Industry Insight: Neil Albert on DC Development

He may not get microphone time at every press conference or a pair of scissors at every ribbon cutting, but Neil Albert, Washington DC's Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, keeps busy as the man behind the curtain for development in DC. Despite a schedule kept full by the 10,000 new affordable housing units he has been charged with creating in his first four years, Albert made time to sit with DCMud to discuss the latest RFPs, affordable housing, and why he thinks DC can shed its monumental, federal skin and become an full-fledged international city. 

You went from working with the previous Mayor as Deputy Mayor for Children and Families to the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. How did you get into development? 

Albert: I started in finance and headed a nonprofit in New York. I was interested in parlaying that expertise into development on a small scale. I had the opportunity to really get into development when I was Parks director; a large part of what I did was real estate development. We built a number of recreational facilities in the city, including the first LEED-certified facility in DC. I then became Deputy Mayor of Children Youth and Families because that portfolio was one of the ones that needed a little shaking up and focus and energy. The former mayor asked me to do it and I did it for a year. Then I went into the private sector and started a nonprofit working with DC schools in professional development and bricks and mortar actually building new schools. I’ve always had a real estate finance focus throughout my career. When the mayor-elect asked me to join his administration in this role, I thought it was a great opportunity to put what I’ve been doing together. What I do is not just about financial real estate development, but there is a human component to what we do. A major part is the New Communities portfolio, the human capital – HOPE VI-type developments. We’ll be removing a lot of traditional government subsidized housing to create more mixed income housing. Part of that is changing psyche, the mindsets; preparing them to be able to write a red check, go to work every day like everybody else.

Speaking of subsidized housing, the bar for the amount of subsidized housing private developers must provide is being raised from 20-30 percent. On what basis was that decision made? 

Albert: That decision was made before us. When the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation was dissolved, the Council adopted legislation that required the affordable housing component - that’s the majority of what my office works on. By default, it has become standard here. 

How does that play into some of the other new developments the city has issued RFPs for - in which the city asked for 30 percent but is not doing the workforce housing? It’s like the city is focusing on lower income development. 

Albert: The mayor made a real commitment to affordable housing when he was elected and we are committed to building over 10,000 units in the first four years at different AMI levels, so all RFPs have the 30 percent requirement and our language is pretty general because we want to make sure that we achieve affordable housing levels without paying unnecessarily for it. And so what drives affordable housing in mixed-income developments is having market-rate housing that can actually subsidize lower income housing without having to come to the District government for subsidies. We want true diversity in housing. Whether it’s Hill East, Poplar Point, 5th and I, including the affordable component is necessary to have the correct mix. 

These are perhaps not the best times for condo builders. How does that play into the marketability of a project during difficult times? Albert: I don’t know if it makes it more difficult. From our experience, in the last few years, the development community has embraced not necessarily the 30-30-30 mix, but at least the 30 percent affordable component. City Vista is an example, and I think that’s kind of what’s driving that project being sold. It came on line at a time when the condo markets were going in the wrong direction, so having twenty percent of the units as affordable provided some stability. The market on the affordable level was much greater than the market than on market-rate level. The results and feedback from the development community have been positive. Yes, people like to make as much profit as possible, but we have to balance their need for the highest return with the broader city policy and goals for providing affordable housing. 

You referenced City Vista and other projects that have an affordable housing element. Some developers have told us that they are having some difficulty finding qualified people and actually bringing them to the table, that this makes their job more difficult. Have you ever studied that?

Albert: I would say they need to try a little harder. We can do a better job as a government, having a central repository database, which we are working on. I know the city Council actually passed legislation that will require a sort of central registry for those interested in taking advantage of affordable housing projects. In some cases it’s about us doing a better job preparing applicants; it’s a huge education process that needs to go into preparing people for home ownership. You can’t just get up one day and decide to be a home owner. When you buy a condo, pay the fees, have to abide by the rules of the condo board or association - you have to have a down payment, some sort of reserve in case the AC breaks and it’s not the condo association’s responsibility - we can do a better job of preparing those in that income category to take advantage of these opportunities. In that case, yes, people have gone to the table and not closed. 

Where did the 10,000 unit figure come from? 

Albert: The 10,000 number came out of a housing task force in the Williams administration, and then-Councilmember Fenty introduced legislation that set up this Comprehensive Housing Strategy Task Force and they made a recommendation that the city needed to build 55,000 new units of housing over the next ten years to deal with the population increase, special needs housing, etc. And then they broke down some sub categories – 19,000 affordable, and for those affordable units, there were some smaller ranges that included special needs 2,500 units, etc. We wanted to make sure that we could achieve that in a ten year period, so we set a goal of 10,000 in first four years, so with about 2,500 a year we are well on our way to at least funding those projects. We’re not only calling for them, we are providing funding for them through the housing production trust fund and some of the other housing sources available. I am confident that we’re going to make that. 

In terms of your position, you have a huge hand in what happens in terms of development, and development seems very high on Fenty’s list given his appearances at development press conferences. How do you want DC to be perceived from a national standpoint, what are your development goals? 

Albert: We want to truly make a diverse city here, but my opinion is that we have the great opportunity of positioning this city as a great international city on par with Paris and London and Amsterdam. People talk about great cities and I see DC as one of those. We are not on the cusp of that yet, we have a little ways to go, but I think we’ve got the major elements coming together. We have a vibrant downtown, people want to be here, and every vacant office building is being gobbled up by big lobbying firms or law firms or national organizations that need to be near the seat of power. We’ve started to pay attention to our retail. We can now shop in DC, when I came here eight or nine years ago, you couldn’t do that. Now there are good restaurant choices, you have really great options springing up and also good entertainment options. The Washington Post did an article about how DC is no longer a daytime town, it’s becoming a nighttime destination, so you don’t just leave the office canyons and go home to the suburbs, you go to night clubs and restaurants in the central business district. 

