Thursday, January 08, 2009
DC's Development Pipeline in 2009
Still, many District-solicited projects await the green light to begin construction, in the process of selecting a team or are still up for grabs. Here's a breakdown of those projects and where they stand for 2009.
Available Proposals:
In one of their more unique offers, the Office of the Deputy Mayor Planning and Economic Development (ODMPED) is currently seeking a developer to take control of a 13.5-acre concrete manufacturing facility at 1515 W Street, NE. The site is currently operated by the District Department of Transportation, which plans to vacate the facility by August. Any new tenant will be required to submit to a ground lease agreement for a minimum of 10 years. Proposals for the “Develop and Operate a Concrete Plant Solicitation” are due by January 9th.
As previously reported, ODMPED is currently seeking a development team to revitalize two long-abandoned properties at 400-414 Eastern Avenue and 6100 Dix Street, NE, in the Deanwood neighborhood. The city government is looking to redevelop the properties into an affordable housing complex with a local retail component. Proposals are due to ODMPED by February 16th.
One of the bigger projects currently on deck with the city government is the redevelopment of several “excess” schools, closed due to recent budget shortfalls and threadbare facilities. These include Backus Middle School, Grimke Elementary School, Hine Junior High School, the Langston School, M.M. Washington High School, the historic 1911 school building of Randle Highlands Elementary School, Rudolph Elementary School, the Slater School, the unoccupied portion of Slowe Elementary School, Stevens Elementary School, and Young Elementary School. The sites will not be put to their former use; any plans will be considered, provided they exhibit a “creative vision for development or reuse” and “an understanding of neighborhood context.” A pre-bid conference will be held January 9th, proposals for the redevelopment of any or all of the facilities are due by February 27th.
ODMPED has also “amended and restated” their solicitation of offers for the Park Morton public housing project redevelopment that had been previously announced in September of last year. Proposals for that project are now also due by February 27th.
Proposals Submitted:
Bidding recently closed on three vacant parcels the District intends to re-appropriate as parking lots: 463 I Street, NW (available for 24 months until construction commences on Donohoe’s Arts at 5th & I project), 2 Patterson Street, NE and 33 K Street, NW (formerly the demolished Temple Courts public housing complex).
Proposals were received in September for two District-owned parcels at Fourth/Sixth and E Streets, SW – one piece of which is intended to house the Metropolitan Police Department’s new Consolidated Forensic Laboratory.
An announcement is anticipated soon regarding proposals submitted in October for the Hill East Waterfront/Reservation 13 project, which is intended to include more than 5 million square feet of mixed-use development and an extension of Massachusetts Avenue, SE – the latter of which is already underway. As of November, the District had narrowed down the contenders to competing four development teams.
The so-called “Lincoln Lots” – two V Street, NW parcels adjoining Shaw’s historic Lincoln Theatre – were also the subject of an RFP that closed this past September. ODMPED was seeking “developers to assist in repositioning real estate associated with the [theatre] to complement and benefit the ongoing operation of the Lincoln.”
Development Partners Selected:
Of the projects solicited by ODMPED over the past year, the majority have already been snatched up by development teams. These include Blue Skye Development, in concert with the Mayor’s New Communities Initiative, for an abandoned apartment complex at 4427 Hayes Street, NE; Donatelli Development and Mosaic Urban Partners for two parcels at 3813-3815 and 3825-3829 Georgia Avenue, NW; Blue Skye Development and the Educational Organization for United Latin Americans for the abandoned Tewkesbury building at 6425 14th Street, NW; Argos Group for two District-owned Capitol Hill properties at 525 Ninth Street, NE and 1341 Maryland Avenue, NE (aka Old Engine House 10); Donohoe Companies for the Arts at 5th & I project in the Mount Vernon Triangle; Donatelli Development and Blue Skye Development for the $108 million mixed-use project adjoining the Metro station at Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE; the William C. Smith & Co., Jair Lynch Companies, Banneker Ventures LLC and CPDC for the $700 million, 1600 unit Northwest One New Community that also includes retail, office and medical components; Clark Realty for the massive, $2.5 billion redevelopment of Southeast’s Poplar Point community; and, lastly, Washington Community Development Corporation and Banneker Ventures, LLC for the transformation of Deanwood’s dilapidated Strand Theatre into a mixed-use retail and office complex.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Post Park Coming Soon to Post-Hyattsville
Labels: EYA, Hyattsville, Niles Bolton, PG County, Post Properties
Located on a 7-acre parcel just off of MD 410, Post Park will be a serious addition to the Prince George’s County market – especially along the busy thoroughfare known more for its drive-thrus and strip malls than big ticket residential properties. The developments primary building will measure in at 466,700 square feet and four to five stories, for a total of 364 new residential units. 1750 square of retail space will occupy the building’s ground floor, while a 544-space parking garage will serve residents only (and not patrons of the Prince George’s Plaza Metro Station just 1600 feet away).
