Tuesday, June 21, 2011
From Native Dancer to Native Son: Restoring Sagamore Farm
Monday, September 14, 2009
Arlington and Alexandria Hope to Lure Developers for Restored Waterfront Property
In March of 2006, the cities of Alexandria and Arlington drafted a plan to revive the once thriving environment along the channel bed without sacrificing flood control. Enter the Four Mile Run Restoration Plan and the Four Mile Run Design Guidelines—an overview of improvements planned along the stream and a guide for developers hoping to take advantage of what the cities of Alexandria and Arlington hope will become a bustling gateway between the municipalities over the next 10 to 15 years. Another plus for developers: the guidelines do not set new ordinances or even make hard and fast development rules for that matter.
Public hearings and planning meetings to discuss additions and finalize the Four Mile Run Design Guidelines are scheduled for the 14th and 26th of this month.
Monday, March 30, 2009
McMansion Watch: Chevy Chase
Properties 1 & 2: 3823 Bradley Lane
Two single family homes will soon be situated on these dual 17,000 square foot development lots, which formerly hosted the now-demolished Nigerian ambassador's residence.
Developer: Sandy Spring Classic Homes
Architect: GTM Architects
Builder: Sandy Spring Builders, LLC
3810 Club Drive
Formerly home to a split-level rambler that has increasingly become the target of developers, this parcel has been reborn as a goldenrod...chateau? Or English manor, we're not sure.
Developer: Mitchell & Company
Architect: Mitchell & Company
Builder: Mitchell & Company
Wrapping up construction next month, this garage-centric home sits on a 7,000 foot lot a block over from Chevy Chase's only (and tre exclusive) shopping center on Brookville Road. The convenience will only run you $2,199,000.
Developer: McNamara Bros., Inc.
Architect: Studio Z Design Concepts
Builder: McNamara Bros., Inc.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Barracks and Castles and Gardens
Labels: Capitol Riverfront, HPRB, ICP Partners, Madison Marquette
While these may represent ordinary changes in Barracks Row, it's the beginning of a series that will include the transition of behemoth The Blue Castle - formally known as the Navy Yard Car Barn - a 99,000 s.f. space that its developers intend to eventually turn over to retail.
This significance of the change on the street is not taken lightly. Even The New York Times had taken notice last month.
The building, purchased for $25 million by Madison Marquette in 2007, now 100% leased, currently houses social service providers and charter schools. "We don't want word to get out there that we're changing something soon because we don't want to scare the tenants," said Retail Director Christina Davies of the Madison Marquette retail group. "They're great tenants."
And yet retail for the neighborhood has always been in the plans. The Blue Castle allows for a massive influx of retail to the area without having to build new construction. In its former life, the building was built in 1891 as the repair center for trolleys and street cars.
What is Madison Marquette waiting for? "The right tenant," said Davies. In the meantime, superstores and smaller businesses are actively courting the developers, they say. "We have the option for both," said Davies. "We can lease to a series of restaurants and banks, for example, or a big box client. We just haven't decided yet."
Davies cites high ceilings as a draw for superstore retailers or, say, a gym. But folks from the Barracks Row Main Street would prefer "vibrant ground level tenants," said Martin Smith, Executive Director for the organization. "We would like to see retail that engages with passers-by," he said. "That traditionally does not include big box stores. There are two levels to the building, however, which may be a terrific place for a big box tenant." Columbia Heights' DCUSA serves as an example, with smaller retail at street level, with Best Buy and Target on upper levels.
Earlier this year, Madison Marquette, ICP Partners LLC, Barracks Row Main Street and Capitol Riverfront District discussed possibilities in zoning changes for various projects. While all storefronts facing historic 8th Street SE will remain at 45 feet in accordance with the zoning overlay, Smith noted the possibility of back-end building expansions of 65 to 85 feet in height on a per project basis, amendments that would allow for bigger clients.
Also in discussion is a second restriction in the overlay of Barracks Row which requires that no more than 50% of available street frontage is allowed to have a liquor license. "This may not be a problem now, but it could be as we move forward," said Smith.