What I think will put us on par with some of the mature cities that make a statement both locally and internationally is having kind of the right balance between cultural amenities, which we have a lot of in our museums, but also local cultural amenities like the Spy Museum and Madam Tussaud’s; cultural amenities not just downtown, but also in other neighborhoods. We have lots of theaters and shopping destinations, so that when tourists come, they are not just sleeping in hotels and visiting the Mall, but also getting into the neighborhoods and discovering them. So what I would like us to be known for is raising the bar to be a city on par with a lot of the other international cities. And right now, we kind of lay in the shadow of great U.S. cities, but we are still holding our own. 

How do you see your specific role and interaction with the private development community and with residents of the city - how do you mix the two? 

Albert: I see myself as convener of private sector and the natural community residents who sometimes have needs that complement each other and sometimes oppose each other. In many cases, my role is just to be the arbitrator. Getting the services from the private sector that the residents need, whether it is incentives or bringing offices to neighborhoods so people don’t have to jump into a car to get to work, but can hop one metro stop to another. I really see my role as a convener or facilitator of those communities. I am really concerned about the amount of new jobs we create in the District, I’m happy to say that even while the rest of country is going through a downturn, we are still seeing job growth in DC. Traditionally, you look at the government as the creator of jobs. In the District they still are, but the service industry is also creating new jobs in entertainment, restaurants, retail and the federal government is doing its role by positioning government agencies in the District – the DOT by the ballpark or the ATF building at New York Avenue. They put us in partnership with each other to keep the economy going. Our job is bringing the balance between the haves and the have-nots in DC, so we have the big law and lobby firms and the non-profits and the associations who are squeezed by real estate taxes right now, but that add to the flavor of DC. Instead of them having to relocate to suburbia, we step in and try to provide incentives to keep them here. We are trying to keep a vibrant balance of community within the city. The city has issued a number of development RFPs. When will we see some selections? Albert: 5th and I will be announced soon, and Minnesota- Benning, we are so excited about that project, but we won’t make a selection until August. The developers up for that are City Interest who owns the East River Shopping Center and Parkside, Donatelli Development, and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization which is partnering with Rick Walker who did the Home Depot and Brentwood Shopping Center by the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station. They are all competing for the 600,000 s.f. of developable space. 

And Tenleytown? 

Albert: Tenley is still outstanding; we’ll hopefully have a decision soon. 

Can we ask about MIZ (Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, requiring most developers to build subsidized units)? Councilmember Graham has been vocal about moving it forward… 

Albert: Yes, the mayor is committed to MIZ, but he wants to do it in a way that doesn’t slow or stop the development of mixed-income housing. My job is to do it right. We are getting comments from a wide cross section of the city including the private sector, affordable housing providers, and advocates. We issued administrative regulations two months ago for comments. We are going to take those comments and reissue a draft of the regulations and put it out for final vetting and hopefully make a decision in the next sixty to ninety days. I also believe that the housing development community will embrace it because I think we’ll do it in a responsible way that’s non-punitive. Then, we’ve been looking across the country to see how this has worked. It’s a mixed bag but it’s going to happen. 

 Finally, developers have told us that they struggle with the amount of information that has to be provided with a PUD and with the amount of time it takes to get approval for projects in DC. What is your response to that? 

Albert: I totally agree. We are working on it; the Office of Planning will be sending suggestions about how to streamline the process in the entire District. The PUD shouldn’t take 18 months anywhere in the world, not to mention the DC area.

Judiciary Square Apartments Rising

One of Penn Quarter's last remaining vacant parcels will soon be occupied. Texas-based Hanover Company began construction in February on Ashton Judiciary Square, a 49-unit “luxury” apartment project at 750 3rd Street, NW. Designed by DC-based WDG Architecture and constructed by the developer, the new project is located next to the Mass Court Apartments, on the west side of I-395, three blocks north of the Judiciary Square Metro. Back in 2007, Abdo Development demolished the Best Western hotel on the site to build Penn Tower, a 90-unit condo project, but later abandoned the plans an

d sold the site to the current developer. The Hanover Company's $45 million project is slated for delivery in spring 2009. The Downtown BID cites this space as the last remaining parcel of developable space - other than the already-spoken for Convention Center. Why the downsize from 90 units to 49? The developer says it specializes in “premium multi-family units,” not condos. While pricing and exact square footage is not yet available, Stuart Rosenberg, a member of the developer's marketing team, told DCMud that “apartment footprints do tend to be spacious.” Minimum unit square footage in its other projects hovers around 1,000 s.f. The project's below-grade parking garage will offer the Downtown BID approximately 40 spaces upon completion. The developer is currently working on projects across the country in Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Denver as well as the closer Crescent Falls Church in Virginia and Domain Brewer's Hill in Baltimore.

Washington DC commercial property news

Seniors, Row Houses for Benning Neighborhood

You would think that Benning Road had enough developments planned or in the works, with the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, the outstanding Benning Road-Minnesota Avenue RFP, and the 150-unit development adjacent to the Benning Road Metro Station by the DC Housing Authority and Abe Pollin, but developers in the area can't seem to get enough, so in addition to its already approved massive mixed-use and mixed-income phase one development adjacent to the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, Parkside Residential LLC is now seeking approval for a second phase of development. Phase one's progress is limited to approval - the site stands vacant.

The developer, a partnership between Bank of America Community Development Corporation, Lano International, City Interest, and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, is planning phase two on 165,000 s.f. of land in the western end of the overall PUD site. The second phase of the project will front Anacostia Avenue, Foote Street, Barnes Street, and Franklin D. Roosevelt Place, NE and will include a 98-unit, four-story senior living facility and 112 market-rate and workforce-rate row houses at its completion.

The developer will build a 137,400 s.f. senior living facility on "Block A" complete with ground floor common areas that will include a fitness room, a salon, and a coffee bar, keeping its elderly residents fit, social, and caffeinated. The site will also include 18 parking spaces and an outdoor terrace. "Block B" and "Block C" will host 347,860 s.f. of two, three, and four bedroom row houses.

The Zoning Commission held a public hearing Monday night at which the developer was instructed to submit additional materials by June 30th. If the developer meets that deadline, the ANC and the Office of Planning will have until July 7th for responses and the project will then go on the July 14th agenda to receive a yea or nay from the commission.

