Clark to Add Residential to Lonely Atlas District

Metro area developer Clark Realty is moving forward with their planned Arboretum Place project - a 430-unit condo/apartment development at the tail-end of the H Street corridor - aka the Atlas District.

Described by the developer as a "multifamily luxury apartment community," the project will sit on a 5-acre vacant lot located at 1600 Maryland Avenue, NE. A firm timeline for the project has yet to be established, but Clark’s publicity contact at PR firm Tomb & Associates, Joy Lutes, tells DCMud that "Clark's intention is to move forward with the project and break ground after the first quarter." Designs for Arboretum Place are being handled by the Preston Partnership.

In furtherance of the project’s “luxury” qualifier, the developer plans to outfit the community with a pool, a business center, a gym, entertainment space and gardens – amenities competitive with other H Street developments like Senate Square and, eventually, Clark hopes to attract local retailers, though it is incorporating only about 5,000 s.f. of retail space on the site. In a neighborhood best known for outlets like “Fish Sandwiches” and “Alex Carry Out,” it will likely be a welcome and necessary change.

But nothing on H Street happens quickly: note the talk of development at places such as Capitol Place (on hold), the District's H Street Corridor Revitalization Plan, the H Street trolley line (always pending), and the District's Starbust reorganization plan for the nightmare intersection at Maryland Ave / H Street / Benning Road, to name just a few of the ambitious projects that have garnered far more time and money in outreach and planning than actual construction. Maybe next real estate boom.

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

Goodbye to the Social Safeway

In the latest salvo of the supermarket wars, Safeway is moving ahead with plans to start from scratch in Georgetown. Within the next year, the so-called "Social Safeway" at 1855 Wisconsin Avenue NW will be torn down to make way for a new "state-of the-art" facility that will better utilize the site and increase their market share as more and more of their competitors move from the suburbs to the inner city.

"Basically, what we're trying to do is to meet the standards of the District of Columbia. There's been a call for activating the streetscape more and trying to eliminate parking lots in the front of these large developments," says Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. "Secondarily, it'll enable us to make our store larger to fit the type of amenities that we like to offer our customers."

However, there’s no rush to stock up on milk and toilet paper before the present location closes its doors. Muckle described the timeline for the new store as “in flux” and stressed that many of the details pertaining to the new development have yet to be finalized.

While Safeway has not yet revealed the developer and/or builder attached to the project, they have named Torti Gallas as their choice of architect. Some of Torti’s initial designs have already been presented to the community and are currently undergoing revisions – which will only see the light of day after local residents get first crack at them. “We don’t want to surprise the community,” says Muckle.

At present, the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs has approved a raze application for what is, after all, an unsightly brick box, and the Historic Preservation Review Board has given their go-ahead to the project as well. Safeway higher-ups are presently engaged in the design review process with the US Commission of Fine Arts, the Old Georgetown Board and the ANC 2E – but remains dedicated to getting the new project in the ground as quickly as possible. According to Muckle, “This is an important project for us and we’d like to make it happen sooner rather than later.”

The new Social Safeway is just one component of the company’s redevelopment strategy for the District. After opening a new flagship store at City Vista this past September, the national supermarket chain announced a new initiative that would see them renovate all of their 17 DC locations by 2011 and add two new stores, as well – one for Petworth, and another at South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE. Plans for a new Georgetown store were not specified in their announcement.

New Tenants for New Developments

Less than a week after Deputy Mayor Neil Albert assured the development community that prominent organizations would "still [be] leasing space here in the District," his words appear to be ringing true. Several developers behind major projects in both Washington and Northern Virginia have announced freshly inked deals this week, despite the tubercular state of real estate market.

Forest City's sprawling Southeast Waterfront development, The Yards, went public on Monday with news of two new tenants for the project's retail component - the Boilermaker Shops at 200 Tingey Street SE. Delaware-based brewery, Dogfish Head, has signed on to open a brewpub in the converted nautical manufacturing facility, as Forest City also nears an agreement with an as-of-yet unnamed jazz club for the site. Once completed in 2010, the Boilermaker Shops will boast 45,000 square feet of retail and up to five in-house restaurants.