Washington, D.C. Real Estate development news
Monday, July 26, 2010
La Vida VIDA: New Affordable Senior Housing in Brightwood
Formerly known as Educational Organization for United Latin Americans, the newly renamed 501(c)(3) that serves over 600 DC-area seniors annually is getting ready to add another 36 units to its stock. Located on Missouri Avenue on a now vacant lot, VIDA will build affordable senior housing in Ward 4, where the largest concentration of the District's seniors live. This is the first time VIDA is developing housing, with financing that got creative. The development team - comprised of VIDA Senior Centers, Dantes Partners as the Development Consultant, Zavos Architecture and Design, NDC Real Estate for property management, and Hamel Builders as General Contractor - used a multilayer financing approach. Tapping into federal stimulus programs (Section 1602 Tax Credit Exchange), Neighborhood Investment Funds (NIF), private bank debt and an Enterprise Green Communities grant, the development secured financing for an area that has seen little new residential development since the financing bust several years ago. "We were fortunate to have been selected as an innovative project that served a unique need. We were lucky enough to have partners who believed in our vision," said Jordan Bishop of Dantes Partners.
With four stories of new affordable and accessible rental units, the five-story independent-living senior center will provide services that include meals, music, presentations, dancing, minor checkups, medication management, "spiritual activities," and private van transportation, and of course bingo and chess. The project is being billed as "transit-oriented development," despite the lack of a nearby Metro station, which makes it easier to get the zoning variance of 4 parking spots rather than the required 6.
Zavos Architecture and Design, a firm with experience in non-profit, affordable and sustainable community-oriented development, designed into the project a number of "quality of life improving" and energy reducing features. Those include a vegetated roof with walk-on terrace space to manage storm water, reduce heating and cooling loads on the building and provide outdoor green space for residents; permeable parking and other drive areas to allow storm water to filter naturally into the ground and reallocate infrastructural funds to services; high-emissive roofing rather than traditional EPDM to deflect the sun's heat and reduce associated cooling costs; privately metered electricity and hot water to encourage reduced consumption (for a generation always yelling at you to wear a sweater and turn down the heat, that shouldn't be an issue); improved indoor air quality through the installation of non-toxic and non-allergenic flooring; and the maximization of daylight in all units to minimize the use of artificial lighting and improve indoor environmental quality.
"I am most proud of having been able to fit so many services in such a small building. Envisioning people spending the latter part of their lives in this building is something we took seriously. We have designed a quality place for them," remarked Tim Daniel, the project architect for the VIDA-developed housing.
While the elderly account for 12% of the District’s population, retirement age individuals make up over 18% of the population of Ward 4. VIDA has traditionally served the District’s Latino senior citizens, but it is expanding its target demographic to meet growing needs in other populations, specifically identifying African-Americans and immigrants of Caribbean and Brazilian backgrounds, among others.
"The initial goal was always to provide high quality senior housing at affordable rental rates (50% AMI - Area Median Income) and to combine this with space on the ground floor to provide services specifically targeted to seniors. With the recent closing and groundbreaking, we are well on track to achieving these desirable goals," said Jordan Bishop of Dantes Partners. The groundbreaking will take place at 10:30am.
Washington DC real estate development news
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Eisenhower Memorial Metal Tapestries on Display
Labels: Eisenhower Memorial, Frank Gehry, national mall, National Park Service, NCPC, Southwest
The samples were on display at the site last week, and will return at the site - on Independence Avenue between 4th and 6th Streets, SW - next week, remaining up from the 12th to the 16th, during which time the Commission of Fine Arts will scrutinize the materials in question.
The Eisenhower Memorial Commission will meet with the National Capital Planning Commission for an informal design review on October 6th in advance of seeking preliminary design approval - from the NCPC - on December 1st.
Target date for delivery of the Eisenhower memorial is Memorial Day 2015.
Washington D.C. real estate development news
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Half Street Digs Itself Out of a Hole
Labels: Ballpark, Camden USA, Half Street, Monument Realty, Southeast
But after 18 months without activity, construction is now underway on the site. Workers now seem to be assembling a subterranean parking garage at Half and N Streets SE - presumably a component of the hotel and 340-unit residential buildings planned for the site. And while the developer will not be able to hit their original target of a 2009 completion date, it does seem that rumors of the project's death have been greatly exaggerated.
"Monument is pursuing financing for the residential projects at the corner of N and Half Streets, SE. Clearly the changes in the market have made that task more difficult, but we have not made any plans to refill the excavated hole," says Monument Executive Vice President Russel Hines. "In addition to the office building [55 M Street SE], which will finish up in January, we are also building a portion of the garage that extends under the residential buildings – so, yes, there is some construction underway at this time."
