North Bethesda Square's First Building Tops Out

The nearly $900m North Bethesda Town Center project saw its first building topped out this week as the Wentworth House, an 18-story, 312-unit apartment building, reached its full height last week. The apartment building will house a swimming pool deck above the 18-story-wing and a “sunset” terrace above the 15-story wing, green roof, and 65,000 s.f. Harris Teeter for the "Whole Foods effect" on the neighborhood. Construction on the building began in June 2006, completion on both the supermarket and apartment is scheduled for July of next year.

LCOR, a large east coast development team headquartered in Pennsylvania, was chosen by WMATA as the master developer for the 32-acre North Bethesda Town Center Project, developing a master plan that includes approximately 930,000 s.f. of office space, 1,275 residential units, a 320-room full-service hotel, and 202,000 square feet of retail space at the White Flint Metro station. LCOR anticipates this project will generate 5,400 new jobs and almost 6,500 additional daily Metro trips, citing it as "the largest joint development project ever approved by WMATA." The project received a "Smart Growth" award from the D.C. chapter of the Urban Land Institute and The Smart Growth Alliance.

The Wentworth House was designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue Architects (DHPY), with offices in DC, Cleveland and Fort Lauderdale. DHPY is also designing the Midtown Bethesda North condo project by Kettler.

Midtown Bethesda North Condos

Midtown Bethesda North , a 20-story building with 250 condos, started real estate sales in the mid $300k's, 2 beds from the low $500k's to $1m, prices that were later lowered. Condos at Midtown occupy the 6th to the 19th floor; the first 5 floors contain the parking garage in an architecturally layered building to distinguish the non-residential component. Two blocks - about a 10-12 minute walk - from the Twinbrook Metro at the corner of Bou and Chapman. Occupancy of the building began in April, 2007. Features include Hansgrohe fixtures, a 24-hour front desk, "concierge" service, gas stoves and on-site hotel suites for visitors. Developed by Kettler, which built a number of similar projects in the DC suburbs (all ironically called Midtown), designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue Architects (DHPY), interior design consulting by WDG Architecture. Bovis Lend Lease was the contractor for 450,000 s.f. project. Midtown Bethesda North is located between Twinbrook and White Flint, surrounded by strip malls and at least some promised development, but for now remains the only high-rise in the immediate area in a sea of surface parking lots just off the Pike; a neighborhood not made to travel by foot but slow to get around by car.

Washington DC metro real estate news

Ripley District Inching Towards Reality

The first domino in Silver Spring's bid to create its' own boutique neighborhood - the so-called Ripley District - is finally falling into place. Formerly home to a derelict strip of parking garages and auto body shops, demolition has begun to make way for the Lessard Group-designed 1050 Ripley Street high-rise. Concepts for the mixed-use, 17-story tower have been bandied since 2006, but the developer behind the project, Washington Planning Company, is now shooting to break ground this coming fall (although a BID for contractors has yet to be issued). The project is currently slated for a late 2010 delivery.

The Ripley District is defined as the triangular parcel of downtown Silver Spring between Bonifant Street, Georgia Avenue and the B & O Railroad. 1050 Ripley marks the first major construction project within the district’s borders since 1993 and is to be the centerpiece of the forthcoming district. A Washington Planning Company press release illuminated some previously unknown but anticipated details about the 306,114 square foot apartment and retail center, including the inclusion of “a state-of-the-art fitness center and pool, a stadium-style movie room, billiards lounge, rooftop terrace, as well as an underground parking garage.”

While 1050 Ripley is certainly biggest thing headed to the neighborhood-in-training, it is by no means the only development underway to invigorate the area. According to the Silver Spring Central Business District Sector Plan released earlier this year, key touchstones of the Ripley District also include the Paul S. Sarbanes Transit Center and Metropolitan Branch Trail, which will begin in a new Ripley District plaza and run for 8 miles before ending at Union Station.

The plans on hand also call for the addition of more pedestrian and vehicular access to the Metro and the extension and/or widening of several thoroughfares, including Dixon Avenue and Ripley Street itself. Virginia developer Kettler had shuttered their own proposal for another high-rise residential and retail facility on Ripley Street. That project - the Midtown Silver Spring - has not gone forward, despite receiving preliminary approval.

For some, the slow gestation of the Ripley District is taking too much time. Pyramid Atlantic, a local print artisan, recently moved their storefront from the Ripley area to more high-visibility space on Wayne Avenue. It remains to be seen whether rebranding a once unappealing area – ala “North Bethesda” (Rockville) and the "Atlas District” (H Street NE) - will sink or swim as a marketing strategy for Silver Spring’s next emerging neighborhood.

