Ukrainian Famine Memorial Clears Hurdles

Though no firm groundbreaking date has been set, the site for the Ukrainian Man-made Famine (Holodomor) memorial was consecrated last month by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, just days after the project received concept approval from the Commission of Fine Arts.

Located on a 3100-s.f. triangular wedge at the intersection of North Capitol Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and F Street, the memorial is dedicated to victims of the 1932 Ukrainian catastrophe, created when Stalin exported the bulk of Ukraine's grain stores, deliberately inducing a famine that he hoped would lead to a repopulation of the country by ethnic Russians. Presently the site is a popular lunchtime gathering place for the throngs of neighborhood workers who patronize the nearby food trucks, perhaps foreshadowing the future irony of young urban professionals shoveling back kimchi tacos and twelve dollar hula burgers in the shadow of a famine memorial.

Since securing authorization from Congress in 2006, the Holodomor project has made slow but steady progress. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) awarded the site in October 2008, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine began soliciting designs the very next year. From 52 submitted proposals, they narrowed it down to five, which were then vetted down to two that met NCPC standards. The project team, led by architects-of-record Hartman-Cox Architects (who were brought in to shepherd the project through the labyrinthine approvals process), presented these two designs at an NCPC meeting on December 1. The “preferred” scheme, dubbed “Field of Wheat,” is comprised of a small paved area and bench in front of a wall-like bas-relief sculpture of wheat. The “alternate” scheme (which seemed to be much preferred at the last NCPC meeting, due to the one-sided design of “Field of Wheat”) is a small sculpture in-the-round of a ten-foot-tall pair of open hands, surrounded by trees. The designs received concept approval from the Commission of Fine Arts in mid-November, and now go to the National Capital Advisory committee.

According to NCPC Acting Director of Urban Design and Plan Review Shane Dettman, the monument is being funded directly by the Ukranian government, which will also take on an unusual level of responsibility for the finished site. “Unlike most monuments that are given over to the National Park Service for maintenance, this particular memorial will be on a Park Service reservation that's owned by the federal government, but the Ukrainian government will take care of upkeep and maintenance,” Dettman said.

Still, the memorial does seem puzzling to some, in the same way that the U.S. erecting a “Trail of Tears” memorial in downtown Kiev might raise eyebrows. The boilerplate justification for the project, taken from the proposal/environmental impact study, is that America's long-standing role as the foremost champion of human rights in the world makes Washington, DC the best location for a memorial to this tragedy. Which is undoubtedly true, as far as that goes. (Which isn’t very far.)

The Ukrainian embassy wasn't forthcoming with any context, but recent history might lend some. George W. Bush signed the legislation authorizing the Holodomor memorial into law in 2006, coincidentally a few years after Ukraine was one of the only countries to make a significant contribution to the multinational Iraq invasion force, inviting the suspicion that the monument was a chip in a much bigger picture of backroom diplomatic horse-trading. Additionally, it's well-known that the U.S. needs a regional ally to keep Russian’s empire-ish ambitions contained (a Taiwan to Russia’s China, if you will), so it makes sense that we would want to keep the Ukrainians happy. They get a sculpture in the capital city of the world's leading superpower, we get a missile installation, that sort of thing. If it saves us from a 21st century “Red Dawn,” it's a small price to pay.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

You always hear Drake singing about how depressing and melancholy it is to sit in your penthouse and look out over the city, but then when I'm in an actual penthouse I'm like “how can you ever sit in a place like this and feel depressed?!” Drake should spend a little time in my shabby rowhouse apartment that features an unanchored toilet (you can lift it right off the floor or – horrifyingly – it can tip over when you're on it) and four layers of wall to wall carpeting (when a tenant moves out, my landlord just puts down a fresh layer of carpet on top of the old one). I'd love to hear a melancholy ballad about that.

This stunning Dupont penthouse in PN Hoffman's The Madison pretty much has it all: a floating staircase, dramatic high ceilings, tons of light. This is definitely what I would call a trophy home. The kitchen is expansive with maybe the most kitchen storage I've ever seen. The master suite it huge enough that it would be a fantastic apartment in and of itself; it even has its own terrace, and features ridiculously massive closets that made me want to twirl around and around with my arms spread like Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music.” (Not really.) The baths are of five-star hotel quality, with beautiful finishes and those rainfall-style showerheads that's just like showering outside in the rain except it doesn't end abruptly with you getting tasered by the police.

