Barracks and Castles and Gardens

On Thursday night's calendar of the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) is a plan regarding the ongoing construction of an 8th Street Bavarian beer garden at 720 L Street S.E., on the heels of last month's raze application from the National Community Church for the Miles Glass site at 8th and Virginia, where it plans to build what will amount to its headquarters.

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

La Vida VIDA: New Affordable Senior Housing in Brightwood

La vida living is about to get easier in Washington D.C. District-based VIDA will break ground tomorrow on a new residential project in Brightwood, adding 36 residential units in a new building structured for affordable senior housing.

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

Eisenhower Memorial Metal Tapestries on Display

In order to clearly demonstrate the artistry of the forthcoming Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial designed by Frank Gehry, the commission responsible for the memorial displayed two good-sized samples, showcasing two different production methods for bringing heavy metal tapestries to life.

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

Half Street Digs Itself Out of a Hole

After weeks of speculation, construction is underway at Monument Realty's Half Street residential project. The prime real estate sits directly across from the Nationals' ballpark, was dug in the first months of 2007, with Monument's 275,000-s.f. office project rising on the northern portion of the crater. But when the remaining 2-acre hole sat vacant as the market was free-falling and funding of residential projects evaporated, speculation ensued about its demise. The hole became metaphorical as well as literal once it was revealed that Lehman Brothers, in a hole of its own, had an equity stake in the project.

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

Allegro says: Arrivaderci Condos

Metro Properties Inc. has just announced that the Allegro Condominiums, their 297 unit project at 3460 14th Street, NW, in Columbia Heights, has joined the tide of reverse condo conversions and is now destined to become an apartment building.

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

Bringing Berlin to DC: Inspirations for Dupont Underground

What inspiration can D.C. draw from Berlin about what to do with an unused trolley tunnel under Dupont Circle?  That is the question at the center of a new exhibit and events series organized by Provisions Library and the Goethe-Institut of Washington D.C.  The exhibit, called "Parks and Passages," runs at the Goethe Institut September, 14 through November 2.

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

Built in the 1940's for trolleys (they ran only briefly), the space has been cast as a potential bomb shelter, health club, food market, even a "columbarium" (for cremated remains.)  None of those ideas ever panned out, although the tunnel did house a maligned food court for about a year in the 1990s called "Dupont Down Under."

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

The group visited spaces under both public and newly private management, such sites as a bunker art gallery, an East Berlin amusement park, and the vast Tempelhof Airport, the city's largest public park. The airport was built by the Nazi government, was site of the Berlin Airlift, and a Cold War hub.  At Tempelhof, the City of Berlin has turned 988 acres of a history-laden, inner-city airport, decommissioned in 2008, into a thriving space for recreation, gardening, biking, and creative re-uses - some temporary, some more permanent.

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

Then, Stephens recalls that, as the group of ANC2B members walked with flashlights along the dark tunnel, they saw a dusty sign on a door on which were printed the words "ANC2B." "All of us there from the ANC, including the (public policy) intern were all freaked out," Stephens remembers. "We were joking with him that that was going to be his office."

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

Glenmont Sector Plan Changes Unveiled

At last week's monthly meeting of the Montgomery County Planning Board, MoCo planners unveiled an ambitious updated sector plan intended to spur redevelopment of the area surrounding the Glenmont metro station.

The previous plan, from 1997, envisioned a transit-oriented center surrounded by stable family-oriented neighborhoods, but the new plan seeks to seriously increase density by encouraging commercial development. The first major target of this strategy is the Glenmont Shopping Center, a 196,000 s.f. Sixties-era strip mall at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road that, according to presenters, many in the community describe as "an eyesore." There hasn't been large-scale construction there for over a decade, a stretch of inactivity presenters ascribed to the patchwork ownership situation. At present, there are fifteen properties under thirteen ownerships; presenter and Montgomery County Planning Department senior planner Michael Brown said that his office had surveyed the owners and that "nine or ten of them agreed they wanted something to happen," but that that's as much of a consensus as they could reach. (Later in the meeting, someone remarked that solving this divided ownership situation should be at the top of the "to do" list. After a moment of silence, everyone broke out into cynical easier-said-than-done laughter.)

The second major parcel is Privacy World, presently a 31-acre complex of 352 garden apartments. Brown said that there was a development proposal "in the pipeline" to convert Privacy World into a 1500-unit mixed-use complex with ninety thousand s.f. of retail space. "It's the only private project in the pipeline right now."

