Feds Enable Affordable Housing Surge in the District

Significant press coverage has been granted to The Yards' Foundry Lofts over the last several days, and in the past as well, a project that will move forward thanks to the DC Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) multi-deal bond release under President Obama's New Issue Bond Program (NIBP). This is all big news, as there are a few firsts here: the first HFA in the country to issue an escrow release under the new program, and the Agency's first mixed-income transaction, as 34 of the Foundry Lofts' 170 new rental units (20 percent) will be marketed to families making only 50% of the Area Medium Income (AMI). But the same funding mechanism also enabled yet more public housing; So Others Might Eat's (SOME) "The Scattered Site Project" will also move forward with the assistance of the released funds.

The Scattered Site Project has been in the works since early 2007 according to SOME's Housing Development Director Troy Swanda, and has been on the starting line and ready to go for sometime now. But with the market downtown, the start gun was without powder, and the project has idled. Now, the recently released bonds combined with tax credits, grants, and SOME's private fund raising will make this multiple-site development a reality. Totaling more than $36 million, the specific funding numbers go as follows: $8.1 million from DCHFA's Tax Exempt Bonds, $11.5 million DHCD Housing Production Trust Fund, $6.7 million from Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Proceeds, $2.9 million from DC Housing Authority LRSP Capital Grant, and $7.3 million from SOME's own financing. SOME and their team of contractors were so poised for action in fact, that they began construction the very day the bond release was finalized. The aptly named development consists of five different properties strewn across Wards 7 and 8 in the Southeast. Three of the properties (350 50th St, 3828 South Capitol St, and 2810 Texas Avenue) will be intended for single adults, while one property (730 Chesapeake St) will be geared for families, and the last (1667 Good Hope Road) for seniors.

The five buildings will offer a total of 245 apartments, all classified as affordable housing, meant to shelter residents making 0-30% AMI. Keeping carbon footprints to a minimum, the properties will feature very limited parking amenities, as residents of affordable housing projects are typically some of public transportation's most devoted users. Two buildings will feature green vegetation roofs and one will be topped with a passive solar water heating system. "Building to green standards is in mind with construction and design of every building," says Swanda. Local firm Nelson Architects is responsible for the design of each building. Developers expect to deliver their first building in early 2011, and will complete the roll out of all five by the end of that year.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Georgetown Streets on Track for Reconstruction

While the eastern half of Washington DC searches for ways to build tracks for its dust-collecting trolleys, the western half of DC has long been dealing with the opposite problem: plenty of tracks, no trolleys. The west side's problem may be at an end within the next two months. The District government will rebuild Georgetown's historic trolley lines that have divided Georgetowners over the fate of the iconic streetcar lines.

The District is proceeding with plans to rebuild the trolley lines that, depending on your perspective, are either an indispensable piece of Georgetown's culture and character, or make driving and parking a dangerous tightrope walk, or both. The problem is in fact not so much the trolley lines, which have remained intact, but the cobblestones that form the street that have sunk around them, creating a mid-street ridge as much as 4 inches high in some places. The city has wrung its hands over the issue for decades, with minor repairs that included patchwork asphalt that did little to quell the debate. Now the District will repair O and P Streets between Wisconsin Avenue and 37th Streets, removing the cobbles and tracks, laying a new foundation less prone to sinking, and reusing as much of the existing materials as possible. After renovation work the stone and rail will be flush. Motorists will still be able to test their driving acumen by aligning their tires on the rails, but without the tire-scorching thud now associated with an errant swerve. Sidewalks on both streets will also be rehabilitated.

Not all residents see the wisdom in repairing the rails. "Why not just cobblestones? Why do we have to have the rails? I don't quite see the need" said Georgetown resident Arne Peterson. Work on the project is expected to commence in "early November," according to a DDOT official familiar with the project.