There's also a fantastic roof deck and the place comes with a huge storage unit that would take decades to fill up, and that's assuming you have a severe and well-financed shopping problem.

1514 21st Street NW #9
3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths
$1,395,000

Sheridan Station Celebrates Opening, Now Nearly Half Built

Ribbons were cut today at Sheridan Station, a $100-million effort by the D.C. Housing Authority and William C. Smith & Co. to redevelop 11 acres in Ward 8 that once held the public housing complex Sheridan Terrace, torn down in 1997.

The ceremony this afternoon marked the completion of Phase I (of three), which delivered 114 apartment units (with gym, business center, etc.) to Barry Farm/Anacostia, confirms Carol Chatham, spokesperson for William C. Smith + Co.

Construction on the first phase of the project began in May of 2010. Now complete, the apartment building, designed by SK&I, is in the queue for LEED-Platinum certification (the highest certification possible from the U.S. Green Building Council), due to incorporation of rooftop solar panels that will generate energy to cover 30 percent of the building's needs, a rainwater collection cistern, LED lights, and low-VOC materials - among other green building tactics.

Expected to be in attendance today were the appropriate local and federal government representatives on behalf of DCHA, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and DMPED - all celebrating the ability to fund the project, which includes the use of a $20-million HOPE VI HUD grant and ARRA funds.

Phase two - 80 for-sale townhomes - is under construction now; 22 of these townhomes are currently for sale and will deliver in February of next year. Chatham added that three are under contract now. The third and final phase is still in development, a start date has not been specified.

The 11 acres of Sheridan Station are jointly owned by DCHA and William C. Smith & Co. As lead developer, Smith partnered with Union Temple CDC and Jackson Investment Co. to form Sheridan Terrace Redevelopment, LLC.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

New Apartments for Hill East in 2013, Two Blocks from RFK

The recently formed joint venture - between Tritec Development and JBG - has just begun construction on its 141-unit apartment, Kennedy Row, at 1729 East Capitol Street in Hill East, just two blocks from RFK Stadium.

Construction on the 42,629-s.f. site, under general contractor Clark Builders Group, will take approximately 18 months, and the first apartments will deliver in April of 2013. Kennedy Row will be managed by JBG's residential property management arm (we're told the Kennedy Row website is coming next month).

Early this fall, the partnership - a $40 million effort brokered by Colliers - was formed, enabling the project to break ground late last month, just after a building permit was issued for the project, and just before the PUD was set to expire, this month.

The 4.5-story, red-brick apartment designed by architect Polleo Group, is located at 1705-1729 East Capitol Street, SE, right across the street from Eastern High School - which received a $70-million renovation last year - five blocks from the Stadium Armory Metro, and two blocks from RFK Stadium. There will be 113 parking spaces in an underground parking garage.

Well in advance of construction, demolition of the aged structures previously on the site commenced a year-and-a-half ago, and the south side of East Capitol Street between 17th and 18th has been waiting on development since that time. A representative involved with the project said that the timing of the project's start has been purely a market-driven decision.

In December 2007, The Merion Group/Tritec acquired the property for $6.2 million from Comstock East Capitol LLC, which paid $9 million the previous year.

The consolidated Planned Unit Development (by Comstock, with renderings by PGN Architects seen at left) was approved around the time Merion/Tritec took over (late in 2007), and the project was granted a time extension by the Zoning Commission in 2009.

Originally - four years ago - the project looked to become condos, however, developers confirmed that the aim is now apartments.

As for the rest of the Hill East area, the Washington Post reminded readers a month ago that the 67-acre area south of RFK known as Reservation 13 "has been eyed for an ambitious redevelopment for the better part of a decade," and reported that speculation surrounding the area's potential continues, noting the option for: "a new [Redskins] headquarters and training facility near RFK Stadium in anticipation of building a new stadium there when the FedEx Field lease ends in 2027." Meanwhile, D.C. United looks to a short-term lease at RFK, as the soccer team's management continues to try and sort out its future, and appears to be sticking to its guns in declaring that RFK is not a long-term solution.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Capitol Riverfront's Harris Teeter Beginning Work this Week

Forest City will begin work this week on Parcel D of its Yards development, including a new apartment building and Harris Teeter. Having secured its last required permit on Friday, according to Ted Skirbunt of the Capitol Riverfront BID, Forest City can now begin its 225-unit apartment with a 50,000-s.f. Harris Teeter, 30,000-s.f. Vida fitness center, and 10,000 s.f. of additional retail space.

