Unbuilt DC: Public Murals Dot DC's Underdeveloped Landscape

Map of BicycleSpace & MuralsDC bike tour

While DC is rife with cranes and construction projects, for some sites the time has not yet come - at least not for condos. In a whirlwind, art-chasing bike journey that led through the northwest DC neighborhoods of Shaw, Columbia Heights, Kalorama, and the U Street Corridor, MuralsDC hosted a mural bike tour this weekend chasing down 18 of the city's (officially sanctioned) murals.  

MuralsDC and bike purveyor BicycleSpace, located on 7th Street NW between the Shaw and Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhoods, organized the mural tour.  The (official) murals are publicly-funded through the MuralsDC program, an organization established in 2007 with the goal of deterring graffiti on historically "frequently-tagged" walls.

Eric B. Ricks (right) in front of his mural at 8th and S Streets NW

Through the program, building owners can apply for their building to be considered for a mural.  The city - through the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and the Humanities (DCCAH) - works in collaboration with the group Words Beats & Life Inc to settle on the artists and designs.  In DC, at least 35 murals have been painted through the MuralsDC program and seven more are being created this summer.  Four of those, according to MuralsDC tour guides, were due to be completed yesterday.

Albus Cavus's "Blended", 2030 8th St NW

During a stop at one of the newest MuralsDC works - due for completion this summer - mural artist Eric B. Ricks, whose art appears at S and 8th Streets NW,  said his hummingbird piece reflects the ideas of work and productivity, and is also a symbol that could be a harbinger of joy for the neighborhood.  "The humming bird is one of the hardest-working animals," Eric B. told us.  "As a totem animal, it always carries joy and brings joy wherever he goes."

From Albus Cavus's "Blended"

Other graffiti art groups create non-publicly funded murals, such as the D.C. collaborative public art and art education group Albus Cavus.  One of the group's murals - "Blended" - appears at 2030 8th St. NW, a building due for demolition in October.  Albus Cavus artists painted the building's walls during an art performance party and fundraising event - organized by Albus Cavus and AIGA Washington - at the site in June.  The event raised money to support Albus Cavus's programming. JBG Companies donated the site for the event.  The building is also currently home to the pop-up gallery The Randall Scott Projects.

MuralsDC mural at Walter Pierce Park

The MuralsDC program also aims to engage youth in the neighborhoods where the murals are painted; one mural was painted by an artist who worked with neighborhood children, giving paint to passersby for contribution.

A public art mapping platform by the ArtAround project has created an open-source inventory of DC public art, including murals.  Users can search by type of art, funding source, and location.

"Every Day I See Something New," by Cita Sadeli, Champlain Street NW

"Let's Meet at the Corner", artist Alicia Cosnahan, 13th St. and Park Rd. NW

"My DC" - Corner of 14th and Randolph Streets NW

Your Next Place

This penthouse is everything a penthouse is supposed to be; huge, open, full of light, and expensive enough so that when you casually mention the price at a party, a hushed silence falls over everyone.  (If you don't have a multimillion-dollar penthouse, the same effect can be achieved by announcing the exact opposite:  "I made nine thousand dollars last year!"  If I'd known when I was young that poverty was such a social advantage, I never would have majored in English with a minor in Painting.  Oh wait, yes I would have.)

This luxury gem boasts interiors by Zaptaka Interiors, and it shows.  Everything, from the faucets to the windowframes, to the basins and cupboards, exhibits a sort of unifying aesthetic, which I would describe as "really nice."  (What, I'm not a designer, I don't know the lingo.)  The main area is wide open, loft-style, with separate dining and living areas, as well as a large, well-appointed kitchen.  There are three bedrooms, all of them large and boasting floor-to-ceiling windows.  The master bath is massive and has sweet twin basins facing a frosted glass window, and a futuristic walk-in closet that's literally bigger than some studio apartments.

The unit comes with two garage parking spaces, as well as multiple outdoor terraces with stunning views of the city.  You could use one just for pensive gazing at the horizon, and the other just for throwing pots of spoiled food down into the yard.  That's what I do with my outdoor deck.  (True, possibly related, story: the guy who lives below the aforementioned deck stepped out to have a cigarette the other night and was attacked by a opossum.  Oops.)