Ansel Adams Slept Here

by Beth Herman

Well, OK, he didn't exactly sleep there, but for Group Goetz Architects (GGA) President and CEO Lewis J. Goetz, making a home at The Wilderness Society, 1615 M Street NW, for 75 of Adams' seminal landscape photographs was a design of somewhat personal proportions. "I got to meet him once," Goetz said, reflecting on his own interest in black and white photography and what it meant to stand before the iconoclastic naturalist and photographer himself. "Ansel Adams was a hero for a lot of photographers back then,” he affirmed, having purchased his first Nikon with the funds from an architectural award he received in college. "Adams was able to capture pure black and white and every shade of grey in between, not to mention the incredible sights he was able to photograph,” Goetz said. Because Adams and the Washington, D.C.-based Wilderness Society, founded in 1935 to protect and preserve natural resources and public lands, had confluent missions, it was both fitting and immensely generous that the photographer would have donated what Goetz believes is the largest assembly of his art to any institution. “Every famous picture he’s done is here, which is pretty amazing,” he said. The problem, according to Goetz, was that only about 20 percent of the collection had been displayed in the Society’s dark lobby for many years, with “portable elements” on which they’d hang lights. “The pictures are not that large,” he observed. “They’re 16x20 and some are smaller than that. There is very intricate and delicate detail. (The way they were displayed), you couldn’t see the pictures – this amazing collection.”Citing periodic economic delays and several subsequent efforts to pare down GGA’s initial concept for the gallery space (what should have been an eight-month design/construction effort stretched into 18 months), The Wilderness Society eventually secured the necessary funding to move forward with the gallery design, which complemented a renovation of its existing D.C. headquarters. Supported by art consultant Cynthia Reed and John Coventry of Coventry Lighting, Goetz maintained that gallery space wants to be about the art, not the gallery, noting the great galleries are secondary to what’s showing. “It’s the simplicity of it that sets it apart,” he explained, adding that you don’t want to compete with the subject. That said, designing for a specific, permanent collection instead of a revolving space that may support many different artists over time had its own set of advantages and challenges. While standard operating gallery procedure is to have a space that is clean and unfettered - a simple box without distractions, Goetz explained, because Adams’ photographs were black and white, it made sense that the space should also be black and white. And because the art reflected different subject matter, though within an environmental realm, the team decided to separate or break down the gallery so that it wasn’t just one 2,900 s.f. room. In this regard, and with extensive linear wall space, jagged breaks, or openings, were created to bisect the space so that visitors could peer through to other parts of the exhibit. The angular openings, resembling large, rugged faults in Adams’ natural rock formations, serve to mirror and enhance the experience rather than detracting or calling attention away from it. With Ansel Adams’ work, Goetz observed, “It’s not about the space. It’s standing two feet from the wall as you walk through it.” At the end a concealed door leads from the gallery into the Society’s conference room, with the objective that all who enter the building must first pass through its special gallery space, which is open to the public. With an eye to sustainability and where LED lighting was considered, in the end the team decided that generationally it doesn’t have the right quality for gallery use, though in another year, Goetz speculated, it may be considered. Occupying the entire second floor of the building, The Wilderness Society’s headquarters also underwent a makeover with an emphasis on sustainable features such as low-VOC paint, water saving fixtures in the bathrooms, recycled drywall and a concrete floor that was made in place, requiring no manufacturing. The mechanical system was zoned to provide a lot of control, according to Goetz, in order to save on energy, with lighting that utilizes motion sensors and controllable dimmers. With what may loosely be termed more ebullient designs in their passbook, such as Michel Richard’s Central restaurant, Goetz explained the firm has “a very pragmatic approach to design,” which enabled them to create a space that subordinated itself to something else. “To me, design is about solving problems,” he said, “so if we solve the problem, then we did a great job, and if we can do it in a beautiful, poetic way, then we did an even better job.” A good photograph is knowing where to stand. – Ansel Adams

Howard Theater Redevelopment Team Ready To Break Ground

DCMud is always happy to report project groundbreakings, especially when historic preservation is involved. But when redevelopment plans, mired in financing complications, have remained in holding patterns for years, it is only natural to question the legitimacy of a phoenix-like ground breaking, especially in election season. Despite that, it seems that Shaw's Howard Theater groundbreaking scheduled for tomorrow is paid for and ready to build.

Plans to redevelop the historic Howard Theater have been in the works for years, but like so many idling Shaw development plans and Ellis Development's other nearby project Broadcast Center One turned Renaissance Project, the financial hurdles have been frustratingly difficult.

Earlier this March, the Washington Business Journal confirmed that fund raising efforts for the Howard Theater redevelopment non-profit group and their development partner Ellis, through both private fund raising means, an eight million dollar public grant, and tax credits, had secured 74% of the needed $15.5 million. But developers were reported to have still been laboring fruitlessly for further bank financing.

Now, Chip Ellis of Ellis Development has confirmed that funding is in place, and the team will begin actual construction next week. Ellis added that a TIF loan and a five million dollar loan from Eagle Bank helped finalize phase one financing plans, adding to money already promised by the District government. Ellis qualified the good news, adding that $3.5m more needs to be raised in order to commence and complete phase two of the construction, which will extend and widen the back of the theater, making room for classrooms, offices, a library, and museum. So while a time table for a final ribbon cutting still remains conditional upon the speed with which the last few million is secured, the news confirms that the groundbreaking is more than symbolic.