Forest City’s slate at the Yards also includes a commercial office building at 401 M Street SE – which, according to the Washington Business Journal, will soon be home to the District’s third Harris Teeter grocery store. Also on the brown bag front, there is talk of a Whole Foods Market for the William C. Smith & Co.’s neighboring Square 737 project.

Over in the District’s second development hotspot, NoMa, another project nearing completion is also rapidly running out of vacancies. J Street Development’s 90,000 square foot condo complex at 111 K Street NE now has confirmed three not-for-profit organizations as soon-to-be tenants: the Sierra Club, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and, most recently, YWCA USA – the latter of whom will occupy the building’s entire 11^th floor. According to sources at the NoMa BID, the Gensler-designed building is now 60% leased and will deliver on-time in 2010.

Meanwhile, projects across the river in Arlington are working towards deals with even the most cash-strapped of clients – like the Arlington County government. The Monday Properties-controlled site at 1101 Wilson Boulevard (the pre-2002 home of the Newseum) is being pursued by the County Board as the possible site of a new Cultural Center – as part of a sweetheart deal the developer cut with the Arlington officials late year to facilitate the much beleaguered development of their project at 1812 North Moore Street.

County authorities estimate that it would take $4 million to convert the 53,826 square foot facility into a viable cultural venue. However, Monday won’t be seeing one cent from the County until next year’s numbers start to become clearer. “I will only recommend proceeding with the center once the County’s 2010 budget is clear, and only if a viable center can be developed with no new general tax revenues,” said County Manager Ron Carlee in a prepared statement.

If the County passes on the deal, the space will be given back to Monday “in exchange for approximately $10 million for the value of the public benefits.” At present, the terms of the deal would allow the County to occupy the space rent-free for the first 10 years of a 15 year lease. The Rosslyn Business District has already contributed $1 million towards construction costs associated with retrofitting the former museum.

"Affordable Luxury" Coming to Southeast DC

With a style they're labeling "affordable luxury," M&A Development and the Neighborhood Development Company are bringing 15 new condo units to 1751-1759 W Street, SE. The development is being marketed with some flair, such as the third dubbed "Fab Five” units – affordable apartments reserved for the "income restricted" - "once in a lifetime" prices that start at $104,900. (Maybe true if you were born after 2003, anyway.)

Coming in with 2, 3 or 4-bedroom floorplans, development at the W Street Condos will be divided between adjoining rowhouses, backed with 21 parking spaces, and surrounded by what the development team describes as "secure, gated landscaped grounds." Sizes of the 3 and 4-bedroom units is said to surpass 1,800 square feet, while residents are expected to benefit from the development’s lack of through traffic.

Uniquely, the homes are modular, built and assembled off-site, then inserted into their respective building’s frame. Although originally intended to open for business in fall of this year, NDC is now projecting a second quarter 2009 completion date for the new condos.

Like some other small scale projects underway in the burgeoning community, the W Street Condos are already touting their close proximity to major Southeast redevelopment initiatives in the offing. The W Street Condos press packet lists no less than 13 projects in "Anacostia and Congress Heights" that it reassuringly directs attention towards – none of which have have yet moved beyond the initial planning stages but which, nevertheless, may someday actually occur. These include the redevelopment of St. Elizabeths East, the Poplar Point Soccer Stadium, the Anacostia streetcar line and the Anacostia Gateway. We hope they do. Axis

A Two-Story Addition to Silver Spring CBD

8227 Fenton Street LLC is turning a surface parking lot into a new - albeit small - mixed-use development to Silver Spring. Located in "the Fenton Village revitalization area of the Silver Spring CBD," the site will soon house a new 9,226 square foot building, featuring ground floor retail and second story office space. The project will host three identically-sized retail outlets, per the developer's intent "to provide a building design with the greatest flexibility for future retail uses."