Gary McManus, a spokesperson for Forest City, acknowledged that initial work is now beginning, larger scale construction is a month away. "While there may be some site mobilization prior to the holidays, the actual excavation won’t begin to any great degree until January... Excavation is likely to be completed by late April/early May."

With construction underway soon, Harris Teeter could still open in 2013, but according to McManus, Forest City is waiting to confirm a project completion / opening date until next spring, after excavation is done and when more signed retail tenants can be announced.

The design by Shalom Baranes Architects is for two buildings that will be expressed as three, with two residential towers (one above the Harris Teeter running along most of 4th Street, shown above), and one shorter retail building located on the corner with a look separate from the residential portion of the project. The retail building includes 30,000 s.f. ground-floor retail topped by the Vida health club (seen at right).

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Cathedral Commons Construction in Spring 2012, Giant Announces Development Partner Bozzuto

Giant, the grocer owned by Dutch conglomerate Ahold Delhaize, will begin construction on Cathedral Commons next spring and has just announced its partnership with The Bozzuto Group to develop the $125-million mixed-use project along Wisconsin Avenue, NW, first reported yesterday by The Washington Post.  The historically debated, two-block redevelopment project will bring 137 apartment units and 8 townhomes, more than 500 parking spaces, and 128,000 s.f. of retail including the anchor, a new 56,000-s.f. Giant, to replace the badly aged 50-year-old one currently on site. Opening of the new Giant is "tentatively scheduled for late 2013." In the press release issued today, Tom Bozzuto, CEO of The Bozzuto Group, remarked, “We are thrilled to work with Giant to create Cathedral Commons, a community that will offer the District neighborhoods of Cleveland Park and Cathedral Heights the best shopping, dining and housing yet." Southside Investment Partners LLC will partner with The Bozzuto Group on the retail portion of the project. The Bozzuto Group is also currently a development partner for Monroe Street Market near Catholic University, another big ($200 million) mixed-use project which broke ground last month. 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Millwork Metamorphoses!

By Beth Herman

With grand scale entertaining paramount for a Georgetown family of six, in many ways their late 19^th Century Queen Anne Victorian did not support a contemporary lifestyle. For interior designer Marika Meyer of Marika Meyer Interiors LLC, issues of storage and functionality were high on her design dance card for the historical residence while preserving its authentic fabric.

Gilded by antiques and spare, elegant furnishings, the home’s towering entryway lacked practicality with no place for guests to hang their coats during frequent social events. In an effort to retain and reproduce the home’s period flavor and flourishes, Meyer chose to create an adjacent coat closet by using custom millwork to replicate the original late 1800s entry door. Turning an empty vestibule into a utilitarian closet, the result appeared as though it had always been there.

“We transformed this space by matching the door’s historic millwork detail and creating a new (closet) door, so it was almost seamless,” Meyer said. “Most people think of millwork in terms of bookcases, but this was a good example of repurposing and reusing the space” without compromising the home’s architectural history.

In the imposing living room with its 13-foot ceilings, a lack of storage did not facilitate the family’s voracious reading habit. Calling it “somewhat unorthodox” to furnish a more formal space with bookcases, the designer explained the floorplan was such that the room was used on a day-to-day basis, rendering the idea of millwork in this manner more appropriate. Accordingly, Meyer created two bookcases to house many hundreds of books and family artifacts. In an effort to make the room more scalable and approachable, she dropped the bookcases’ height for the illusion of a warm and family-friendly area. Detail from the home’s existing entry hall wainscoting was reproduced in the living room, as was crown detail from the 19^th Century crown molding, along with custom ogee.

“The millwork here shows you can add depth and functionality, and also give the residence personality,” Meyer said. Though the room was painted in a more neutral palette from its former canary yellow, pops of color from the books and objects that line the book shelves brighten the space. “You can never underestimate the power of a good book installation!” Meyer quipped.