Phase one, which includes a new above-grade pedestrian bridge to the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station, designed by Boston-based transportation architects Rosales and Partners, will also deliver 1,500-2,000 residential units, twenty percent affordable, twenty percent workforce, 500,000-700,000 s.f. of office space, and 30,000-50,000 s.f. of retail space at its completion. The developers plans also include a face lift for Ward 7's neighborhood amenities. The Zoning Commission unanimously approved stage one in June 2006.

Common Commotion in Rosslyn

Rosslyn's it developer, JBG, is having quite a week. First they prep for demolition to make way for the area's new tallest building, and then they receive approval from the Arlington County Board for Rosslyn Commons, a mixed-use, transit-oriented development on Clarendon Boulevard. This new development will bring 454 apartments, 25 four-story townhouses, 12,000 s.f. of ground floor retail, 31,913 s.f. of open space, and four levels of underground parking to a 2.8-acre site three blocks from the Rosslyn Metro; quite an addition for an area that has until recently been office oriented and drained of humanity after rush hour.

Replacing the current 84-unit brick garden apartments on site, the new apartments, designed by Bethesda-based firm Architects Collaborative, will be divided among two, L-shaped towers. The first tower, bounded by Clarendon Boulevard, 17th Street North, and N. Oak Street, will offer 262 units and stand thirteen stories high, gradually lowering to eleven stories along Clarendon Blvd. All fifty-four units of affordable housing will be located in this building. The second tower will climb to twelve stories on the corner of Clarendon Blvd. and N. Ode St. and offer 192 units and retail space.

The color pallet for both buildings is planned as an attention grabbing combination of “tan-brown, reddish brown and pink-brown brick with gray-blue to gray-green metal frames.” Affordable units will include 26 two-bedroom apartments renting for $1,329, 22 one-bedroom units renting for $1,107 and six three-bedroom apartments to rent for $1,535.

Mixing up the urban vibe will be twenty-five town homes on site, separated into two rows; one will face an interior courtyard, the other will face 16th Road North.

The site scores high in the green department – both apartment buildings will be LEED certified, and the town homes will comply with the county's Green Home Choice Program. Commons residents will receive the uncommon bonus of SmarTrip Fare Cards for the Metro system.

Rosslyn's Tallest Coming Soon

Size matters. And for those of us that live in the height-deprived District, our pinnacle envy is about to get worse. The culprit: JBG, which released yesterday that it is about to start demolition for Central Place, Arlington's newest, and tallest, pair of buildings. The developer is now preparing for "interior abatement," i.e. gutting interior spaces in advance of outright demolition that make grown men stop and stare, setting the stage for demolition to begin in the upcoming weeks. With construction scheduled to start in October and FAA approval secured, Central Place will soon begin its 387 foot skyward climb as part of its mission to change Rosslyn’s skyline. At its completion in early 2011, the approximately 31 story project, designed by international firm Beyer Blinder Belle will include both a 350-unit residential tower (no condo vs. apartment decisions yet) and a 531,000 s.f. office tower. Central Place will also offer 40,000 s.f. of ground floor retail and above and below-grade parking. The site will only allow for one level of below-grade parking, so additional parking will follow New York and Chicago's examples and sit on the second floors above the lobby in each tower.

Central place will be the tallest building in Arlington, rising above the boat-shaped Rosslyn Twin Towers, built in the early 1980's, which top out at 381 feet. CP will also stand taller than the two Waterview towers, which JBG finished just this year. So what is the rundown of the tallest buildings in the DC area? The Washington Monument is likely to remain the tallest indefinitely at 554 feet, Central Place will be slightly taller than its 1812 N. Moore Street neighbor which will rise to 384 feet, The Twin Towers are both 381 feet, the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center is 338 feet high, and the George Washington Masonic National Memorial hits 331 feet. The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is next at 328 feet, then the Old Post Office building at 314 feet, the Turnberry Tower in Arlington will be ninth at 311 feet and bringing up the the rear in the tenth spot is St. Peter and Paul's Basilica at 301 feet.

For the architects, the height was, well, central to the design. “Rosslyn’s skyline has an image of being relatively flat. Many of the buildings go up to the 300 foot height and it tends to create more of a flat skyline that has no definition. Our objective was to create a skyline for Rosslyn and Arlington in a more central location and that’s what the two buildings do, they rise up above the limited height. You can recognize a lot of cities, just looking at a silhouette of a skyline, without having to look at a daylight shot. Just like the Chrysler Building or the Empire State Building, you can recognize them from a silhouette. We were looking for a strong form to create the skyline for Rosslyn,” said Hany Hassan, Design Partner of Beyer Blinder Belle.

The architect added that each building will reflect it’s intended use, the residential building, thirty-five feet shorter than the commercial building. “The overall office building has a consistent crisp quality with a curved building as it rises to the top versus the residential building which has the qualities of dwellings with balcony indentations that are staggered and not stacked on top of each other. Yes, they are both glass buildings, but nevertheless, they reflect the function of each building,” Hassan said.

The commercial building will also include an observation area with 360 degree views of the area. Visitors will be able to access the observation level through an elevator in the public plaza.

“Rosslyn today sort of lacks the balance of mixed-use projects, retail amenities, restaurants and we really hope that Rosslyn becomes a destination. Now it’s mostly office buildings and at five or six o’clock, people vacate the area, they don’t live in Rosslyn proper, and what makes cities vibrant is to have people live in it and make it 24 hours. The image of the building is impressive with respect to massing. In addition to the material being all glass-which in my mind reflects lightness and reflectivity, it will have a quiet elegance,” Hassan said.

The project sits on a two-block site bound by Wilson Boulevard and North 19th Street to the north and south and Lynn Street and Fort Myer Drive on the east and west, and will replace several buildings, including the doomed Orleans house, which shuttered last year. Central Place was recognized as a Smart Growth project for its density and mixed-use qualities, as well as proximity to the Rosslyn Metro Station. Beyer Blinder Belle is known in DC for their work on the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative and for winning the History Channel inspired "City of the Future Competition".

Preliminary Approval in Petworth

Jair Lynch Development Partners recieved preliminary approval from the Zoning Commission Thursday night for Georgia Commons, a 141,000 plus s.f. mixed-use development at 3910 Georgia Avenue, NW in Petworth. The project, designed by EDG Architects and Frank Schlesinger Associates, is upping the affordable housing ante by designating 62 units - forty-eight percent of the building - as affordable housing. Georgia Avenue will gain approximately 22,000 s.f. of much-needed retail, including a medical clinic.