Gabe and Kathy Fontana, the husband and wife team behind the Fontana Real Estate Group, are behind the LLC that will build on their parcel - currently an informal parking a lot in the Easley's Subdivision of Fenton Village - within an area described by county authorities as "a mix of multi-cultural shops, neighborhood-serving retail, business services, small office buildings, and auto-related businesses.” Fenton Village proper happens to currently serve as buffer between downtown Silver Spring and the greater suburban development beyond – a situation which had some members of the Montgomery Planning Board (MPB) questioning the place of two-story shopping center within the redevelopment zone.

But because the way to a county planner's heart is to hand out "green" public areas, the MPB was assuaged by the developer’s offer to include 700 square feet of green space on site and the building’s intended use as local retail. From their viewpoint, it was hard to deny that anything would be more beneficial to the community than another big ol’ Silver Spring vacant lot. Additionally, with hundreds of residential units planned for the immediate area from developments (such as SilverPlace, Studio Plaza, 814 Thayer and Moda Vista), the intent is to add a dash of consumer retail to an area clogged with large office towers.

8227 Fenton is being designed by MV+A Associates. Therrien Waddell will serve as general contractor. Construction is expected to begin in April 2009.

Silver Spring real estate development news

Union Row Says Yes! We Can

Mayor Adrian Fenty, DC City Councilmembers Jim Graham and Muriel Bowser, and PN Hoffman CEO Monty Hoffman today cut the ribbon on the new Yes! Organic Market at 14^th and V's Union Row condominium development.

"This really epitomizes so many great things for Washington, DC," said Fenty. "One, the restoration, revitalization and resurgence of 14^th Street…Not only in the $150 million Union Row project, but the…$1 billion worth of investment in the Columbia Heights and U Street area over the past several years.”

The new 5,500 square foot grocery store at 2123 14^th Street marks the first retail outlet to open in PN Hoffman-developed, SK&I-designed high-rise development. Other shops coming soon to the mixed-use, mixed-income building will soon include a new drycleaners, a 6,000 square foot Eatonville restaurant from the owner of Busboys and Poets, and a new CVS - which opened its doors today as well - with slightly less fanfare.

Graham praised PN Hoffman’s stewardship of the project. “Others had tried to assemble a parcel of sufficient size as to build something that really meant something here. If you look back at [the Warehouses at Union Row], you can just how real genius it took to bring us here today.”

The Union Row store marks the fifth such location in the Metro area for the 40-year-old, locally-owned organic grocery chain. Next up, Yes! owner Gary Cha plans to open a new storefront along Georgia Avenue in Petworth and, according to Monty Hoffman, there is talk of bringing another to their development at the Southwest Waterfront.

“It’s not all bricks and mortar – it’s about programming as well,” said Hoffman. “We tried many different grocers before and none had the courage and vision that Gary did.” Union Row completed construction a little more than a year ago.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

SilverPlace Splits with Developer, Forges Ahead

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission's (M-NCPPC) new headquarters - tentatively titled SilverPlace - has incurred a few shake-ups over the past few months, but is otherwise inching toward fruition in the center of the Silver Spring Central Business District. While plans for the site have grown much more specific since DCMud last reported on the development, one major detail has done a volte face: the Montgomery Planning Board (MPB) has nixed a 2006 proposal by SilverPlace LLC that had served as the development's template until last month. A press release issued by the County stipulates that the "Planning Board and SilverPlace LLC were unable to reach agreement on key terms, such as land pricing."

In the same session that the deal was declared kaput, the MPB also clarified their intentions for a new mixed-use headquarters. First and foremost, it will be built before any proposed residential component. Secondly, it will consolidate all staff offices, whereas they currently operate no less than four buildings for the same purpose. Thirdly, it will meet the standard for LEED gold certification. Lastly, the project will eventually be mixed-use with residential and infrastructure components that mesh seamlessly with the Silver Spring suburbs surrounding the parcel at 8787 Georgia Avenue. Of most import to the development community, however, is the MPB’s plan to “reduce the public cost of the project by selling part of the property to a private developer” – a plan which is sure to irk Harrison Development, Spaulding and Slye, and Bozzuto Group, the firms behind the SilverPlace moniker. It has also been further asserted that the housing component will include a minimum of 30% affordable and AMI housing. 