But there is a significant amount of public development, which is partly why planners think now is the time to push forward with a wholesale makeover for the area. The state is building a raised interchange at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road which will significantly ease traffic flow in the area, and there's also a 1200 space parking garage being constructed by WMATA along Georgia, as well as a new Fire Station 18 going in next door.

Planners also singled out a trio of Sixties- and Seventies-era housing complexes for particular scrutiny: Winexburg Manor, a 625-unit 33 acre parcel, Glenway Gardens, a 214-unit 15 acre parcel, and Glenmont Forest, a 482-unit, 33 acre parcel of three-story garden apartments. "Given their age and condition," says the report, "their redevelopment potential should be evaluated." The presentation also touched on Glenmont Greenway, a large greenspace set on top of the Glenmont metro station. Residents have long complained that the space is desolate and deserted, a charge acknowledged by planners. "The 1997 plan intended for adjacent townhomes to activate the space," said Brown. "But they never came."

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.)

Though some board members urged Brown's office to consider ways of making the area more pedestrian and bike friendly, and warned of the "active discussion" he was sure to get from the community in response to the proposed changes, the scope of work sector plan was approved by the board unanimously. The first community visioning workshop is February 4th.

Montgomery County Maryland real estate development news

The Dirt on...14th and U

Pawn shops no more
As any casual observer of the area can tell you, the post-riot 14^th 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 14^th 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.

But it’s still has that old school DC charm

But if you’re really attached to the iPod adapter you keep in your tape deck, it might still be good idea to take it inside before sacking out for the night. Area car thieves have made the old smash-and-grab a fact of daily life at 14^th and U, much like five o’clock congestion or sidewalk sermons from Greenpeace. Whether it is women’s clothing, a half-empty pack of cigarettes or the kids’ car seat, literally nothing is too inconsequential a target for area miscreants. For a closer look, check out the MPD's crime map.

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.

Washington DC retail and real estate news

2000 Wilson Finally Making Rubble in Clarendon

2000 Wilson, the oft-delayed Clarendon apartment complex, has finally taken its first steps towards fruition. The Taco Bell franchise and abandoned Dr. Dremo's occupying the site are now being demolished to make way for 141 rental apartments and 36,000 square feet of ground floor retail.

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.

The War On Windows

By Beth Herman

Designing a 5,900 s.f. home for his own family in Bethesda, Md., interior designer I. Michael Winegrad, of I. Michael Interior Design, decided to travel a controversial road when building for himself – strictly without an architect. The three bedroom, three full and two half bath home, still under construction, and which includes the designer’s office and library with a separate entrance in its finished basement, is an exercise in creativity and independence for Winegrad, who admittedly tires of battling architects and mending their mistakes.

“It’s a touchy subject”, Winegrad said, “but most of the time architects and interior designers don’t agree about how to design a house and really don’t like each other for different reasons. I’m continually fixing problems,” the designer said. “Quite simply, as an interior designer, our job is to manipulate, control and create the interior environment in which one works or lives. We work from the inside out,” said Winegrad, whose portfolio includes residential, hospitality, commercial and religious projects in greater D.C. and throughout the world. “An architect works from the outside in.”

The Charge of the Light Tirade

Citing a litany of issues including a ubiquitous window placement flaw perpetrated by architects, Winegrad said it is standard for an architect to fenestrate with eastern or western exposures, contingent on light and view. “If you have them facing sun or view,” he said, “and then the homeowner moves in on that first day, when the sun comes up or sets, depending on the room, they can’t sit there – they can’t use the room because the sun’s in their eyes.” In addition to that, sunlight can promote intense heat gain in the summer, taxing HVAC systems and the environment. It will also fade fabrics and bleach artwork and rugs, he indicated, adding that he generally espouses a northern and/or southern exposure.

Speaking to other fractious design issues, Winegrad said he can’t begin to count how many phone calls he gets from people who say they “… don’t know how to dress this window, don’t know where to seat the furniture, or can’t put their TV in the bedroom,” all because architects are not sensitive to where windows ought to be, where doors ought to be, how furniture lays out properly. “How many times have you seen a fireplace on a 45-degree angle in a house?” he asked. “They do it for various reasons because buildings have clipped corners and curves,” he explained, “but nobody can use those spaces.”