JLC is partnering with AHD, Inc. (Affordable Housing Developers) to build the $30 million project two blocks north of the Petworth Metro Station. A Smart Growth and green development, Georgia Commons, which has been in the works since 2005, was accepted into the environmentally-friendly pilot program LEED Neighborhood Development. The building will also include two levels of below-grade parking.

According to the Zoning Commission, the developer has to revise the plans for July 3rd and the project will then be considered for final action at the July 14th meeting. They will then go before the National Capital Planning Commission. The developer tells DCMud there will be more news towards the end of the summer. The development team was awarded the site by the National Capitol Revitalization Corporation (NCRC), before that organization was disbanded by the current administration, and before developers realized that ownership of the land was disputed, causing a hiccup in the construction timeframe. Late last month a court awarded clear title to the District, paving the way for plans to move forward.

JPI's First Ballpark Delivery

The first of JPI's four ballpark projects, The Jefferson at Capitol Yards will open its doors Monday. The 448-"luxury rental" building, formerly known as "70 I" boasts of granite tops, Moen pullout faucets, "regal baths", and GE appliances. Designed by WDG Architecture, the building and its 100 I Street counterpart combine glass and brick in their façades to create 12-story buildings that were designed to resemble the historic warehouses of the old Navy Yard area.

Residents in the Jefferson will have access to a resort-style swimming pool and rooftop terrace, a 24-hour fitness center, a movie theater with stadium seating, and a sports pub complete with traditional pub games, dart boards, pool tables, as well as the trendier Wii (ask your kids), Xbox, and Playstation systems to satisfy residents’ inner teenagers and keep their competitive spirits at bay between Nationals games.

The 246-unit rental apartment building, the Axiom at Capitol Yards at 100 I Street, won’t be too far behind with delivery scheduled for next month. Rounding out JPI’s $470 million ballpark empire are the “luxury” 237 and 421-unit 909 at Capitol Yards and Jefferson at Half Street. The 909 New Jersey Avenue development will open in May 2009 and the Silver LEED certified Jefferson at 999 Half Street will begin construction this fall with delivery in 2010.

The first floor and clubhouse of the Jefferson at Capitol Yards will be available for viewing on Monday. Nosey neighbors can also check out the company’s block party on June 28th before the Nationals-Oriole’s game.

Imperial Intentions in Court House

Adding their share to the Byzantine world of residential development, Monument Realty's 262-unit Palatine project is opening up for occupancy as a condo-gone-rental. While the Arlington Court House area is not a good comparison to the second Roman Empire (we won't forecast its decline and fall), the building, designed by Davis Carter Scott (DCS), sits ponderously on Troy Street, and will include cast stone that looks similar to limestone, bringing a slight, well, monumental touch to the neighborhood.

A building description by former project manager at DCS, Kevin Pennington, back from the condo days of 2004 reads, "The Palatine Condominium is a contemporary twist on the neo-classical style of architecture. Perched on a hill like the palaces built by Tiberius and Nero on Palatine Hill...The Palatine is above the fray and bustle of the City below. The Palatine draws you near with graceful columns reaching toward the sky and arching together. The rich colors of the cast stone base bled upward to the comfort of the brick facade above..."

The less romantic story for the edifice is that the cast stone was, "something Arlington pushed for so the building will be a different scene in the area rather than just more brick," according to Gunn Prag, current Project Manager at Davis Carter Scott. The building sits two-and-a-half blocks south of the Court House Metro, overlooking Arlington Boulevard, and joins a list of completed projects in the Rosslyn- Ballston corridor, most of which began conceptually as condos, but have recently begun delivery as for-rent apartments.

“We are spanning two types of environments, so we go twelve stories up on the north side and then scale down to mid-rise level. We transition from the heights of the high density offices around us to the mid-rise level, a stepped-tower approach,” said Prag.

Described by project manager Glen Seidlitz at Monument as the “premier rental building" in the courthouse area, the units inside the tasteful building have all the ingredients for high-end condos, including stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops, but will instead be rented at market-rate prices starting at $1790 for a studio to $5905 for a three bedroom, two and-a-half bath townhouse with a den. Leasing is underway with delivery scheduled for the ides of July.

Because of the conversion, there will no longer be double level units in the towers, although the corner balconies are still technically multi-story amenities as they are without roofs. Other condo-to-rental adjustments include the elimination of the cauldarium - or rather sauna and the conversion of the business center to a more Roman style party room. Symposiums are more fun anyway.

Development Sparks Fly at White Flint Metro

The first building of LCOR's $850 million, 32-acre, four-architect North Bethesda Center project will open its doors this Sunday. The "luxury rental" Wentworth House apartment building is the first of four residential towers in the ginormous project that will encompass eight city blocks, and will include 1,274 multifamily housing units at its completion. With 930,000 s.f. of office space designed by HOK, a 220,000 s.f., 320-room Westin Hotel, and 202,000 s.f. of retail space designed by Cooper Carry, including a Harris Teeter grocery store, the former golf course above the White Flint Metro welcomes the first of its many occupants this weekend. Despite the ambitiousness of the plans, tenants in the 18-story, 312-unit building, designed by Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue, may be a little lonely in the short term. Developers said it will be another two-and-a-half years before we see another residential tower on the site; the team hopes to break ground by the end of the year. The second and third towers, Westmoreland House and Winthrop House, designed by WDG Architecture, will come around the same time as the first office building - in the last quarter of 2010. 

Developers will treat half of the new tenants to a view of the first green-roofed Harris Teeter in the chain, when the store opens in October, giving them something nice to look at until they have neighbors. "The green roof is really an amenity to a lot of the residents in the first tower. Half of the units will overlook that instead of a normal unsightly roof with mechanical equipment. It really will be very nicely landscaped," said Mike Smith, Project Executive at LCOR. "We came up with L-shaped design so there were minimal residential units right on top of the grocery store. Visually, it helps the majority of the residents because it looks out on a nice green roof. We also wanted to give the main entrance a strong identity because the lobby faces the central green. The mezzanine level faces the park, in the Harris Teeter that is the prepared food and buffet area. Tenants in the office space will eventually come and use that," said Sandy Silverman, Partner at Dorsky Hodgson Parrish Yue. "We used a variety of masonry to break up the scale and give it more of an urban look in a mid-suburban area. We want to make a more urban-looking area surrounded by office and retail. It will have a very different feel as more of the project is delivered," Silverman added.

