National Museum of African American History and Culture Design Process Crawling Along

The design for the future National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall checked off its first of a series of reviews today, when the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) heard a presentation from the Smithsonian Institution and their chosen architect, Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup, about the plans for the building. Though commissioners praised the quality of the design, many expressed "serious concerns" about the current design's size and massing in relation to the Mall and the Washington Monument. The design process is scheduled to last approximately 3 years, with construction beginning in 2012. The 5 acres of land near the Washington Monument have been the subject of vociferous debate first with the National Park Service opposing its use for anything but the grassy space that exists today, then with 22 designs competing for the site and now with sundry federal and local agencies reviewing the merits of the design that won out over five other semi-finalists this past April. Bounded by Constitution Avenue, Madison Drive, 14th and 15th Streets NW, the site would be the terminus of the Smithsonian museums on the Constitution side of the mall, leading up to the Washington Monument. The current design is what the architect described as a pavilion, its base embracing the mound-like structure at the base of the neighboring "temple" buildings, which include the Museum of Natural History and the American History Museum. The building then opens inwards like a "front porch" to reflect a structure common in both traditional West African and southern African American cultures, according to the architect. The mass of the building is aligned with the Museum of Natural History and it is no higher than the American History Museum. NCPC commissioners generally commented favorably on the concept, especially praising the interior design of the building. However, one after another, members expressed concern that the building would diminish the impressiveness of the Washington Monument because, as one commissioner put it, the design "failed" to maintain "the integrity of the mall." Other commissioners mentioned that part of the design process involved the architects providing three alternative design concepts, a process which would "improve the final project." With the design far from finished, NCPC will hear from the team again in the spring of 2010.

Washington DC real estate development news

Retail vs. Office Space Showdown on DC's H Street

An empty lot could become one of the first new commercial enterprises on the 1200 block of H Street NE, if the developer and the community can see eye to eye. I.S. Enterprises owns the lot and is applying to build a 4-story commercial building in the reemerging restaurant and arts district of H Street, but the developer has some appeasing to do before the Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) gives a seal of approval. An October review before the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) was delayed 60 days to allow the developer time to work with the ANC, which had summarily opposed the planned structure. But with the 60 days up and another hearing scheduled next week, the project has yet to come back to the ANC with any changes or compromises.

The developer's plan is for a four-story building with ground floor professional services "such as investment and or insurance brokerage firms" with the top 3 floors set aside for the owner for office space. The lot is relatively small, so the owner is looking for zoning relief for density, seeking a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 3 rather than the permissible 2.5 FAR. The zoning requirements also stipulate that first floor ceiling heights come in at 14' to accommodate ground floor retail, but the owner would like to have 10'6" ground floor ceilings and no retail. In asking for these adjustments, I.S. Enterprise puts itself at the mercy of the ANC and the BZA, which must approve it, and can therefore mandate its standards.

According to ANC records, the organization sees the property as an opportunity to embrace the H Street Overlay and continue to develop uses favored by the community; they are unlikely to change their mind. The group strongly opposed the four story height arguing "all the other structures on the block are two stories." The ANC also objects to the overall design of the project stating "it does not reflect any of the architectural elements found on H Street." The ANC further objects the planned ground floor use, preferring retail. Though the ANC's approval is not required, the BZA will give weight to the ANC's position.

Washington DC real estate development news

The Macklin in Cleveland Park

Sponsored Announcement

UIP Property Management, Inc. is pleased to present The Macklin a fully renovated historic apartment building in the heart of Cleveland Park. The Macklin was built in 1939 and boasts 17 beautiful fully renovated apartments. The Macklin was designed in an art-deco style by renowned architect Mihran Mesrobian (1889-1975), who was a prominent Washington architect. The apartment homes have been completely and beautifully renovated with individually controlled central heating and air conditioning, GE stainless appliances including microwaves and dishwashers, washer/dryer units in each apartment, granite counter tops, restored hardwood floors, tiled kitchens and bathrooms and so much more. The Macklin’s historic exterior features were restored, including the original steel casement windows, glass block art deco entry way, and decorative false balconies and concrete panels. If you want to live in the heart of the city or if you are looking to upgrade, starting at $1,600, call us today at 202-244-3811 or visit us at our website www.uippm.com.