In a related item, some portions of the Half Street project could be getting a new address, if a measure before the DC City Council goes through. According to the Washington Examiner, a vote next week will determine if a three-block portion of South Capitol Street (that also happens to border locale célèbre, Nationals Ballpark) will be renamed “Taxation without Representation Street.” Among those most directly affected by the switch would be Camden USA – which just happens to have a $105 million mixed-use project in the planning stages that fronts the avenue in question. We can see the signs now: Taxation without Representation Street Lofts now available! Have fun with that one, marketeers.
Washington DC commercial real estate news
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Allegro says: Arrivaderci Condos
Labels: Columbia Heights, Harkins Builders, Metro Properties
According to Jeremy Rubenstein, CEO of Metro Properties, the firm had finished their sales for the initial phase back in July, "right before the worst part of the instability of the housing market hit." MP had planned to resume condo sales this spring. "It actually has been an enormously successful condo sales program," Rubenstein said, adding "we reasonably suspected it would continue to be successful, but we looked at the risk in the financial environment and the uncertainty that many of our purchasers faced if sales did not meet our hopes and expectations. The rental market is tremendous in that location, and we decided it was the best choice for the area...we had been mulling it over for the past couple months. We're tremendously excited about this. We decided that our purchasers and our firm would be far better off."
Rubenstein expects that the entire building will be converted to apartments, and that Metro Properties will not keep any of the original purchasers as condo owners. Rubenstein predicts that its unlikely that leasing agents will have any trouble unloading the metal panel and brick apartment building with its nine foot ceilings, large balconies, hardwood floors, and underground parking. For the truly discerning, Allegro will have 62 two-level penthouse units with gigantic private outdoor roof decks, and interior apartments that face a courtyard with a reflecting pool. If all of that isn't enough, the largest retail project in DC history will be opening its doors in March, just 1000 feet from Allegro, offering tenants an assortment of shopping choices...and a Target.
The Allegro site is on the location of the old Giant Supermarket and surrounding parking lot, which was bulldozed in 2006 to make way for the new building. Metro Properties purchased the whole site in three phases, buying the Giant lot in June of 2006, and acquiring the two supplementary sites the next month. Marriottsville Construction, LLC, an affiliate of Harkins Builders, expects to complete construction by the fall of this year (construction photo at bottom).
Washington DC real estate development news
Friday, September 14, 2012
Bringing Berlin to DC: Inspirations for Dupont Underground
The exhibit is meant to bring a "poetic interlude," in the words of research co-curator Stephanie Sherman of Provisions Library, to the ongoing and emotional discussion about how to best re-enliven the Dupont Underground. That 75,000 square feet of space in tunnels lies - closed off for now - under the District's most visible circle.
Dupont Underground, Image courtesy Provisions Library |
Even now, the tunnel remains a virtually unknown public amenity in a city of above-ground monuments, boulevards, and upward-looking gazes. But diverse gazes are shifting underground, as the exhibit shows, as more District-dwellers find resonance in the story of the tunnel.
In 2010, the Deputy Mayor's Office For Planning and Economic Development issued a Request for Proposals for the space, and a group called The Arts Coalition for the Dupont Underground - brainchild of longtime tunnel fan and architect Julian Hunt - clinched the exclusive rights agreement for the space.
Dupont Underground, Image courtesy Provisions Library |
According to coalition managing director Braulio Agnese, the coalition estimates that it would take at least $30 million to open up the entire space, but so far has fund-raised what amounts to a "drop in the bucket." The group hopes the space could become an arts venue. "We are eager to see what these artists have come up with," Agnese said of the exhibit at the Goethe Institut, adding that he hoped the research would be useful moving forward.
But the coalition's exclusive rights agreement expires soon, and the coalition continues to work with the city toward obtaining a lease. The city had not responded for a request for comment by the time of publication of this article. And the space - even now - remains closed to the public, or open for imagination, depending on how one looks at the situation.
"Parks and Passages" documents the adventures of four DC-based Provisions Library Fellows - an architect, two artists, and a cultural theorist - who spent 10 days in Berlin and then fleshed out their inspirations for DC using archival materials, architectural renderings, mixed-media installations with historic film footage, and even graffitti.