"The notion was to create a center for North Bethesda, an emerging neighborhood at the intersection of Old Georgetown Road and Nebel Street adjacent to the White Flint Metro Station. It has been a catalyst to stimulate development near the Metro. An early indication of success was the conference center built by the county that opened three years ago across from the station. The hotel that was built with it will double in size from 250 rooms to 450 rooms. So, there is a big push to put more density near the metro," Smith said.The massive project will also go green. Shooting for a Silver LEED rating, the project received a Smart Growth Recognition Award from the Urban Land Institute/Smart Growth Alliance in 2002 and was recognized as the Smart Growth Project of the Year in 2003 by the DC/Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks. But all that recognition hasn't gone to the developers' heads, "We've been buying a lot of green paint for the project, for some reason people give us credit for that" said Smith, referring not to the color of the paint, but its environmental qualities. "We do have the first green-roofed Harris Teeter in the chain of 160 stores, so that led the effort to embrace LEED within our company, but we have also able to broaden that to include tenants." Located on Rockville Pike, the project will also include an eight-screen, below-grade movie theater/restaurant complex or a 43,000 s.f. health club as well as a 7,500 s.f. day care center and community room on the ground floor of the Wright House. The project will also feature a "Wishbone" suspension bridge over the metro tracks. The developer specializes in large-scale, complex urban development with offices in the New York, Philadelphia, D.C., and San Francisco areas.

White Flint commercial real estate news

Going for the Gold (and Green) in Southeast

Another addition to the southeast construction boom, 88 K Street may soon add to the dust kicked up around the ballpark. DRI Development's project, also known schizophrenically as "The Plaza on K Street","99 I Street", and "Square 696" is joining the Capitol Riverfront development surge, green features and all. While the developer admits that plans for the mixed-use project are ever changing, the general concept is an 825,000 s.f. office building that will include 37,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space in a LEED-certified building. HOK architects may still be finalizing their renderings, but one thing is for sure, the project, whether it be one, two, three, or even four buildings, will have an approximately 8-10,000 s.f. plaza in front of it and will be designed to achieve LEED Gold Certification for its core and shell construction.

"The project will encompass a whole block, so it's a rare opportunity to include a plaza," said Teanna DiMicco, Marketing Coordinator for DRI.

The still metamorphosing project that will include a green rooftop and the use of recyclable material, will replace an existing parking lot and a building at First and K Streets that is soon-to-be demolished; the future construction site is currently owned by the developer.

“It is such a prime location, it’s close to the Capitol building and we’re trying to make it a distinctive building. It will have a beautiful plaza that will open up a nice pedestrian lifestyle by a lot of residential projects. It will really get a great live-work play environment going. I really do believe that this building will stand out, we have this whole block and it will be the only place with a pedestrian promenade," DiMicco said.

The team is currently in the permit process for the site that is eight blocks from the Capitol, five blocks from the ballpark, and two blocks from the Green Line's Navy Yard Metro Station. Delivery of Phase I, whatever that may include, is planned for the fourth quarter of 2009.

DRI's project is one of many green projects in the Capitol Riverfront area. As BID Executive Director, Michael Stevens noted in his interview with DCMud yesterday, other green projects include Nationals Park, the Department of Transportation, four new parks, and 20 M Street, to name a few.

The developer is a DC-based firm that is a subsidiary of Transwestern Commercial Services. DRI is responsible for other DC-area projects like 1899 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW and The National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

Industry Insight: Michael Stevens on the Capitol Riverfront

Two years ago, it occurred to Michael Stevens that the Southeast Riverfront could use a Business Improvement District of its own, rather than being lumped together with that of Capitol Hill. A consultant at the time, Stevens approached property owners, already considering joining the Capitol Hill BID, in what is now the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District and told them that the area surrounding the incoming Nationals Park had unique development needs.

With the stadium, Department of Transportation, and residential projects popping up around his 1100 New Jersey Avenue office, Stevens, the Capitol Riverfront BID Executive Director, agreed to sit down with DCMud to talk about what's new in Southeast. Stevens discussed how to bring development to a portion of DC formerly associated with housing projects and strip clubs, a river two tires and a soda can past picturesque, and why the Green Line is the new Red Line.

So what, exactly, do BIDs do?

It’s hard to say. They are management organizations that address issues of cleanliness, safety and cleanliness, development, advocacy, community building, infrastructure and transit access. Property owners vote taxes on themselves to get these extra services.

You seem to be in a unique position, as you had a hand in developing the BID. How did you get involved?

I was a consultant and I approached the property owners; they had been approached by the Capitol Hill BID, but the context of the mature Capitol Hill neighborhood was totally different. That is a mature townhouse neighborhood with commercial corridors. This is a twelve-story, high-density, mix of uses that’s going to have access to transportation, infrastructure, parking, and the new ballpark. I approached the property owners and said, “You need a BID here to deal with your very specific issues. You can’t bring the Clean and Safe from Capitol Hill and say, ‘here you’ve done it.’” I told them that this is literally going to be a twelve-story neighborhood versus the two and three stories of Capitol Hill. The freeway is also a very clear divider both physically and perceptively.

They agreed to that idea and hired me as a consultant over two years ago this month to start pulling together the nuts and bolts of a BID, to meet with property owners to understand the issues and the development dynamic, and that’s when we started understanding how special this place could be. You have a development dynamic that will lead to the creation of a new mixed-use downtown essentially, that many mid-sized cities in America would kill for.