The restoration of Howard Theater, once a mecca for listeners seeking out the performances of African American musical stalwarts like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and later Sammy Davis Jr., is vital to the revitalization of Shaw. It also makes sense to anchor a significant new performance space, part theater, part museum, in this particular area, sandwiched between the wealth of music venues along the U Street corridor to the north and the entertainment heart of the city in Chinatown to the south. Local firm Martinez & Johnson Architecture, which also redesigned the Strand, continues to carry the burden of design planning. Architect Naomi Ueki said the most important goal in this project, like so many restoration efforts, is to "keep the historical elements that define the theater in tact and work around them." The first order of business is the demolition of the interior - a complete gutting - while making sure to protect the footprint of the building. Excavation of the ground floor will follow in an effort to dig out a basement level. In addition to general masonry improvements, replica windows, signage, historical lamps, openings and architectural details will all help bring the famous theater facade back to life. The available financing and long to-do list is expected to keep construction crews busy through January; by then developers hope to have secured the additional funds to transition smoothly into phase two.

Shaw residents who are tired of being strung along by promises without much action to follow will finally hear some racket from the construction site at at the corner of 7th & T Streets. This is at least reason to put on a jazz record and smile. Now, we can hope for the Wonder Bread Factory to provide an overture.

Correction: Steve Cassell of Four Points LLC has informed DCMud that while the name "Renaissance Project" was thrown around the idea table it was never finalized. "Progression Place" is the official project name for the development formerly known as "Broadcast Center One," while the residential aspect of the project has been dubbed "7th Flats."

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Shaw Community, Public Officials, Set to Celebrate CityMarket Groundbreaking Wednesday

Approved by the HPRB way back in August of 2007, and then by Zoning in May of 2008, Roadside Development's mixed-use CityMarket at O project apparently has a long shelf life. Developers have regularly attempted to quell the usual doubters with news of restructured financing, and updated timelines, but will finally lay uncertainty to rest, as a groundbreaking shindig is dated for Wednesday afternoon of this week. Festivities could include some palpable political tension, as mayoral candidate rivals political-polling master Vincent Gray and the Smart-car-piloting Mayor Fenty will likely both be in attendance. After the two year stall in action, a strategy becoming evermore popular in development world, Roadside's shovel plunge at CityMarket is an important step in the revitalization of the Shaw district.

Now residents are set to receive their long-awaited attention with a one million s.f. urban infill project that will solidify, restore, and protect the historic facade of the enduring O Street Market, constructed in 1881 and now only a shell, as well as populate four lonely acres of mostly abandoned land between 9th, 7th, P and O Streets, NW with residential (over 600 units) and commercial buildings (87,000 s.f. of retail). Shalom Baranes Architects has been trusted to oversee the design process. A heavy snowstorm destroyed the roof the Market building in 2001, but architects and developers are confident the building will be restored to its original grandeur. Project architect Andrew Taylor says that they intend on avoiding a monolithic design theme, and that each building will have its own personality. "There is an effort...to create a composition of buildings surrounding and drawing attention to the Market, using modern elements that pick up on the more playful elements of the Market's Victorian architecture."


The project also includes the demolition of the current Giant grocery store, with plans for a much grander replacement. Roadside says of the planned Giant: "The new store will combine the charm of the 19th Century with 21st Century efficiency to create one of Washington's largest food stores and the East Coast's most unique and interesting shopping experiences." Stabilization of the O Street Market building for the purpose of preservation, and protection from subsequent ground excavation, is the first order of business, beginning this week. Demolition of the current Giant is next on the agenda, scheduled for later this winter, with the 24-month shot-clock commencing on January 15th, counting down the time developers have to deliver the new grocery store. The redevelopment won't be fully realized until sometime in 2013. Clark Construction is handling general contracting duties.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

North Bethesda Developers Seek Density as Solution to Sprawl

Developers of North Bethesda, having just completed the county's tallest residential building and the Pike's largest recent project, are hoping for an encore. Now nearing completion of the North Bethesda Market, developer JBG has begun courting the community for a second phase, seeking an increase in density for new office and residences that will produce demand for the 200,000 s.f. of retail built in the first phase.

Developers of Rockville Pike in North Bethesda have long hoped that if development continues, and smart urban planning matches pace, the congested corridor might make the triple-jump to a walkable urban district. JBG unveiled initial plans to the community last week, still just conceptual, that would add 745,000 s.f. of development with a 40% increase in density to the block just north of its current project. JBG isn't the only player in the game, as the White Flint Sector Plan highlights several other major developments in the area, including Federal Realty's "Mid-Pike Plaza," and LCOR's White Flint development. JBG submitted initial plans to the Montgomery National Capital Park and Planning Commission early on Friday the 27th, depicting additional retail fronting Rockville Pike and a series of residences on the block behind it. Approval could take anywhere from 18 to 24 months, so construction on the newest phase is not expected to start until late 2012 or early 2013.

After announcing earlier this summer that Florida-based restaurants Season 52 and Dolcé Amoré Café, along with furniture juggernauts Arhaus, will join Whole Foods and L.A. Fitness at the round table of tenants in the nearly completed North Bethesda Market, JBG hopes to broaden the scope of NoBe (or NoBeMa, take your pick) with an array of new residencies, office space, and expanded retail options. NoBe sales representatives said they are hoping Whole Foods will open for shoppers by spring of next year.