Exhibitors are artist Edgar Endress, a George Mason University professor of new media and public art, visual artist James Huckenpahler, architect Pam Jordan, and cultural scholar Paul Farber.
The goal, according to Sherman, was to think about how Berlin's creative sites emerged and how the city adapted spaces. Why Berlin? Curators were convinced the city's creative, sustainable, adaptive use of historical spaces had some inspiration for DC.
"Parks & Passages" exhibitors Endress, Farber, Jordan, & Huckenpahler |
Berlin's development strategy, according to Martin Pallgen, a Berlin city staff member and project developer for Tempelhof, also uses a "bottom up" approach to planning that involves creative occupants of the space. Pallgen visited Washington, D.C. with a team from Berlin for the opening of the exhibit. That feedback, he says, is a component of Berlin's development strategy, which Pallgen sees as a a "process" rather than a one-step deal.
The Tempelhof development model for the future, Pallgen said, would take time to "think about what is right and what is wrong, and think about each step...was it the right decision or not?"
Much larger than the Dupont Underground space, Tempelhof also benefits from both public and private investment. The Dupont Underground coalition - as things stand now - must raise private funds from mixed-use leases or philanthropic donations. To make matters more complicated, the space sits under confusing layers of federal and local control. While the city controls the entrances to the tunnel beginning at the stairs, the National Park Service owns most of the spaces surrounding them.
As the exhibit shows - Dupont Underground has always been a vessel of dreams and imagined uses, and sometimes a target of derision. It was once called the "Blunderpass". "It was controversial even before it was built," said cultural scholar Paul Farber, who delved into Washington Post archives to research the trolley tunnel. At the same time, he says, it has always been a symbol of the future. The archives reveal familiar patterns, Farber writes, that may affect that future: including "the dysfunctional relationship between D.C.'s local and federal governing structures" and the "inherent complications of overlapping public and private ownership."
The city released homing pigeons when the streetcar line opened to traffic around 1950, but the trolley line would see just a few short golden years. District streetcar operator Capital Transit Company lost its charter in 1955, and the last trolley ran in 1961. A trolley funeral was held in Mt. Pleasant. The number 42 bus line now runs along that old trolley route.
In the early 1960s, the space was stocked with food and beds as a bomb shelter but never used as one. In the early 1980s, the Marion Barry administration considered three proposals: for a health club, a health market, and a columbarium, but those didn't pan out. In the early 1990s, the city signed a deal with a questionable businessman named Geary Simon to develop a food court called "Dupont Down Under", but it closed just a year later, beset by legal troubles.
Dupont Down Under had a Sbarro's and a Schlotzsky's. Their signs - old and dusty and cast in darkness - were still there in 2009 when chair of the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission ANC2B, Will Stephens, visited the tunnel in December, 2009. That was when Adrian Fenty's administration put out the most recent RFP. Recent tours of the tunnels have entered at a little triangle formed where P Street, Massachusetts, and Dupont Circle all meet at a point. That's where the ANC2B office is too. "The Z was dangling," Stephens said of the Schlotzsky's sign.
ANC door sign under Dupont, Photo: Will Stephens |
In February and November of 2010, the ANC2B passed two resolutions. Both praised the city for involving community stakeholders in the RFP process and requested that the space's long-term future use be kept open for potential transit use.
"Our chief concern from the perspective of the ANC is that whatever goes into this space be feasible and sustainable, so that we don't repeat the failure of the Dupont Down Under food court project," Stephens told DCMud.
The most inspiring lessons from Berlin for DC? The main inspiration, Sherman said, could be seizing the present moment by asking “what can we do within those (given) parameters and let it be an evolutionary process?” That flexibility, Sherman is convinced, will be important. "We are not presenting solutions or answers," said exhibit research co-curator Don Russell, who also sits on the board of the coalition for the Dupont Underground. "We are layering and opening it up to the public."
