It could go retail or office, depending on the market."

Either way, the plan was always to retain the building's historic façade.

Millstein said, in July, that the redevelopment, designed by R2L:Architects' Sacha Rosen, will work around the building's well-known face on the block. Added density will be tucked into the back (not the top) of the building, which will push the building's envelope out towards the alley, and transform the structure into a "clean box shape" without significantly changing the building's appearance, said Millstein.

Rebecca Miller, executive director of the D.C. Preservation League, said the decision to submit the building to the HPO for Historic Landmark status was an easy one and has been in the works for the past year; the process was facilitated by the fact that Douglas' working concept has always included retention of the building's historic character.

As far as progress goes, Millstein reports that Douglas has not obtained construction permits yet, but, in July, he foresaw having the necessary paperwork in place by early September. Landmark Status review is not yet scheduled, although it could be as early as next month.

Expedited construction/repair permits were issued on the site in April, in order to ready the building for the D.C. Preservation League's 40th anniversary party, however the 90-year-old structure requires more than the last-minute nip-and-tuck (although impressive) that it underwent for the spring gala.

Of redeveloping the '20s-era structure, Millstein declared, “It’s a very cool building, a very cool project.”

The first Wonder Bread bakery in D.C. was located nearby at Georgia Avenue and Bryant Street NW, which was absorbed by the growing Howard University campus in the '90s. The Wonder Bread building being redeveloped at 7th and S Streets first housed the Bond Bakery, then the Dorsch's White Cross Bakery (responsible for the façade that now stands, with white crosses made out of tile), which was bought by Continental Mills.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Northwest One's Site 2 on its Way Up

In less than one month, according to the office of Victor Hoskins, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, construction will "officially" begin on another piece of the District's $700-million-dollar Northwest One New Community at 2 M Street, NE, known as "Site 2 (of Phase 1)", where a 12-story, 314-unit residential-and-retail building will go up.

With all permits in place, and pre-construction activity having begun on site last month, the official groundbreaking, by general contractor WCS Construction, is slated for September 12th.

Construction was initially expected to be underway in March, and when questioned about stalled District developments at a WDCAR event in mid-July, Hoskins pointed to NW1 as an example of an active site. "We are currently bringing the community to that location," said Hoskins, of the project's footprint around North Capitol Street in Ward 6, both in and west of NoMa.

NW1, approved by Council in 2005, began gearing up in 2008 and the new Walker-Jones School was the first completed component, followed by the first residential component, the SeVerna, which broke ground last summer.

According to Jose Sousa at DMPED, the "slowing of debt markets" was the cause of the delay, which affected both the development team, led by William C. Smith + Co. along with The Warrenton Group, and the District. The group, Sousa explained, "adapted by securing FHA mortgage insurance from HUD." Final confirmation and approval of the HUD transaction is imminent, said Sousa.

With construction expected to last 28 months, the 314-unit apartment building, designed by Eric Colbert & Associates, should be complete at the end of 2013.

Of the 314 units, 221 will be rented at market rate, 59 units will be set aside for former Temple Court residents (30% of AMI), and 34 units will be available for those making 60% of AMI.

There will be 4,100 s.f. of ground floor retail and an 8,000 s.f. courtyard above two levels of underground parking, offering between 184 and 192 spots. The 290,000 s.f. building will be concrete, "clad with masonry, decorative metals and soaring full height windows," according to WCS.

2 M Street is estimated to be taking $82 million of the total $700 million needed for NW1, which includes in all: 1,600 units of mixed-income housing, 40,000 s.f. of retail, and 220,000 s.f. of commercial office space.

NW1 is one of five projects being realized by the New Communities Initiative, a public-private partnership that aims to develop areas that exhibit "high rates of poverty and unemployment, as well as blight and deterioration of the housing stock." The other four projects are Barry Farm (Ward 8), Lincoln Heights (Ward 7), Richardson Dwellings (Ward 7), and Park Morton (Ward 1). 

