Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

I liked this house so much it made me want to go to law school. After five minutes inside, I was like, "whatever it takes, I need to get my hands on a million and a half dollars, asap," and law school was the quickest way I could figure out to do that. I also considered drug dealing and bankrobbing, but I figured that with law school there's much less chance of me being shot in the face.

But man, this place. A beautiful semi-detached townhouse, it has four fully-furnished levels. Yeah, bummer, four levels is a lot of walking up and down, maybe too much. OH WAIT - it has an elevator!! The lower level family room is incredibly wide and spacious, and opens out onto the lush garden patio. There's a chef's kitchen with everything you need to make an incredible multicourse gourmet meal, which let's be honest you'll never do - but you could, technically. The master suite has a fireplace and is very masterful indeed, with a wonderful master bath (check out the tub) and a private balcony from which you can see Georgetown AND Rosslyn. I didn't even know that was possible. After that, and the elevator, I don't think anything would've surprised me about this house. "And here we have the zero gravity room, which is powered by elfin sorcery." I wouldn't even have blinked.

There's also a sauna and a wet bar (two things that were meant to be together) and a garage and driveway. The house also overlooks Book Hill Park, which is an immaculately landscaped picturesque and little-known park through which I walked after the open house. As I passed a mom and her two kids, I saw her give me a look like "what's this longhaired degenerate doing in my park?" and I started to tell her how I'd just decided to attend law school and become a respectable citizen and enrich myself while also enriching society, but by that time I'd already decided to just buy a Powerball ticket instead. America!

3242 Reservoir Road NW
3 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths
$1,645,000

Washington D.C. real estate news

Founders Square DARPA Building Complete, Residential Tower Next

The first stage of Ballston mixed-use mega-project Founders Square, a 13-story 350,000- square-foot office building at 675 North Randolph, is now complete, with the first (and only) tenant, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), now taking possession of the property. Developer The Shooshan Company now has a clear runway to break ground on the next phase of the five-building, 1.2 million-square-foot complex, the 17-story, 257-unit residential building at 4000 Wilson Boulevard.

“We’re in the very final stages of completion of 675 North Randolph, the new DARPA headquarters,” said Kevin Shooshan, Director of Leasing at the Shooshan Company. “It’s basically complete. [DARPA] is in the process of accepting the building, and transferring over floor by floor, a process which will go on the next few months, probably into the second quarter of 2012.”

DARPA, a secretive federal intelligence and research agency that, according to some reports, invented everything from the internet to GPS, was formerly headquartered down the road on Fairfax Drive in Virginia Square, and almost left the state on the recommendation of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005. But state representatives and two consecutive governors used a $10 million grant to convince the federal agency to stay in the area, pointing to the 800 jobs (including contractors) provided and $33 million dollars in city and state taxes paid by the agency each year. DARPA is paying $14.7 million a year on their lease.

The new DARPA headquarters, which is certified LEED Gold, is also the first office building in the area to meet the Department of Defense’s Level IV security standards, and will incorporate a secure parking facility and an 82-foot secured perimeter, and is a surrounded by a sizeable lawn that segregates it from the other buildings in Founders Square.

Now, says Shooshan, the focus moves to the residential building at 4000 Wilson Blvd. “Two hundred fifty seven units, seventeen stories, with construction set to begin in the first quarter of next year, and finishing in the first quarter of 2013,” says Shooshan. “The site plan has been approved for over a year now. Permits are lined up and we're going to pull them in a matter of weeks."

The 1.2 million square foot Founders Square project, designed by RTKL Associates, is also slated to include a 183-room Marriott Residence Inn at 650 North Quincy, and a 420,000-square-foot office building at 4040 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, Virginia real estate development news

Today in Pictures - NoMa

With numerous projects planned and under construction, Noma's face is changing more quickly than any area of Washington D.C.