I worked in Memphis for four years, they have 6.5 million s.f. of office space, we will have 15 million, San Antonio is the seventh largest city in America, they have 5.5 million s.f. of office space. We’ll have 9,000 housing units, 800,000-900,000 s.f. of retail space, and 1,200 hotel rooms with four new parks and the Riverwalk Trail. So on 500 acres in this city, we’ll build almost ten percent of the existing office market. I had to start making points of comparison to understand how much stuff will be happening down here and how close it is.

That 15 million s.f. of office space means 95,000 daytime employees. 9,000 housing units means 15-16,000 residents. 900,000 s.f. of retail space is like a mid-sized regional mall, but it will be diffused through the neighborhood and in two mixed-use projects rather than in one building. The 1,200 hotel rooms are in six, 200-room hotels. We have the Marriott of 200 rooms which is already exceeding all of their sales expectations. In our efforts, we try to brand this as an office and business center, as an urban neighborhood, as a retail hotspot, as a tourism destination, and then as a great waterfront and parks environment. This will be a regional destination that embraces the river. We call it our front porch, rather than our back door so we have opportunity to engage and embrace and use river like it’s never been done before.

What is your view for the BID five years from now?

I think you’ll see a lot of the amenities that people are looking for start rolling off. Two parks will have opened, maybe a third, which starts to provide that open spaces system that builds community. You will see a number of restaurants which office tenants want, but that also serve residents. You will also see retail from the Forest City Project. You will see a lot of buildings that are coming out of the ground now, finish and start leasing up, which will add another layer of activity, and then people will start to understand that this is a new neighborhood emerging on the river that it’s not this far away place. In five years you will see a grocery store if not two, and very nice ones on the market, not Safeway or Giant – Whole Foods and Harris Teeter are looking at the area.

You seem to have a lot of green space and green buildings, has that become a branding thing for Southeast?

Oh yes, we have the largest green roof building system on the East Coast in the DOT building. The ballpark is the first LEED certified stadium in the country, we have special standards for tree wells, and they will catch storm water runoff and naturally filter it before going into the Anacostia River. Then Canal Park will be a model of environmental sustainability, it will catch storm water runoff from surrounding blocks, capture, filter, recycle, and reuse the water on sight. We are hoping to capture it on the rooftops of other buildings as well. A lot of that was planned before ballpark. I think the city should be very proud because they were very prescient about area. This is ten years of economic development positioning.

It started in 1998 when NAVSEA (Naval Sea Systems Command) consolidated all the regional operations to the Navy Yard campus and brought 14,000 employees and improvement to the Navy Yard, and that spurred five new buildings in the area to house contractors who worked as part of the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process. The federal government should be proud. Then you have Mayor Williams who was a visionary guy, then you have the federal government which said, “we want the DOT down here,” and that sent a certain signal and then GSA worked with Norton in the SE federal center and Forest City was awarded development rights to the area, so that was a huge perceptual change. People said, “if Forest City wants to be down here…” Then the Hope VI grant at the Capper Carrollsburg, then the ball park – we even say the ballpark, while catalytic, is just gasoline on the fire. The other major factor in all this, is downtown will be built in four years – Mount Vernon Triangle, NoMa, and us are in competition with each other to capture that growth.

Where Golden Triangle and NoMa have a lot of commercial tenants coming in, it seems that there are a lot of residential projects coming here, how does that affect the BID?

I want to clear that up. We’ve had a lot of tenants come here. We have the 2 million s.f. Department of Transportation with 6,000 employees. That is bigger than ATF. There are 14,000 employees in the Navy Yard campus and 12,000 contractors associated with the navy yard campus. Plus we have the William C. Smith Headquarters, Parsons Engineering is coming… So we have around 27,000 employees, I don’t think there are that many in NoMa. So we’ve done pretty well from an office tenant standpoint, and were much farther along in the development cycle for residential. It’s the proximity to the river, to Capitol Hill, to the ball park, and what’s in the pipeline here for new parks that will support a lot of community development. We definitely consider ourselves a mixed-use neighborhood. And Golden Triangle, downtown, Capitol Hill are mature districts compared to NoMa, Mount Vernon Triangle, and us. The younger BIDS confront similar challenges.

What kind of input do the current residents and all those future residents and companies have in the BID and what is their role?

There aren’t a lot of residents yet, there are about 1,000 in the BID’s area, with 2,000 units under construction. Some will roll off this summer. Over the period of a year, we met with the Capitol Hill Co-op, the DCHA that’s building on the old Capper Carrollsburg site, and we met with all property owners individually and collectively. We have quarterly meetings with owners to say, “Here are the issues, lets prioritize, and go over the BID tax leading up to filing.” We have had enormous public input and since then, we have created a Board of Directors of twenty-one voting members, of property owners, and five at-large non tax-paying community stake holders. We have an extensive committee structure that supports the actions of that board.

You mentioned the Capper Carrollsburg project. What are your expectations for that?

It will be an instant neighborhood over the next five years. It was such a transformation of this area when they tore down the really bad public housing. It was a perceptual and physical change that was instantaneous, our crime rates went way down, the bad housing was eliminated, and people started to see what could happen with rebuilding. We will double the number of housing units to 1,550. What’s also good is that it introduces, instead of just having a consolidation of affordable or low income families in one complex, this will be a blended income strategy that introduces different economic levels, home ownership versus leasing, and the 350 townhouses will be fantastic. We are creating higher density units.

Do you think there will be a time when, after a baseball game, you will say, “Hey kids, want to go hang out by the Anacostia waterfront”?

Absolutely – next season, next spring. The bike trail has come to the 11th Street Bridge. We will bring it under the bridge to tie it into the already built Navy Yard section. Next year the Riverfront Park will be done. In fall 2009, Yards Park opens, and that will be five acres, then Diamond Teague Park will open that spring.

How do you think that infrastructure will continue to evolve? It seems that now the Capital Waterfront area is a place to which you take the metro to the ballpark for a few hours and then leave, but that kind of transit puts a strain on infrastructure in terms of driving and the Metro.

I’d say sixty-five percent of ballpark patrons are Metro-riders. I think it has worked fairly well, I know that people have said they have waited for two and three trains, but I think Metro is learning and that they add more cars and increase frequency. The parking lots have only been half and a quarter full – that’s fantastic!

How do the BIDs work together, what is the communication between them?