2818 Connecticut Avenue NW #PH4
3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
$1,750,000

Washington D.C. real estate news

Petworth Safeway Announces September Start Date

Duball LLC and Safeway have announced a start date for their Safeway project at 3830 Georgia Avenue.  The project, announced several years ago, will develop a 62,000 s.f. Safeway with 220 apartment units above.  The development will replace the dated 21,000 Safeway building.  A groundbreaking ceremony will be held September 19th.

The "transit oriented state-of-the-are Safeway," sitting on 1.56 acres, is one block north of the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro and will include 86 below grade spaces for customers and 135 spaces for residents.  The development agreement, worked out between landowner Safeway and developer Duball, keeps Safeway as the owner of the land with Duball granted development rights for residential units and parking on top of the Safeway.

Marc Dubick, founder of Duball, was the principal developer of the CityVista Safeway in Mt. Vernon Triangle.  Duball previously developed Lionsgate in Bethesda and Rockville Town Center.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

MRP Breaks Ground on Washington Gateway

Earth movers arrived at the Washington Gateway site in NoMa several weeks ago, signaling the imminent groundbreaking of the $360 million Washington Gateway, and now MRP Realty officials have acknowledged that construction is in fact beginning on the mixed-use project.  A groundbreaking ceremony will be announced shortly.

In February 2012, DCMud reported that MRP had moved equipment to the site for preliminary work, but nothing substantial followed.  Now, officials say that construction is beginning on a 14-story, 400-unit apartment building at 100 Florida Ave., NE.  The promotional material states that the building will feature a "brick and metal panel exterior with floor-to-ceiling glass at the prominent corners."  The residential building will be the first of several phases that will eventually include an office component. SK&I designed the building, Davis Construction is the general contractor.

An important component in the growth of NoMa neighborhood, Washington Gateway is bordered by the intersections of New York and Florida Avenues to the west and the Metropolitan Branch trail to the east.  It is also situated one block from the New York Avenue Metro Station and neighborhood amenities including Harris Teeter.

Washington Gateway will join Archstone's First and M 469 luxury apartments and Mill Creek's Trilogy NoMA project (pictured, at left) which includes 603 units, just to name a few of the "3,500 residential units delivered or under construction."

Update:  Developers say the project will be in 3 phases, with 2 and 3 being office buildings.  The project will break ground Sept. 12.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Georgetown Project Renovation Begins Tomorrow

District officials will hold a ceremony on Tuesday morning for construction of The Montrose, formerly known as the the Henry and Anne Hurt Home, at 3050 R Street, NW in Georgetown.  Developers will turn the vacant property into 15 condominiums through demolition of non-historic portions of the building and renovation of the main building.

In September 2010 the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) selected the joint venture of the Argos Group and Potomac Investment Properties to redevelop the historic Hurt Home mansion at 3050 R St., NW.  Disposition of the property awaited negotiations and plans for the building, but on July 11, 2012, the property was recorded as selling for $7,750,000 according to DC Recorder of Deeds.   Neither pricing nor floorplans have been established, though a construction fence now surrounds the building and some interior work has begun.  The Montrose, named for it's proximity to Montrose Park, is scheduled for completion in late 2013.

Three wood additions will be stripped from the back of the original brick exterior, while the interior will be almost entirely gutted and rebuilt.

The Argos Group's other projects include The Station (pictured above), located at 524 9th Street NE, a mixed income historic condo conversion and The Firehouse, located at 1340 Maryland Avenue NE, a mixed income residential condo conversion.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

I genuinely loved this newly-renovated U Street rowhome; as you can see in the pics, it's one of the most open, brightest rowhome spaces you'll ever see.  From the front door you can see all the way to the glass doors leading to the patio - and not just through a narrow hallway.  You could legitimately use this apartment as a single-lane bowling alley, though I think we can agree that that's a pretty stupid idea.  (Though that assessment could very well change after a few drinks.)

The living room area is flooded with light through the oversized bay window, and leads naturally to the dining area, which flows naturally to the eat-in kitchen furnished with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.  Upstairs, the master bedroom is also generously proportioned, and outfitted with a custom walk-in closet that, let's face it, is far too nice for your wardrobe of Adidas tearaway pants and threadbare kickball t-shirts.  The en-suite master bath features dual vanities ("Do not ever use my vanity, even if you're literally on fire" sign not included), a glass stand-up shower, and a soaking tub for when you've, I don't know, been sprayed by a skunk or something?  (I literally couldn't think of a single other reason why you'd need to soak.)