Post has dubbed their units “apartment homes” and will be offering, in "late 2009," finishing touches like stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, ceramic tile floors, high ceilings, and access to the in-house fitness center and swimming pool to prospective residents. Per a request from the Prince George’s County Planning Board (PGCPB), the developer will also be constructing an 8,000 square foot plaza at the intersection of East West Highway and Toledo Terrace and include a connection to the neighboring Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park – one that according to PGCPB “will contain little or no transition to the park and…make the park an amenity for [Post Park] residents.” Niles Bolton Associates is handling designs for the project, while Clark Builders Group is serving as general contractor.In a move similar to EYA’s intentions for the township, Post - in tandem with the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (HCDC) - is currently accepting submissions from local artists interested in contributing to the project’s public arts component (and the more they stand out against their Home Depot backdrop, the better). Any and all entries are due to Stuart Eisenberg, Executive Director of the HCDC by January 16th.
Prince George's County real estate development news
Monday, January 05, 2009
Crystal City, Aster is Born
Labels: Affordable Housing, Archstone-Smith, Arlington, Crystal City, Preston Partnership
Located at 305 10th Street South, the site was initially under the control of Archstone-Smith, which sought to construct two 5-story buildings with a total of 184 "luxury apartment homes" - including some with third-level mezzanines. In 006, however, the site and accompanying plans were sold off to Atlanta-based developer York Residential under the guise of North Track Apartments, LLC, but the project sat for some time thereafter.
New Condo Report: Park View Condominiums
Culled from the renovation of circa 1910 District apartment building, the units offer all the trappings of the 21st century with built-in speakers, iPod docks, ADT security systems, three-way gas fireplaces, and pre-wired flatscreen mantles. The kitchens feature stainless steel appliances, range hoods and granite countertops, while the adjoining living rooms sport Brazilian wood floors, recessed lighting and video monitoring of the building’s communal front entrance way.
Once inside the easy-to-spot, chartreuse building, floorplans vary from 1200-1400 square feet – all with two master suites and an upstairs den. The four slightly larger lofts in the property’s rear have the added advantage an extra ground floor half-bath and access to the pressure-treated wooden balconies-cum-fire escape that also serve as a rear entrance. All bathrooms feature imported tile and hand-painted, freestanding Italian glass sinks.
The Park View stands four blocks southeast of the Petworth Metro, though as an urban sacrifice to the automobile, the project's backyard features a paved and gated parking lot.
Renovation procedures at the Park View were overseen by STX LLC and Crisa Developments, while designs were supplied by Kellete & Associates.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Washington Adventist's Move to Silver Spring
Friday, January 02, 2009
Agreement (Finally) Reached on Ft. Totten Project
Labels: Ellis Denning, Fort Totten, Hickok Cole, Lowe Enterprises, StreetSense
Lowe made their initial announcement concerning The Dakotas project during the summer of 2006 with a planned late-2007 start date that never came to fruition. Details are being withheld at this time, but Sean Madigan of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development confirmed that a formal announcement of the LDA is tentatively scheduled for 10:30am Monday at the site.
Lowe’s last project in conjunction with the District was the Mount Vernon Triangle’s CityVista development and accompanying Safeway that opened their doors to much acclaim in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The Fort Totten development team also includes Hickok Cole Architects, JackSophie Development, Ellis Denning, City Partners Development, and mixed-use planners, StreetSense.
HPRB Approves Hinckley Hilton...Again
Labels: Beyer Blinder Belle, HPRB, Lowe Enterprises, Washington Hilton
Washington DC real estate development news
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Howard Theater Revamp Gets the Go-Ahead
Labels: Ellis Development, HPRB, Martinez and Johnson, Shaw
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Whitman-Walker Stalls at the HPRB
Labels: HPRB, JBG Companies, Shalom Baranes Architects, Whitman-Walker
After a 6-2 vote, the panel told the developer and architect Shalom Baranes to “restudy the proposal with regard to the design of the facade and the location of the garage entrance, to incorporate on-site interpretative information on the historic role of the Whitman-Walker clinic, and return to the Board when appropriate.”
The development team had previously taken a lashing from both the local ANC and Board of Zoning Adjustment with regards to perceived design flaws in the residential project.