Dan Hertz of the M-NCPPC told DCMud that the County is not actively seeking out proposals from other developers at this time, but will be “going to our board on December 4th and going over the timeline with them on that day. It depends on the market and our ability to make progress on the office building portion.” The project is also expected to receive a budget appropriation from the County Council in December. The MPB will be holding a Community Meeting at their current headquarters this Wednesday, November 19th at 7:30 to brief the public on the recent changes incurred during the development process. The MPB had still been acting in concert with the SilverPlace LLC as recently as June, when they jointly participated in a week-long community design workshop. Despite Silverplace LLC’s departure, the site is still expected to develop into 300 new units of housing and public park/garden featuring an array of “mature oak trees.”

Silver Spring real estate development news

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DC Lauds SE Development

Mayor Adrian Fenty, Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten and various District officials gathered at today Nationals Stadium for a press conference with a two-fold purpose. First, to pat themselves on the back for the redevelopment initiatives currently underway in Southeast, and second, to ensure the public that those projects are still very much on track, even as the commercial real estate market remains perilously on edge.

"A lot has happened in just over a year since the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation was dissolved into the rest of the government," said Fenty. "I think, from my perch, that there's probably even more decision-making, fast action and decisiveness by having the Council and Executive Branch in charge - with no fault going down on the input of the community and making sure we follow the original plan."

Fenty also gave a brief rundown of the $8 billion worth of development, infrastructure and community projects targeted at reinvigorating the city’s waterfront: Poplar Point ($2.5 billion), the Southwest Waterfront ($198 million in TIF/PILOT funds), Hill East ($1.4 billion), Park at the Yards ($42 million), Marvin Gaye Park ($7.7 million), Canal Park Development Corp.’s as-yet unnamed Ballpark District park ($13.1 million), the South Capitol streetcar line ($30 million), the 11^th Street Bridge project ($260 million), the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail System ($50 million), Diamond Teague Park ($16 million), the St. Elizabeths plan (as-of-yet unbudgeted) and various community initiatives such as the Green Summer Job Corps, an online water quality monitoring system, a new stormwater rate structure and the Anacostia 2032 plan – which seeks to make the polluted river “boatable, swimmable and fishable in 25 years.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen along the Waterfront in the decades and years and months and days to come,” said George Hawkins, Director of the District Department of the Environment. “We will have a cleaner river. We will have a better environment…At the same time, we are going to bring almost unparalleled economic vitality and jobs to this city.”

With regards to the economy, Mayor Fenty presented an optimistic view of the impact the fiscal crisis is having on projects heading down the development pipeline. “The national economy, as everyone is aware, is having an extremely hard time. The District of Columbia is not immune from that, of course, but there is a certain degree of insulation and there’s a large degree of momentum, which is allowing a lot of projects…to continue to go forward,” said Fenty.

Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Neil Albert, followed up Fenty’s remarks by characterizing developers with stakes in Southeast projects as “still very bullish,” despite a dearth of client interest in the commercial real estate market. “While some of the surrounding areas are having difficulty leasing space, they're still leasing space here in the District,” said Albert.

Interested citizens will have to chance to examine the marketplace for themselves this coming Saturday, November 15^th, as the District hosts a “Community Education Fair” at Nationals Park. Several District agencies, local developers, community groups, and local not-for-profit organizations will lead bus tours to the site of upcoming projects and panels on the Southeast redevelopment. For more information, visit the District’s website.

New Knolls for Congress Heights

Hartford, LLC and Bryant Mitchell Architects (BMA) will put the finishing touches on the Knox Hill Village subdivision next year with 16 new, affordable townhomes. Entitled Hartford Knolls, the project constitutes the final phase of development for the Village project that consists of 109 homes built between 1994 and 2001.

Currently the site of site of a 32,000 square foot vacant lot, the parcel on the 2800 block Hartford Street SE will soon house 16 3-bedroom, 3-bath garage-centric townhomes. Hartford and BMA are betting that the Knolls’ proximity to what they have deemed the “Alabama Avenue Renaissance corridor of Anacostia,” the Congress Heights Metro and the planned redevelopment zone of St. Elizabeths Hospital will make an easy sell in tough housing market. Prices are planned to start at $309,990.