The new site extends the Market north to Nicholson Lane, replacing three low density 40-year-old office and retail buildings, and one new office and retail building. Torti Gallas will stay on as the planning architect. One of the goals in maintaining some sort of unifying theme within the development is the extension of Paseo north into Phase II.

Paseo is the "concept of an intimate, pedestrian-oriented, retail lined street" that is meant to tie together the residential and commercial aspects of the project.

Senior VP of Marketing Matthew Blocher depicts the community feedback so far as positive, as developers expect the enthusiasm surrounding the opening of the first phase to carry over as they continue to unveil second stage plans. But one of the obstacles to moving forward with redevelopment is getting the community and county officials on-board with the increased density. Developers say a minimum base density of 3.5 FAR is necessary to buoy the requisite investment, and appropriate given the proximity to the White Flint Metro, but authors of the White Flint Sector Plan currently recommend 2.5 FAR. County officials have been keen on spurring the kind of redevelopment that JBG is pursuing across the region, but have also been conscious of just how fast that growth is developed.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

EYA Announces Construction Start for Brookland Metro Project

After last week's announcement of Bozzuto-Pritzker Venture's new alliance with Abdo in developing the $200 million project on Catholic's South Campus, every propogator of real estate news (including DCMud), was happy just to have something printable during a lazy August. But the cash infusion into the neighborhood was good for other developers too; namely EYA, which rebroadcast the news in advance of its own groundbreaking around the corner. The area's current access, or lack thereof, to quality, independent eateries and retail is regrettable, and any chance of more commerce, whatever the time-frame, is good news. Now piggybacking on these housing-market huzzahs, EYA has given the area's residents and real estate news junkies more to cheer about, announcing that their expansive LEED-certified residential development will break ground on Tuesday. As proof of the regional renaissance, EYA also notes "the massive 40+ acre Dakota Crossing development and the Rhode Island Avenue Metro redevelopment".

The 10-acre field of grass EYA purchased from St. Paul's College is now tilled, and come the first week of September foundations will go in and construction will start moving vertically. EYA expects to deliver their first townhouse models in February or March of next year. Upon completion the whole project will bring 237 Lessard Group-designed single-family townhomes to the former campus field. The townhouses are currently being offered from $470,000 to $590,000. According to EYA, only 206 of the total will be officially "luxury townhomes" while the remaining 31 will be marketed as "affordable dwelling units." Half will go to those unit-dwellers (a.k.a. humans) earning 50% Area Median Income (AMI) and half to those earning 80% AMI.

EYA began marketing their Chancellor's Row houses in May, before they had even finished constructing their sales center. Not to be misled by the subtle art of neighborhood cartography, neighborhood watchdogs have pointed out that the "Brookland Metro" development lies a few blocks west of the unofficial "official" dividing line (9th Street NE) of Brookland, in Edgewood.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Mount Vernon Triangle Scores Another Development

Already a presence in the blossoming NoMa district next door, Paradigm looks to extend their influence into the neighboring Mount Vernon Triangle with the construction of a commodious 390-unit rental building at 425 L St, NW. Paradigm's nearby student-housed Washington Center opened a few months ago, and the company continues to manage the imposing Meridian at Gallery Place just down the street. According to Paradigm project manager Jimmy Dotson the new property is intended to be a "bold, urban building with all the modern comforts of home." The building will rise fourteen stories above ground, and root itself three levels deep into the earth to provide below grade parking for residents.

Like the majority of newly built rental buildings these days, amenities include a top level pool and club room, as well as an expansive lobby and fitness center. Dotson conceded that sustainable aspects are not a major focus on this project, and that the building will not be credentialed as green, but at least a few unique, environmentally conscious features like hybrid and electric car refueling stations in the parking garage are being worked into their plans. Few travelers up New York Avenue will miss the surface parking lots that will be replaced, or the warehouse at eastern corner that has sat unused for years.

Parc Rosslyn

Collins & Kronstadt of Silver Spring, MD is the architecture of record, but responsibilities for the design have been mostly shouldered by the team at Architecture Collaborative, Inc. in Elliot City, MD. Collins & Krondstat and Paradigm are familiar partners; as the firms collaborated in an effort to bring to life Parc Rosslyn in Arlington, VA, completed in 2008. This most recent design process was at least partially governed by the aesthetics of their soon-to-be neighbors like CityVista Apartments to the west and Yale Steam Laundry to the north on New York Avenue. Inspired by their surroundings, designers have forged an angular but sleek amalgamation of brick and glass, with accents of steel, granite, and metal paneling. The color scheme will wedge its way into the middle of the spectrum, somewhere between the light-tan bricks of City Vista and Yale's richer-toned burgundy bricks. Paradigm Construction will undertake general contracting responsibilities, and is in the process of awarding subcontracts.