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

This house bills itself as "one of the most unique homes in DC," and I'm inclined to agree. If I lived in this house, I'd carry around a little picture of it in my wallet and "accidentally" drop it whenever an attractive woman was around. (“What, that old thing? Oh, that's just my house.”)

The exterior is striking right off the bat – sort of an angular vertical chessboard look – and the inside is equally impressive. Lots of sleek, jet-black woodwork, which to my eye looked radically fresh and new, like the outfits of those Japanese hipsters who hang out in the East Village. Call me morbid, but there's not enough black in the interior design world. (Why is that? Is it a brightness thing? ) At any rate, black wood is a motif in this house. There's also an atrium-like living room with a massive window-slash-skylight set high up diagonally on the wall, and a great kitchen that's somehow at once massive but compact, a minor wonder of design and efficiency, like what I imagine Steve Jobs' kitchen looks like. (Only his woodwork is white, obviously.)



The master bedroom it truly palatial, as is the renovated master bath, which features a massive shower with a bench in it; I never understood what those were for until I lived with my ex girlfriend in a place that had a shower bench. When we were fighting, I'd wait until she was about to jump in the shower, zip in before her, and then doze on the shower bench while running the hot water. It did wonders for my skin, though not my relationship (I “won” though!)

Private parking, washer/dryer, and it's a short walk to Adams Morgan, Mt. Pleasant/Columbia Heights, and Meridian Hill Park, one of the most beautiful green spaces in Washington D.C and a great place to see drunk men sleeping under bushes.

2633 15TH ST N #4
Washington DC 20009
$779,500

Bainbridge Starting on 17-Story Bethesda Apartments

If Bethesda Row has bloomed into the urban village experience, Woodmont Triangle may one day be its downtown. While no large projects have begun in the quadrant just north of Bethesda Row - though many have been planned - that is about to change in a big way. The Bainbridge Companies will begin construction this week on their 17-story, highly amenitized apartment building a few blocks north of the Bethesda Metro station. Once known as the Monty, the project will be rebranded as "Bainbridge Bethesda" by the Florida based developer.

One of the tallest projects in the area, the apartment building will feature a four-story underground parking garage and is meant to animate both the skyline and street level, the former with its height and periodically receding facade, and the latter with a new pedestrian boulevard that will feature retail and art, breaking up the block and endowing the building with a corner presence.
Some sources say the project could cost $80m to build. The selling feature, to developers, is the raised amenities, placed at the top to take advantage of views over Bethesda and Washington D.C. The building will feature a gym leading out to a 15th floor terrace and rooftop pool. "Obviously that's really expensive real estate that high that we're forgoing, but its the kind of thing that inspires people on a daily basis" says Josh Wooldridge, Senior Development Director with Bainbridge. "You just can't compare that to a gym in a basement."

The project is a long time coming, having been before the county planning board for 5 years. Bainbridge purchased the site with approvals last summer, and expected to break ground almost immediately, but equity issues have held up construction, which has been billed as nearly imminent since that time. Now Bainbridge has corralled equity partners, including Greek shipping company Restis Group and DC-based National Real Estate Advisors, along with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to provide the needed capital, having closed on financing just two weeks ago today. Since the county adopted the Woodmont Sector Plan 6 years ago, no highrises have been built in the area (Lionsgate was planned previously).

Bainbridge will now start 3-4 weeks of demolition, followed by an estimated 18-20 months of construction. The building will take over mostly vacant retail space, replacing it with a 20-foot wide pedestrian passageway that links Fairmont and St. Elmo Streets, with retail fronting both streets. Wooldridge says design of the 7500 s.f. of retail will be finalized next year when the project is under construction.

Architects at SK&I have designed a LEED Silver project with green roof that will be notably taller than the low density architecture of Woodmont Triangle. "We'll be 5 stories taller than anything else around" says Wooldridge, although the 174-foot project will fall short of the Clark building at 200 feet. With demolition permits in hand, site work will commence immediately.

