Adventures in Design and Viticulture: The Jefferson

Some might say his dual passions for wine and statesmanship fed one another, his lifelong thirst and quest for both taking him places most men of his time would never go. For founding father Thomas Jefferson, the pursuit of happiness was manifested both in extensive European fact-finding/grape growing missions, and in the sense of urgency with which he and his co-founding fathers laid the cornerstones of a brand new nation.

For the eponymous hotel at 16th and M Streets NW that takes its legacy from the third president of the United States, The Jefferson, though small by hotel standards, looms large in the elite world of luxury accommodations, and even larger in terms of the sparkling shadow it casts over a District where privilege and entitlement are pretty much found in the drinking water.

Undergoing a comprehensive 30-month renovation and restoration and reopening in August of 2009, The Jefferson, on its 86th birthday, emerged with an eye toward innovation and a sense of tribute firmly intact. Not only had the hotel succeeded in celebrating a visionary whose interests, in addition to wine and politics, ran the gamut from architecture to food and literature, but it had seamlessly integrated technology, history and design to create a 21st century environment of which Thomas Jefferson would surely approve. According to Managing Director Franck Arnold, that was precisely the goal.

Bones

Built as an apartment building in 1922-23 at a reported cost of $450,000 by Paris-born Beaux-Arts style practitioner Jules Henri de Sibour, The Jefferson was thought to have been converted to a hotel in the late 1940s (no definitive records of the conversion date exist, but a 1948 city directory lists the property as the Jefferson Hotel). With a variety of owners from the 1950s-1980s (a 1953 Washington Post theatre critic called The Jefferson “dear to the show folk” because of its en suite kitchens–kitchens that had not been removed from its days as an apartment building–for après show snacks), the 99-room hotel endured the slings and arrows of well-intentioned incursions into its limestone façade and interior, but not always with the best results.

“All of the mechanical work was replaced for the current renovation,” Arnold said, explaining that in the gutting process, errant columns were discovered including a “rogue column” on the eighth floor that had to be taken out. He also revealed that all 99 bathroom ceilings had to be reinforced with steel beams because “through the years, they renovated without appreciating the structural aspects of the building.”

Architect Mary Oehrlein, whose firm, Oehrlein & Associates Architects, oversaw the restoration aspects of the eight-story project, said that in the hotel industry what the public sees is important, and design and construction dollars are largely focused on that image. To that end, in the current redesign the aforementioned kitchens were walled off, but if somebody wants to reconvert the hotel back to an apartment building in the future, the spaces are still there and usable. In some of the larger suites, Oehrlein added, former kitchen space was converted to a small exercise studio within the suite.

Face

In true glass slipper fashion, The Jefferson’s imposing porte cochere greets its guests with elegance and style, and the anticipation of what lies within. Designed by former Oehrlein & Associates Architects’ Pamela Blom and custom cast by Robinson Iron of Birmingham, Ala., the heated and cooled glass and iron cantilevered structure extends 20 feet from the building’s façade, with a barrel vaulted skylight, side extensions, track lighting and an enclosed vestibule. A sculpted bronze Thomas Jefferson in bas relief looks down on arriving guests, precluding any doubt that this is the place.

“When we closed the hotel for renovation in 2007,” Arnold said, “we had a limited Beaux-Arts inspired canopy that didn’t provide for any sense of arrival or departure. It didn’t say you had come to a luxury hotel.” Arnold explained that initially, the HPRB (Historic Preservation Review Board) jettisoned the concept of the porte cochere, claiming it had no historical basis. Immersing himself in research, Arnold ascertained that the genesis of the old canopy was questionable, with earliest photographs placing it smack in the middle of the 1970s and maybe the ‘80s. The HPRB relented and the porte cochere was born.

Palate

Once inside, a confluence of reverence and reverie punctuate a lobby that honors both Jefferson’s intellect and his aesthetic. Opposing busts of Adams and Jefferson - good friends, political enemies and then friends again before their deaths two hours apart on July 4, 1826 (the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence) - preside over Jefferson’s signed documents from the second and third Philadelphia Congresses of the United States. A stately glass and wrought iron gate, retained and redesigned from a prior renovation, leads to the hotel’s Plume restaurant, and The Greenhouse, also for dining, and when closed provides a sense of separation from lobby to sustenance. It might also be observed that the gate’s joyful, ornate gold fleur-de-lis might have been prescient: On January 10 The Jefferson was accepted into the luxury hotel industry’s prestigious Relais & Chateaux - the only Washington, D.C. hotel to receive the honor - whose emblem is the fleur-de-lis.

A vaulted ceiling, skylight and accruing lay light in the lobby and dining areas, constructed when The Jefferson was built in the 1920s but which had disappeared under layers of plaster in successive renovations, were rediscovered, and under the stewardship of ForrestPerkins, the architectural design firm that oversaw The Jefferson’s redesign, enhanced with LED lighting to gently manipulate the changing light of day.

In a leap toward melding history with technology, a bar and lounge off the lobby called Quill tips its proverbial hat to Jefferson, who is thought to have said he prefers the prospect of the future to the lessons of the past. With burnished oak paneling, parquet floors and a series of authentic maps on the walls that illuminate Jefferson’s wine expeditions through France, Holland, Italy and Germany, the maps were a gift from hotel guest Scott Ballin who first stayed at The Jefferson with his father in the 1960s. Most illuminating, however, is the actual bar itself, a behemoth of glass panels threaded with a “light tape” that might make the future-thinking president rethink the need for fire in fireside chats (wrong president, but right idea).