Building permits are to be finalized soon, and although developers have not yet officially closed on the pending financing, Dotson says team is in "very good shape" to square away the remaining logistics and put a shovel in the ground by mid to late September. If things go smoothly, developers expect their first delivery in the spring of 2012, with completion of the building wrapping up later that fall.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Argos Rescues Firehouse, Brightens HPRB's Day

The D.C. Preservation League, which annually issues a list of the District's most endangered properties in hopes of scaring developers into action, and preservationists into sign-painting and check-writing, has recently issued its new list for the year. This year the Preservation Leauge has focused it's 2010-attention on the preservation and renovation of the District's neglected firehouses. A special emphasis was placed on pre-WWII firehouses and police stations. Thankfully, two years ago Argos hammered out a deal with the District to redevelop two foresaken buildings: Firehouse No. 10 at 1341 Maryland Avenue, NE and Police Precinct No. 9 Station at 525 9th Street, NE. Developers refer to the two renovations as the Capitol Hill Condominiums, "The Station" and "The Engine House" respectively. In 2008 the Historic Preservation Review Board designate Engine House No. 10 as a Historic Landmark. While the 115-year history of public use of the firehouse will be sacrificed for the purpose of private residences, the character of both buildings, and their attractive, storied facades will be maintained for the enjoyment of passers by and history-lovers alike.

Designed by architect and firehouse specialist Leon Emile Dessez (1858-1919), erected in 1894, and completed in 1895, HPRB claimed in 2008 that the structure "is probably the best and most characteristic example of a Victorian-era firehouse still owned by the District." Sorg Architects has tackled the challenge of retrofitting the building with two market rate condos and two smaller affordable units. The former police station on 9th Street will be an almost identical project, with just enough room for an additional condo. The footprint of both the Engine House and the Station will be strictly maintained, with both facades to be restored with masonry refurbishment, various touch-ups, and only the slightest of noticeable augmentations. Windows and doors will be replaced, fading paint of old will be stripped away, and the addition of a few small second floor awnings will ready the building for residents. The interiors on the other hand will be completely gutted and overhauled - the roof, walls, flooring, HVAC, plumbing, electricity, and the works will all be replaced.

An unusual occurrence in the development world, construction on both projects began exactly on time, breaking ground two months ago as originally promised. Work is now chugging along with completion of each building expected in April of next year.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Canal Park Party Scheduled for Tuesday

Work on southeast DC's grand Canal Park will be set in motion on Tuesday, at least officially, when the District holds a formal ceremony to celebrate the new park that will grace the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood a few blocks from Nationals Stadium. Actual construction has not yet been scheduled, but the park's caretakers are showing progress, having just selected Davis Construction to build it and Blake Dickson Real Estate to locate a suitable restaurateur for the pavilion on the park's southern end. The 3-acre park will offer a variety of water features, but its most iconic feature will be the pavilion designed by Studios Architecture. Wayne Dickson of Blake Dickson Real Estate notes that Canal Park will be an environmental improvement as well as an aesthetic one, and projects that the Canal Park Development Association will select a "family-oriented" restaurant that offers positive synergy with its green locale. Despite the lack of hard start dates, promoters are sticking to a late 2011 completion date . The design incorporates a boardwalk, "rain garden," three pavilions, ponds, a large fountain, sunken amphitheater, and seasonal ice rink The District is picking up a $13.5m tab to ensure the success of the park in what is destined to become the centerpiece of the neighborhood. The bill is a relative steal compared to what DC spent on the stadium next door, and the Lerners can't even charge for admission. Total costs for the project have not yet been determined. William C. Smith & Co., one of the early developers in the area, is an organizer of and contributor to the park development association. Philadelphia-based OLIN is the landscape architect for the project. The federal government still owns the land in arrangement that gives full control to the District, which in turn has a 20-year agreement with the Canal Park Development Association to develop and manage the land. The canal that once ran across the site connected the Anacostia to Tiber Creek (now buried under Constitution Avenue), which ran to the C&O canal. 

Washington DC real estate development news

Northwest One Project Aims to be First New Residence in Northwest One

Northwest One's race for the first residential project is showing some contest. The development team for the SeVerna had forecasted earlier this year that their 60-unit affordable housing project would get moving this summer, which DCMud reported last spring, but construction has not yet taken place, and now William C. Smith & Co claims their $80 million, 314-unit "classy, rental building" will in fact be the first to break ground - next spring. But not so, says Jose Sousa, a spokesman with Mayor Adrian Fenty's office, the SeVerna's developers settled on their property August 12 and will be breaking ground, at least officially, "in the next couple of weeks."