The new black

In a Logan Circle row house, a young family – also voracious readers, and the husband and father an author – desired additional storage and a way to showcase their many hundreds of books. What’s more, a singular art collection—and especially a prominent piece of art that occupied an entire wall—caused the room to appear off-balance. “The rest of the space just felt empty,” Meyer said, adding something was needed to carry the eye from a fireplace around the rest of the room.

To that end, and desiring some drama in the otherwise quiet space, the designer created a black, high-gloss finish bookcase. “Rather than white or a tint, the colors really pop off the black,” Meyer said of the books and displays. “You get a sense of movement, color and interest, but it’s also truly reflective of the clients and their love of reading.”

Because their collection of reading material was so extensive, books are actually double-stacked—two on each of seven shelves. With a 10-foot ceiling height, the designer again chose not to bring the millwork all the way up but to keep it on par with the cutout over the fireplace.

“Here it’s important to point out that custom millwork does not have to be cost-prohibitive,” Meyer said. Though the bookcase was customized and looks expensive, it was actually purchased from an unfinished furniture vendor and then spray-painted.

Here’s tinting at you

Also in Georgetown, a late 20^th Century row house suffered many of the constraints and design gaps that accompany newer construction. With virtually no architectural details and a bland palette (think neutral walls, sisal rug and sofa), and boasting a large piano that anchored one side of a room, Meyer said the challenge was to create a balance that would offset the weight of the piano, add height and grandeur, and strategically brighten the room.

On the piano side, the designer created an entire wall of the homeowner’s extensive collection of colorful antique world maps, along with colorful chair fabric. On the opposite wall, millwork provided the balance in the form of a floor-to-ceiling neutral bookcase, but with a tinted interior.

“A lot of the decorative objects the homeowner—who traveled extensively—had to fill the bookcase were also neutral in color,” Meyer said, “and if you were to place them against a similar backdrop, they’d be completely lost.” She added it would all also feel a little more ordinary or average, so tinting the millwork makes it feel “more intentional – tying everything together.”

When she wants to dress the millwork, the designer said she looks for objects and books in her client’s possession, whether hard cover or paperback, and groups them by hue for concentrated punches of color and a more powerful statement. “They are fun accents that really warm up the (neutral) space.”

Catalysts and cornices

In a mid-20^th Century Georgetown row house, a galley kitchen with no table space was judiciously transformed by custom millwork, including bead board, into a space that accommodated two banquettes. Comfortably seating four, cabinets and drawers provide for aesthetics and ample storage. According to Meyer, nooks and other small spaces should not be deterrents but rather catalysts for creative millwork.

In the same residence, a living room space, “contemporary and cold” and devoid of character, was badly in need of promotion. A large floor-to-ceiling window reiterated the room’s stark, contemporary feel. “There were no arches, no molding detail anywhere,” Meyer recalled.

To create a warm space and traditionalize the environment, decorous carved millwork arches with glass shelves and storage underneath, and extensive pilaster detail, were incorporated. A wood cornice was conceived to conceal harsh drapery hardware, all of it creating dimension and interest in an otherwise pedestrian room. “Every piece of molding was added to the home. Nothing was original,” Meyer said of the finished design, which included hallway wainscoting.

“From a real estate perspective, it just goes to show you what can be changed. You can transform contemporary spaces into traditional; you can push traditional into contemporary based on the elements you choose. You can use millwork for storage or to shorten a long, narrow space but still maintain a sense of functionality,” Meyer affirmed. “It’s all in the details.”

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider


This exhaustively renovated Logan Circle townhome presents a staid, traditional facade but inside it's as modern as they come. It still boasts many original details – the hardwood floors, for instance, were wisely retained – but check out the translucent glass wall partitioning off the staircase. It's the perfect balance of class and innovation, taste and hipness. Like Kim Kardashian except, you know, the complete opposite.

The all-white living room (iRoom?) features recessed lighting, high ceilings, and a gas fireplace, which is great. Don't get me wrong, there are few things more pleasant than a crackling wood fire, but every time I blow my nose after sitting by one the tissue looks like a coal miner's handkerchief. Can't be good for you. Right off the very fine kitchen (and completely separate from the formal dining area), the light-filled greenhouse-like breakfast atrium is one of my favorite spaces I've ever seen; if I had a place like this I would totally do more than just choke down a bowl of half-cooked oatmeal while standing up every morning. There are three roomy bedrooms, two up and one on the lower level, which is also where the family/media room is. I don't know why it seems so right to have the media room in the basement, but it just does. Maybe it's because you can blast the surround sound even at 3am without fear of disturbing your neighbors, or possibly I'm so deeply ashamed of my “Law and Order” addiction that it's more comforting to watch it underground, where passersby can't glance in the window and see my utterly shocked expression at the third act plot twist. (How do I still never see it coming?)