Vine

In The Jefferson’s “private cellar,” adjacent to Plume, private parties can dine in wine-friendly temperatures surrounded by 1200 of the hotel’s 6500-bottle wine collection – wines of which perpetual viticulturist (viticulture: the growing of grapes vs. viniculture: the making of wine) Thomas Jefferson would have approved, and some of which he’d even discovered during his years (1784-89) as minister to France and selected for his own cache. After that time, wherein he’d spent 3 ½ months traveling through Europe studying the art of winemaking, grape growing, harvesting, collecting, conserving and serving, according to Arnold, Jefferson returned to Monticello and invented the dumbwaiter to ferry his wines from cellar to what would, in contemporary parlance, be his daytime study. A replica of the Monticello dumbwaiter exists in the hotel’s private cellar, alongside a dining table for 16 (20 if necessary) made from repurposed parquet floors in a nod to sustainability. A 3 X 7-foot hand painted mural with pastoral scenes of Monticello depicts what the nation’s third president would have seen each day, as do various murals in Plume.

“Jefferson believed wine was integral in bringing civilization to a country that was very agrarian back then,” Arnold said, affirming that the cultivation of wine implied sophistication. In fact through the years he was credited with serving as wine advisor to Presidents Washington, Madison and Monroe. But despite Jefferson’s relentless efforts to educate himself in the ways of the vine, and his unofficial partnership with Italian physician, entrepreneur, politico and vintner Philip Mazzei, Jefferson was unsuccessful in decades-long trials to establish vineyards at Monticello. His failure had little to do with climate or soil, as some had speculated, and much to do with the existence of the as yet unidentified phylloxera louse, which attacked his crop at the root.

Repose

Trials withstanding, in spirit and sentiment The Jefferson reflects its namesake’s affinity for wine and his myriad other interests, not only in its public spaces, but also in its elegant and individual guestrooms. While rooms vary in décor, many include Crema Marfil stonework from Spain, in some the choice of toile echoes the textiles from his time abroad, and in others framed quotes provide insight into an intellectual, a visionary and occasionally a humorist. Chandeliers are everywhere and linens are 300-thread count from D. Porthault in Paris, custom linen makers to such dignitaries as the John F. Kennedy’s, Charles DeGaulle, Sir Winston Churchill, Grace Kelly and Coco Chanel (Mr. Jefferson would surely approve). Embracing Jefferson’s penchant for invention, rooms are equipped with Bose systems and iPods, as well as wi-fi and broadband. Bathrooms boast in-mirror TV’s and individually controlled recessed heat above the bathtub. In short, why would one ever leave?

Acquired in 2005 and owned by DC CAP Hotelier, LLC, a subsidiary of NY-based Ogden CAP Properties, LLC, Arnold revealed the owners are “very engaged in the well-being of this property.

“Somehow it is very fortunate,” he said, “because nowadays in the world of international corporations, you don’t get people who are so committed to making the right decision and the long term decision. A lot of choices could have been made much more rapidly and probably in a less expensive way than what was actually done,” he stated. “However as the owners like to put it, they did this for their grandchildren.”

Interior photographs by Stirling Elmendorf

Brightwood Blight Shines Anew as Condos

Brightwood neighbors gathered in excitement to mark a day many of them thought would never come - the opening of 6425 14th Street, NW. The Tewkesbury, once the neglected eyesore of a slum lord, now offers 26 renovated condo units to the Ward 4 community, thanks to the District government and developer Blue Skye. The relatively small project drew significant political attention, with Councilmembers Muriel Bowser and Kwame Brown joining Mayor Adrian Fenty in the festivities; even Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs Director Linda Argo showed up.

The DC government purchased the property in 2008 for $3 million, after filing suit against its owner for “numerous" building code violations. Blue Skye won the right to develop and invested $3.8 million in the renovation. Half of the building is being sold at market rate, the other half is subsidized for tenants earning from 30 to 80 percent Area Median. Several condos have already sold.

The community expressed relief to be free from the blight that once filled the lot, "[we] almost assumed it would always be [that] way...this makes a huge difference," said Kamili Anderson of the Brightwood Neighborhood Association. The building offers a mix of one- and two-bedroom units and, according to Scottie Irving of Blue Skye, there is no difference between the affordable and market rate units, which range in size from 900 to 1,200 s.f.

Blue Skye served as developer and contractor, partnering with PGN architects and subcontracting to several local businesses for materials and labor. According to Irving, 90 percent of the money put into the property stayed in the District. The Tewkesbury has 10 parking spaces available for an additional fee.

Construction took 14 months, though several last minute touches were being applied as neighbors toured for the first time. Reactions seemed mixed: one neighbor complained about a questionable paint job in the hallway and another criticized the way the flooring was laid in the bathroom. Irving took both praise and complaints, smiling as he showed off his work. Blue Skye is working on "phase 2" of the project, a 54-unit affordable senior housing project, at nearby 1330 Missouri Avenue, NW with partner Donatelli.


Washington, DC real estate development news

Hill Center Ground Breaking

Capitol Hill's Old Naval Hospital at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE will soon be transformed into the Hill Center - a fully refurbished community center, meeting place and cafe - officially kicking off on Sunday. Built in 1865, the building served wounded and aging Civil War veterans and later was used as a training center for Naval doctors. The structure has fallen into disrepair over the years, though the local ANC continued to use it as a meeting space until just recently. Once at the top of the list of most endangered historic places, the Old Naval Hospital will begin its transformation at Sunday's groundbreaking and "old fashioned ice cream social," beginning at 2 PM. Break out your Sunday best.