The District has already built the Walker Jones Education Campus, a school and recreation center, officially the first successful portion of the redevelopment plan, but it remains unclear where its next students will come from, as neither the Severna developers ( MissionFirst Development, The Henson Development Company and Golden Rule Apartments, Inc.) nor William C. Smith have offered a definitive date for actual construction. William C. Smith's proposed building will stand twelve stories tall upon completion,

with a small ground-floor retail component, a first installment on the larger Northwest One Initiative (part of the New Communities Project), a $700 million redevelopment project in Ward 6, providing a makeover for the scarred, crime-infested real estate extending from K Street in the
south to New York Avenue in the north, and stretching from North Capitol Street in the east to New Jersey Avenue in the west. In 2007, the Mayor and DMPED awarded the rights to the redevelopment project to One Vision Development Partners headed by William C. Smith & Co in partnership with Jair Lynch, with Banneker Ventures and affordable housing provider Community Preservation and Development Corporation also involved with portions of the larger project. As promised, the building will offer 93 affordable units, 30% of the total apartments.

The first parcel (out of a total of 5 or 6) will be situated on the corner of North Capitol and M Street, NE, technically in NoMa. Architectural designs are courtesy of Eric Colbert & Associates; William C. Smith-affiliated WCS Construction will build the structure. Architect Brian Bukowski says the industrial nature of this part of DC was the major inspiration for a unifying aesthetic theme. "We wanted to give the building an updated post-industrial flavor," Bukowski explained. The exposed fixed post steel, generous use of red brick, and angular, geometric fenestration seem to bear out his claim. But if on whole the building brings to mind a downtown warehouse, the ten two-level townhouses serve as a friendlier introduction to the large facade on the M Street side of the building. The townhomes and accompanying courtyard will help relate to the residential-nature of the immediate neighborhoods. Loading and and parking access will be relegated to the opposite site of the building on Patterson Avenue. A roof penthouse will crown the building.

The main rooftop will not only provide panoramic views, but will also be ornamented with a landscaped green terrace and lap pool. A rain harvesting cistern on the roof will conserve run-off and curb water consumption; low-flow showers will further aid the conservation effort. On what will likely be a crowded roof are several solar panels, funneling electricity to the building's energy grid. In the end, residents will be able to brag about one of the greenest roofs in the city, collecting water, converting the sun's rays into usable energy, and deflecting thermal load with it's organic plant life, all aspects in an effort to earn a LEED Silver certification, with the possibility of becoming the first LEED Gold-rated multifamily residential building in the District.

William C. Smith is in the final steps of negotiating the lease agreement with the District, and although financing is not in place, developers are working toward securing funds, still optimistic that groundbreaking will happen in the late first quarter or early second quarter of next year. A request for subcontracting bids has been issued by WCS, a sign that the developers and teammates are serious about moving forward. The estimated 20-24 month construction time places delivery in the early part of 2013.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Rhode Island Avenue Northeast: Development "Hotspot"

The corner of 4th and Rhode Island Avenue, NE, may be one of the District's least celebrated corners, but an area hitherto untapped by real estate developers, is finally getting attention. Thanks to PERS Development, a plan to remodel an abandoned 32-unit building at 329 Rhode Island Avenue NE will soon be underway, making way for "hip, boutique, luxury condominium homes." Just a few blocks east of the Rhode Island Ave - Brentwood Metro, the project will build off the local momentum of Baltimore-based A&R Development Corp's 8.5 acre, $108 million project (including 274 new residential rental units and 70,000 s.f. of ground floor retail) that broke ground this spring on the former WMATA parking lot, making the vicinity a "transit oriented developer hot spot." PERS Development is a young and ambitious team with four completed projects under their belts, and now two more in the works. All four of their finished developments have sold out, the last being Sky DC in Randall Highlands. On their four previous projects, PERS has specialized in small, moderately-priced condos. But as advertised, this endeavor seems destined to be slightly more high end than the units sold in Randall Heights for $200,000. However, while PERS President and CEO, Ramin Bassam is promising a "very, high-end boutique product," a price point between high $200,000s and $350,000 proves value also remains a priority. Marty Zupancic of Marcus & Millichap brokered the deal that sees the property travel from the reluctant hands of the previous owner Byung S. Shin of BSS Partnership to the more purposeful and enterprising hands of the developer.

The development will come as welcome news to local residents, but especially so for neighbor Steven Conn who several months ago compiled a slide show of evidence in an effort to convince DCRA that the building at 329 Rhode Island was a hindrance and hazard to the community, and therefore should be classified as "blighted." Local blogger Dan Silverman gave voice to Conn and his cause by highlighting the property with the honorable distinction of the Horse's Ass Award. The District was in the midst of designating the building as blighted and condemned only two months ago, but PERS was able to step in, usher through the necessary building improvements, and remove said designations, enabling the financing and property transaction to go through, and development plans to move forward. The top floors of the building were significantly damaged by a fire that raged in the evening hours of July 31st last summer. While the neglected building, singed, dirty, and windows boarded, is an eyesore at the moment, its proximity to the metro and its location on a highly visible island-like street corner, makes the property apparently attractive to real estate developers. In a press release, Bassam stressed that: “This project represents a great opportunity to fulfill the growing demand for luxury condominiums in the District of Columbia by delivering a high end product in an under-served submarket at a time when supply is getting tight. It has just the type of character and location that we have been looking for.”