Archstone's First & M residential project

NPR Headquarters at North Capitol and L Streets

NPR Headquarters

NPR Headquarters

Washington D.C. real estate development news

A Modest Icon Returns to D.C., The Washington Globe Streetlight

Iconic street light design has long been part of A-list cities like New York, Boston and Paris. Paris, mais bien sur, naturally, is nicknamed, "The City of Light." And in the United States, New York indeed, might just be the streetlight capital, where there are more than 34 models, most with intricate ironwork, with names like "The Corvington" and the delightfully-named 24A-W "Bishop's Crook." The street light design, not surprisingly, has added to Gotham's mystique and sense of place.

Not surprisingly, there are even Web sites devoted to preserving New York's streetlight heritage.

The Big Apple actually held a design contest in 2004 to standardize and unify the more than 300,000 streetlights in the city, mainly with an aim to ending the tyranny of the banal 1960's era "form-follows-function" cobra head light.

The cobra head light, otherwise known as a Westinghouse OV25 Silverliner, first designed in 1957, is still a staple in many cities, especially Washington D.C. For many years, streetlight design in a "no-frills" government town like Washington meant cobra heads rearing up everywhere.

Oddly enough, they fit well amid the acres of Brutalist concrete of the 1960s and 1970s as the federal government needed to expand its bureaucracy quickly. And as confidence in city management waned in the Marion Barry years, more concern was understandably paid to getting burnt-out streetlights replaced quickly rather than what they looked like.

That's not to say Washington didn't have its own iconic design. The Washington Globe and its bigger brother, the "Twin-20" was, and still is a recognizable staple along Constitution Avenue, New York Avenue and other historic routes. "The Washington Globe is the most pleasing design, architecturally," the city's Fine Arts Commission declared in 1980.

But decades of neglect and disrepair took its toll on a Washington icon. Part of which was due to cost of the globes. A glass globe was the hardiest design, and didn't yellow when exposed to sunlight, but cost more than $300 each and were a danger to cars and pedestrians alike if the heavy, inch-thick glass shattered. The District sent its inventory of glass globes to a dumpster more than 20 years ago.

Replacements for the glass were far from perfect. Polycarbonate globes were tougher, could be bought for less, but yellowed when exposed to sunlight and the lights lost their luminosity. They only last about 5-10 years to boot. Acrylic globes didn't yellow, lasted longer, about 10-15 years, but they weren't cheap either, about $125 a globe.

Indifferent administrations, and the District's subordinate relationship to the federal government also contributed to the lack of appreciation of such uniqueness. During the energy crisis of the 1970s, the Carter administration urged electricity savings. At the White House's prompting, many federal agencies in town disconnected street lighting and eschewed illuminating government buildings, save the Capitol, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, and the Washington Monument.

The issue of streetlights in the District played a role in one of the more tragic, and galling incidents in the city. According to the DC Inspector General's report on the death of former New York Times editor David Rosenbaum in January 2006, inadequate street lighting along Granmercy Street was a contributing factor in both his attack and the inability of responding police, firefighters and EMTs in determining the seriousness of Rosenbaum's condition, who was presumed to be drunk, rather than a victim of a robbery with a serious head injury which proved fatal.

While treating Rosenbaum, firefighters needed to turn on side floodlights of their engine to illuminate the scene, the inspector general's report said. "The area was dark, even with the fire (engine)'s lights on," the report said.

Even before Rosenbaum's death, attention had begun to focus on the dismal state of DC's 62,000-plus streetlights and their design. In 1998, the city adopted streetscape and sidewalk standards for downtown DC. Streetscape standards required that builders of commercial properties, among other things, incorporate Washington Globe streetlight design.

And in 2005, the city followed New York's lead and initiated its own streetlight design committee which identified so-called "Special Streets" and "Historic Streets" to upgrade streetlight design as funds permitted. "The historic significance of the City must be reflected through all aesthetic elements including the appearance of streetlights," the committee declared in March 2005 in its final report.