After years of debate, the Historic Preservation Review Board in 2009 granted unanimous approval to the historic restoration plans for the hospital, the surrounding fence and the neighboring carriage house, the latter of which in recent years served as a temporary Christmas tree stand. In the 2009 staff report, the HPRB remarks on the architectural integrity of the building, which still has its original windows, roof, interior walls and finishes. The old fence surrounding the property, with period compass circles and stars, was cast by a firm located on the Anacostia river around the time the building was constructed. The architects have undertaken an archeological study to ensure the fence is reconstructed in a historically accurate manner.

When complete, the main building will have 12 rooms to serve as meeting spaces, classrooms, a computer center and even a demonstration kitchen. Several rooms on the second floor will be available for rent to host conferences and events. Sounds like a prime fund-raising space. The adjacent carriage house will be converted to a cafe. BELL Architects, which performed previous updates to the crumbling facade, has led the planning and is responsible for the new design. Gone is the red brick facade, which will be recoated with historic-conforming beige skin.

In February of this year the federal government handed over the property to the District, which will grant a 20-year lease to the The Old Naval Hospital Foundation (ONHF) for use of the building as the Hill Center. ONHF won the right to renovate the building in 2007 after vying for an RFP released by the Office of Property Management (OPM) in 2003; total restoration costs are estimated at $10 million.

The Hill Center builds upon the transformation of the Eastern Market neighborhood, following the recent reopening of the Eastern Market and joining plans for a mixed-use development at Hine Junior High School across the street.

Architect's Update:
DCMud had a chance to discuss the project with architect, David Bell. Bell explained that Hill Center will receive a rehabilitation tax credit, which holds the architects and construction team to higher standards, including stringent National Park Service review. Bell said it was "challenging...to match up a sustainable design and energy goals with historic preservation" but he believes the Hill Center is a "good candidate to show that you can actually meet both criteria." The best example of these efforts is the heating and air conditioning system the team will use. A normal building requires a cooling tower either on the ground or the rooftop, clearly non-starters for the historic site. The team is instead digging wells, 450 feet deep wells, with piping that will use the natural heat exchange of the ground to create heat in the winter and absorb it in the summer. The process avoids the need for an unsightly cooling tower and is actually more energy efficient because it does not require a gas fired broiler or additional energy-guzzling equipment.

Washington, DC real estate development news

And I Shall Call You "Capital Bikeshare"

This fall members of the new Capital Bikeshare will find bike stations in every ward of the District and in Arlington, with plans to expand to new locations in Virginia and Maryland underway. The long awaited expansion was announced last month, and yesterday the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) officially named the new system: Capital Bikeshare. The system will be the largest of its kind, bringing roughly 1100 bikes to 114 stations throughout the region.

DDOT’s Smartbike program originally launched in 2008 in the downtown DC area. DDOT funded the first 10 stations through an advertising deal with ClearChannel, which built the new bus shelters, maintains them and uses them for ads. The ad revenue (or at least an undisclosed percentage of it) initially paid for 10 stations in the downtown area; ClearChannel runs the Smartbikes under the direction of DDOT.

Since then, DDOT Director Gabe Klein has been pushing to expand the program. "Our hope is to create a transit system with bikes" said Klein in a 2009 DCMud interview. Klein posited that an expanded bikesharing system would "hopefully make cycling a primary mode of transportation. It will also be institutionalizing it and bringing it to the masses." You hear that masses? These bikes are for you.

Capital Bikeshare will offer 100 stations in DC and 14 in Arlington. Annual, monthly, and daily memberships will be available for area residents and visitors. Alta Bicycle Share will operate the system. It looks like current Smartbike members will be allowed to use the new system, but DOT spokesman John Lisle said "I don't think the details have been worked out yet...we're still negotiating with ClearChannel."

Washington, DC real estate development news

The Limits of DC - Improving What's Up in The Height Act

Part IV of our series on height limits in Washington DC By Brian O'Looney, AIA A century has passed since the enactment of the 1910 Height Act, and Washington has benefited greatly from adhering to the code that has shaped the Nation’s Capital. Moving forward, however, it is simply not enough to be content with the status quo, as considerable challenges remain for the Greater Washington region. While DC has been blessed with a very good urban framework, over the past 40 years there have been notable successes in buildings created by talented architects, but mediocre contributions to the public realm have been the norm. One challenge is getting developers to invest more in their facades, a particular difficulty when the ongoing Global Economic Crisis has put extreme financial pressure on the real estate industry. Another challenge is getting architects – who admittedly are all too often headstrong in their visions – to relate their buildings better to the urban context. Finally, questions remain as to how jurisdictions can code this vertical plane to achieve better results. The great challenge for Greater Washington’s future is how to encourage the construction of sympathetic buildings that make better places, to fill out the vision of L’Enfant’s initial 1791 plan, all within the 1910 Height Act that further defined it. On May 18th, the National Capital Planning Commission hosted Larry Beasley, the former city planner from Vancouver, British Columbia, to talk about Washington’s 1910 Height Act, which limits building heights in the District. His masterful presentation, leading us through a 45 minute celebration of good planning with high-rise towers in Vancouver, concluded with a ringing endorsement of the Height Act and a celebration of Washington’s achievements:

I hope you see what an extraordinary accomplishment these height limits represent; what an extraordinary and unique city they have created for you over a hundred years of careful custodianship. And perhaps the most compelling reason for this, and one that I have not really emphasized tonight, is that the city is just so comfortable, so liveable, so humane at it’s current scale.