According to Melvin L. Mitchell, Managing Partner of Hartford, LLC and CEO of BMA, the development received DC Board of Zoning Adjustment approval in April 2007 and expects building permits to be granted before the end of the month. The first homes are expected to deliver in the spring of 2009.

Washington DC real estate development news

Hyattsville Hanging in There

Hyattsville - otherwise known as "that place in between Washington DC and College Park" - has been undergoing a significant reinvention for the past two years, courtesy of real estate developer EYA. Their Arts District Hyattsville project is currently midway through its plans to drop nearly 500 new rowhouses and condos into the sleepy Prince George's County hamlet, less than two miles from the DC line. With a splash of urban design fundamentals - gridded street layout and sidewalks - and one dash of "aw shucks" small town neighborliness, EYA is hoping to make the once-overlooked township a new upscale alternative to the communities that surround it.

Once home to a strip of dilapidated warehouses and auto body shops, Hyattsville's main drag, Route 1 (Baltimore Avenue), is bearing the majority of development. On the west side of Route 1 - the West Village - 132 units and 35,000 square feet of retail are already largely complete, while the east side is advertised as the eventual destination of 440 residences in Phase II of the development. Even for a developer known for the heroic size of its projects - Capitol Quarter, Park Potomac, and National Park Seminary at Forest Glen, to name some - the "Arts District" is an ambitious, contending with the lack of native commerce to lean on.

EYA's solution is the “live-work” unit – a townhouse with 450 square foot storefront on the ground level with a 1300-square foot residence above, providing both residential and commercial activity not dependent on attracting big-box retailers.

Angelisa Hawes is owner of the first such unit to open for business in Arts District. After purchasing her new home in November of last year, her shop, the Book Nook Bookstore, opened its doors this past February. She says the Arts District is drawing new clientèle to the once blighted area. "It's people who live in the Arts District, but I've also had people coming from Cheverley, Bladensburg, Mount Rainier, College Park and University Park" said the recent DC transplant.

These small entrepreneurships will soon be paired with the larger operations EYA has lined up for the area – a village market and new Busboys and Poets, Tara Thai and Weight Watchers locations are among those planned in Arts District's Phase II component. EYA is also currently seeking a tenant for a 3,500-5,000 square feet space on the East Village's planned "restaurant row.

But construction of the even larger East Village - planned to include 200 condos, 220 row houses and up to 40,000 square feet of retail - was supposed to commence in the beginning of this 2008, yet remains a vacant lot surrounded by promotional renderings and "coming soon" signs. According to Aakash Thakkar, EYA’s Vice President of Development, 45% of the East Village's planned retail space has already been leased and construction will be begin - market conditions being what they are - once they hit a threshold of between 55 and 60%.

"[Retail is] the first and foremost priority. The reason is, we’ve got housing on the other side and the area has great housing stock and there are lots of residents there. People are hungry for good retail and restaurants. We think there’s a real market to get that going as quickly as possible," says Thakkar. "Once we get that lease done, we can start construction and we’ll be delivering space to tenants about 6 months from when we start…The hope is that we start first or second quarter of next year."

If the the West Village is any indication, the second half of development should be well received – the homes already built have richer detail than the cookie-cutter suburban town center designs so prevalent in new town centers, and the project was awarded the seal of approval by the Smart Growth Alliance, which advocates for live-work communities and sustainable practices for the economy and environment.

The project does, however, boast quite a few vacancies, despite an initial influx of sales that began two and a half years ago (the first two waves of “live-work” units sold out, while the other models all have vacancies). Today, there is a 70% occupancy rate, with 38 units yet to sell. As recently as November 3^rd, the developer initiated 15-20% price cuts for those units still on the market.

"We have multi-family development on that side as well, but again, we’re kind of looking at the market and just trying to forward a timeline that makes sense," says Thakkar.