Bethesda, MD real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Duplex condo! "The condo that feels like a house." Because let's be
honest, sometimes a regular apartment or condo can feel a bit too much like a little cement box surrounded by dozens of other little cement boxes. When my mom, who's lived in huge freestanding Midwestern
houses her whole life, visited me here and saw my apartment, she asked, “So when the person downstairs takes a number two, can you smell it in here?” “No, mother,” I said. She looked at me and then nodded slowly. Clearly, she didn't believe me.

But now this place – this place a mother could love. Two sleek levels in a beautiful building, a ton of natural light, gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and maple cabinets. A winding staircase takes you up to an airy loftlike space on the second floor, where the spacious family room flows into the generously-proportioned kitchen. Two bedrooms, two recently-renovated and very fine baths.


Washer/dryer on-site, so you can watch whatever you want while you do your laundry instead of being at the mercy of that remote-wielding attendant at the laundromat who wears an Andy Warhol-style toupee and has the most annoying habit of watching commercials and then flipping away when the actual program comes back. Why does he do that? I asked him once and he just said, “9/11.” True story!

Best of all, the place is in Logan Circle, so you're extremely close to whatever you might want to do (restaurants, nightlife) but far enough away that people won't be shrieking into their cellphones and vomiting Alabama Slammas under your window. Trust me, I lived right in the heart of Adams Morgan for a year and you have no idea how quickly the sound of laughter can become an object of pure hatred.

1437 Rhode Island Ave Nw #107
Washington, DC 20005
2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
$524,900



Washington D.C. real estate news

A Lobby for All Seasons

By Beth Herman

From 20 stories up at the top of the Carlyle Towers, 2151 Jamieson Avenue, the city of Alexandria spreads out in a mélange of shapes and colors. In autumn, the season’s golds, purples, reds and yellows are a palette of particular appeal. But not so for the same theme in the condominium’s current South Tower lobby.

For interior designer Camille Saum and associate designer Nicole Hansen, transforming what is essentially “a harlequin lobby” into an “elegant and durable space” brought the two on a trio of exploratory missions to the property, long before they were tapped for the job.

“We wanted to have the answers,” said Hansen of the time they and nine other firms were first approached for ideas to renovate the south building. For them, the answers included using color continuity to turn a disjointed array of the building’s public spaces into true residential luxury, but with an eye to sustainability and cost-effective measures as well.

Built in phased construction in 1996, 1998 and 2000, the Carlyle’s three towers undergo a kind of roving renovation, according to Hansen, who explained work on the South Tower, built in ’98, is set to begin in the fall. On the redesign agenda are the approximately 1,500 s.f. lobby and mailroom, the Carlyle room which is used for special events that include parties, weekly yoga classes and bridge games, hallways for floors 13 through 20, a conference room and part of the facility’s kitchen.

“The colors that we found in the lobby are predominantly bright red, purple, and then rugs of a sort of rainbow hue in red, blue, yellow and purple,” Hansen said, adding the sofas are a kind of “retro purple mohair.” Two 2 ½-ft.-in-diameter two-story central columns that anchor the space are a red-and-purple harlequin pattern from floor to ceiling. There is no continuity of this particular color experience outside the lobby, so it does not agree with the rest of the property, Hansen explained.

In sharp contrast, the floors are a subdued cognac, bone and light brown marble –a dignified, neutral palette the designers are seeking to replicate in furniture, rug and fabric choices.

Look homeward

According to Hansen, the lobby bifurcates into left and right living room-type spaces, which she and Saum call “the vignettes.” The area below the left and right space’s mirrored mullions is painted white and magenta, though will become a neutral tone with “punches of color.” Durable draperies will complement the two vignettes for a homey look, and Xorel fabric in a shiny beige-and-gold tone will be used on specific walls and columns as it is compatible with the marble flooring. Recycled porcelain flooring will also be added.