Blinging the Barracks

Residing in Darnestown for about 10 years before breaking ground in Bethesda, Winegrad revealed that his former house, “a Colonial on a cookie-cutter block,” was part of a development, but at an increased cost he’d been able to prevail upon the builder to allow him to customize to some extent, in part by moving windows around to open up wall space. Recalling that neighbors commented consistently on the differences between the Winegrad house and their own, where in some cases they’d been forced to situate furniture so as not to block windows, where light fixtures were consequently off-target and displaced furniture narrowed a room considerably, Winegrad said analyzing how design and construction need to work for the homeowner right out of the starting gate is vital to creating a livable space.

For the designer and his family, an issue with two adults sharing a bathroom (an admittedly universal problem with humidity from a shower precluding effective use of a hair dryer, mirror, etc.) precipitated the creation of a master bath in their new Bethesda home that boasts a common spa-like shower, but with his and hers dressing rooms, each with its own sink, hair dryer, mirror and space for clothing. In the family room, floor outlets eliminate running electrical and extension cords around furniture and under rugs, and slot windows frame a flat screen TV area. “It’s enough for daylight, but not enough to interfere with where the built-in unit goes or create glare on the screen,” Winegrad explained. A linear gas fireplace is anchored on both sides to give it balance, and traffic flow is considered with the seating group easily accessed, unlike a lot of rooms the designer said he sees where one must enter around the backs of a couch and chairs. Due to architecture-related issues, things can’t practically or aesthetically be configured another way. The designer’s own new home reflects and promotes an active family’s lifestyle by facilitating traffic flow, diffusing Mid-Atlantic sunlight and its thermal effects, eliminating conventional though unused rooms (there is no living room because Winegrad said their Darnestown living room was very rarely used) and increasing kitchen space to accommodate family activities and entertaining.

Make Lofts, Not War

“Right now, I’m doing an expensive waterfront condo where it’s a battle to get the rooms to work because there are silly little niches that are the result of a column in the wrong place,” Winegrad said. “You can’t put up draperies because they ran the ductwork in the wrong place,” he continued, adding the dining room isn’t wide enough for a dining room table. “You could step back and look at a photo of that building from the outside and you could admire it, and you might like the materials, but then you go inside and see the inherent design problems,” he said, noting condos are often poorly designed.

“I think the idea is to have an interior designer lay out the room– where windows and doors are; where the TV needs to go; where sunlight comes in; do you have to scoot around something to get to a closet–all so you don’t have to fight with anything,” he explained. “This is what’s really going to dictate the success of your space."

The District's Best Buy

Just a few weeks after the opening of the city's first Target store, in Columbia Heights, Best Buy is set to open in the same retail complex, the DC USA Center, helping to make the center the largest retail space in the District. The office of Councilmember Jim Graham announced that the ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Thursday on site - 3100 14th St. NW, at 6pm. This will be the second Best Buy to open in the District, following three years after the success of its first store other in Tenleytown. The store has stressed their commitment to offering employment to members of nearby communities and helping local non-profits.

Organic Grocer in Columbia Heights to Build in March

Richmond-based organic grocer Ellwood Thompson’s Local Market has announced it will start construction on its second location (and first District store) in March of next year. The grocer, which announced its intention to occupy the space last month, will build out the 15,000 square foot store inside the DC USA at 14^th and Irving Streets NW. It’s an area that Ellwood Thompson’s CEO, Ryan Youngman, saw as a perfect fit for his stores’ locally grown, organic produce.

ET bills itself as supporting "sustainable practices ...supporting local farmers" with food "free of artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and sweeteners." Said Youngman: "We’ve always seen DC as market that could really handle it. It’s always been on our list of places to go...We’re one independent store and wherever you grow, you want to get your biggest possible audience."

After meeting with nearly 20 developers and scouting locations across the city (including PN Hoffman’s storefront at Union Row, now occupied by Yes! Organic), Ellwood formally partnered with MV+A Architects to resurrect a derelict storefront at 14^th and Irving that the architecture firm had been seeking to fill with a viable tenant. Once completed – with historic facade intact - the new Ellwood Thompson’s will share the block with a recently opened Washington Sports Club location and Best Buy.

