The Technology of Tapas

By Beth Herman


It's a long way from a town widely known for its slaloms and schnitzel to the epicurigentsia of D.C. Principal Griz Dwight of Grizform Design Architects traded childhood ski racing competitions in the icy terrain of the Green Mountains for the equally sharp, albeit mental terrain of Washington, and never looked back - except with the occasional fond memory of a frozen lavatory at 6 a.m. and wind-blown snow inside the family home.


"We moved in to a converted barn," Dwight said of his first winter as an 8-year-old in Stowe, Vermont. "There was no heat in the house - just two wood stoves." Dwight’s mother, an author and avowed hippie, referred to it all as "character building," but the next year renovation and insulation followed, which may have impacted the future architect - even subconsciously. He admits it was a great place in which to grow up.

With 30 eclectic D.C. and Florida restaurants in his passbook and one more in development, Dwight’s unconventional undergraduate studies, almost equally distributed between studio art and physics (he was one science class shy of double-majoring) are emblematic of an architect whose love of the abstract and tactile sense are tantamount to his sense of precision and the technology of how things work. He also logged Vermont summers working construction, quipping that the confluence of all the art, science and framing is enough to make him “dangerous.

“I can weld; I do carpentry; I’ve worked a lot with pouring concrete; I’ve done some electrical work; plumbing.” Because the firm’s restaurant designs are so varied, Dwight said they can design everything “with that crazy pie-in-the-sky idea (recalling the abstract), but also the technical knowledge to get it done. We’re not coming up with a lot of crazy ideas that can’t be built and are over budget,” he added.

In the case of Estadio, 1520 14th Street NW, Grizform Design Architects’ latest restaurant venture which opened in July, the firm took a small, 2800-s.f. space and “packed a lot of punch in there,” Dwight said. Working in tandem with owner Mark Kuller, whom Dwight said loves Spanish food and wine, is extremely hands-on and also owns Proof, 775 G Street NW (another Grizform design), the team took tapas into the bullring by marrying the animal’s raw power and presence with “the sleekness and athleticism of the matador. We took images of the bullfight, or sort of the notion of a bullfight, and really thought about how that might translate into the space,” Dwight said.

Accordingly, clean, contemporary lines and stainless steel are offset by hand wrought 19th century one-inch terracotta bricks from a mansion in Spain. These elements are juxtaposed against what Dwight calls a monolithic, poured in place concrete bar – a massive element in the center of the space he believes could be the bull in the center of the ring. The wood on the face of the kitchen bar is a bold heart pine, salvaged from a building in Charlottesville, Va. in a nod to sustainability. Inside the vestibule, the heart pine theme continues on walls, punctuated by clavos: large nail heads reflective of those at the entry door of Plaza de Toros in Seville.

“It’s got a great vibe,” Dwight said, recalling that Kuller and chef Haidar Karoum (also of Proof) “ate their way across Spain” in an effort to authenticate the tapas and full dinner menu. “It’s really one of those restaurants that opened up with a soul. A lot of times restaurants seem to need to earn their soul, but this one, you walked into it the first day and it just felt right,” he affirmed.

Down the proverbial street, the firm is “digging into Korean culture” to open a second Mandu in the City Vista building at 475 K Street. According to Dwight, the owners purchased the first Mandu as a turnkey operation, changed the paint colors and simply opened up. But its scion, tentatively scheduled for a grand opening around the first of the year, will pay homage both to the country’s culture and the owners’ very traditional heritage.

“We are in Washington, D.C.,” Dwight said, “so it’s not going to be as if you plucked a place from Seoul and dropped it in.” Nevertheless in the Korean tradition, a wall of memory boxes will exist, exaggerated almost like a giant apothecary case with various drawers and nooks in which to put things. The structure will anchor the space and house memorabilia about the family’s history in Korea, their subsequent journey to D.C. and eventual foray into the restaurant profession.
Additionally, Dwight explained the owners spent their youth living by a duck pond in Korea, with ducks a significant sentimental factor in their own family story. Accordingly, the firm found about 60 wooden ducks, painted them lime green, and will situate them in various forms of flight around the memory wall in the middle of the space.