Midtown Silver Spring Bides its Time

The long-delayed Midtown Silver Spring is again moving forward, at least in its planning, this time with Home Properties, following an early 2008 sale by the original developers, Kettler. Despite the change of hands, Home Properties is still pursuing the same WDG design for 1009 Ripley Street – one that aims to deliver two towers worth of residential and retail to the Silver Spring Central Business District. Don Hogue of Home Properties tells DCmud that though the project was fully approved by the Montgomery County Planning Board, they’re biding their time until they get it just right.

"We have final site plan approval, but we have to take it all the way through construction drawings," said Hogue. "One of the things that the Planning Board commented to us was that maybe we had a little bit too much parking. It was designed as a condominium [project], so we may be altering that…but we’re still in the very early stages.”

The original WDG plans for the Midtown – which Home will rebrand with a new title once the project moves forward – call for 314 apartments in dual, 19-story luxury high-rises and 5,380 square feet of retail space. Hogue projects that once construction begins it will be the second such project on the block, as the Washington Property Company is currently soliciting general contractors for their Ripley residential development across the street. As such, a start date for the Midtown currently remains up in the air.

“We hope to start the remainder of the architectural work this year. The goal would be to get the project ready to start when we think market conditions are right, but we’re not exactly sure when that’s going to be,” said Hogue. Nor does anyone else.

Douglas' 450 K Street in Final Design Phase for January Groundbreaking

On March 24, the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) gave the go-ahead (with a few reservations) to Douglas Development's plans to build out 450 K Street N.W., a 13 story, 250 unit development in Mount Vernon Triangle. The finished project will be managed by Kettler.

R2L Architects Principal Tom Lenar said designs for the facade are being finalized to address HPRB concerns over a west end wall that is not as deep as the modestly sized adjoining buildings.

The HPRB report advised that "while this is not problematic in itself, it does suggest that that west wall need not be 'sculpted' and complicated by the division of the three window bays into separate columns at different planes...a more straightforward approach, as on the east end, would be better."

The organization also requested recessed, more traditional balconies as opposed to steel suspended ones which HPRB deemed "out of character with a historic district," though Mt. Vernon Triangle has far more numerous parking lots and newer towers than historic properties. Lenar said he expected the design changes will be reviewed by HPRB by the end of the month.

Other design features embraced by HPRB are the 5,000 s.f. of ground floor retail and the "modified C plan" which allows for outdoor space and more sunlight into the building. Amenities include a cyber cafe, fitness center, roof deck, and pool. Lenar said the developers are hoping for a January 2012 groundbreaking for a project that's projected to span 18 to 20 months.

Washington, D.C. real estate development news

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: Silver Spring’s 1050 Ripley Street Project Gets Go-Ahead

Last week, the Montgomery County Planning Board gave its approval to 1050 Ripley Street, a new mixed-use Silver Spring project planned by Bethesda-based developer Washington Property Company for the warehouse-heavy 1.16-acre plot of land south of Ripley Street (and the Silver Spring Metro), east of the CSX/Metro rail lines (and future Metropolitan Branch Trial) and west of Colonial Lane. The 1050 Ripley Street project will be a 17-story building containing 305 rental apartments (46 will be moderately priced dwelling units, or MPDUs), plus over 3,000 sf of ground-floor retail. There will also be 328 underground parking spaces. Architect will be the Weihe Design Group (WDG Architecture). In addition, the developer has proposed building a new road connecting Ripley Street and Bonifant Street to the north, and a plaza/rest area alongside the planned Metropolitan Branch Trial. There will also be room allotted alongside the track/path for the planned Purple Line light rail system. The 1050 Ripley Street project might be eventual neighbors with Kettler's Midtown Silver Spring hi-rise residential project, slated for the 70,000-sf parcel of land on the north side of Ripley Street between Georgia Avenue and the railroad tracks, which (if built) will feature 317 residential units (42 MPDUs), 6,000 sf of ground floor retail/office, 480 parking spaces, and a 19th-floor swimming pool deck.

Starburst Delta Towers

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

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

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

Project:  Delta Towers

Address:  808 Bladensburg Rd, NE, Washington DC

Developer:  Dantes Partners, Gilbane Building Company

Architect:  KGD Architecture

Construction:  Bozzuto Construction

Interior Design: Determined by Design

Use:  179 subsidized apartments

Expected Completion:  Q4 2020

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news