According to Youngman, the local community registered almost immediate support once word got out that his organization was vetting it as the possible location for an independent, health-conscious grocer – a feeling that was reciprocated on Ellwood Thompson’s end as well. Says Youngman:

We really just loved the walk of it. We loved the people and the activism aspect of it. I’ve got thousands of e-mails of testimony from people who wanted us to come up there...we just got hit after hit after hit and we’d like to profess our undying gratitude. After 800 or 900 e-mails, it just became the obvious location for us. This is also an economy where we really need to be in a place where the discretionary income is there and it’s under-served in that area. Giant is cranking away up there, but there’s no alternative for a grocery.

Washington DC-based Prince Construction has been selected to build the project. Construction is slated to begin in March of 2009.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

New Residential and Retail Bound for Edgewood

A new 6-story apartment building with ground-floor retail space could be headed to 2321 4th St. NE in Edgewood on the now-empty lot owned by H Street Community Development Corporation (HSCDC). Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 5C will consider the mixed-use development during a meeting this evening.

View looking south from 4th Street

The proposed building is a joint venture between HSCDC and E&G Group. The new $37 million development will create about 160,000 s.f. of mixed-use space, designed by Bonstra | Haresign Architects and built by Maggin Construction Company.

Plans call for between 155 affordable residential units on the five floors above the first-floor podium. Ground level space is reserved for 3,000 s.f. of retail, various tenant facilities and 40 parking spaces.

Kenton Drury, the project manager from E&G Group, said residential units will vary in size with 5 studio, 85 one-bedroom, and 65 two-bedroom units.

Tenants must be at or below 60 percent of the local Area Median Income (or about $40,000 for an individual). Rent for someone at 60 percent AMI is about $1,000 for a studio.

"We see young professionals wanting to live here because it’s an up-and-coming vibrant neighborhood close to metro and close to areas of employment," Drury said. The target tenant is a young professional entering the workforce or an "empty nester" who is retired or working part-time.

View looking north from 4th Street

Development plans presented at a recent community meeting netted mixed feelings from residents. While they did not seem concerned about the building itself, they did express concerns about its impact on the neighborhood. Drury said some people thought rent was not affordable enough while others thought it was too affordable for the neighborhood. And residents asked about the local economic boost it could bring.

Drury said he told local business owners interested in providing construction services to get their Certified Business Enterprise (CBE) Certification because some work will be designated for CBEs. And residents with retail or service-oriented businesses could open up shop in the retail space on site.

Whatever the final development looks like, it will be a welcomed change from the so-called "Heroin Hotel" that used to stand on the lot. HSCDC demolished the three vacant buildings that had become a hotbed of criminal activity, but the community must wait longer for construction.

After the ANC meeting tonight, the next big step will be a Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) meeting tentatively scheduled for June. Developers will ask for a variance on the loading dock height and parking space requirement. Drury said the only way to keep the 6-story building within the height limits is to reduce the loading dock height. And the triangular lot -- plus debris from the former buildings -- make it difficult to provide more parking spaces.

Drury said he hopes to have funding lined up this summer to move forward with working drawings and permit applications by the end of the year, and he hopes to break ground in early 2013.

Washington, D.C. real estate development news

Arlington's Block Busting Year

One of Arlington's most stubbornly static development sites - a superblock of three stagnant development parcels at the Courthouse Metro station - is finally ready to start construction in what could be a fraternity of development initiatives. Developers of the 1800, 1900 and 2000 blocks of Wilson Boulevard, all located on the same block, have been working separately for years to build large, mixed-use projects on their respective sites, and now the latter two say they will start construction this year for vast amounts of retail, housing, and office space, broken up with a new street between them.

Elm Street Development plans to start its construction on 2000 Wilson Boulevard (formerly the Taco Bell and Dr. Dremo's site), known now as 2001 Clarendon, with 30,000 s.f. of retail space and 154 residential units, while USAA, which purchased the 1900 block of Wilson Boulevard late last year, plans to start work this fall on a mixed-use, predominantly residential project. Working out approvable developments on both sites required land swapping and an endowment of land to Arlington to extend Troy Street, connecting Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards. Meanwhile, developers at the eastern end of the superblock on Rhodes Street are still vying to get financing to double the size of the office space and integrate retail.

2000 Wilson
The stuttering progression at 2001 Clarendon was initially planned to begin in late 2007 as a condominium, but in 2008 switched to apartments (in theory), shooting for a 2010 completion. In early 2010 Elm Street VP Jim Mobley said the team was again "looking at" the concept of condos, "financing dependent." With financing now in place (underwritten as apartments), construction is near, with the likely chance of condo conversion down the road. Retail space will front 3 streets, subdivided into small storefronts. Because of Elm Street's rejiggering of the plans, at Arlington's suggestion, no permits have been issued, but sources for the project say work is expected to commence late this year.