Getting Serious at Howard Town Center

After years of vying for the opportunity and negotiating the development, Castlerock Partners LLC finally has plans to break ground on the 2.2 acre Howard Town Center come Fall 2010. Along with development partners AVCO Interests LLC, Hardie Industries Inc and, of course, Howard University, Castlerock secured the site a year ago. The team is still working through the design phases with architects Devrouax and Purnell. Opting not to pursue a PUD, the team added Tompkins Builders as the general contractor in November, a sign the time for waffling is through.

Tim Kissler, CEO of Castlerock, told DCMud that the design phase moves forward as the team shops around for retail tenants. "First priority is a grocery store. Once that is set, we move on to other spaces and prospects," said Kissler. The grocery store was a prerequisite of the RFP and upwards of 45,000 s.f. has been tossed around as the size. Kissler added "leasing interest is strong, despite the slow economy." The rest of the retail space could total 78,000 s.f. with the University looking to support small local businesses in some of the space.

The developer has yet to commit to firm figures on the actual breakdown of residential units, but most recently has suggested there would be 420 units with the required minimum of 8% set aside as affordable, much to the disappointment of the surrounding community.

DC real estate and development news.

Parking Fuels Anger in Bethesda

LOT 31, Bethesda's stalled mixed-use development, has come under fire again, this time for its $89 million, 1,100-space parking garage. The structures are part of two developments at Woodmont and Bethesda Avenues, a joint project between Montgomery County, PN Hoffman and Stonebridge Associates approved in 2007. In a joint press release this week, The Action Committee for Transit (ACT) and the Montgomery County Group of the Sierra Club blasted the five and four-story parking garages that will comprise Lot 31 as wasteful, poorly-planned targets for taxpayer money.

Designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group, the 3-year project is expected to begin construction at 4712 Bethesda Avenue across from Barnes and Nobel sometime in 2011, but has drawn fire from environmentalists since its inception.

ACT and the Sierra Club object to the what they view as an automobile-centric approach to development so close to public transit, at public expense to boot. As part of the deal to entice developers to build, the county offered to pay for much of the $89m parking garage, or $80,000 per parking space, which developers see as a misallocation of resources that could be better spent on public transit. As in previous requests, ACT and the Sierra Club argue that "the high cost of the garage means that even in the improbable event that the garage fills up, parking fees will not cover the cost of construction," and argue for a 300-space garage instead.

So, why is the cost of construction so high? During a 2008 interview with DCMud, SK&I President, Sami Kirkdil explained that the project is more complex than usual parking structures because it requires construction crews to dig five levels into rock while at the same time "basically, taking Woodmont Avenue away," by slowing the traffic patterns around the garage.

This justification does not sit well with environmental groups who believe the number of Bethesda-area drivers has been over-estimated by the County and that the construction of the planned Purple Line,which could potentially stop just down the street from the planned garage, will further dim the need for parking in downtown Bethesda.

For their part, PN Hoffman and Stonebridge promise a "public atrium" component to the project that will serve pedestrians by acting as a meeting point between existing shops along Bethesda Row and their planned mixed-use buildings, with 357,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and residential space.

Perhaps with all of the drivers heading to Bethesda to take advantage of the safer pedestrian environment, all that extra parking will come in handy.

Bethesda Real Estate Development News

Buzzard Point Recommendations

The American Planning Association (APA) has released its recommendations for Buzzard Point, ideas that include swapping Akridge's planned high-security federal building for mixed-use affordable housing for federal employees and military families, a Sydney Opera House-type structure on its southern point to define the waterfront, and turning the PEPCO building into a cultural center for the community. These broad changes were among many suggested after an APA team did a walk through of the area and met with "key stakeholders" earlier in November. Luckily for the APA, the group is not responsible for designing, executing or paying for any of the suggestions.

If you are still scratching your head trying to figure out where this new land of opportunity is, you're not alone. As APA Team Leader Allan Mallach described it, Buzzard Point is an "in between" neighborhood - not quite SE Waterfront, but not SW Waterfront either. It has a large government presence with Fort McNair, the U.S. Coast Guard and PEPCO, but also a "strong existing residential component" largely made up by a variety of affordable housing. Despite the large industrial and government footprints, Mallach indicated the APA focused on the potential future development of more residences to complement the seismic change in the next 5 to 15 years with the departure of the Coast Guard, the arrival of the street car and reconfiguration of the waterfront and South Capitol Street.