Still, city administrators will freely admit that not every "Special" or "Historic" street will get the upgraded lighting, given other more pressing budget priorities amid an economic downturn. Teardrop lights cost as much as $600, compared to $200 for a cobra head light. But DC recently used Recovery Act funding to replace outdated streetlights along the Dalecarlia Parkway in Northwest. The Dalecarlia Parkway is one of 120 "Special Street" corridors the city has identified for upgraded lighting, including Wisconsin and Connecticut Avenues, MacArthur Boulevard, and the roads making up DC's borders with Montgomery County and Prince Georges County.

But where the city is lacking funds, some of the Business Improvement Districts are stepping up. The Downtown DC BID has also used its funds to pay for new pendant lights, such as the one above seen at 12th and F NW downtown, as well as Washington Globe lights around Gallery Place. In addition, the National Park Service included new "Twin 20" lighting as part of their $10 million remake of Constitution Avenue to be completed in March.

Former Mayor Adrian Fenty also made it a priority for a portion of DC's new streetlights to be green, as well as iconic. The District uses 60.7 million kWh annually and has a lighting bill of about $3.6 million, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The new Metropolitan Branch Trail along the CSX-right-of-way includes nineteen solar-powered LED streetlights. The District is also using $1 million in Recovery Act money for new LED lights in alleys.

Washington D.C. redevelopment news.

Archstone's "First + M" Apartments Doubles NoMa Housing Stock

Walk by Archstone's First + M apartments in NoMa at night, and you’d be forgiven for thinking they’re done and ready for move-in. While the building is still surrounded by some scaffolding and a few traffic barriers, the sleek mixed-use complex, with its distinctive wavy concrete panels and vaguely fortress-like glass towers, looks very much like a present ready to be unwrapped. “Construction is on or slightly ahead of schedule,” says Peter Jakel, Communications Director at Archstone. "We're currently on schedule for preleasing in March, for first move-ins in May."

Next up? An adjacent 435-unit building, tentatively titled “First + M II,” at 35 M Street NE.

First + M (the first), which was designed by Davis Carter Scott and broke ground in June of 2010, features 469 units – 192 one bedrooms, 206 two bedrooms, and 71 three bedrooms – as well as 2500 square feet of ground floor retail. The finished building will also offer tenants a long list of amenities, including a communal chef's kitchen that opens onto an outdoor dining area, a 5000-square-foot 24-hour gym, a massive green courtyard, a “Rooftop Resort” that features a heated lap pool and sun deck, an internet cafe, a theater, two soundproof music studios, a bike workshop, and, yes – a pet spa. This list, along with the overall dearth of housing in NoMa – the 496 units in First + M will boost NoMa's housing stock by a full 50% - should ensure the project's rapid success.

This is just the latest development in NoMa's swift rise from federal office hinterland to arguably the District's buzziest real estate hotspot. Even today, walking north from Union Station or east from Shaw and into the heart of NoMa is a bit like stumbling across a stand of sunflowers in the middle of a desert. Wasn't this a parking lot just last month?

According to the NoMa BID, the neighborhood's resident population is expected to double in the next two to three years, and projects in the planning stages – a total of 9 million square feet of office space, 860,000 square feet of retail space, and another 6500 residential units - will more than double NoMa's available square footage.

Doug Carter, founding principal at Davis Carter Scott, has been

quoted in these pages as saying he wanted the First + M building to be “a little more forward looking,” and it is. Emphasis on “a little.” Standing at the intersection of First and M Streets, one might experience a temporary wave of vertigo, so identical are the recently-completed buildings and the almost-completed First + M project. Conventional mixed-use structures – ground-floor retail, underground parking, residential units up top – are no doubt efficient, and good for the community, but NoMa might be approaching the “too much of a good thing” saturation point. The blossoming of NoMa is a very good thing for the District, and a checkerboard neighborhood of monolithic glass towers is, without question, preferable to a desolate expanse of surface parking lots and abandoned warehouses – but then, these aren’t the only two choices, are they? Building a neighborhood essentially from scratch is a rare and precious opportunity. Why recreate Ballston?