George Dove, Managing Principal at WDG Architecture, which designed the 6 story "extremely contemporary" building, notes the challenges facing the climbing site. "From a zoning standpoint, between Courthouse and Rosslyn, you have a sequence of height limits, and you have elevation changes, so it has a series of levels that drop-off as you move down the street, like stair-steps. This had alot to do with driving the design." Besides shooting for basic LEED certification, an Arlington requirement, 2001 Clarendon will incorporate a series of green roofs. "This is the antitheses of the high-rise, urban, compact residential project. It stretches out over a much larger floorplate. That gives alot of rooftop areas at different levels, it is definitely not a boring facade," said Dove.

1900 Wilson
Across the (not yet built) street, USAA has purchased 1900 Wilson Boulevard, along with its plans for a 5-story mixed-use residential building. USAA bought the Hollywood Video site from Zom, Inc., which had already birddogged plans to construct residences through Arlington's approval process. USAA will retain Zom as a fee developer to build out the project. Torti Gallas designed the more urban seeming structures with large retail spaces along Clarendon Boulevard and live/work spaces along Wilson Boulevard.

Sources involved in the development say no dates have been set, but that work is "on target" to materialize this year, and Hailey Ghalib of USAA says the the developer expects to build in the third quarter of this year and is working with Harkins Builders on pre-construction issues, but has not yet signed a construction contract nor obtained construction permits. Construction is expected to last 22 months.

1800 Wilson
The lone holdout at this point is the eastern end of the block, slated to demolish Rhodeside Grill and Il Radicchio to more than double the office space used by the National Science Teachers Association. The NSTA has teamed with developer DRI to expand their Arlington headquarters at 1840 Wilson, with an approved site plan in hand. NSTA hopes to build a 107,000 s.f. office building with 10,000 s.f. of retail, taking up an adjacent surface parking lot. The site plan was initially approved in November 2005, amendments were approved in July 2008 and November 2008 to resolve façade and parking issues, but the project is on hold pending financing, which the team is "working very hard" to secure, of course. The NSTA has already contracted Davis Carter Scott as the architect and DPR Construction Company as the general contractor, if and when the bankers come to the rescue.

As if that weren't enough, work is now underway next door in the 1700 block of Wilson Boulevard, where Skanska is building a 5 story office building. Get ready for a loud but productive year, and lots of cranes.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Courthouse Condos: Someday, Somehow

The on-again, off-again residential project at 2000 Wilson Boulevard, no, make that 2001 Clarendon Boulevard, is on again-ish. In December, Elm Street Development received an amendment to their plan for condos, no apartments, no condos - in the Courthouse neighborhood. The amended plan will increase the number of residential units from 141 to 154 and slightly reduce ground-floor retail, keeping it in the 30,000 s.f. range. And yet construction is unlikely in the near future. Jim Mobley, VP of Elm Street, said the amendment covered minor "tweaks" to the plan and that the group is working with WDG Architecture to update the them accordingly. Mobley expects to finish the revisions over the next six months, though construction is "financing dependent." The developers initially planned construction in late 2007, for what was first intended to be a condominium project, but in October 2008 was switched to apartments with an open-ended 2010 completion target. Now Mobley said about the units "we are looking at them being condos," though he did not venture to give any concrete start dates. Formerly home to a Taco Bell and neighborhood bar, Dr. Dremo's, having been demolished in late 2008 to make way for...something. The development is bounded by Wilson Boulevard, North Rhodes Street, Clarendon Boulevard, and North Courthouse Road, and carries a street address of 2001 Clarendon Boulevard since the building fronts Clarendon.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Give Us Subsidized Condos. Now.

Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham wants cheaper condos, and he wants them now. In November of 2006, the Council introduced a bill that would effectively require new real estate developments with 10 units or more to include an "affordable housing" element; the Council passed the bill unanimously and Mayor Fenty signed the bill in December, 2006. Much to the consternation of Councilman Graham (pictured, reading the Washington Post to Mayor Fenty....wait, what paper is that?), the legislation has not been implemented in the intervening 13 months, and Graham wants some fruit from his toils. So Graham introduced a second bill on Tuesday, co-introduced by ten Councilmembers, which would require that Mayor Fenty effectuate the law within 30 days by drafting the appropriate regulations. The new bill also allows the Council to review proposed regulations.