SGA Arcitects have been contracted for the design, and initial renderings should be finalized later this week. The building will transform from a sordid blemish of a property into ultramodern, highly-wired chic condos. Each unit will be outfitted with wi-fi and iPad docking stations. Other amenities include a state-of-the-art glass-enclosed gym, a rooftop deck outfitted with a European shower, and various community lounges. Units will be planked with natural bamboo flooring. The bottom floor will reserve room for five retail tenants, an amenity that new owner Bassam says is desperately needed in the neighborhood. "A late weeknight trip to the McDonald's across the street is an at least twenty minute wait in line, there are not enough retail options at the moment," explains Bassam. The often elusive project financing of the acquisition and needed construction, normally the last piece of the development puzzle, is already in place, compliments of Bethesda-based Monument Bank.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Zen and the Art of Prison Design

by Beth Herman

In a toney Boston hotel bar officially and affectionately known as "The Clink," imbibers toast a promotion, an engagement or a vacation, but steps away the ghosts of storied inmates such as Malcolm X and Sacco and Vanzetti have far less to celebrate.

Located inside the city’s plush Liberty Hotel, The Clink, along with the rest of the property, was part of a $150 million acquisition, renovation and construction process that turned the pre-Civil War era Charles Street Jail into a 300-room luxury hotel, opening in 2007, and retaining some of the former correctional facility’s ambience such as the tiers which guards would patrol and a 90-foot central rotunda.

Prior to the Liberty Hotel venture, however, and about 130 years after the Charles Street Jail opened, a somewhat unprecedented inmate class-action suit had resulted in Federal Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr.’s findings that the facility, with amenities that included an “exercise” yard where inmates simply marched in a circle, did not meet “constitutional minima,” meaning it did not conform to the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. In 1980, Judge Garrity ordered a new jail built on the premises, and newly-minted Washington D.C.-based HOK architect James Kessler, now a senior principal, began an unwitting journey into justice design that to date has spanned 30 years.

Working in conjunction with Boston-based architects Stull and Lee Inc., Kessler recalled the design of a new Charles Street Jail was a situation that involved five parties: the mayor and city council, which had diametrically opposed agendas; the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the Department of Corrections; the plaintiffs or inmates. “All five parties came to every design meeting,” Kessler said, adding there was little or no trust among the entities. In the end, the HOK/Stull and Lee, Inc.-envisioned project was never built, with the Commonwealth taking over responsibility from the city and building another design at a different site. “It was very unusual. I’ve never had a situation like that since,” he reflected, calling it a great learning experience and most “formative” for him as a young architect, especially in the realm of prison design. “There’s the architect, the technical side, the operational side – all complex and important – all key to its success – but they exist in a world of politics and larger priorities…,” Kessler said.

2010: A Video Odyssey

Increasingly, in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with issues such as sustainability and skyrocketing operating costs at the forefront of holistic justice design, Kessler and HOK colleagues, credited nationally for prison reform of the design kind, and who count among their more regional achievements the Montgomery County Correctional Facility near Clarksburg, Md., Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center and Virginia’s Fluvanna Women’s Correctional Center, look for ways to expedite and streamline operational components such as inmate/visitor communications. Because a correctional facility operates 24/7, 365 days a year, much like a hospital, and with 90 percent of the budget spent on operations and 75 percent of that on staffing alone, concepts such as inmate video conferencing with visitors are swiftly replacing conventional face-to-face visitation and resulting in lower operating costs.

In the past, according to Kessler, when someone came to visit an inmate, movement of the inmate through the secure facility was exceptionally time consuming and staff-intensive. In more modern facilities like Prince William-Manassas detention center, visitors entering the facility interact with inmates via video, precluding the need for the latter’s procession through the building and prolonged staff involvement. In the event of an attorney, psychologist or social worker visit where privacy is paramount, the professional can go to an isolated booth also equipped with video capabilities. “Maybe you lose a little something,” Kessler conceded, referring to more personal interaction, “but we know information can be conveyed quite well with video: it’s not just a phone call.”