Opting for modern but transitional furniture in a warm space that honors the past though embraces the future, Karges and Caron sofas in soft hues are slated for the lobby, with Saum’s signature pop of color (Spring Dust by Benjamin Moore) on the tray ceiling.

In the Carlyle room, used for activities and adjacent to the pool area, neutral tones will be offset by chartreuse accents in 100 percent wool carpeting, for sustainability, and ceiling. “Right now it’s a kind of foil,” Hansen said of the ceiling, adding that a grid of 4-by-4-ft. beams traverses it. The foil is tarnished, so the ceiling will be painted a flat chartreuse color instead. The space’s soon-to-be custom carpeting in taupe and chartreuse will also be replicated in upstairs hallways. “We wanted it all to have a feeling of movement, but with a warm, residential feel as well,” Hansen said, because the building with its public spaces is very much people’s home as opposed to an office building.

The Carlyle room’s expansive dance floor will be refinished in a taupe stain to blend with the carpeting. Prevailing sound issues during lively events will be mitigated by the use of Novawall, a sound absorption material that will be used on the ceiling and one wall, camouflaged by more Xorel fabric.

Where lighting is concerned, the designer said illuminating the lobby’s and hallways’ many dark spaces with an eye towards energy savings were paramount, as well as updating the current look. To that end, LED lights will be interspersed with sustainable recessed lighting, and for aesthetics four contemporary wood and iron chandeliers from Dominion Electric Supply will replace a group of nondescript chandeliers currently in use.

With the four-month project slated to begin in September, Hansen said they are looking forward to the challenge, their objective to make Carlyle Towers’ public spaces as warm, durable and welcoming as the residents’ own homes.

Alexandria Virginia commercial real estate design

Redevelopment of Former Italian Embassy Past the HPRB

Potomac Construction is one step closer (but only one) to breaking ground on the redevelopment of the former Italian Embassy, due to project architect Trout Design Studio and Valor Development moving past the Historic Preservation Review Board for good.

At the end of July, the HPRB unanimously (5-0) approved the revised plans for the redevelopment. According to the Historic Preservation Office, "The Board found the design refinements and materials submitted to be consistent with the concept design and compatible with the character of the landmark."

Yet "the Board directed the applicants to restudy the entrances on Fuller Street and Mozart Place to see if changes to the design, size, and/or scale might improve their compatibility."

Next up is a visit to the Zoning Commission for consolidated PUD and map amendment approval, on September 8th.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Shaw Giant to Close September 8th to Make Way for CityMarket at O

The Shaw Giant will close September 8th in order to make way for CityMarket at O, Roadside Development's $260 million dollar project that will rebuild 2 full blocks in Shaw with 87,000 square feet of retail (including the Giant), 629 residential units, and 500 parking spaces. The project had received demolition permits early this year and a HUD financing commitment in April, leaving just the final administrative hurdles to clear before beginning work on the long awaited project.

Under the terms of the agreement with Giant, Roadside Development was required to give Giant officials a 60-day notice to vacate, which it planned to do once the funding was secure and in place. While Roadside officials offered a "no comment" on the notice, Giant Store Manager Patrick Aryee tells DCMud that Giant corporate officials informed him yesterday that the store would close September 8th. Once Giant closes, Roadside has 2 years to complete the project to let Giant back in the space. Roadside Principal Armand Spikell told DCMud this spring that Roadside would likely issue the 60 day notice by July.

The closure is therefore sure to be followed quickly by frenetic construction and add vigor to revitalization in Shaw that has already gained steam with such projects as the Marriott Marquis, Progression Place, and a new pair of Marriotts. The new Giant Foods will be one of the larger nearby supermarkets at 55,000 s.f., with 13,000 s.f. underground, burying such items as the loading dock which now mars 9th street.




The buildings are being designed by Shalom Baranes Architects and built by Clark Construction.