There's also a fantastic stone patio out back, where you can sit and look at all the people in the surrounding apartment buildings looking down at you in your yard and thinking, "I wish I lived in a place with a backyard patio.  I knew I shouldn't have majored in English."  And being just a block above U Street, this place is also very close to all the very best bars in DC, which of course is defined as "bars where I know the bartenders and drink for free."

1347 V Street NW
Washington, D.C.
2 Bedrooms, 1.5 Baths
$759,000

Gensler Out, BBG-BBGM in as Watergate Architects

Interior restoration work on the famed Watergate Hotel has been quietly moving forward for weeks now and DCMud has confirmed that hotel owner Euro Capital Properties has engaged BBG-BBGM as the new architectural firm on the project.

BBG-BBGM replaces Gensler as the architectural firm working on the hotel at 2650 Virginia Avenue, NW in DC's Foggy Bottom neighborhood.  Architectural firm Gensler, which completed conceptual designs for the project, has not had any involvement since October, according to a source.

Thomas Luebke, FAIA, secretary with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) said the Commission gave preliminary approval under a courtesy conceptual review of the designs for the restoration last July 2011.  The CFA asked Euro Capital Properties to make a few minor changes.  But Luebke said the CFA has not seen plans since.  "If there is a final proposal, we would love to see it," Luebke said.  Designs submitted to the CFA last year showed very minimal changes to the exterior of Italian architect Luigi Moretti's iconic 1960 structure.

The Shipstead-Luce Act of 1930 designates that exterior changes to properties within a geographic overlay area - the Watergate complex falls within that area - are subject to final approval from the Commission in order to promote design sensitivity.  Under Federal Law, the project must have CFA's stamp of approval on plans for exterior work before the DC permitting authorities can issue permits for exterior restoration work.

Final plans for the hotel must also be approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) in the Historic Preservation Office of D.C. Office of Planning.  According to city staff, HPO staff last met with BBG-BBGM in January 2012 to discuss details of the initial restoration plans, but has not received any new plans from Euro Capital Properties. 

Plans to renovate the hotel have seen challenges since the property was sold to Monument Realty in 2004.  With the hotel still open, Monument plowed forward with plans to revert the building to its historic use as co-operative residences, but pre-sales slumped in 2006 and legal problems beset the conversion.  Monument stalled and closed the hotel in 2007.  Monument's lender PB Capital Corporation foreclosed on the hotel and put it up for auction in 2009 but there were no bids.   

Euro Capital Properties bought the hotel in 2010 with plans to turn the property into a $300 a night luxury hotel.  Euro Capital principal Jaques Cohen has said his company plans to invest $70 million in the project, according to The Georgetown Current.  Progress on the Watergate Hotel restoration again seemed to hit turbulence last fall when some residents of the Watergate complex's co-op residential units voiced opposition to the developer's restoration plans.  Neither Euro Capital Properties nor BBG-BBGM had responded to DCMud inquiries at the time of publication of this article.

 
















Washington D.C. commercial real estate news

Today in Pictures - NPR Home in NoMa

Under construction since the summer of 2009, work is winding down on National Public Radio's new home in NoMa.  Three years may seem a long time for a mid-sized office building, but developer Boston Properties first had to abate the toxic substances from the 83-year-old Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Companies Warehouse before they could begin building on top.

Initial work was secretive, as NPR refused requests to release initial plans or renderings of the project, which bears an unfortunate resemblance to the FBI headquarters downtown.  Hickok Cole Architects designed the addition to the historic warehouse, which is providentially set back from the historic structure.

Washington D.C. real estate development news.  Photos courtesy Rey Lopez

DIY City Planning: OP and AIA DC Launch Citizen Focus Groups

Ever been to a planning meeting?  Fuzzy on development zoning and permitting, but still have ideas about D.C. development or what exactly makes a great neighborhood?  The D.C. Office of Planning (OP) - the municipal authority charged with shaping the District's urban landscape - still cares about what residents like you have to say.  That's the message the office is sending with a new series of focus groups.

The District Architecture Center, Image courtesy AIA

In collaboration with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) DC Advocacy Committee, the OP, under the direction of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning, has launched a series of focus groups to get a picture of resident thoughts on place-making and everything from transportation to use of public space. Two focus groups, of two hours each, have already met and two are coming up.

The focus groups signal a real effort in the planning department to look beyond planning meetings and foster citizen agency.