Here are the ideas the APA put forth:

1. The Waterfront: The District should plan to buy the Jamal and Monday properties that are currently occupied by the Coast Guard to ultimately convert it to open space with limited development. Mallach admitted that this would "clearly be an expensive proposition," but suggested the District could recoup the costs by trading the development rights of those spaces for greater density elsewhere in the city.

2. Residential. Residential. Residential: A high security federal tenant on the Akridge site would be, according to Mallach, "a major missed opportunity" and the "whole concept of building a high security installation is predicated on the idea that this is not a community, so it doesn't matter." Instead, the team recommends medium-density residential developed in partnership with the federal government for "families of military personnel and/or new federal government hires." But Mallach acknowledged the challenge in convincing a developer to switch from maximum build out of six to eight stories across two or three city blocks to the modest plans for residential development.

3. Steuart Property: The site should be used for a "strong, iconic structure" that acts as the "gateway" to the SE Waterfront from the Anacostia. Mallach likened to their vision to that of the Sydney Opera House. Lest we strive for mediocrity.

4. PEPCO: Though, according to Mallach, PEPCO has no plans to go anywhere in the near future, the planner recommended taking the long view. As some of the stations go offline over time, the APA suggests that the District and the utility provider work out agreements to shrink the utility footprint in the area in favor of, you guessed it, mixed-use development. Ideally the PEPCO facility could be converted into a museum or cultural center much like the Tate Modern in London. So we've got London and Sydney covered.

The final report of the team's findings will be released sometime between February and March 2010.

Washington DC real estate news

Lacey Champagne Brunch Broker's Open, Tuesday 12 - 2pm

The Lacey, U Street's most inspirational new condominiums, will feature a champagne broker's open Tuesday, December 1st, from 12-2pm. Come see some of the city's best rooftop views and most intriguing design south of Manhattan. Marketing and sales by DCRE.

FHA's Changing Rules

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced its newest rules to rescue the condo market. Rules that take effect next week will drop the new-condo presale requirement down from 70% to 30%, a welcome change to any developer, but tack on rules that make some lenders jittery. Back in the days when no-doc loans were de rigueure and lenders financed 95 to 100% of home-purchase loans, FHA was but an obscure agency that few real estate agents even noticed. No more. FHA-based financing now allows 97% financing where lenders otherwise lend a more parsimonious 85 to 90%, and news from FHA is watched more closely than interest rates. The newest rules, just released, take effect December 7th. Under the old regime, developers were obligated to find buyers to write contracts on 70% of the units in a new condominium before FHA would back the mortgage. With so many buyers seeking FHA loans, a building could not begin settling loans before the 70% mark was met, a tough standard in the current market. The new rules bring that threshold to 30%, down from the initially proposed 50%. Spot approval, the process of getting an FHA-approved loan on a building that does not have overall FHA approval, now ends February 1, 2010. Buyers with a ratified contract by that date can still get case by case approval even if the settlement date is later. The quirk in the new rules lies in the two methods developers can use to qualify their project. The first entails "Designated Entity approval" with a bank's in-house licensed underwriters, a process the government intends as a quicker, cheaper approval method. The second is to submit the project to the FHA for approval. While no one is willing to guess at how long the government option will take, the bank approval process comes with a caveat that has bankers worried. Under the new guidelines, the first bank that approves a loan in a new condominium will incur liability for any flaws in all subsequent financing, even if it doesn't make subsequent loans. That can leave banks on the hook for hundreds of units for the profit of one loan, a scenario that banks seem not so keen to jump into. On the other hand, all existing condominiums need to be approved under the new system, leaving some industry watchers fearing a glut of applications on December 8th, with some predictions that rules for bank-approved loans will be relaxed to lighten the burden on the federal government. If not, builders will simply have to wait out the government's own approval process.