The exhibit also features a series of "interactive" public events centered around the goal of thinking about creative approaches to urban problems and challenges:
Thursday, 13 September, 6 pm
Discussion and Exhibition Opening
Natural Adaptation, Urban Re-Use: Berlin and Washington, DC
Friday, 14 September, 1 pm
Discussion
Creative Research: Modes and Methods
Tuesday, 18 September, 6:30 pm
Reading
James Huckenpahler: Metamonument
Thursday, 20 September, 6:30 pm
Presentation
Urban Interventions
Saturday, 22 September, 12 pm
Gardening Workshop
Gardening Workshop
Friday, February 03, 2012
Glenmont Sector Plan Changes Unveiled
Brown outlined a tentative schedule for the next steps: a series of "community visioning" workshops throughout February and March, presenting the board with draft recommendations in April, a public hearing in September, and a finished planning board draft at the end of the year. (Board members remarked on this "aggressive scheduling," which provoked another round of rueful laughter.)
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The Dirt on...14th and U
As any casual observer of the area can tell you, the post-riot 14th Street that used to host DC’s finest peep shows and open-air drug markets (RIP Shop Express) is long gone. True, there are probably a dozen dollar stores hocking Obama t-shirts and incense at any one time, but the retail scene has expanded beyond just Footlocker and tattoo artistry of Pinz-N-Needlez. While Whole Foods isn't too far way, the newly-opened boutique grocer, Yes! Organic, should satisfy the immediate needs of hummus-starved newcomers. In fact, the neighborhood today boasts DC’s most impressive array of niche-centric retail with everything from gourmet confectionery (Cake Love) to pricey custom furniture (Vastu) to comic books (Big Monkey) and hand-made jewelry (DC Stem), within walking distance of the U Street/Cardozo Metro station.
Real estate’s best bet
Two blocks north of the famed 14th and U interchange, DC's largest concentration of new condos and apartments is brewing, with more than 1000 new units of housing going up within a stone’s throw of 14th and W. Among those completed are PN Hoffman’s Union Row and Jair Lynch’s Solea condos, while Level 2’s View 14, UDR’s Nehemiah Center residential tower are under construction, and Perseus Realty’s 14W is scheduled to begin shortly. And, unlike, say, the area surrounding Nationals Park in Southeast, where neighborhood amenities are still absent after the residential building boom, U Street is already loaded with restaurants and nightlife of all stripes. And with Room & Board scheduled to open more than 30,000 s.f. of retail space next year, expect much more visibility for the neighborhood.
Eating out: it’s not just half-smokes anymore
While Taco Bell and McDonald's might be the most popular dining establishments (at least at 2 am), the inroads made by funky restaurants like Busboys and Poets, Marvin (country fried chicken and waffles--who knew?) and Tabaq have gone a long way to bringing some flavor to the neighborhood. In the past months, newly opened establishments like cajun/soul food eatery, Eatonville, and The Gibson, where mixologists design the perfect cocktail, have been abuzz in the press and are the newly-minted, go-to destinations for urbanistas city- (and suburb) wide. Even greasy spoon and DC dive landmark Ben’s Chili Bowl has moved upscale by opening a white table cloth eatery, Ben’s Next Door. After you've over-indulged, you can work it off with an Urban Funk Class at Results Gym.
Adams Morgan ain’t got nothing on U Street
While nearby Adam’s Morgan may have one thing going for it (read: boozed-up college kids), U Street’s approach to nightlife is more diversified with culture: The Lincoln Theater and Source Theater, DC's most eccentric sports bar, Nellie's, and a laundry list of music venues (The 9:30 Club, Black Cat, DC9, and the Velvet Lounge) share space next to bars that (gasp) don’t specialize in jell-o shots and specials on Miller Lite…not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Nonetheless, don't be afraid to chill out. This is a neighborhood with not one, not two, but three yoga studios after all. Santa Monica, here we come.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
2000 Wilson Finally Making Rubble in Clarendon
Labels: Arlington, Clarendon, Elm Street Development, WDG Architecture
Developer Elm Street Development initially planned construction late last year of what was first intended to be a condominium project (that's just so 2006), but now forecasts an open-ended 2010 completion target. Dr. Dremo's, the beloved neighborhood bar that used to stand on the site, closed its doors last January in anticipation of imminent demolition.
With that out the way and approval from the Arlington County Board locked, the WDG-designed project can now move forward unimpeded. The development is bounded by Wilson Boulevard, North Rhodes Street, Clarendon Boulevard, and North Courthouse Road, but confusingly carries a street address of 2001 Clarendon Boulevard despite the 2000 Wilson title; meaning the next hurdle for the project lies at the feet of the marketing team.