1785: A View to a Kill (or not)

From earliest times and by popular literary example in Dickensian times, when prisons were essentially dungeons with populations randomly consisting of men, women and children thrown together to fend for themselves with no supervision, little thought was given to matters of crowd control. In 1785, Age of Reason English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham had famously conceptualized the Panopticon, a prison concept that went through 40 years of machinations but which, mostly for political reasons, was never built. Largely by virtue of its circular design, the Panopticon would have allowed officials to consistently observe prisoners from key vantage points without their knowledge. In this regard, operating costs would decrease because fewer staff would be required to be on duty as inmates would never be sure who, how many, or if anyone at all was watching (but they’d surmise it was better not to take a chance). Subsequent prisons throughout the world have reportedly been based on the Panopticon principle, which espouses the theory that “observation is control.”

According to Kessler, in prison life observation clearly is control, something he recalls an HOK colleague, formerly with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, explaining to him at an evolutionary time in his own career. Widely self-educated in prison history and inmate psychology (he calls upon experts such as cultural anthropologist Anita Wilson, an expert in prison subcultures), the confluence of both is integral to creating modern facilities that address the needs of changing prison populations that include men, women, juveniles, the mentally and physically challenged, violent criminals and an elderly component.

1998: You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby

Incarcerated women, for example, are more likely to change, or want to change, Kessler said, noting “an incredibly high percentage – more than 50 percent – have been abused as children.” Statistically they also have more health issues than men, and 75 percent are mothers with the added burden of being away from their children, exacerbated by having been abandoned by their own parents in similar situations. “They are in that cycle,” Kessler affirmed, adding that they characteristically suffer from low self-esteem, which essentially indentures them to men, and are also generally the sole support of their families (often parents as well as children). When they serve time, in an interesting twist, they are relieved of all of those constraints and responsibilities with time to spend on their own health and development, so they adjust much better to prison life.

In the past, and sometimes at present, Kessler said parity issues arise vis-à-vis men’s prisons, with fewer opportunities and programs available to women who comprise a much smaller percentage of the prison population. When he and his team embarked on a $38 million design of Virginia’s Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women, which opened in 1998, included in its context were a large medical facility, a computer center where inmates do actual data processing and receive money for their families and an area where they can learn to repair motors and small appliances. In correctional facilities such as Shakopee (Minn.) Women’s Prison,

also an HOK project, in-cell trundle beds exist so children can occasionally spend the night with their mothers to preserve or deepen the parenting bond.

One of the goals during incarceration, Kessler explained, is to ameliorate the anger that defines inmates. According to Kessler, because research has determined women have a much greater need for privacy than men, requiring them to live in open dormitories would very possibly build on that anger rather than helping to relieve it. At Fluvanna, though the initial concept identified 50-person dormitories, Kessler fought to build double cells, though tethered to a dormitory budget which was much less. “We arranged a design where we used four day rooms (surrounded by double cells) and made a very simple, inexpensive cross-shaped housing unit,” he said. Cells were “dry,” with toilets located in common bathrooms, which is better by sustainable standards. With a toilet in each cell, according to Kessler, by code 100 percent of the air must be expelled, and with it the heating and cooling. Without in-cell plumbing, air can be re-circulated out into dayrooms with savings on ductwork.

2003: Field of Dreams

Near Clarksburg, Maryland, the creation of the modern 900-bed (notably expandable to 1,100) Montgomery County Correctional Facility, opened in 2003 with an emphasis on sustainability, presented design challenges that included addressing environmental issues inherent in its rural 300-acre site while providing what officials called a humane environment for inmates. Located at the headwaters of Ten Mile Creek, a registered trout stream, Kessler and his team tipped the site so all the runoff was collected in one area and allowed to cool before it was discharged into the stream. Constructed on the site of a sludge entrenchment area, sludge was tested and found to have aged to the point of zero-toxicity; it was retrieved and stockpiled for organic topsoil.

Inside the facility, which utilizes recycled rubber flooring in parts, low-VOC paint and sealants, a day room made of sustainable oak and 30 small pulse boilers instead of one large boiler for hot water conservation, tiers of glass allow natural light to permeate the space from an outdoor recreation yard. Each cell has a window, something Kessler’s research and experience reveals is critical to an inmate’s emotional well-being and resulting behavior, which consequently affects the need for special staffing measures that can translate into dollars. Double cells do contain toilets, which Kessler said “…is a very important administrative tool: It means they can lock them in their cells.” Direct supervision, a modern metamorphosis of “observation is control,” means the guard is situated at a desk right in the middle of things. “It’s not based on physical force,” Kessler explained. “It’s based on authority and psychological authority. It’s based on mutual respect, and that’s from where the authority derives.”

Kessler summarized his work in justice design by affirming that the first priority is to make the facility as efficient as possible, because that’s where the “big dollars” are. He maintains this is balanced with keeping it safe and secure, keeping the staff safe, keeping inmates, visitors and the community safe. “As architects,” Kessler said, “we have social responsibilities and certain sensitivities, perceptions and skills to deal with unusual situations for the people that work in them, the people that visit them and for the people that are in them, because they are still human.”