The "inclusionary zoning" problem began in the fall of 2006, according to Jason Yuckenberg of Councilman Graham's office. Following two years of deliberations and hearings, the Zoning Commission adopted regulations in 2006 to tackle the issue of affordable housing, requiring developers of 10 or more units to offer a percentage of lower priced homes to residents that meet one of several target income requirements. The Commission was then found not to have the authority to issue such a regulation, and in stepped the Council, passing the legislation now awaiting the Mayor's finesse.

After referring the current legislation, the Inclusionary Zoning Implementation Amendment Act of 2008, to the Committee of the Whole, Chairman Gray has vowed to hold a hearing post-haste to force quick action on the bill. In addition to giving the Mayor 30 days from enactment of the new bill to pass or punt, the new bill then gives the Council 30 days to effect their own changes, absent changes the regulations will be deemed approved. One of the issues to be decided is which developments, based on their approval and construction progress, will be required to adhere to the new standards.

In a letter to his constituents, Councilmember Graham summed up his anticipation: "Although the bill was passed more than a year ago, we are still waiting for the Mayor to implement the law...This is the District's only housing program that has the potential to provide affordable housing in all areas of the city. We cannot wait any longer. The longer we delay in implementing inclusionary zoning, the more opportunities we lose." At the time of posting the bill was not yet available online.

Bethesda Lot 31 Project Delayed (Again) Until February

Groundbreaking for Lot 31, the public-private StonebridgeCarras-PN Hoffman project on Bethesda Row, in the works since 2004, missed its January target date after being delayed yet again. But lead developer Stonebridge and Montgomery County government officials say it's not because the project is flagging on the home stretch - nor was the delay a response to complaints from local businesses about the closure of the lots and of Woodmont Avenue during construction.

"Just paperwork," said Esther Bowring, Montgomery County public information officer. "The project is still very much full steam ahead. We just need to make sure all the paperwork, all the permits, are in place before we proceed."

Doug Firstenberg, principal at StonebridgeCarras, agreed. "The hard part, the financing [with Northwestern], is already done, we formally closed on that in late November. I'm not sure I would even use the term 'delay.' With a partnership of this magnitude, there are so many I's to dot and T's to cross, we just want to get all the documentation straight." StonebridgeCarras originally set a start date of last summer, then pushed that back to January of 2012.

The SK&I-designed Lot 31 project, which will straddle Woodmont Avenue, is a keystone of the ongoing revitalization of Woodmont Triangle. In addition to 40,000 s. f. of retail space, and two residential units - The Flats, 162-unit apartment complex, and the Darcy, an 88-unit condominium building - the project will also incorporate a massive underground parking garage of nearly 1200 spaces. Of these, around 940 are earmarked for public use, with the rest associated with the two residential buildings. Presently, Lots 31 and 31A offer just under 280 parking spaces, so the finished complex will represent an almost fourfold increase.

Growth comes at a price. The existing spaces will be unavailable once construction starts, and the new garage isn't projected to open until two and a half years from groundbreaking. In addition, a stretch of Woodmont below Bethesda Avenue is going to be closed for twenty months as developers correct the distorted 'x' of the intersection, prompting some local businesses to wonder if they can weather an extended period of (perhaps sharply) reduced foot traffic.

Ultimately, those concerns were outweighed by what some see as Bethesda's urgent need for more parking. The zoning in the area requires zero parking for residential projects, a policy designed to steer people towards public parking and public transit.

Short-term, locals will have a number of alternatives once Lot 31 closes. Aside from increasing Circulator bus service, the county is shifting many long-term spaces out of the immediate area, as well as creating over a hundred new short-term spaces. They're also optimizing the parking that already exists. "We're installing a car-counter at Garage 57 [Bethesda-Elm Parking Garage] so people will be able to get the most out of that facility," says Bowring. "Right now you have to drive all the way to the top to see if there are any spaces, and that can be tight. Hopefully if we have the available spaces displayed on the outside for everyone to see, it will encourage people to use it."

In the big picture, Lot 31 is just one of several projects currently underway in downtown Bethesda. Stonebridge is also building a residential tower on the former Trillium site, Bainbridge Bethesda (formerly the Monty) is coming along on schedule, and JBG/Ross are turning 4900 Fairmont Avenue into a residential rental units. And of course, the Purple Line is on the horizon for 2014.

Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news