Washington, D.C. real estate development news

DDOT Planning 14th Street Facelift

Washington D.C.'s fast-growing 14th Street corridor between Thomas Circle and Florida Avenue may finally get some much-deserved street-scaping improvements soon, says John Lisle of the District Department of Transportation.

Plans that have been in the works since 2009 may get accelerated after DDOT commences on a similar street-scaping project for U Street later this year, Lisle told DCMud. The 14th Street design, which wrapped up last April at a cost of $450,000, includes iconic "twin-20" Washington Globe lighting along pedestrian walkways and "teardrop" pendant lighting for street illumination.

Included will be dedicated bike lines and pedestrian "bulb-outs" for safety. At key intersections, such as Rhode Island Avenue, Florida Avenue and U Street, crosswalks and sidewalks will get special iconic identification. Cracked cement sidewalks will give way to London pavers, similar to those required in the Downtown DC Business Improvement District. New street furniture such as garbage bins, tree boxes and bike racks are also in the works for the 14th Street upgrade.

Already, parts of 14th Street in the downtown area have gotten similar treatment. The District was able to use $3.6 million in federal Recovery Act funds in 2009 and 2010 for improved street lighting and sidewalks for a stretch of 14th Street between K Street and Thomas Circle, which got its own facelift. A stretch of 11th Street between Massachusetts and O got its own similar upgrade in 2009.

Lisle says that the city has focused on completing its "Great Streets" programs first before tackling major upgrades of other corridors. The "Great Streets" program, started in 2005 by then Mayor Anthony Williams, is working in conjunction with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to jump-start retail and development on long-dormant corridors that have historically been gateways to the city, such as H Street, Pennsylvania Avenue and Georgia Avenue.

The H Street "Great Streets" corridor has just completed, and includes tracks for the District's trolley car plans, while the $3.6 million Georgia Avenue "Great Streets" project is also nearing completion. Pennsylvania Avenue's Great Streets construction, running from 27th Street to Southern Ave, will finish next month at a cost of more than $25 million in federal Recovery Act money. The District has also used $4.5 million in federal funds to rehab stretches of 17th Street, NW with similar lighting upgrades and street furniture, as well as a project on 18th Street in Adams Morgan to improve lighting and pedestrian access, scheduled for completion in May.

The 14th Street Logan Circle corridor has been ground zero for the District's inner core revitalization. Whole Foods, between 14th Street and 15th Street on P Street, which opened in 2000, now anchors the corridor.
Washington D.C. real estate development news

Today in Pictures - Progression Place

Progression Place - one of Shaw's most notable development projects, is set for occupancy later this year. Developers began work in 2010 on the 320,000 square foot, $150 million development, with 100,000 s.f. of office space, a 205-unit residential apartment building, and 20,000 square feet of street-level retail. The project was designed by architects Eric Colbert & Associates and Devrouax + Purnell, and built by Davis Construction.

Ellis Development, The Jarvis Company, and Four Points combined forces to build the project above the Shaw Metro station. The United Negro College Fund has purchased a stake in the building to be the main office resident.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

EYA Opens New Home Community in Fairfax, VA: Townhomes at Mosaic District

Sponsored Announcement

Built to LEED-ND and LEED for Homes

Fairfax, VA– Next Saturday January 14, Washington-area building leader EYA will celebrate the grand opening of its 17th new home community in Northern Virginia at Townhomes at Mosaic District.

Mosaic District is a 31-acre mixed-use urban renewal project at the site of the former Merrifield Multiplex Cinema at Gallows Road and Lee Highway in Fairfax. Lead developer, Edens, has attracted Washington’s most iconic boutique retailers to anchor the neighborhood: Cava, Matchbox, Black Restaurant Group, Taylor Gourmet, MOM’s Organic Market, Angelika Film Center & Café, Neiman Marcus Studio, Dawn Price Baby, Lou Lou and more. Shops already open on site include Panera Bread, Chipotle, Four Sisters Vietnamese and Sea Pearl Restaurant.