4 New High-Rises for Alexandria's Eisenhower Ave?
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
JBG's 14th Street Project Faces HPRB Critique
Labels: 14th Street, JBG Companies, Shalom Baranes Architects
“While optimistic that the applicant’s general program can be achieved, the design is not compatible with the character of the historic district as proposed,” states the report. The HPO staff goes on to point specifically to the project’s design, by Shalom Baranes Architects, against what they consider the right direction for new development along 14th Street. A few highlights include (original emphasis included) the “rhythm of fenestration,” “vertical emphasis of surrounding historic buildings,” “proportion of masonry to glass” and “the scale of elements.” So much for JBG’s vision of building a glass-faced, seven-story residential development in the middle of the federal-style corridor, though the critique could apply equally to other nearby projects underway, such as View14 (pictured) six blocks north. The HPRB’s final decision is expected to be posted tomorrow, December 31st, and is expected to be in keeping with the staff recommendation.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Inauguration Invasion a Bust for Many
Despite the three million or so people set to descend on the Capitol during the third week of January, aspirants posted more than 1400 ads on the "Sublets & Temporary" housing section of Craigslist for Washington DC area - and that's just today. Gone are the $15,000 house rentals in the 'burbs, replaced by $500 furnished sublets in Dupont Circle, some of which have received not a single inquiry.
Samples had been intending to watch the parade along with his neighbors, but will now instead watch what little he can from his east-facing balcony, and give up the ticket to a neighbor with children. The Pennsylvania's management has informed residents that the ticketing system is the result of strictly enforced District fire code regulations and, additionally, that their names have been submitted to the Secret Service – a norm for buildings facing on the fabled Capitol to White House route – which will be personally checking ID on the day of the event. “[I’m] still a bit disappointed,” says Samples, “but I understand their reasons for doing so.” A commendable attitude indeed, when DC residents are now more likely to be strip-searched than rewarded for their good choice of real estate.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Arlington Courthouse Apartments to Replace Old Executive Office Building
Labels: apartments, Arlington, Courthouse, Erkiletian, Lessard Group
With all the effete charm of a suburban dentist’s office, the 7-story, glass-plated bastion of Northern Virginia office architecture currently houses the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, the ominous sounding Allen Etiquette Institute and a gaggle of law firms. An amenable Planning Board staff has labeled the building “physically out of context with the neighborhood” and believes that it “obstructs the existing view” of the much revitalized Courthouse area – a judgment that would seem to work in favor of Erkiletian.
With design from the Lessard Group, the Alexandria-based developer plans to replace the Executive Building with two dissimilarly-scaled projects. The more prominent would be a 16-story, 239,000 square foot residential high-rise that would sport 247 rental units. The unnamed tower would occupy the bulk of the parcel’s southern half and front 14th Street North – just two blocks from the Courthouse Metro. In exchange for environmentally advanced LEED Gold certification, Erkiletian hopes to receive a “bonus” of .35 FAR (buildable square footage) on top of the 4.8 FAR residential density approved for the site.
Meanwhile, the project’s secondary component aims to replace a small piece of the Executive Building’s lost office potential - with a 2-story, 13,765 square foot office building that would include 2,148 s.f. of ground floor retail. The square-shaped “cube” would front North Taft Street and also serve as an entranceway to a new 1/3 acre private plaza that would divide the dueling developments.
In addition to providing a reflecting pool and off-street outpost for resident smokers, the plaza would also benefit the greater Courthouse community with a publicly accessible amphitheater that would host four to six concerts or events yearly. Erkiletian intends to include a public art component in the plaza, pending an agreement with Arlington Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources.
In stark contrast to the Executive Building’s 60s-style motif, the development team intends to clad both buildings in “terracotta/beige brick” with metal, concrete and granite accents. The neighboring projects will both sit atop a three-level, 270-space parking garage – one level of which will creep above grade along Taft Street and provide direct access to ground floor retailers and a proposed fitness center.
Erkiletian is currently projecting a third quarter 2009 start date for the project - shortly after work on their 200 unit residential project in neighboring Alexandria is scheduled to get underway.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Purple Line Panel Says Light Rail
Labels: Bethesda, MNCPPC, Prince George's County, Purple Line
The staff decision comes after a review of a preliminary Environmental Impact Statement concerning the Purple Line and its effect on the neighboring trails. Included in the short three-page document is an outline for trail infrastructural improvements, such as a connection to Rock Creek Park, improved road crossings, retaining walls and signage, pedestrian safety measures and even the construction of a new, biker-friendly public plaza at the Line’s proposed Woodmont East terminus.
The Purple Line’s next stop is a hearing with Planning Board itself on January 8th, where, according to today’s report, four separate votes will be cast: one reaffirming support for LRT, a second for “alignment and design options,” a third to be included in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, and a fourth concerning “further actions for the Montgomery County government.”
The Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee will then hear arguments from both sides of the matter on January 22nd. Both panels are expected to also fall in favor of LRT – a method of transport that already counts Montgomery County Executive Isiah Legget and the Prince George’s County Council among its many supporters, as well as trail advocates Montgomery Bicycle Advocates and Coalition for the Capitol Crescent Trail, and environmentalist Sierra Club. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has yet to publicly confirm his support for LRT, but is expected to make a definitive statement in the coming months. At present, the projected cost of implementing the Purple Line is roughly $1.2 billion.