Beasley added that great value is added by the resulting uniqueness and symbolic power of DC’s skyline. When discussing Washington’s planning successes, we should remember that there are elements in the District’s zoning and planning regulations besides the Height Act; L’Enfant’s initial 1791 plan and the McMillan Commission’s edits have led to the distinctive quality of our public realm. As Sacha Rosen pointed out earlier in this series, the Zoning Code enables the development of façade depth with the ability to have “projections into public space;” beltcourses, bays, pilasters and other façade elements. The code also permits spires, belfries and unoccupied architectural embellishments to extend beyond height limitations, which allows for emphasis in buildings terminating street views, better architectural emphasis of building corners, and the celebration of ecclesiastical structures. Rather unusually, Washington counts areas of above ground parking structures toward the overall site density allowance. This is the main reason why comparatively few above-ground parking structures exist here; few developers want to waste precious development density and bury the parking, at triple the cost. Washington’s street frontages greatly benefit, as its walls are almost always are activated by windows and the vitality they represent. But with regard to the unevenness of the last 40 years of building in Greater Washington, some of the problem clearly rests with the whims of architectural culture, which can place priority on design trends over urban context and local community identity. As an illustration, it is not a surprise that in the 1970’s minimalist modernism was superseded so quickly by Postmodernism right after Progressive Architecture, Architectural Record and architecture magazines began publication in color. In Washington, however, Postmodernism was a blessing, because DC’s particular flavor, the “Washington Reds” such as Amy Weinstein and David Schwarz, were some of the first to reassert the importance of contextualism within the national architectural culture. But even today, the negative gravity of the unchecked architectural culture on our civic realm has not subsided; pious claims of sustainability allow for some less than stellar contributions to the urban realm to be blessed by critics, the media, and architects alike. Again, the broader questions are difficult to answer: How do we get developers to invest more in their facades? How do we compel architects to make their buildings relate better to the urban context? How can jurisdictions code the vertical plane to achieve better results? 

One success in Developer Incentives New York City’s J-51 program, which has been in place for years, is a proven example of getting developers to behave through their bottom line. It encourages the renovation of residential apartment buildings with partial property tax exemptions and abatement benefits. The money that would have been spent on taxes is instead spent on renovation, as well as upkeep and improvements to the lot frontage. These lot frontage improvements are particularly noticeable in Morningside Heights, a neighborhood rejuvenated by this policy. In the end, because of the improvements, property values have gone up, and tax revenues have actually improved. Architectural Peer Pressure When it comes to getting architects to work in harmony with their urban context, Mr. Beasley advocates the peer review process utilized in Vancouver and elsewhere: “Good architecture comes from good architects that are supported by a regulatory system that facilitates good design and forces it to be a development priority. One of the easiest things you can do is implement design review and to put peer review in place.” These processes are not without their challenges. They require architects to volunteer their time, or find scarce governmental funding for paid peer reviewers. In many Home Owner’s Associations (HOAs) the reviewers enforcing community standards are not professionals, and the standards are often not well written (set up, on the cheap, by a homebuilder), with results that are mixed, at best. Still, these boards generally serve their communities well. Contrary to some claims, peer review boards rarely stifle creativity; they more often channel it within bounds that serve both the community identity and promote comfortable continuity. Architects and designers on these boards understand the greater architectural culture, but their allegiances lie with the sense of place they are charged to uphold. Although local examples like Kentlands and Georgetown trend neo-traditional, one could see the peer process lead to very different types of design as they have in Vancouver, or perhaps in Tel Aviv, Israel, or Brisbane, Perth and Mawson Lakes in Australia, where the community’s architectural identities have trended modern, yet urbanistically sensitive. Great transcendent architectural icons from their time can result, such as Pei’s East Wing of the National Gallery, approved through the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. When well run, like Kentland’s Process or the Old Georgetown Board, developers and homeowners alike find they are empowered to renovate or build as they like, but the review process accomplishes better results than they would have on their own. That said, these processes often take longer, and landowners typically spend more money. But these are development costs that are generally understood in the marketplace and get factored into land value when the land is purchased by the developer. Coding the Vertical This point leads to one of Mr. Beasley’s more compelling insights regarding economic implications of greater density, and what jurisdictions must do to achieve better results in their coding efforts. He strongly cautioned that if height restrictions are lifted in non-sacred portions of Washington, it should be tied to improved public amenities. The concern is that the financial benefit from the increase in bulk typically benefits land sellers by increasing land value, and rarely benefits the developers who, in turn, could use a large portion of that financial benefit to better the public realm being created. Again, Larry Beasley:

To make a bonus or incentive work, you also have to make sure the land value increase stays in the hands of the developer rather than slipping into that of the previous land owner. This is done according to how you structure the law that vests the additional development opportunity. And then, having done that, you can then look for a portion of that unexpected land value to be invested in the public good that the bonus or incentive is trying to achieve.

Montgomery County’s recently adopted White Flint CR incentive density zoning is a big step in that direction. The “By-right” development allowance in these zones is half the land area. Optional density increases, up to four times the land area, are tied to a menu of public benefits in the following broad categories: Transit Proximity, Connectivity & Mobility, Diversity, Design, and Environment. The development must make significant advances in three of these categories to maximize the potential density. Specific measures include adding additional workforce or moderately priced dwelling units, burying the parking, and providing greater open space. Additionally, in order to achieve the full density allowance, commercial uses must be mixed with residential uses. Unfortunately what was finally adopted by the County Council was weaker than what the planning office proposed, inexplicably not including bonuses for meeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® [LEED] sustainability goals, and not requiring build-to-line frontage requirements outside of retail areas. A further imperfection is that the “mixed-uses” appear that they can exist side by side in stand-alone buildings, as long as these buildings are submitted in a single sketch plan (some may argue that this will accelerate development in the short term). And the CR zone does not include architectural peer review as advocated by Mr. Beasley, substituting an awkwardly worded “Exceptional Design” criterion which will give fits to architects and developers, and ultimately challenge land-use attorneys who will have to explain “original” “innovative” and “new” in proposed designs - a lot of weirdness may result. Perversely, the new zoning also promotes the creation of blank walls on the public realm that can then be covered with a Greenscreen™ or similar products, as this is one of the least costly ways to achieve bonus density under the system. But even with these flaws - which the county’s planners are aware of and will likely correct - the legislation is on the forefront of density design in the United States. 