Foreclosure Hits Chinatown Landmark

One of downtown Washington DC's most visible buildings may soon be developed into a 9-story retail-centered mixed-use project; that is, if it's not foreclosed on. Sitting next to DC's Chinatown arch, one of the few exceptions to downtown's shiny newness is 801 7th Street. Yeni Wong and her Gallery Towers LLC were served a notice of foreclosure for the two contiguous lots at 675 H Street and 801 7th Street, NW in October for the $13,491,471 note plus attorney's fees. Wong, President of Riverdale International, reportedly paid more than $10m for the property in 2006. The lots were slated for auction on November 17th, but the sale was canceled, according to the office of David Prensky at DC's Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. The corner of 7th and H housed a CVS, but now sits vacant and boarded with signs promising construction that has yet to begin. Owner Wong started a public dispute by filing a law suit in September 2006 against then tenant, CVS, after the store refused to vacate the premises despite an eviction notice in the spring of 2006. Wong wanted the CVS out to facilitate the LLC's plans to develop the site for a mix of uses including office, residential and retail. According to the website of developer DRI, a Transwestern Company, 675 H Street was to become home to two buildings: one would restore the corner space and rise 9 stories over the arch, the other would be a new Class A office building behind the main storefronts. The total project would have yielded 110,000 s.f. of office space and 50,000 s.f. of retail. The planned development never came to fruition and between October 2008 and February 2009 Gallery Towers had 4 liens placed on their Chinatown property. In the meantime, Eichberg Construction briefly began work last summer after fencing off the site, but work quickly halted. 

Washington DC real estate news

The Ever-Shrinking Galaxy

A long time ago (2005), in The Galaxy far, far away (Silver Spring), Scott Copeland, owner of RST Development, began pushing the idea for a 328-unit, 700-parking space condominium development through the Montgomery County application process.

The Galaxy isn't the first project undertaken by RST Development in the Silver Spring neighborhood bounded by Eastern Avenue, 13th and King Streets. In 2004, RST converted the vacant, 15 story office building at 8060 13th St into Gramax Towers, a 182 unit apartment complex. Copeland's company began planning the renovation of the Williams and Willste buildings—two abandoned office buildings on the north side of Eastern Avenue, into the Aurora Condominiums that same year.

In 2005, in the wake of these successful projects, The Galaxy of downtown Silver Spring was born. But by early 2008, the condo market in Silver Springs was not what it used to be and the A.R. Meyer's & Associates - designed condo project shrunk in to a more modest, 241-unit complex with 430 underground parking spaces.

Fast forward to the not-so-distant future date of December 3rd, 2009 and the Montgomery County Planning board is expected to approve two new amendments to The Galaxy development plan - the first splits the project into two phases and the second reduces the number of parking spaces.

The good news, according to Montgomery County Senior Planner, Sandra Pereira, is that "there will still be 3,366 s.f. of ground floor retail." She adds that Phase 1 of the project will not only include "a five story building, but also recreation and public use space" which adds up to 25,816 square feet of space for the public.

A public parking component has been at the center of The Galaxy plans from its beginning. But RST's newest amendment will once again reduce the amount of available parking spaces - this time from 430 spaces to 368. Pereira assures us that this change is quite minor when compared to past amendments and that public parking will still be a component of the development but will now be "divided so that 160 spaces are public and 208 are private."

Despite the assurances, it's noteworthy that the only feature of the Galaxy project to experience a growth spurt in the recent months is the percentage of available moderately priced dwellings units (MPDUs).

In an effort to strengthen an application for 9% tax credits, RST Development went before the Montgomery Housing Opportunities Commission (MHOC) in September for approval to transfer 27 project-based vouchers from the Gramax Towers to The Galaxy. Susan Yancy from the MHOC confirms that "101 Galaxy units" available in Phase 1 of the development "will be offered at an affordable, 30% AMI rate," meaning that roughly 42% of Galaxy's 241 rental units will be available as MPDUs. That's quite a jump, considering RST's original 2005 plan only met the minimum MPDU requirement of 12.5%. And what was once being billed as a swanky new condo development is now going all rental.

Whether or not construction will ever begin on the four story, 46-unit second phase of development remains to be seen. No date for Phase 2's construction has been set. That said, RST Development is pushing forward into the subcontracting stage of Phase 1 despite the setbacks in the market so far. 