Nonetheless, current residents remain are unfazed by the delays facing their new community's continued redevelopment. "Living in DC, there's so many people and you're kind of a blind face. When you go into a restaurant [here], people recognize you and say 'Hey, how's your baby?" says Dawes. "It's been a good move."

Hyattsville, MD, real estate development news

Alexandria's Newest Gateway

Alexandria will pocket a sizable expansion of mixed-use space once the Braddock Gateway, now planned just south of the Monroe Avenue bridge, gets underway. Jaguar Development expects that its new development - not technically part of Potomac Yards, but adjacent to it, and only a few blocks away from the banks of the Potomac River - will provide close to 770,000 square feet of new development as it gathers momentum to build in the first quarter of 2010.

Jaguar is planning a whopping 630 residential units for the 7-acre site at North Fayette and First Streets, coupled with 70,000 square feet of office and 15,000 of retail. The development will consist of five buildings, built in as many phases - a plan that will allow Jaguar to tailor each successive component of the project to the demands of the marketplace.

“Each phase needs site plan approval and at the time of each approval, you tell the city what the use is going to be,” said Eddie Cettina of Jaguar Development. “All these numbers are moving targets according to where they sit in the development cycle and what the market calls for at that time.”

Though the inclusion of a hotel in the Gateway project was bandied about for a time, Jaguar has since decided against one - after meeting with Alexandria’s Board of Zoning. “It was resolved in March with ACCD [A Consolidated Development District] zoning which allows you…to change uses depending on how the market fares,” said Cettina. “It will now be residential, office and retail.”

Utilizing designs by RustOrling Architecture, the Gateway will sit on two contiguous parcels currently home to warehouses, a small office building, a large surface parking lot, and a National Car Rental service center. The first phase of the project is expected to be open for business by the end of 2012.

Correction: Per Jaguar Development, the site will accommodate about 770,000 s.f. of developable space, the original article stated there would be close to 2 million square feet.

Market-Rate Housing Coming to W Street SE

Stan Voudrie is bringing a new crop of residential development to Southeast Washington DC under the guise of W Street Acquisitions, LLC, at least, someday. Come 2009, a string of underutilized properties at 1226-1252 W Street, SE will be replaced with the W Street Townhomes - an all-new 40,000 square foot project straddling the area between Historic Anacostia and Barry Farm.

The W Street development is said to include 40 units that will be comprised of a combination of larger, single-family townhomes and duplex-style units that double as condominiums. In an unusual move for a Ward 8 project, the W Street Townhomes will feature no affordable housing component. According to developer Voudrie, "It was a by-right project, so it’s market-rate housing." PGN Architects is supplying designs for the project.

Having already received approval from the requisite ANC and HPRB bodies exactly one year ago, the developer is biding his time before beginning the anticipated $3.5 million construction. “We’ve gotten it approved, but we’re not going to start construction right now,” said Voudrie. “With final design, permitting and all that, we’ll be ready to start construction in late first quarter 2009.”

It should also be noted that Voudrie, formerly of West*Group, is a principal of Four Points LLC – a DC-based initiative that plans to bring 1.6 million square feet of new development – including 500 units of housing - to the area of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE. Plans for that project aren’t expected to begin materializing until 2010, but W Street could be a first foray into testing the waters in an area that is at-once both troubled and ripe for redevelopment.

Tenley Wars III: The Council Strikes Back

Protracted. Excruciating. Unnecessary. These are but a few words used to describe the ongoing battle being waged by local community groups opposed to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) and developer LCOR Inc.'s plans for a new Tenleytown-Friendship Heights Neighborhood Library and residential development. And yet the twisting story further intensifies since DC City Councilmembers Mary Cheh and Kwame Brown have stepped into the fray.

At issue is the construction of a new Tenley Library to replace its predecessor (closed 4 years ago), updates and additions to the over-enrolled and threadbare Janney Elementary school, and, in return for these improvements, permission for the developer to build a residential complex on the site. A win-win scenario about which no one seems happy. The newest chapter involves LCOR's latest proposal to extend the residential component onto the school's green space (an ingredient mysteriously pushed by the Deputy Mayor and seemingly favorable to no one), a move that spurred Janney's School Improvement Team (SIT) to revoke its conditional support of the three-tiered agreement. Remaining undecided is the pace of renovations to the school, which the District wasn't planning to get to until 2013 despite immediate needs, hence the SIT favoring a quicker fix by the developer.