Hopefully other jurisdictions will follow Montgomery County’s lead and craft better language that builds upon this leap forward. As suggested by Mr. Beasley, additional improvements to this kind of upzoning can include making peer review boards more palatable to public jurisdictions by placing their enforcement costs upon the applicants, perhaps in a process similar to LEED. (One main reason LEED has achieved almost instantaneous acceptance is that it places the cost of documentation and enforcement upon the developer, often exceeding $100,000 per building, making it palatable for jurisdictions to simply adopt LEED standards.) Architectural peer review processes would be significantly less expensive, even small compared to typical public development review costs in Greater Washington. Kentlands reviews around 180 applications a year in a monthly review process, and their annual professional review costs (through Duany Plater-Zyberk and volunteer residents) average $15,000, which also includes DPZ’s monthly open houses with free architectural consulting to residents. Granted, there would be preparation costs for peer review, which take longer, and therefore carrying costs would be a concern. 

But theoretically these costs would be figured into the purchase price. Should the improvements succeed in making the area more desirable, the increased land value may negate or exceed these costs, turning into a win-win for both the developer and the land owner. Most of us cringe at the thought of additional regulation. But Peer review boards add long-term value with nominal short-term costs. Developers are willing to invest more if they know that their neighbors will be held the same standard. In conclusion, Mr. Beasley’s endorsement of the Height Act is not surprising, after all, as the new code for Abu Dhabi’s Al Ain that he helped create limits height to 6 stories, with the hopes of celebrating regional heritage by allowing Al Ain’s historic palaces, mosques and fort turrets to stand proud in their civic context. This plan will clearly contrast Al Ain to the ego-driven building frenzies in nearby Doha and Dubai, and in the long run, I suspect the regional difference will be somewhat akin to that between Savannah and Atlanta. We hope that in the next forty years that Greater Washington’s Land Owners, developers, architects and public officials can come together to put as much attention in the buildings filling our public realms as has been put into the planning of the ground plane. 

Brian O’Looney, AIA LEED-AP, is an Architect and Urban Planner and Partner with Torti Gallas and Partners. He is a former chair of the Kentlands architectural review board. His recent contributions to Washington at Torti Gallas and Partners include the design of the new Social Safeway in Georgetown and as one of the design leaders for their work in Columbia Heights.

Skanska Celebrates Progress at 10th and G Streets

When is a groundbreaking not a groundbreaking? Perhaps when the project is already well under way and a small box of dirt serves as shovel fodder on the rooftop of a nearby building, which was the scene at today's groundbreaking at 733 10th Street, NW. Still, progress is progress, and the new 10-story, 200,000 s.f. Skanska building at 10th and G Streets, NW, will change the face of the site that neighbors the MLK Library. According to Robert Ward, Executive Vice President at Skanska, the new structure should top out by the end of the year.

A church, in various iterations (see demolished church, at bottom), has sat at the site since 1865. Over five years ago First Congregational United Church of Christ released an RFP for the site, originally selecting PNHoffman as the developer for what was then planned as a combined condominium, church office, and homeless shelter and later an office building. When the developer ultimately lost financing, Ward and his team stepped into the picture and have been working with PNHoffman and the congregation to rework the plan for the downtown site for almost a year. Skanska now acts as the developer, financier and general contractor with PNHoffman as non-financing partner.

Under the agreement between Skanska and the church, Skanska will spend $21 million on the build out, and the church will get 25,000 s.f. of worship and office space, and 20 below-grade parking spaces. The religious portion will be designed by Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects of New York.

Designed by Cunningham | Quill to achieve LEED Gold certification, the building will feature a vegetated green roof and hexagonal glass facade - from the fourth floor up. Upwards of 4,000 s.f. of ground floor retail will be a "nice enhancement" for the neighborhood, according to Ward, who hopes to secure a restaurant tenant. Delivery is expected by October of 2011, with development costs around $85 million.

Washington, DC real estate development news

Webchat: Make no Little Plans - the Daniel Burnham Legacy

Make no Little Plans - Live Webchat with film Producer Judith McBrien, Director of Make No Little Plans, a documentary being screened on the Mall on June 9th, and Nancy Witherell, Historic Preservation Officer with the National Capital Planning Commission. The webchat will began at noon. Join us today to discuss Daniel Burnham, his legacy, his effects on DC, and the urban planning process in the District of Columbia.



Judith Paine McBrien: Director/Producer of The Archimedia Workshop NFP, is the Director of the Daniel Burnham Film Project. For over 15 years she has written, directed and produced programs about architecture, history and urban design for public television broadcast as well as for organizations concerned with the arts and the environment including the Art Institute of Chicago, the American Institute of Architects, the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust and the Urban Land Institute. At Perspectives Media, she produced the award-winning 5-part series Skyline: Chicago for public television broadcast about Chicago’s history, development, and urban design. In 2000 she wrote and produced a Centerpiece Chicago Story, Daniel Burnham: The Power of Dreams, for Chicago public television station WTTW. McBrien holds a master's degree in architectural history from Columbia University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Gene Siskel Film Center of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Nancy Witherell is the Historic Preservation Officer with the National Capital Planning Commission.