Silver Spring commercial real estate news

Highland Addition, HOPE-ing and Waiting

Last night, DC's Highland community was handed another development delay as New Market Investors and developer Crawford Edgewood Managers Inc. (CEMI) received approval to prolong their development schedule with a request for a three year extension. Along with the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA), the team filed to alter the zoning application approved in 2007, which would have expired this month.

The Zoning Commission approved the delay, allowing DCHA and the developers a little breathing room as they scrounge for funds and wait on a recent HOPE VI application for $22 million to develop 17 acres of townhouses. The soonest the group might expect good news about the competitive HOPE VI funding is February; until then they will be holding out hope that the stalled development will finally come to fruition.

According to Knox Hayes, DCHA Project Manager for Highland Addition, the reason behind the stalled development is the lack of funds to build new roads for the PUD. The City was unable to cough up the money for necessary roads, so DCHA took the federal path, applying through HUD'S HOPE VI grants for the maximum project award. In so doing, DCHA expanded the scope of the development from the PUD's 9 acres to include a total of 17 acres of land needing new roads and development.

The PUD will maintain its approved number of residential units at 138, but will increase the number of rental units from 30 to 46. On the remainder of the site, the same group of developers will build more residential units by matter of right zoning, with no PUD required. The proposed site will offer 261 units with 118 rental and 143 for-sale units (including the units in the PUD). Most of the homes will be townhouses, though Hayes indicated the possibility of some condominiums.

The site at Highland Additions used to be home to several public housing buildings, which were torn down in 2001, with the PUD process ensuing in 2004. Nearby are the newly renovated Overlook apartments, which replace the former Parkside Terrace apartments.

Washington DC real estate news

Bethesda Police Station Swap

JBG and Montgomery County police officials are haggling over plans for the current and future Bethesda police stations at a time when JBG is reconsidering its development partners for the prime site which sits directly across from the Bethesda Metro. Last October, Montgomery County issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redevelopment of the 2^nd District County Police Station in downtown Bethesda. Located at 7359 Wisconsin Avenue, at the corner of Wisconsin and Montgomery, the site has approximately 21,400 ground s.f. to offer. After receiving two responses to the RFP, in the first quarter of 2009 the County selected the proposal submitted by a partnership headed by JBG. Negotiations for the terms of the agreement should be complete in the first half of 2010. Once JBG makes it official, the developer will begin the zoning process for the new police station.

According to Ken Finkelstein, Managing Director at JBG, in return for the site of the current station, the developer will likely do a land swap with the county for property sitting on Cordell Avenue between Wisconsin and Woodmont Avenues. When the JBG partnership initially submitted their RFP in December of 2008, the development group included JBG, one of their affiliates and the Goldstar Group. However, Finkelstein said it is "unclear at this time if Goldstar will continue to get involved;" a fairly major detail the group is "still trying to figure out."

The County opted for an RFP because the current station is too small and "it didn't make sense to put more money into it," according to Gary Stith, Deputy Director of Planning and Special Projects within Montgomery County Department of General Services. When the County released the RFP, they indicated they were looking for a mixed-use development with a long term lease with the County as landlord. The RFP also said developers with the means to build a new station at another site in the immediate area would be offered a juicier deal than offers looking for a “simple conveyance of the Site" - i.e., the title to the land without the obligation to build a new station or exchange land. Sounds like that's why the application review committee, which consisted of county and police officials, picked JBG.

Assuming everything works out in negotiations with the County, the developers will head before the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) pursuing review under the optional method of development, which gives developers the right to a significantly higher density in the downtown area in exchange for amenities like open space. Stith said the planning and zoning process could take a full year. Finkelstein estimated the groundbreaking would be another two or three years down the line, which is probably a relief to the current tenants of the older retail buildings on the proposed site of the new police station.

The site involved in the RFP would likely see demolition of the old police station, once the law enforcement agency moves into a shiny new home. JBG's proposal calls for an office at the Wisconsin Ave location, which Finkelstein said could be anywhere from 125,000 to 250,000 s.f. And in a sweet location to boot.