There's also a large garage and a rear courtyard that's straight out of the English countryside and wonderfully private. Located in Logan Circle, which – fact! - is doubling in hipness every 24 hours. You know it's the truth because I stuck that “fact!” interjection in there.

1514 Kingman Place NW
3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths
$1,349,000

EastBanc Prepping for 2012 Start in West End

Hoping to begin construction by this time next year, the joint venture EastBanc-W.D.C. Partners LLC - led by EastBanc and joined by The Warrenton Group, Dantes Partners, and LS Caldwell & Associates - will seek Zoning Commission approval on December 19th for its West End development site.

Though hope springs eternal for the development team, Joe Sternlieb, head of real estate acquisitions at EastBanc, knows that the potentially elusive 2012 start date depends on how long it takes to trudge though and pocket approvals from D.C.'s various commissions and committees, in this case Zoning, the Commission of Fine Arts, and DDOT's public space committee, among others - yet, the team is making strides, and although the design seems to change daily at this point in the process, Sternlieb remains optimistic.

With the CFA process begun, and DDOT in the future, the focus now is on Zoning's approval of the Planned Unit Development for Square 37, one of two West End sites being developed in conjunction by EastBanc. The other, Square 50, will be matter of right. The Square 37 property - fronting L Street between 23rd and 24th Street, NW - consists of three lots now holding the West End Library, a Police Operations facility and a surface parking lot. The site needs to be rezoned as Commercial Residential (CR) in order for developers to construct a mixed-use, 11-story building designed by architect Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos that will house a new West End Library, 7,617 s.f. of additional retail space which includes a corner cafe, and approximately 180 residences.

Zoning Commission approval of the plan (the PUD) and rezone request should be the easy part. Capitalizing on the West End site was the goal of the District, which issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment (of both Square 37 and 50) in October of 2009. The city selected EastBanc in March of 2010; the winning developer beat out one other competitor thanks to asserting it would build both a new library and a new fire station without District subsidy. And in advance of EastBanc's PUD application filing, Victor Hoskins, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, sent the Commission a letter in support, highlighting that fact.

The entire project includes four District-owned sites at Square 37 and 50. The Square 50 portion (the other component not included in the Commission's review this month) includes the new West End fire station which will be topped with below-market rate residences, located at 2225 M Street, NW. Although both buildings at Square 37 and 50 are the vision of Enrique Norten, the project's architect of record is WDG Architecture.

District backing can only get the project so far, however. The development team will have to revisit the Commission of Fine Arts, after the CFA determined in its October 20th review that the library exterior needs a little "refinement," and suggested a "de–emphasis of supergraphics on the windows to support the clear architectural expression of the entrance."

The CFA also expressed concern about "building performance, such as the maintenance of the glass and metal skin of the building," and will have the chance to review another submission for the project in the near future. However, in a letter to Victor Hoskins, the "Commission commended the developer, DMPED, and the D.C. Public Library for their collaboration in supporting this distinctive design."

The entire Square 37 and 50 redevelopment project is part of Georgetown-based EastBanc's purported goal "to transform the once sleepy West End from a 'transitional zone' between Georgetown and Dupont Circle into a vibrant urban neighborhood with its own unique identity."

Washington D.C. real estate development news

New Design for Meridian Hill Baptist Church Residences

The contemporary design by Martinez + Johnson for the adaptive reuse of the Meridian Hill Baptist Church is no more, and stone will now replace glass due to an architectural re-skin requested by the Historic Preservation Review Board in September.

The 55-unit residential and historic preservation project is being developed through a partnership between the Church and developer Bozzuto. HPRB initially reviewed the project in July and the third review (of the new design seen here) will take place this month.

A light shade of stone is now being used (seen at top) to blend the front of the skinny side addition with the lighter limestone facade of the church, as opposed to the glass initially used to differentiate the addition (seen at left).