Daniel Burnham and the Noble Diagram

"Make no little plans." For more than a hundred years these have been the famous last words of dreamers, gamblers, hucksters, hustlers, and speculators all doubling down on the long shot. Despite a prolific career as an architect and planner, this cliché may be Daniel Burnham’s most indelible contribution to the culture. Posthumously (and dubiously) attributed to Burnham, this has been the prevailing wisdom of every great American ambition from the Manhattan Project, to the moon shot, and now it is the title of a new film about Burnham to be shown this Wednesday, June 9 at 8:30 p.m. on what is arguably his second greatest achievement, the National Mall.

Here in Washington, Burnham is known as the architect of Union Station and (along with architect Charles McKim and landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr.) the author of the 1901 McMillan Plan which shaped the National Mall and the federal precinct as we know it today. But Burnham also designed some of the nation’s great Beaux-Arts public buildings and a skyline’s worth of the early 20th-Century skyscrapers. He was planner of the World’s Columbian Exposition — one of the first World’s Fairs — and later drafted plans for several of the nation’s great cities. And he was also one of founders of the City Beautiful Movement.

A little more than a century before the McMillan plan, Major Pierre (Peter) Charles L’Enfant also made no little plans. After a successful career as a military engineer under George Washington, L’Enfant started an engineering practice in New York. But like so many since who have come to Washington with big plans, the volatile combination of politics and hubris, would be his undoing. L’Enfant, commissioned in 1791 to find a site for the capitol, imagined himself to be the planner of the city--laying out the city’s streets--and even the architect of the federal buildings. After alienating local land owners and Thomas Jefferson (a proponent of a much smaller, decentralized republican government) L’Enfant was dismissed and disgraced, and spent the rest of his life trying to collect payment for his efforts and finally died in poverty.

The rest of Burnham’s platitude is rarely quoted, but explains much about L’Enfant’s contribution to Washington, and his own:

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.”

Among L’Enfant’s innovations was a grand avenue from the Capitol, west to what would become the site of the Washington Monument, a gesture that was never fully realized until Burnham began work in 1901 on what we now know as the National Mall. The McMillan plan filled in a fetid canal that bisected the Mall and removed a train station and countless other utilitarian distractions to create the ceremonial forecourt to American power. L’Enfant never imagined a colossal pedestrian mall, but L’Enfant’s “noble, logical diagram” never died and indeed found new life in Burnham's Mall.

While few of Burnham’s plans were ever substantially realized, the McMillan plan for Washington D. C. was one of his greatest achievements and one of the purest expressions of the principles of the City Beautiful Movement. Like many of the progressive social reform movements of the early 20th century, the City Beautiful Movement sought to alleviate the problems of 19th century urban life, by ennobling the city. In Washington and Chicago, Detroit and Denver and at a smaller scale in cities across the country and around the world, the City Beautiful Movement is responsible for a wave of Beaux-Arts architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning that undoubtedly ennobled our cities by creating order and beauty, but did little more than displace the squalor and despair, kicking the problem a generation down the road to urban renewal.

DCMud will host a webchat with film's director today at noon.

Washington DC real estate and architecture news

Ice House Gets a Second Life in Old Town

Boyd Walker, real estate investor by day, aspiring restaurateur by night, has been working to transform a little piece of history in Old Town Alexandria into a community gathering place. The adaptive-reuse cum reinvention project will bring a new gelato shop/cafe to 200 Commerce Street. The Ice House, circa 1931, sits at a triangle intersection of Commerce and Payne Streets. After decades of vacancy and neglect the Ice House has seen a transformation over the past three years as Walker and his team's painstaking effort to maintain the historic integrity of the building, relying on salvage architectural pieces from Philadelphia and beyond.

Walker is seeking approval from the City to operate a gelato shop that also serves coffee and pastries year round. The historic building is tiny- only one story and 295 s.f. - so the new cafe will be "quaint," with seating for 8 inside and up to 25 outside. The new shop will not include any additional parking, though the owner and planning staff assume most traffic will be pedestrian, especially given the site's location near King Street.

Walker described himself as a "real estate investor looking to go into the food business as an entrepreneur." He purchased the property "about five years ago" because "I fell in love with the little building and wanted to restore it." Originally, Walker planned to expand the structure and create a breakfast restaurant, but "cost and difficulty" eventually ruled that out. Now he thinks a gelato shop is the "perfect use" for the former ice distribution facility, the shop will be named after its predecessor, Mutual Ice Company. According to Walker, Mutual Ice had nine distribution stations throughout Alexandria and a dock location where the current Torpedo Factory is; there was even a storage space for Pullman cars near the current Potomac Yards. "Part of what I wanted to do was honor the history of the building."

After beginning renovations three years ago, Walker now says 80 percent of the work is complete; the original building designs guided the renovations. Walker is playing by the rules this time around. Previously, he received a hefty $25,000 fine from the Board of Architectural Review for tearing down part of the historic roof structure without approval.

Working with Philadelphia-based Greensaw Design and Build, Walker has brought the building, which long sat vacant, up to a historically accurate renovated shape. The building now has built-in copper gutters and a custom-made galvanized tin cornice. When possible the team used recycled materials like the wood floors that once belonged to a Philadelphia hotel or the door the Greensaw team found that is so close to spec that "it looks like it was pulled out of the [original] building."

Walker admitted that his vision is limited by the space, "even gelato would be a squeeze in that building," but squeeze he will. Right now the entrepreneur is not sure whether he will be making his own gelato or partnering with another business to provide it. Ultimately, he just wants to "create a gathering spot" for the community.