Update, Nov. 24: Michael Brodsky, CEO at the Goldstar Group, contacted DCMud to say he took "exception" to the statement made by Finkelstein, adding that the RFP was awarded to a 50-50 partnership between JBG and Goldstar. Brodsky stated that to the extent that the partnership ceases to exist in the future so does the RFP award which was given to the partnership. The partnership between JBG and Goldstar was closely linked to a building owned by Goldstar behind the current police station. The partnership would potentially then redevelop the entire corner, rather than just the police station. Brodsky said if JBG and Goldstar are unable to agree to a partnership, the "entire deal is off."

Bethesda Real Estate News.

DC Tax Sale Rescheduled

The Office of Tax and Revenue has rescheduled its tax sale for November 30th. The tax sale, originally scheduled for September, had been canceled after a legal challenge to the process. Interested parties can register from Nov. 23rd - 25th, those who had registered prior to the September deadline need not register again. The auction is not in fact a sale, as no property changes hands on that date. Auction bidders win a claim against the property, and may eventually begin a judicial foreclosure process, but original owners retain the property in the short term and have a statutory right to pay off the bidder and clear the title to their home. And so while most property owners delinquent as of last year will exercise their rights and retain their homes, auction bidders often come away with the right to charge penalties on the property. The auction will be held at 941 N. Capitol Street. 

Washington DC real estate news

Art Place at Fort Totten

Coming off its recent zoning approval, the Art Place and Shops at Fort Totten development is now being readied for the initial stages of planning and demolition, in what will be a 2 million s.f. transit-oriented project with a mixture of community-serving retail, residential and arts and cultural space to the area between South Dakota Avenue and the Fort Totten Metro. The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation are seeking bids to work on the nearly 17 acres of land in northeast DC's Fort Totten community. The project will be executed in several stages with one massive building in the first phase and the rest to follow. Developers expect to begin construction in the first half of 2010 and have the first building ready within 24 to 36 months from now.

Initial schematic designs call for the demolition of the Riggs Family Apartments and three warehouses currently on the site. The demolition will make room for the construction of four buildings comprised of 929 multi-family one- to three-bedroom units; 305,000 square feet of retail space; 170,000 square feet of cultural and arts spaces; and a 47,000-square-foot children's museum. Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn (EE&K) is the master planner for the site, Shalom Baranes Architects (SBA) has designed the first of the four buildings, and MV+A Architects is designing the retail, all to meet basic LEED certification standards.

The first phase of construction will begin with Building A at South Dakota and Galloway Street, which will be joined below grade by a common foundation and parking garage, but above grade will appear as 3 distinct, adjoining buildings. The residential portion of this phase will offer 529 units including 98 units of senior housing and 43 affordable units out of a project total of 161 units set aside as affordable at 60 to 80% AMI. The retail space includes approximately 59,000 s.f. for a grocery store with supporting retail lining the street as residents walk to the metro. Cafritz Foundation Board Member Jane Cafritz speculated this retail could include stores like card shops, dry cleaners and restaurants, and is shopping around for a grocery store to anchor the first stage of development.

Though buildings B, C and D received approval, Cafritz said their exact designs are still up in the air and dependent on market conditions around the time of construction. In the PUD zoning approval, Building B is planned for three stories of retail and cultural use to include the 47,000-s.f. ground floor children's museum, ground and second floor retail and space for a child care facility and seniors' center.

The planned seven-story "cultural and arts spaces" in Building D would potentially serve both the Washington National Opera and the Shakespeare Theatre for storage, rehearsal space and related shops. The developers also offer to provide upwards of 20,000 s.f. in this building for a public library and an additional 30,000 s.f. of "community space;" giving away space like free samples at Costco.

The eight-story Building C is planned as entirely residential, built in two C-shaped wings, joined at the second level, to accommodate the possibility of a new 3rd Street connecting the Arts Place property to the neighboring Food and Friends property, should the neighbors decide to sell or redevelop at a later date. Of the 400 rental units, 30 may be set aside as affordable for artists- everyone loves the arts these days.

All this development does not come without growing pains. Several current community members living in the Riggs Family Apartments were outspoken during the PUD review process. They will be displaced from their current home and moved into temporary housing on the same site until the new affordable spaces in the Arts Place project are ready. One senior from the community and a resident of the Cafritz apartments testified in objection to the handling of the current residents, saying that residents had not been told where they were going or when.