The new addition, an 8-story "L-shaped" residential building, will wrap around the back of the church and rise 80 feet, approximately 17 feet above the tip of the church's roof, in a shade of tan that is distinct from both the church and the facade of the side addition, but not dark enough to appear as a looming presence, as Bozzuto's Clark Wagner promised in advance of the development team's first trip to the HPRB.

This summer, Wagner expected the project to become a condominium with 55 to 60 units, all one- and two-bedrooms priced in the upper-$200,000 to low-$400,000 range, and up for sale next summer. The timeline is bound to be pushed back, however, with a trip to the Board of Zoning Adjustment necessary after HPRB approval.

The Meridian Hill Baptist Church at 3146 16th Street, NW, was one of a few structural victims of a five-alarm fire in March of 2008 that originated in the Deauville Apartments located across the church's back alley.

Redevelopment of the 14,700-s.f. property will include strict preservation of the Church's classical limestone edifice (constructed in 1927 by noted firm Porter & Lockie) - the desire to insert additional glass openings into the limestone facade was nixed by the HPRB in September.

Correction 12/2: New addition will be 80' tall (not 277')

Washington D.C. real estate development news

New Joint Venture Development Team for Braddock Gateway's Phase One

In a strategic move undisclosed early this

fall, Jaguar Development has sold Phase 1 of its Braddock Gateway development site in Alexandria, Va., to joint-venture partners Trammell Crow Company and Washington Real Estate Investment Trust. The land sale and development site closed on November 23rd, the partnership was announced by press release yesterday. The recently purchased one-acre development site of Phase 1, a 15-story, 270-unit apartment building, at 1219 First Street (First and Fayette Street), is only the first piece of a larger, 7-acre, five-phase Braddock development plan. 

The residential and retail building, designed by Rust | Orling Architecture, consists of a mix of studios, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom apartment units, and will vary in height from 50' to 150' - from 6 to 15 stories - with the tallest section being the central tower (the focus), which is flanked by "two lower shoulders," the eastern 6-story wing with pool deck, and the western 13-story wing. Phase 1 is now undergoing final site plan approval with the City of Alexandria, after preliminary site plan approval was given by the City this past September. After final approval, likely to come in the next half year, two years of construction will then begin in the fourth quarter 2012, developers expect. If all continues to go smoothly, the project - developed through TCC’s wholly-owned subsidiary High Street Residential - will deliver in 2016. 

Alexandria, Virginia real estate development news

A Place for Us

By Beth Herman

In a warm, welcoming Gaithersburg, Md. foyer, spirited prints by French Fauvist Raoul Dufy flank a stairway, a few feet away from an equally spirited drawing by the homeowner's child. With themes of sailboats, beaches and animals dominant both in Dufy's coveted portfolio and in the child’s unfiltered repertoire, at first glance distinguishing one from the other may be a challenge. But that’s precisely what Owner/ Principal Cindy Griffin of CMG Interiors had in mind when creating the livable, seamless, family-oriented space.

Having made interior design for growing, active families a special kind of niche, Griffin is an active mom herself whose website espouses the value of fruits and vegetables, snow, blowing leaves and beach sand in her life. Accordingly, she factors in ideas and objects from both her clients and their children when reimagining their residences.

“They have very busy lives running their households, their jobs, their kids’ lives, school, volunteer work—they may have little time to focus on updating or even initiating a room,” Griffin said of her clients, adding everyone, including kids, feels differently about a space.

Accordingly, the designer makes it a practice to ferret out existing items like art (children’s and other), keepsakes, travel mementos and additional elements the family has acquired and/or developed over time, often making them features or focal points of her renovations. What’s more, Griffin said “shifting, relocating, reusing and seeing things in a new light” is the key to an effective, family-friendly, transitional redesign of a space, as is an unhurried approach — or developing that space over a considerable period of time if appropriate. In a thought, families grow and change and so do spaces.

Keeping it close

In the Gaithersburg foyer, a late 1960s high gloss white metal hand rail is something many designers would have jettisoned, Griffin said. Electing to paint it a more classic dark bronze, the designer added an elegant old world-style chandelier, chest of drawers with a raw antique feel and rustic metal handles, lush, leafy plants and an organic color palette to a space that might have otherwise been overlooked. “We added photos of the children and left the wood stairs unpainted and without a rug,” Griffin said. The addition of the Dufy prints and parallel child’s artwork makes the space more of a vignette, she added.