Walker requested permits to allow live music and delivery service, but the Planning Commission shot down both those ideas. The music would be a nuisance to the largely residential neighborhood surrounding the site, according to the staff report. Walker explained that during the special use permit application process, it makes sense to apply for permits that might provide flexibility in the future. He did not have any grand plans for live music but thought a private party might occasionally want some tunes. No big loss, it would seem.

So does this mean the shop might be open this summer? Walker replied, "I did start going through this process with hope that I can start to go in that direction and to do the renovations...it would depend on how fast I can afford to get that work done...I haven't set an opening date." In the meantime, residents can at least enjoy the renovated exterior and wait in anticipation for what may come.

Last week the Alexandria Planning Commission approved the application and in mid-June the City Council will review the plans.

Old Town, Alexandria, VA real estate and development news

The Limits of DC - Part III

Part III of our series on height limits in Washington DC
By Sashi Murthy, Architecture Student, Catholic University

Having lived in Washington and studied architecture for 5 years, I have been accustomed to the height limitations of the city’s built environment. I’m more abruptly aware of this when friends come to visit DC and remark on how much sky they can physically see - as if sky was a secondary element. But what if the scenario of increasing / creating density turned into a provocation of height restrictions vanishing? What is the new zoning regulation of how we can build up while still preserving a nostalgic presence on the street-scape? Take a moment to think about how DC might make this first step in changing its skyline.

Many would say that the District’s skyline is refreshing in a day and age where “bigger is better.” The argument here is not to disregard the idealistic image of DC, but rather to address issues that aren’t solely about aesthetics. By creating a more densified urbanity within the city, advantages can include reducing vehicular traffic, increasing pedestrian traffic, and increasing the vitality of the street by creating more opportunities for housing and businesses. Addressing obstacles might include keeping the intentions and quality of the city intact, avoiding the ‘concrete canyon’ affect, and deciding when, where, and how the city will grow upward.

Washington hasn’t quite reached its potential to accommodate an increased population and urbanity because of its rigorous adherence to sentimentality - L’Enfant’s intentions for the city’s grid. Proportion and ratio of street, building, sky and specific views are all qualities that affect how a person experiences this city - or any city. Identity also affects nostalgia in DC, with identity as a symbol and that symbol being a physical presence (such as the capitol building). But this concept is so attached to a standard that was set when increasing density was not an issue.

Until recent years, even I wasn’t quite sure what the height restriction really was. I, like many, thought it had something to do with the Dome of the Capitol, not even contemplating that I live in a 14 story apartment. The Capitol and Monument are important symbols, but is it necessary to be able to see them from wherever you are in the city? L’Enfant’s grid allows a network of avenues to stem from the Capitol Building, framing its proud view on pedestrians and vehicular traffic alike. Once approaching the Mall, the boundary of “symbolic space” is immediately felt and that space is adorned with monuments and Smithsonian museums to hold your attention. The atmosphere of the space created by low buildings and wide avenues is something that is a charm to DC. Visitors and tourists permeate the Mall constantly, while residents get their daily exercise by running laps around the monuments. With this said, it can be understandable that fury would rise over manipulating this area in any way. But what about outward from the National Mall? It’s not to propose that the rest of DC morph out of proportion, but rather to promote growth upward to supply an ever-increasing population.

Focus, for instance, on 3 locations within DC that could accommodate greater density: Eastern Market, Mt. Vernon Triangle and Dupont Circle. (Fig. 1)

These 3 distinct neighborhoods filled with different typologies can set the example for how other areas of DC may develop over time. By zooming into a 3 x 3 block area, one can begin to determine primary, secondary, and tertiary conditions or axes based on street width or main network of transportation. For example, when looking at the Mt. Vernon Triangle “swatch” of DC, New York and Massachusetts Ave. are primary. They contain a wider street to accommodate mostly an abundance of vehicular traffic. From there, 5th, 6th, and 7th streets are secondary, allowing for a connection from deeper within downtown to the primary networks. The streets in between that intermingle and feed these flows become tertiary. In a city defined by a very specific and structured grid, you most likely find these conditions fairly easily.

It becomes quite clear that each ‘primary’ leads directly to a void in the landscape, meaning a park or landmark of a certain importance, such as Dupont Circle, Mt. Vernon Square, or the Capitol Building. These nodes within the city will only be intensified by emergent structures past the current height restriction. (Fig. 2)

The first phase of diminishing height regulations can occur within a 5-10 year period. The main principles in phase 1 include preliminary steps in order to intensify the urban plan of each location. Looking at each swatch, void spaces within the blocks must be filled as a first step in increasing density, leaving access roads and alleys as necessary. If a particular location is dominated by parking / empty lots, 75% of the land can be filled with structure; this way the growth becomes a gradual progression, such as the Mt. Vernon Triangle area. The change in growth pattern is more of an expansion outward in perspective rather than solely upward. In subsequent phases, the building masses implemented by the rules accumulates within the block, filling out the expanse of empty lots currently there. This area is already up and coming, but imagine the possibilities and opportunities for this neighborhood if an expansion both outward and upward were to intensify! (Fig. 5)

The most important step during this phase, however, is taking advantage of the Heights of Buildings Act that states a building can be as tall as the adjacent street width + 20’. (Fig. 3) It is important to note that many buildings in DC have not reached this potential (with the exception of Mt. Vernon Triangle). DC can begin to establish a heightened density by taking more advantage of this rule. If building owners choose to increase their heights, all the better. Forcing this rise upon landowners is not realistic, but the modification of height restrictions can be seen as looking forward, rather than backward. New proposals and structures will house the ever-growing density that occurs naturally throughout time. When these new structures arise, they should be built with the notion that the structure will eventually accommodate additional density in the future.