Despite community complaints, Jane Cafritz tried to paint a rosier picture, adding that that temporary homes for the tenants are fully refurbished with new appliances and the developers will try to accommodate seniors with first floor units. Highlighting the benefits of the new project though, Cafritz said the foundation will pay the gap between the rates on the affordable units and the actual cost of a market rate units, absorbing that cost for "20 years or the life of the tenant," whichever comes first. The former Riggs tenants will have first dibs on the new affordable residences at Arts Place and Shops.

Building A images courtesy of Interface Multimedia.

Washington DC Real Estate News.

The Joy of CSX: Capitol Hill Braces for Big Dig

Thanks to expansion of the Panama Canal, Capitol Hill may be about to get its own Big Dig - a $174 million capital improvement project that will unearth the long-buried tunnel south of the Capitol Building to widen and deepen the antiquated freight line. For those that miss the obvious connection between Panama and DC, the $5 billion overhaul of the Big Ditch in Panama will now make it easier to ship cargo from Asia to the Gulf of Mexico, and from there into the midwest via rail lines, beating out formerly dominant west coast ports as the cheapest point of entry into the American interior. That is, if the rail lines can handle the increased cargo. Which brings us back to Capitol Hill.

In 2008, freight-hauling giant CSX, which owns the tracks that cross the Potomac and mole beneath the Capitol, launched its National Gateway project to improve the capacity of its rail lines, one of which happens to lie under Virgina Ave in Southeast DC. CSX plans to unearth the narrow tube from 2nd Street to 11th Street, beginning in 2011 and continuing for an estimated two to three years. Surely Bostonians are smirking sympathetically, but area residents and business are bracing for the worst.

According to officials from the company, the CSX rail lines that disect DC are some of the most congested on the line. According to the National Gateway website, a variety of factors lead to the decision to expand and renew the current freight system. Population growth, energy costs, and environmental factors will mean increased demand for freight. According to CSX, the current system of tracks, bridges and tunnels is outdated, hence the new plan to widen the tunnel and lower the tracks to allow for double-stacked trains, but in order to access the tunnels for construction, its Virginia Avenue ceiling will need to be removed.

In the late 1800's Congress authorized the B&O Railroad, now CSX, to build the tunnel and own the area below ground, while the federal government retained ownership of Virgina Avenue at grade. As with any major project in D.C., a spiderweb of authorities will have their say over the planned construction. According to National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) Senior Planner David Zaidain, since CSX is applying for federal TIGER Grants to fund a portion of the project, the company will have to comply with the National Environmental Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. NCPC has oversight because Virginia Avenue is technically federal land and is inside the L'Enfant City plan. NCPC will review the concept and give final approval to the public space effects of the project during and after construction. For good measure, the District Department of Transportation will be working with CSX to evaluate impact on traffic.

Assuming CSX obtains the federal grant money and jumps sufficiently through the various oversight hoops, residents on Capitol Hill can expect an extended period of construction and all its attendant pleasures. Among the joys of CSX: new traffic patterns - including temporary bridges connecting the numbered streets and diverted flows from Virginia onto G Street - construction noise, and the unmasked noise of trains running through the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. For three years. Or more. And that's before planners start getting ideas about what other infrastructure goals could be accomplished while they're at it.

The project is particularly irksome to residents and businesses such as EYA's Capitol Quarters housing development. The new townhomes line the streets near Virginia Avenue and the proposed CSX plan is giving some future homeowners a (possibly justified) case of buyers' remorse. Some would-be buyers have backed off when they caught wind of the area's construction future. EYA Partner AJ Jackson had this to say about the Capitol Quarter community and CSX, "EYA has been in contact with CSX and will be working with the company as well as the District government to ensure that Capitol Quarter continues to be a great community if CSX’s National Gateway proposal goes forward. Our goal is to ensure that any proposal that’s considered includes the needs and concerns of the Capitol Quarter." Like moving massive amounts of freight from the gulf to the north and west. At least Hill residents can console themselves that this will save alot of fossil fuel consumption. And Bostonians will tell them that this too shall pass. But not soon.

Images from the NCPC and DDOT Freight Railroad Realignment Study.

Washington DC real estate news