The deadline to join the groups was August 8th, and OP officials say there was an overwhelming interest to join: the office received hundreds of applications and selected participants who had been both more engaged and less engaged in official city planning processes.

"We have these very official – and some might say officious – ways of doing business and engaging people," Tregoning said. She noted that development and planning initiatives go through a complex approval process some residents might find distancing.  But, she said, many are already working informally - both outside city hall and with the city - to improve their neighborhoods. Tregoning points to a recent project under the city's Temporary Urbanism Initiative in which, with grant funding from ArtPlace, citizens painted a plaza with cafe tables and imagined structures to show what the plaza would be like if it were a place for people and not cars. 

"People have a lot of energy around this but there is not necessarily a place for it to go, and how can we harness it for the betterment of the city and for the neighborhood?" Tregoning asked.

The idea for the forums emerged from joint meetings between OP officials and the new D.C. advocacy committee of the AIA.  Carolyn Sponza is the enthusiastic head of the committee and has been a key force behind spearheading the effort.  She said the two groups realized there was a real "synergy" between AIA D.C.'s advocacy committee's goal to engage broad community issues larger than architecture, and the OP's "Citizen Planner Initiative." 

An architect at Gensler and AIA volunteer, Sponza said that residents have raised a diverse range of issues so far.  She said two main themes have been urban mobility and connectivity. "There were a lot of things about making connections, like the 'I can't get there from here syndrome,'" Sponza told DCMud.  She said people were also interested in growing connections, both between neighborhoods and between citizen organizations and non-profit planning and architecture services.

Tregoning said the forums are meant to explore ways to reach people and engage people more informally and more frequently on different kinds of issues. "There is just a ton of interest in what makes good neighborhoods and good places and a lot of people in the city have this deep curiosity in good cities," Tregoning added. "We were interested in ways to try to satisfy that curiosity and at the same time try a better constituency for better planned neighborhoods and better citizen engagement."

Tregoning pointed to many possible outcomes that could emerge from the focus groups:

• A "Development 101" module about how development happens in the city and how residents can have influence in the process.
• Further engagement of citizens around traffic and development and aspects of "the built environment that lead to more trips by car or fewer trips by car."
• Efforts in particular neighborhoods to clean up trash, get more retail, or build facilities from public trash cans to parking.
• DIY projects
• New ways people can participate in planning.  Most avenues for citizen input in planning are geared toward in-person meetings.  Possible new avenues might use technology to include people to engage remotely.
• Walking tours in areas that citizens nominate geared toward fostering dialogue surrounding the question: "what makes a great place?" 

One of the explicit objectives, Tregoning said, "is to have citizens not be the passive recipients of the city's planning but figuring out ways that they can be more involved – not just as commenters in the planning project – but in thinking about what they can do to make their neighborhoods better."

The AIA DC advocacy committee will present an overview of the meetings on October 4th at the new District Architecture Center at 421 7th Street NW, in DC's Penn Quarter neighborhood, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.  The street-level space, also home to the Washington Architecture Foundation, was designed by Washington firm Hickok Cole Architects.  The center hosts events and exhibits aimed at engaging the public and professionals in architecture.

The Wharf's "Resort In the City" Anchor Hotel Appeases Critics, Inches Forward

The four-star Intercontinental luxury hotel in the Wharf - the Southwest waterfront megadevelopment - is inching towards reality, though not without some changes along the way.

"Right now we're in the process of gathering equity," says Austin Flajser, President of Carr Hospitality.  "We anticipate construction starting in the third quarter of 2014, with delivery in the first quarter of 2016."

The 245,000 s.f., 278-room hotel from developer Carr Hospitality and designed by BBG-BBGM, will overlook the Washington Channel, now being developed by the Hoffman-Madison team, and feature a lavish 5,000 s.f. rooftoop lounge.  Plans also call for not one but two restaurants, two large water-facing ballrooms, and up to 7,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space.  The design calls for a red and gray brick facade, intermingled with terracotta, granite, and tinted glass.

Developers were forced to alter their plans, though, after ANC 6D passed a resolution recently in opposition to many of the specifics in the Phase 2 Planned Unit Development (PUD).

"We took down the clock tower, which was really just an architectural embellishment," says Flajser.  "We also altered the corners of the building a little bit, and there's no longer any sign."  (The above rendering depicts the original design; the rendering below depicts the revised design.)