With the school's support withdrawn in the already contentious battle, Councilmembers Cheh and Brown penned a letter to Mayor Fenty expressing their wish to see the project’s library component move forward, while insisting that LCOR’s residential development be sent back to the drawing board.

“We write to ask that you permit the Tenley Library to build now and separate it from any possible mixed-use, or public/private, development on the site,” read the statement's first paragraph. “As for the current LCOR proposal, we believe that it is fatally flawed,” begins another. Cheh and Brown propose a compromise that would allow the library to be constructed with structural supports in place to accommodate any future development above. Meanwhile, the residential component would be put on hold until a mutually agreeable design is produced. In conclusion, the letter asked for a response to their concerns by Friday, November, 7^th.

The Letter hinges on LCOR's plans for the residential component, initially planned to sit on top of the library, then moved (by mysterious edict of a revised RFP) off the library and in place of the neighboring Janney soccer field. Now, two differing LCOR site plans (dated November 4th) put the apartments back on the library once again, but still encroaching on Janney green space. That in turn caused SIT to withdraw their support, as both proposals take up some of the green space now used by Janney, but add it back in behind the school, in place of the surface parking lot. According to Kirk Rankin of the Janney SIT, the SIT is opposed to any plan that would require Janney to cede any of its green space for the development.

Still with us? Good, because further complicating matters is the timing, and everyone agrees the quicker the better. And yet The Letter contemplates a two-year construction of the library, completion of which would be followed by a second construction project on the same small site, a process that may yield an architecturally challenged, ever-dusty construction site.

Cheh was not amused by the Deputy Mayor's response, or lack thereof, to The Letter. “Immediately after [receiving our letter], the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued a statement saying they were going ahead with it. No one has ever explained to me, ‘With what are they going ahead?’” said Councilwoman Cheh, referring to the widespread confusion resulting from the repeated relocation of the residential units.

While ODMPED would not respond to DCMud's inquiries regarding the matter, an LCOR representative did comment on the council's qualms and the impact that residential development will have on the school zone. “We’re going ahead with it and [ODMPED] is going ahead, too,” said Timothy D. Smith, Senior Vice President of LCOR. “The two [library and residential] are combined. It’s one building with a very prominent location along the street that reads ‘Library’ when you’re riding along Wisconsin Avenue…it’s probably the best way to use the land, rather than build separate apartment buildings.”

"We've been working on this steadily and people make comments in the meantime," he continued. "We were working down Mary Cheh's list of things that she wants to see accomplished when the letter was written...We have been meeting with citizens groups and modifying our plan. We do hope to gain support back from Mary."

Councilwoman Cheh, however, was not quite as optimistic with respect to the library’s future: “If they surplus property, that requires council approval. If the ward councilmember doesn’t approve of the action, I doubt very much that my colleagues would approve of it over my opposition.”

Meanwhile, a standalone library has been funded and approved and could, with Council okay, start construction relatively soon. We'll be waiting to see who blinks. Stay tuned for Episode IV: Revenge of the SIT.

A Scaled Back Utopia on U Street

Robert Moore of Georgetown Strategic Capital LLC (GSC) and Eric Colbert & Associates have gotten the go-ahead from two of the District’s governing bodies – the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) – to move forward with their mixed-use Utopia development at the southwest corner of 14th and U Streets NW.
Utopia has been in the approval queue for more than a year, but only now able to move through the approval process after obliging several variance requests. As such, the building will no longer feature a rooftop pool, and will top out at 90 feet, instead of the proposed 100. The building’s design was also tweaked to allow for varying levels of density throughout the parcel, which occupies two adjoining historic sites at 1912-1944 14th Street NW and 1400-1418 U Street NW.