The project will bring smart city living to Fairfax with exciting, quality shops and restaurants in a walkable, urban environment. A Metro shuttle will operate onsite from Mosaic District to
the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station on the Orange line. The first shops are expected to open in October 2012. Alongside the 500,000 square feet of new retail, EYA will build 112 new townhomes in an urban architectural style to complement the neighborhood’s city-like setting. Brick exteriors will be accented by contemporary iron railing and Juliet balconies. Inside, the homes will be built to the nation’s most comprehensive green building program – LEED for Homes. ENERGY STAR features also contribute to energy savings and a more comfortable indoor environment for homeowners. New home buyers at Mosaic District will enjoy features like rooftop terraces, garage parking, and gourmet kitchens with stainless steel appliances. Home prices start at $577,400.

Townhomes at Mosaic District Grand Opening
Saturday, January 14, 2012
2951 Eskridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22031
(703) 385-4647
www.EYA.com

About: EYA is a smart growth developer, specializing in walkable new townhome communities and mixed-use developments. Since its founding in 1992, the company has built over 30 neighborhoods in the Washington Metropolitan area. EYA is currently selling three new home communities: Capitol Quarter and Chancellor’s Row in Washington, DC and Old Town Commons in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. For more information on the company or its neighborhoods, visit http://www.eya.com/.

Clear Sailing for Southwest Waterfront Development

The Congressional Budget Office weighed in just before the holidays with a strong endorsement of the proposed rezoning of the Southwest Waterfront, further bolstering H.R. 2297’s already favorable chances of passing into law when the Senate reconvenes next session.

If (when) passed, the bill would bring the District one step closer to a dramatic revitalization of the largely moribund Southwest waterfront, bringing it in line with the rapidly-developing Southeast waterfront, and creating what planners hope will eventually coalesce into a “second downtown.”

The bill, introduced by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, has already passed the House and gone through Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee markup, and clarifies the vague and somewhat archaic restrictions governing the waterfront. The District has always technically owned the land, but was barred from selling it, which for all intents and purposes made commercial development impossible. The recent CBO report found that empowering development in the area would have no adverse effects on the federal government, thus clearing the way for the 2.5 million-square-foot blockbuster PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette hotel-office-retail-pedestrian mall project.

The Hoffman-Madison First Stage PUD, as reported on this site, breezed through its NCPC hearing back in October. Bob Rubenkonig, a Hoffman-Madison representative, said Hoffman-Madison is busily preparing for 2012 public meetings, with the Second Stage PUD forthcoming very soon - hopefully in February, according to Hoffman VP Shawn Seaman.

The $2 billion, 2.5 million-square-foot project, dubbed “The Wharf,” takes its cues from Baltimore and Seattle's waterfront promenades, and will feature around 1200 residential units, almost 400,000 s.f. of office space, and 200,000 s.f. of retail space. Over half the site will be public space, much of that a pedestrian-friendly, privately-held waterfront avenue, “Wharf Street,” which will replace Water Street, will feature walking lanes, bike paths, and a streetcar. Development plans also call for a four thousand seat theater, a maritime history museum, and three hotels – a four-star, 268-room hotel from Carr Hospitality and InterContinental Hotels Group, and two others from the JBG Companies.

Developers have also agreed to a community benefits package that will set aside 30 percent of the first 500 units of housing - half earmarked for households making less than 60% AMI, and half earmarked for households making less than 30% AMI. Beyond the 500-unit mark, 20% will be reserved for "workforce housing," i.e. police, firefighters, teachers making 80 - 100% AMI. This unusual formula is the result of the Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment Clarification Act of 2010, which exempts a portion of the development from the District's affordable housing requirements. Furthermore, a quarter of the retail space will go to local businesses, and a third of everything sold in the retail spaces will come from local merchants. Design is being spearheaded by Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, while construction is being handled by PN Hoffman and Clark Construction.

Washington D.C. real estate development news