In addition to those changes, the height of the structure - a planned 12-stories/130 feet - was also lowered.  After these changes were announced at a special meeting late last month, the ANC voted 4-3 to reinstate their support.  Carr also has a boutique luxury hotel in the works for Alexandria's contentious waterfront plan and has received objections from neighbors there as well.

Parcel 3b, where the hotel will be built, is near 9th and Water Streets (see map, above), and also abuts one of the development's planned piers; if Carr is able to purchase boat slips from the development group, guests could potentially arrive at the hotel by boat. Rates for the rooms will reportedly be between $300 and $400 per night.

Carr Hospitality notably restored the Willard hotel, a project widely lauded for its successful execution.  The Wharf Intercontinental will be its second hotel in the District.  Monty Hoffman of PN Hoffman has been quoted as saying the hotel will be an "anchor" of the megadevelopment.  The first construction at the Wharf should be begin early next year.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Gallaudet Kicks off Building Campaign with New Dorm

Opening this week will be a special building at Gallaudet University, a $16 million dormitory, designed by deaf students, for deaf students.  The new dorm is the first of a series of buildings to debut at the school for the deaf, and may even lead to national guidelines for deaf-friendly design and construction.

Creating a building to be used exclusively by deaf people has unique challenges, said Jeffrey Luker, chief architect with Quinn Evans, architect of record on the project.  Design needs include wider hallways, more open space, and doors that open automatically so that conversations aren't interrupted having to turn knobs or push handles.  Designers also had to concentrate on visual stimulation and light intrusion to maximize signing, giving a new dimension to interior design.

Gallaudet is now preparing its 10-year campus plan to submit to the DC Zoning Commission; its ambitious design is for at least a half dozen new buildings incorporating the same design guidelines that make spaces more livable and conducive to conversation, according to Hansel Bauman, Director of Campus Design & Planning for Gallaudet.  Bauman said that while design catering to the deaf is not a new concept, it is constantly reinvented.  Bauman instead intends to develop a set of guidelines based on this experience to benefit national design initiatives.

Bauman, an architect by training, highlights the use of color and light as extremely important.  "This is a visually centered environment, you are communicating visually - largely a signing environment - and that's important to understand from an architectural perspective because the building becomes a communications vehicle."  He notes that deaf people are constantly surveying the environment and people around them and need proper light without confusing visuals that would go unnoticed by most audiences.  Bauman points to mini-blinds, ubiquitous throughout the campus, that create a "vibration" as a background when you visually study someone signing in front of them.  "You have an extraordinary amount of visual activity."

"The visual noise of the architecture needs to be modulated well.  Traditional lighting is in a room with a high contrast of dark and light...what we try to do is create an environment with a much more muted, diffused light," says Bauman.  As for colors: "try to pick hues that contrast human skin tones with saturated colors" to set of uses of rooms.  "Walking aisles need to be easy to navigate, then you tend to focus less on navigation than on conversation."

Architect Jeffrey Luker adds further that "visual cues are very important when you're deaf. You need to be able to pick up those cues quickly when you're walking."  Space is key, he said. "There's a preference in deaf communities that there not be walls. You need clear sight lines. One of the advantages is that with deaf people you can communicate at long distances. There's no disruption, its just visual...To the extent possible we've tried to put in place these guidelines into this building."

The building is the first new dorm in the university's plan to renew its housing stock.  The 85,000 square foot building will have two floors of offices and workspace on the first floor, and four floors of open dormitories with 175 beds where some of the university's 1870 students can sign across halls and floors.

"You can sign almost one hundred yards away with someone, or have a conversation with someone in a second floor dorm while you're the courtyard, without bothering anyone else," says Luker. "We've gotten our expertise in deaf space design from Gallaudet itself.  Deaf students are part of the design, every step of the design we've tested with the deaf community."

Because of the school's specialized focus, it foresees only modest growth in the student population, but Bauman sees a need to replace its aging building stock with replacements designed to assist and appeal to the deaf population.  The school also owns 4 acres next door at the Union Market site, currently used as a parking lot, but has no current plans to incorporate that into the Campus Plan or sell to Union Market's developer.

The new dorm comes as the area begins to enjoy a renaissance, with H Street booming - first in nightlife and now in residential construction - and the ever-imminent trolley line getting closer, MRP is beginning their transformative project next door, and now Union Market is opening as a restaurant destination.   Sigal Construction built the dormitory.

Washington D.C. real estate development news.  Photos credit Gallaudet University.