In the family’s living room, Griffin used “layering” to enhance and organize the space. Relocating a piano and retaining the sofa, coffee table and rug, the designer created a concentrated seating area, dedicating the room’s perimeter to less utilitarian, less used and more decorative objects. “You need to have a cozy conversation group that’s easily reachable,” she said of the space’s center, framing and displaying more children’s artwork as a focal point. Because the living room is a northern exposure, Griffin used a golden color on the walls to warm it up, and made sure to include lighting in all four corners. “Lighting this way goes for any room to make it feel even,” she said.

In the designer’s own child’s room, also in Gaithersburg and created when he was 3 years old, cherished family pieces yielded a bright, personal, comfortable and comforting space. A handmade quilt from his grandmother that includes Depression-era fabrics, a lamp that was a wedding gift to his parents—replete with a hand stamped moose representing his favorite tome “If You Give a Moose a Muffin,” and an end table that was a second grade project containing artwork from the entire class punctuated and personalized the room. A mural of a large, lush, verdant tree, painted by Griffin herself, symbolizes the tree of life and its positive energy, and a framed self-portrait from kindergarten along with an image of the child with his grandfather in a homemade life-sized train created a very special environment.

Over time (Griffin’s son is now 15), and though he elected to preserve his mother’s cherished mural and a few other childhood elements, furnishings like a bean bag chair and objects like a world map, and brown and white artwork—which is paper he made from plants, glue and water— accommodated his maturing interests and studies (the paper won a blue ribbon at the Maryland County Fair).

“The room has grown with him,” said Griffin, though it continues to nurture, retains his true character and connects him to childhood and family.

“A lot of the clients I work with are every day families. It’s important to express their style, home and family through things they’ve inherited, bought themselves and brought together through their relationships. You want things to endure.”

District Releases Stevens School Development Solicitation

The District government has released a solicitation for developers to further develop the Stevens school, a historic landmark, in downtown DC / West End. The District is seeking developers to renovate and expand the historic school, built in 1868 to educate the children of freed slaves, making use of the adjacent empty lot. The DC government does not specify a use for the building, but does note that the ANC has expressed a strong statement of support for an educational institution - and the School Without Walls in particular - to take over the space in a manner "consistent with its African American heritage."

The Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School at 1050 21^st Street, NW, was closed by the Fenty administration during its school consolidation campaign, which issued a similar request for development proposals in late 2008, but later voided the winning bid. The District government selected apartment goliath Equity Residential as the winning bidder in 2009, but after 18 months of strong community opposition to its selection, the administration nixed the award and mothballed the building.

The school, "the first modern school in the District built for African-American students,” is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and even hosted First Child Amy Carter in the 1970's.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Mount Vernon Triangle's Critical Mass

Mount Vernon Triangle may soon be a bit crowded. The small neighborhood, tightly encircled by L'Enfant's avenues, has been struggling for years to develop a critical mass of development, a moment that may now be at hand.

If all the projects currently in the pipeline for the neighborhood are built, Mount Vernon Triangle will more than double its square footage of office space, add 1,570 apartments/condos and 380 hotel rooms, and increase retail offerings by 157,500 s.f. Despite its shortcomings - no Metro stop, convention center, or arena within its borders, it can claim close proximity to each, a fact that continues to fuel development.

Case in point: two new projects by The Wilkes Company and Quadrangle, with preliminary designs by Hartman-Cox, and targeting a 2012 start date for construction: 400 K (300,000 s.f. office space, 12,500 s.f. retail) and 300 K (500,000 s.f. office space, 25,000 s.f. retail - pictured at left). Both are part of the larger Mount Vernon Place development that started with a pair of condominiums. Two additional buildings by Wilkes and Quadrangle are also in the works for the area: 440 K (planned as a 234-unit apartment with ground-floor retail, but that could turn into office space) and 255 H Street, a 400-unit apartment building.

Numerous other large developers have projects on the boards - Steuart, MRP Realty, Bozzuto, The Donohoe Companies, Kettler, and Equity Residential - but few have pulled the trigger just yet, and Bill McLeod, executive director of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District said those who don't take action soon, "will end up missing out." McLeod, who has been with the MVTCID - created by Mayoral Order in 2004 - for the past five years, added that investors have been paying attention to the area of late.