We have a BID council that meets every six weeks, there are eight bids, we are newest. We’ve been up and running for almost a year. NoMa preceded us by about 3 months and Liz (Price) has done a great job. We all collaborate because we have issues of commonality, infrastructure, and transit accessibility. We think there might be maybe one central employment pool for all of the BID Clean and Safe teams, that we will purchase goods together, but for now, we advocate together, do strategic planning together, and look at how we can do things better. We share what we are doing. It’s very good company.

How does the budget work?

Our budget is about $1.4 million and it’s all through BID tax, although we do accept contributions or sponsorships. We have a several-layer BID tax. There is a formula all the way down, first we tax unimproved land, or buildings under 15,000 s.f. It’s twelve cents per $100 dollars of value, ... Then we realized that there were land uses that didn’t put as much demand on service – public storage, industrial uses, so that is also taxed differently.

Can you explain the Clean and Safe idea you have been mentioning?

BIDs were started forty years ago when downtowns across America were experiencing declines and were dirty and dangerous and experiencing an exodus of retail and office to the suburbs. BIDs were created as management organizations to provide additional services to what municipalities were willing to do in the financially strained time. Property owners essentially voted taxes upon themselves, beyond what the city does. They taxed to get a pool of money to improve geographic area.

One of the first things to come out of that was Clean and Safe teams. They are men and women in uniform with pans and broom, power washers, and street sweeps who work to make the areas as clean as possible. It is streetscape improvement. The safe part consists of Hospitality Safety Ambassadors, men and women in uniform on patrol at street corners, by Metro stations, handing out information, and answering questions, so visitors have someone to talk to. They can also intercede in aggressive panhandling and notify the appropriate service.

We’ll expand to weekend service, now they work from about 7:30 am to 4:30 in the afternoon. We want the most impactful services on employment days. As we add more residential units, we will add weekend services. One-third of our budget goes to the clean and safe teams.

You’ve had a big year with the Nationals Park opening, how has it been working with the Lerners and the sports industry?

The ballpark has run very smoothly, each game is an opportunity for 20,000 -40,000 fans to come and see a new neighborhood being built on the river, the Lerners have been good partners with us. They are on our board of directors, the Sports Commission is on board as an at-large member (not voting). They run a thirty second video on our BID before every home game. That clip really starts to position in peoples’ minds that this is the Capitol Riverfront and that it’s a new neighborhood being built around the new ball park. People are astounded when they come down here – its fifty years of overlooking an area of the city that has now caught fire and is, we think, farther along in its development cycle than Penn Quarter was when the MCI Arena opened. We think the ballpark will have a similar catalytic effect.

With all of these deliveries approaching and all of the development going on, what has been your greatest accomplishment?

I would say getting a BID started with a board of directors and staff and the Clean and Safe Team, also, one of the first big accomplishments as a BID was getting a special assessment district created in concert with the Deputy Mayor. We realized that this development could not be supported by the current infrastructure and so we had to rebuild it all in concert with the DOT five-street reconstruction.

How would you change the overall development process of DC?

I think I’d streamline the development review process to make it more predictable and less time consuming. I don’t think its predictable, I think it takes much longer than developers anticipate, so they incur enormous interim financing costs. What would take three years in another city could take nine here. The city also needs to fix infrastructure – across the board in the United States, we are facing massive infrastructure issues – we have realized how woefully underfunded our infrastructure is in cities across the country. We need to improve mass transit, water, and sewer. Those are the huge pieces. Here we are trying to create mass transit options beyond what we have. We are thinking about streetcars and light rails, we were predicted to have street car across the 11th Street Bridge that would tie into M Street and connect Southeast and Southwest and then head up 7th Street to downtown.

Is there a timeline or is it just an idea?

I think it is conceptual because there isn’t funding for it yet. All of this is driven by funding. We could see the light rail, best case scenario, in five to seven years, worst case, ten to fifteen years. Its more than just funding though, its engineering, acquisitions, relocating utilities, then building.

What is the timeline on Florida Rock?

It was just in the paper last week that they their PUD has been approved and they are waiting on architectural approvals, but now they are talking about whether they want to build or just sell the land.







How does their decision and development affect the BID?

If they build, the quicker they do, the quicker revenue goes up for us, it is a key piece of waterfront linkage but also the front yard to the ballpark. A lot of people don’t like it, it doesn’t bother me, it’s the industrial heritage of the area.

How are some of the other developments in the area coming along like Half Street and JPI’s three buildings?

For Half Street, Monument and Akridge are going to negotiate before court, so someone will be made whole and we hope that happens over the summer. JPI’s 70 I Street opens this month, 100 I Street will open in July, 909 New Jersey will open in summer 2009. Those are said to be the fastest selling projects in DC. Then, Velocity Condos open in spring 2009, Faison’s 265 units open this summer as well, in August. 100 M, which is adjacent to Faison, will finish in September, Parsons Engineering in January, and 1015 Half Street is their second building and I hope the Department of Agriculture will choose that as their new site.

William C. Smith has two tracts here and we pitched to NPR to come too, but they chose NoMa because it’s on the Red Line. We said, “you have 175,000 cars on a daily basis, unimpeded views of the Capitol, and you’re in the Riverfront district!” There is such urban walkability here.

How many people do you have on staff?

In terms of staff, there are three of us with a fourth coming later this month. We are fairly small, but growing.

How do you guys go about getting your message out?

We’ve had numerous articles in the press over the past year: NY Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, On Site Magazine for The Washington Business Journal, Landscape Architecture Magazine, Luxury Condo, DC Modern Luxury, Washingtonian.

We like to say, “NoMa’s had a good month of publicity; we’ve had ten years of publicity.” We use our website; we’ve done forty to fifty presentations on the BID to the public. You’re going to have ups and downs of media coverage. Our property’s owners aren’t as aggressive in shouting that they have a Harris Teeter coming as other places. It’s about tours to the brokerage, public presentations, media coverage, website, publications, and community events. We were part of a boat tour with 430 Brokers, we went by riverfront sites and each of us got a chance to talk about our sites. We are on the Real Tour on the 19th.