Washington DC commercial real estate news
A Marriott Monopoly
Labels: Alexandria, Carlyle, Davis Carter Scott, hotel, Marriott
Located at 2950 Eisenhower Avenue, the new hotel will fall at the western end of the Alexandria Tech Center and stand just a stone's throw away from the Capital Beltway. This newest Springhill Suites will measure in at five-stories and 152 rooms, made up of 106 king suites and 46 double queen suites. Amenities planned for the site include an indoor swimming pool, lounge, small conference room, a gym, an outdoor terrace and shuttle service to the nearby Eisenhower Avenue Metro Station. Designed by architects Davis Carter Scott, the project is expected to come in at a cost of roughly $13 million.
The project was unanimously approved by the both the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council in mid-November. Marriott already has a hotel in the Alexandria Tech Center – a 98,000 square foot Marriott Courtyard that bookends the opposite side of the development.
The Planning Board staff praised the Springhill project as providing “an enhanced gateway to the Alexandria Tech Center and the Eisenhower Valley with an open space plaza and interesting building design,” but also chastised them their intention to use chintzy motel building materials – in this case a synthetic stucco called StoCreativ Granite.
Any qualms were abated, however, with promises of new jobs, an expanded “commercial tax base,” LEED certification and – a point not lost on urban planners - $13 million in promised new tax revenue to be generated by the hotel over the next decade. A number of local associations, including Carlyle Eisenhower Civic Association, the Cameron Parke Home Owner Association, the Eisenhower Partnership and the Alexandria Federation of Civic Associations, have also lent their approval to the project.Marriott describes the Springhill Suites brand as “a prototype…geared toward the younger business traveler” with less expensive, yet large rooms with accompanying work space and internet access. In addition to the neighboring Courtyard location, the Tech Center’s newest tenant will also join a Strayer College location and a cluster of mid-rise office buildings along Eisenhower Avenue. Construction is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2009.
In addition to the planned Springhill Suites location, the hotelier also has plans in the works for double hotels on one block in downtown Crystal City and another under construction in Arlington’s Courthouse District, as well as several in Arlington and Washington DC. Lacey
Monday, December 22, 2008
New Museum Adds to Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Following a rigorous nationwide design contest held in 2004, the honor of designing a complement to one of Washington’s most visited and emotionally powerful tributes went to the Polshek Partnership Architects and Ralph Appelbaum Associates. Polshek will contribute the exterior designs, while Ralph Appelbaum has been charged with designing the interior exhibits. The Center will be the third collaboration between the two firms, as they previously worked together in a similar capacity on the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas and the Newseum in Washington. The Memorial Wall's original designer, Maya Lin, has lent her approval to their designs.
Once completed, the Center will measure in at roughly 25,000 square feet and be dug into an elevated area next to the Memorial. As visitors approach the site of the east, the Center’s entrance will be masked by a “gentle recess that leads to a graceful below-grade courtyard.” The decision to build underground was made so as not to affect the resonance of the neighboring Memorial, while “protecting the elegance and beauty of our beloved National Mall.” Hargreaves Associates will serve as landscape architects on the project.
The emotional impact of the neighboring complex, however, will be felt throughout the museum, as one of the planned exhibits will serve as a showcase for the nearly 100,000 objects, remembrances and tributes left at the Memorial since its completion in 1982. Other displays included in the exhibition space will include a Wall of Faces - photographs of veterans who fell in the war - and another entitled the Legacy of Service that will highlight the contributions of servicemen and women to advance our democracy from the Revolutionary War to the present conflict in Iraq.
“[That’s] the exhibit I find most riveting,” wrote Senator Chuck Hagel in American Legion op-ed last month. “It will indelibly link those who served in the Vietnam War with their comrades-in-arms of other eras and wars through core values of duty, honor and country.” In addition to being a Vietnam veteran, Hagel is also a co-chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Corporate Council.
The legislation authorizing the project prohibits use of federal funds in the planning, design and construction of the Center. The non-profit fund is currently projecting a $75-100 million budget for the project - only $18 million of which has already been accrued through donations. Time Warner has lent a generous $10 million to the project, while Boeing went public with a $1 million donation last July. A non-profit group serving families impacted by the war, Sons and Daughters In Touch, is also currently fundraising by collecting $1 for each of the 58,256 names on the Wall.
The impetus for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Center came in 2003 when the law calling for the creation of Washington’s Vietnam Memorial complex was amended by President Bush. It had taken a bipartisan group of Vietnam veterans serving in the 108th Congress - including Hagel, John Kerry, John McCain, and Tom Daschle – three years to get the bill authorized.
Washington DC real estate and retail news