Equity also hopes to start construction next year on the 170-unit apartment and historic restoration project "Eye Street Lofts", originally a vision of local Walnut Street Development that was iced in 2007. Equity - the largest publicly traded owner and operator of multifamily apartment complexes in the U.S. - bought the land fully entitled a few months ago. Equity will go before the Board of Zoning Adjustment on December 13th. With the area designated as a historic district in 2001, the project received HPRB approval in 2006 (as pictured below) to restore two circa 1880, 3-story townhomes, a 2-story garage/ warehouse, and a small former blacksmith shop in the alley. The building currently leased by BicycleSPACE will be razed.

Nearly a decade after Mount Vernon Triangle was first targeted for redevelopment by the Office of Planning and ten major property owners in the area in 2002, existing apartments are 96-percent leased, condos are sold out, 230,000 s.f. of office space is leased at 455 Massachusetts Avenue and, notes McLeod, only the top floor of the 392,000-s.f. office at 425 Eye Street needs a tenant.

The Meridian, at 425 L Street, a 390-unit apartment developed by Steuart Investments and Paradigm, is now under construction. The topping out of the 14th (and final) story occurred this past September, the project will begin leasing soon and should complete by next June. Phase II of the project will be a 300-unit apartment located next door at 400 New York Avenue.

Next in the queue in Mount Vernon Triangle is Kettler's $80 million, 13-story, 233-unit apartment with 7,000 s.f. of street level retail at 450 K Street (pictured right), under construction next spring and delivering in 2014.

Of great interest to those invested in the area is the timeline of the K Street Streetscape Improvement, the contract of which is currently being finalized by DDOT. The 18- month infrastructure project should be underway early next year, said McLeod, resulting in a mid-2013 completion date.

The long-anticipated $9m reconstruction of K Street between 7th Street and 3rd Street will bring new paving, sidewalks, streetlights, and plantings. Streetcars are also in K Street's future, though the District's focus is currently on funding other legs first, i.e. the H Street Corridor.

Driving much of the current wave of development regionally is the gradually opening financing spigot and Washington D.C.'s perch on the top of the national real estate market. But Mt. Vernon Triangle has something else more rare in downtown DC: empty space. The Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) notes that only about 5 million s.f. of unbuilt space remains available downtown, 2.5m of that at CityCenter and 2m of that above the Center Leg Freeway. That leaves the equivalent of only a few office buildings that could be built downtown before growth has to expand outward, and Mt. Vernon is the nearest spot.

Yet if all projects currently in the pipeline are realized, Mount Vernon Triangle will max out its 600-room hotel capacity, reach 93-percent of its residential capacity (4,250 units), 87-percent of its office space capacity (3 million s.f.), and 84-percent of its retail space capacity (335,000 s.f.). Of the 380 hotel rooms planned for the area, 350 of them are contained in what was once one of the most talked about projects for the triangle, "The Arts at 5th and I" a mixed-use development on the corner of 5th and Eye Street, still considered a "top tier" priority by Mayor Gray.

Donohoe and Holland Development won the right to develop the site in September of 2008, but couldn’t finance the project (pictured below) in the face of the recession. This fall, Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins visited the ANC with a scaled-back, 250,000-s.f. building with two side-by-side hotels, one a 150 room boutique hotel and the other a 200 room extended stay offering 350 rooms above 10,000 s.f. of street-level retail.

In April, it was announced that art in the form of the Liberty North Community Market would be coming soon to the site. The market arrived this fall, and with no plans to begin construction within the next year-and-a-half, the market's vendors have the 2012 growing season to get comfortable.

Donohoe has yet to visit the DC Council for approval its plan, which includes a 99-year ground lease from the District, something that may happen in the next "two to three months," said Jad Donohoe, after which 12 to 14 months will be taken to flesh out the design by Shalom Baranes, complete the construction documents, get permits, and secure financing.

Yet another project is less certain. It will require a 30,000-s.f. floorplate over I-395 between K and New York Avenue to build a 10-story, 1.7 million-square-foot Washington Global Trade Center with a sleek, open-clam-shell globe design (to the right), a development that has been proclaimed a long shot.

Washington D.C. real estate development news