Vornado Hits Crystal City Again

Sticking with their strengths, Vornado/Charles E. Smith is recycling an old 13-story office building, turning it into a 19-story - you guessed it - "luxury tower" at 220 20th Street in Crystal City. Designed by global firms HOK Architecture and Dorsky Hodgson & Partners, 220 Twentieth Street will be a 270,000 s.f. mixed-use tower that will include 265 luxury rental apartments and 1,600 s.f. retail space at its completion in mid 2009. The developers will recycle the concrete structure of the old building while adding six floors, rebuilding the façade, systems, and interior space. “We’re thrilled to bring 220 20th Street to market. We believe this new sustainably-designed residential project will bring a sparkling new level of quality and visibility to the new Crystal City,” said Richard Smith, Senior Vice President of Development. Two blocks from the Crystal City Metro, developers say the project will be LEED Certified for such features as its water efficient landscaping, bike storage, and use of recycled material during construction, and that from the rooftop pool deck it will boast panoramic views of the planes touching down at Reagan National Airport, the not-too-distant District, and surrounding clusters of the vertical, but newly-walkable, neighborhood of Crystal City.The developers intention for the project was to bring more residents to Crystal City and “set a design standard” for the area. Modest goals, perhaps, but here's to hoping they succeed...

Arlington Virginia commercial real estate news

LEEDing the Pack Downtown

A new office building has raised the bar for environmentally friendly office buildings in the District of Columbia. Lerner Enterprises and WDG Architect's 20 M Street, located near the new stadium, was awarded LEED Gold Certification this week. The second-highest ranking for environmental certification was awarded to the project for Core and Shell Development - the first office building in the city to receive the award. The 10-story, 190,000-s.f. office building contains four levels of below-grade parking, 10,971 s.f. of retail space that will include a fitness center, and includes such features as a high-performance glass curtain-wall and plumbing that reduces water use. Architects got additional LEED points for use of recycled materials in construction and locally-manufactured products, as well as access to public transportation. No points were given for views of the stadium.

The project was designed in 1999, but was put on hold after 9/11, and was brought back to life in 2004. Across from the Navy Yard Metro and a block away from the new, also green, Nationals Park, the building “reflects the city’s high design standards for new office construction.” Though completed, the building has remained an empty shell since construction ended in March 2007, as a tenant has yet to sign for the office building.

According to Eric Schlegel, Project Manager at WDG, the decision to "go green" was, "a philosophical change for the developer" and one that helped to create a pedestrian-friendly M Street.

"I believe that along with some other developments along M Street, the project will set a new standard for design quality in the area and bring commercial and retail activity to the neighborhood," Schlegel said.

The LEED for Core and Shell rating system is for developers, builders, and other real estate big wigs who want to incorporate sustainable, environmentally friendly designs into their new construction. Though similar to the LEED for Commercial Interiors rating, the LEED for Core and Shell category is limited to aspects of construction projects over which the developer has control, as opposed to interior design, lighting, and other tenant-related systems. Both LEED rating systems were developed as part of the U.S. Green Building Council’s effort to establish a national “green building” standard.

The project, which has central, high-speed, traction elevators, also includes the exclusive use of low-emission paints, carpet, adhesives, and sealants, and advanced storm-water management measures, high-efficiency HVAC systems and humidity control. Ok, let's repeat: New, energy efficient, close to Metro and ballpark, with a cool gym. Seems like they wouldn't even need a broker.

Esocoff's Canterbury Tale

We expect brick facades on historic buildings, we hope for minimalist "urban-chic" exteriors in up-and-coming DC neighborhoods, but rarely do we see a fusion of historical brick and contemporary design. This combination is what Esocoff & Associates have planned for Douglas Development's "Canterbury" at 704 3rd Street, NW.

The team’s 130,000 s.f. office building (90,000 s.f. new construction, 40,000 adaptive re-use), approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board two weeks ago, combines a historic brick building (The Harrison) with a new structure that will be twice as tall as its predecessor, rising to ten stories. The new building will be what the architect describes as the “grandson” of the older building.

“Everyone wants their kids to be better than they were - smarter and better looking; our building is twice as tall as the older one and it is only appropriate,” said Philip Esocoff, Partner of Esocoff & Associates.

The biggest and most obvious challenge for the developer and architect was bringing old and new together, especially at the north end of the project which is both older and deeper than the southern end. After all, the north end dates back to the 1880’s, and the southern, to 1908. Their solution was to drill columns through the footprint of the old building in three locations, this would hold up the new building that is beside and canopies over the older one.

The existing structures were originally built as an apartment complex, but because developers at the time didn’t know what, exactly, an apartment building looked like, the result was what appeared to be a five-story townhouse. The age of the structure was enough to force the developer to get rid of partitions and brick core elements; fortunately, they were able to keep some cast iron column and exposed vaulted ceilings which will be included in the renovation.

Esocoff stressed the importance of learning from past structures and incorporating those lessons into new projects, citing the evolution of the fire escape from life safety devices, to recreational amenities for Tony and Maria in West Side Story, to “green features” that shade glass lowering energy use in 2008.

He applied this observation to his own project, “You’ll see some of the same angles as the historic building, and the same way the historic building had different ornamental devices, the new one will be contemporary, but match the older one in seriousness and thoughtfulness.”

The architect describes the goal of the project as more than simply to create another office, but to create a landmark. “We decided to make Noguchi-like lamps that you can see at the top, and one of the reasons we did it is because it will be seen for decades. When you look down 3rd Street from the Building Museum, and you're there learning about art, and see the larger version of our old building, you see what DC has to offer,” Esocoff said. Noguchi-inspired will be incorporated into the upper east portion as well as in the middle of the south view.Taking “green” features to another level, this project’s score will likely be first in its LEED class with green roofs, plantings on each level watered by rain water collected on the roof, and in-set windows to reduce energy use. If Esocoff had his way, the dirt from parking excavation would be used for brick for the façade. “Then the project would literally be made from and in the city” he said.

“I don’t know that that many people give this much thought to projects, maybe they just have more natural instincts, but projects should be meaningful.”

Construction on the project that Esocoff says will set a paradigm for building is anticipated to begin in November 2008, with delivery up to two years later. The developers will meet with the HPRB one more time before filing for building permits.