In the second period of phasing out height restrictions over the course of 10-20 years, buildings could be allowed to gradually increase in height on a proportional basis focused on the primary, secondary and tertiary streets that were established in the first phase. The total height of building mass within the blocks may be increased by 75%, 50% and 25% (respective) of the existing.

For instance, if an existing building is 100’ tall on a primary street, phase 2 allows for any addition to be 75% of that height: the new total height would be 175’. This increase produces a gradual growth upward rather than the street-scape completely morphing out of its existing proportion.

This phase in particular affects each location differently. If you look at the Dupont Circle area, for example, phase 2 begins to break the height limit boundary while still keeping intact the main proportions of the street / building / sky. Looking at the Eastern Market swatch, the new regulations cause a dramatic change on Pennsylvania Avenue, but the low-rise residential stays fairly consistent (Fig. 6). In a case where the buildings in question are row-homes, which many believe are one of DC’s charms, they would stay at their existing height. Additions, renovations, or new homes would adhere to the phased regulations, with only a small, proportional change in height.

Phase 3 is projected in 20-40 years. This is where we will see building mass really break the limit. Based on the primary, secondary and tertiary conditions, the height of building additions can be increased by 50%, 35%, and 25% (respective) of existing. During this phase and onwards, additions would be primarily built on buildings that have increased from the preceding phases. Looking at Dupont Circle again, the street section changes quite dramatically in phase 3, but what is important to note is the main view from the primary street (New Hampshire Avenue in this case) is still visible, if not more prominent because of the increased density accumulating around the voids and landmarks carved within the city. (Fig. 4)

Referring back to the initial intentions of lifting height restrictions, the population growth within these areas will grow rapidly allowing for a variety of advancements, including reduced vehicular traffic, for one. The more businesses and housing that is densified within the District will allow for less need to rely on the car, which has an abundance of advantages on its own. This movement also improves the vitality of the street, not only during the day, but at night and on weekends. Lifting height restrictions grants the opportunity to have more residential projects on top of office projects in Washington. Imagine Farragut and the business district of K street having a nightlife and strong residential community that is alive at all times of day. The need for long commutes to neighboring suburbs and towns at the end of a work day could severely decrease, keeping the area’s population, which will inevitably increase, actually in the District.

These are baselines for how the city’s built landscape may evolve over time. Take a look at an aerial image of DC - you can see that divisions of density are already present. (Fig. 7) Through these phases, the intensity of this division increases but allows for these distinct neighborhoods and districts to grow in a continuous but controlled and specified way.

Thinking of the future of the city in this way allows for the imagination of how DC might begin to make a step at altering a nostalgic ideal - and redefining the key components or characteristics of a city that make the experience memorable. What makes DC unique to its visitors and inhabitants is a combination of many ideals, including the Heights of Buildings Act established in 1910 that defined the city as we see it today. It is also the symbol of identity that the nation’s capital is so well known for. It is a plethora of other things as experienced by tourists, visitors, residents, and those that can call themselves Washingtonians. But is a city really successful to its people if it is consistently stuck on an imposed rule that doesn’t leave room for expansion? By addressing the notion of increased density over time, the qualitative and quantitative properties of Washington must work simultaneously, and once those wheels are in motion, Washington, D.C. has the potential to become more than it already is.

Sashi Murthy, an architecture student, will receive her Master of Architecture degree in 2011 from Catholic University School of Architecture, where she also attained her Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 2009.

Cartoonish Mixed-Use Comes to Northeast Neighborhood

Over the course of the summer neighbors will come to know the plans for a largely vacant site at 4800 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NE, as the planned development goes before the District Council and Zoning Commission for review of the proposed project. In late May, the Commission "set down" the planned unit development (PUD) for public review, and on June 16th, the District Council invites neighbors and concerned community members to voice support or opposition for the site. If all goes swimmingly, a new five-story, 70-unit building of entirely affordable housing will be the future of the site, bordered to the north by Hayes Street, NE.

The development team under the name Northern Real Estate Urban Ventures, LLC seeks to bring 92,000 s.f. of mixed-use space to the Northeast lot. Neighboring structures include a church, single family homes and scattered retail. The new development will include 8,100 s.f. of commercial space on the ground floor and 40 surface parking spaces. The 70 units of housing include 23 public housing replacement units.

Public benefits are still being negotiated and currently include the standard promise of affordable units, green building practices and a First Source agreement. At the Zoning Commission hearing, several commissioners expressed concern over the "cartoonish" design and made it clear they would expect greater detail to be provided prior to the public hearing this summer. More details will become available after the upcoming reviews this summer.

Washington, DC real estate development news

The Legacy of Daniel Burnham

On Wednesday, June 9th, DC residents will get their first glimpse of an upcoming PBS documentary on Daniel Burnham, one of the nation's most prolific architects who reimagined the National Mall and designed Union Station. The documentary will be publicly screened on the Mall Wednesday night at 8:30pm.

In advance of the screening, DCMud and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) will sponsor a live webchat with Film Producer Judith McBrien of the Archimedia Workshop, and Nancy Witherell, Historic Preservation Officer with the National Capital Planning Commission. The webchat will take place on Tuesday, June 8th at noon, with the public invited to ask questions of the panelists and participate in the discussion. The documentary, on the life and accomplishments of the famed architect was produced by the Archimedia Workshop.


Burnham's architecture firm can count hundreds of the finest late-19th and early-20th century masterpieces as achievements, including icons like New York City's Flatiron Buildings, inspiring the City Beautiful movement, and Burnham was an early promoter of classical city planning. PBS will begin airing the film this fall.