Washington DC real estate development news

Heritage Foundation to Raze Church on Capitol Hill

The Heritage Foundation has been given the green light to raze the former Unity Baptist Church at 426 3rd Street, NE near Union Station on Capitol Hill. The church, located directly behind The Heritage Foundation, was sold in 2004 for $1.3 million. According to a representative, The Foundation does intend to build on the site, however plans are nascent and not available for public disclosure at this time.

Though the church was constructed in 1919, additions were added in the 1960s and '70s which overtook the original façade; due to this, the Historic Preservation Review Board ruled unanimously to support the raze, as the building "no longer contributes to the Capitol Hill Historic District."

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Located in a fully-renovated Dupont mansion, this unit boasts fantastically eclectic spaces with elegant finishes. From the high ceilings and staggered planes of the spacious, bright living room (with white marble fireplace), to the hedged-in, vaguely Stonehenge-ish patio, this place had no end of little surprises. The master bedroom is truly palatial, with a luxurious master bath (loved the twin basins) and walk-in closets so big you could plausibly rent them out as separate apartments.

But if I had to pick a highlight, it would be the streamlined custom-designed gourmet kitchen, with Miele & Bosch appliances and teardrop-shaped light fixtures suspended over the largest island I've ever seen, a fifteen foot long slab of marble that makes most kitchen islands look like a postage stamp. Don't ever underestimate the importance of a kitchen; in most houses, it's where the real interaction occurs. You know what I mean; at parties, the living room is all small talk, but the real talk is in the kitchen. Maybe it's the proximity to food, it triggers some sort of visceral instinct. In my life, almost all the major “life-changing conversations” I've had have taken place in the kitchen, from the one that ended with my girlfriend at the time throwing a platter of steaming hot chinese food in my face, to the one that ended when yet another girlfriend kicked her wooden clog off her foot, across the room, and into my groin.


The entire unit is wired for sound, and there's an iPod dock so everyone else in the house can snicker and roll their eyes at your musical tastes. It's in Dupont, so you're close to and roughly equidistant from Logan, Adams Morgan, U Street, and anywhere else you might want to go. Plus, you get to park in a huge circular driveway out front, just like Tony Montana. And look how well things turned out for him!

1841 16th Street, NW #1
Washington D.C. 20009
3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
$1,299,000





Washington, D.C. real estate news

Hilton Garden Inn Aiming for Next Summer at One Hotel Site

The West End has been waiting on 1 Hotel for several years. In a way, the wait is over, according to Robert Cohen, President of Perseus Realty LLC, half of the site's development team along with the Starwood Group, who said, "There is no more 1 Hotel [for this site]." Instead, there will be a 238-room Hilton Garden Inn with a 5,000 s.f. restaurant, and construction is expected to begin in June of 2012.

New design, Hilton Garden Inn:
Previous design, 1 Hotel:
Perseus Realty is currently applying for an amended PUD with the Zoning Commission, using the above (first rendering) working design by local architecture firm Shalom Baranes. "It's a first class design," explained Cohen. "It'll be the nicest Hilton Garden Inn in the country." Shalom Baranes principal Patrick Burkhart is in charge of the new Hilton Garden design, the 1 Hotel design was done by Chad Oppenheim of Oppenheim.

"Due to the climate in the last two or three years, we felt that a Hilton Garden Inn is a better use for the site. Nothing more than that," said Neil Jacobs, president of SH Group, Starwood's luxury hotel brand management company, formed in 2009. "With a 1 Hotel we were limited in the number of rooms we could get onto the site. We didn't want to compromise the brand, and commercially [the Hilton] is a better choice."

The 1 Hotel brand is alive and well, confirms Jacobs, who notes the construction of a new 1 Hotel currently underway on 6th Avenue in New York.

The Starwood and Perseus investment at M and 22nd Streets, NW is the site of the former Nigerian Embassy and Asia Nora - both razed in 2008. A restaurateur, yet to be selected for the 5000 s.f. space, will be largely dependent on qualities that are interactive and community focused, according to Cohen.

8/11 addition: previous project and design commentary, Former Swanky 1Hotel...

Washington D.C. real estate development news

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