Nonetheless, the project is still an eagerly anticipated addition to the U Street corridor. GSC intends to bring 230 rental apartments and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail – an amount that will double the amount of shopping and dining on the block – to complete what it has dubbed an “urban living experience.” Accordingly, Utopia is being pitched as the new home base for young professionals who clog the area on Friday and Saturday evenings – not surprising, given its proximity to Donatelli’s similarly-envisioned Ellington building (and election night’s impromptu Obama street party - aka "Change-fest '08"). The project will include an affordable housing component, the extent of which is yet to be determined.

As of now, the project is still on track to hit its intended 2009 start date, with grand opening scheduled for 2011.

The Washington Hilton Gets Nod to Expand

Washington's second most notorious hotel, the Washington Hilton, has sailed through the Historic Preservation and Review Board's (HPRB) approval process with their plans for an 11-story residential addition. With a unanimous 6-0 decision in the bag, the hotel's current owners, Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group, can move ahead with their intent to bring 160 new apartments or condos to the historically-registered landmark at 1919 Connecticut Avenue NW. The project received historic landmark status in July, triggering the HPRB review.

Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP have been tasked with designing the addition to what is consistently designated one of the Washington area's more aesthetically challenged edifices (up there with Dulles Airport's Jetsons-influenced terminal). Their design will “echo its curvilinear form” – although it will be comprised mostly of glass, in contrast to the Hilton’s concrete-on-concrete facade. According to documents submitted to the HPRB, there is no firm start date for construction, but work on the Hilton is described as “a multi-year project that will occur in phases so that the hotel can continue in operation as the work proceeds.” The cost is expected to total more than $100 million.

In addition to construction, several other elements of the hotel will be renovated. Landscape architects Rhodeside & Harwell will be redesigning the hotel pool, courtyard and residential terrace, while the hotel’s 110,000 square feet of meeting and conference will undergo a dramatic reconfiguration and possibly see the addition of a new restaurant and coffee bar. Parking will also undergo a shift as a new entrance/exit to the residential garage is installed along T Street NW. The residential addition is expected to be sold as condominium units.

Prior to last week’s approval, the project – and the prospect of a massive construction project along Connecticut Avenue, blocks from Dupont Circle – was predictably quick to draw the ire of local citizens associations, including the Kalorama Citizens Association, the Dupont Circle Conservancy, and the Dupont and Adams Morgan ANC, all of which have cited almost-certain complications relating to the project’s bulk, design scheme and traffic.

“Apparently, under zoning law they’re allowed to have some additional amount of FAR [floor area ratio] – which we’re disputing,” said Matt Forman, Executive Vice President of the KCA, whose organization has filed an appeal with the zoning board to contest the addition. “It then comes down to a question of [changing the] design. I didn’t think it was ever going to be a question of HPRB denying the entire project.”

Built in 1965, the Washington Hilton was purchased by Lowe and the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund in May of last year for $290 million. The renovation plans were announced almost immediately afterwards. Paris Hilton could not be reached for comment.

Washington DC commercial property news

First Project Underway at Minnesota-Benning

Mayor Fenty and officials from the Office of Property Management were on hand today to break ground on the new Department of Employee Services (DOES) headquarters - soon to be erected at 4058 Minnesota Avenue NE. This is the second such project in the immediate area, as just last month, Donatelli Development announced they would be developing a $108 million mixed-use project on an adjoining parcel.

The new 229,000 square foot DOES building will include a "one-stop employment and business center," a community meeting room, a local retail incubator and, of course, enough office space for roughly 500 employees. A green roof is also in the works.

Designed by DC-based architects Devrouax & Purnell, construction of the $48 million facility is being overseen by EEC of DC, Inc. and Forrester Construction (one of the few local development companies that say they are actually hiring at the moment). The new headquarters is expected to be completed in early 2011.

Fenty and company used the occasion to kill two birds with one microphone, as he also used the opportunity to announce the appointment of Joseph Walsh as the new Director of DOES. Walsh was poached by the District from his last post as Director of Policy and Planning in the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development under Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. Here’s to hoping Mr. Walsh likes this job more than his old forty-syllable job title once the paint dries on that new HQ.