“We strive to tackle each project freshly,” Dwight explained, referring to the great diversity of all of his projects, both restaurant and retail, which also include Obi Sushi, Tackle Box, G Street Food, Artisan Confections and Sea Salt in Naples, Fla. Casting an even wider net into the hotel industry, Dwight anticipates a future where the applied potion of art, physics (what he calls the “why” in the reason things work – the fact that they hold up) and construction will make dreams come true for the client. Back in Stowe, during that first winter, he recalled that from their barn house in Long Hollow you couldn’t see anyone’s lights at night. In retrospect, it was clearly the place for his own dreams.

Estadio photography by Paul Burk Photography

Clark Breaks Ground on Arboretum Place

The Maryland Avenue ray of the officially completed and freshly paved Starburst Intersection has a brand new mixed-use, multi-family development in its future. Like most developments, Arboretum Place, a planned apartment community at 1600 Maryland Avenue, NE, has been continuously delayed by financing complications, originally hoping to break ground in early 2009. But Clark Realty spokeswoman Joy Lutes has confirmed that construction on the project broke ground earlier this month, making the ratio

of hipsters to construction workers in the Atlas District a bit more even.

This will be the first major residential project to get underway in the H Street
vicinity. "We are excited to undertake this project in an area of the city that has continued to experience growth even during the economic downturn and be able to contribute to this historic and vibrant neighborhood," says Clark Development Executive Tracey Thomm.

Originally billed as a 430-unit condo/apartment project, only a smaller initial phase is officially in the works. For the first phase, the $36 million development will deliver 257 apartments, a 250 space parking garage, and 5,000 s.f. ground-floor retail. Units will be offered in a variety of types and sizes: studios as well as one and two bedrooms. According to the developer, the project will bring "high-quality housing to an area that has not benefited from new residential development in many years." Respecting the eclectic and independent nature of the Atlas District, developers say they intend to link up local businesses with the new retail spaces. Clark Realty will also serve as general contractor as the development team aims to deliver the first residencies in the spring of 2012.

Georgia based Preston Partnership provided architectural designs that call for sharp angles and a busy, modern facade of dark red brick, cement, and large glassy bays. The liberal use of glass will offer extensive sight lines into the large central courtyard. Aside from supplying enjoyable outdoor public space, the courtyard helps to disrupt the massing of the buildings, allowing interesting interplays of space, and also blending the development more smoothly with the character of the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Like most residential developments these days, developers have qualified the project with the "luxury" tag, meaning a pool, a business center, a gym, indoor half basketball court, entertainment space, and landscaped gardens complete with fireplace and "meditation courtyard" are all included.

Although H Street currently offers a growing plethora of chic boutiques, trendy bars, and hip restaurants, the area still retains some grittiness: an overabundance of suspect take-out Chinese food spots, liquor stores, and boarded store-fronts. Adding to the aesthetic blight of the area is the scarred H Street, ripped up and littered with orange cones and Jersey barriers while it awaits the ever-delayed streetcars. The only other major residential development on the strip, The Rappaport Companies' large mixed-use redevelopment project running on the south side of H Street between 8th and 10th has been in the works for over three years now, but won't be moving forward soon. Arboretum Place may serve as a beacon of hope, like the Atlas District, a dark horse neighborhood that might challenge 14th & U (or Midcity, if the branding sticks) for the title of most artsy alternative 'hood.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Argent Opens Subsidized Apartments in Silver Spring

The Argent, downtown Silver Spring's only all-affordable apartment building, opens its doors tomorrow. Built in 2009 by Washington DC-based Perseus Realty LLC as "luxury" condos (outward appearances notwithstanding) the condo project languished with few sales (actually none) and financing gone south, sitting vacant for more than a year until sold earlier this year to Utah based Pallas Properties and Paradigm Financial Consulting for $24.8m.

Pallas snapped up the 96-unit property earlier this summer for $258,000 per unit, with the assistance of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits in a plan that keeps 90% of the units set aside for tenants with less than 60% of the Average Median Income (up to $43,000) and 10% of the apartments at less than 50% AMI. The Argent offers underground parking and, in a rare twist for a multi-family building, stainless steel appliances, ceramic floor tiles, and granite countertops. The deal keeps the units income restricted for 30 years. Montgomery County contributed $5m through the Housing Initiative Fund.

But the addition of an entirely low-income building took neighbors by surprise, reports SouthSilverSpring blog, and not in a good way. Subsidized apartments are rife throughout Silver Spring - the Portico has 23 of 151 units bankrolled by taxpayers, Falkland Chase Townhouses (58 of 70), Alexander House (123 of 310), Silver Spring House (32 of 77), 1200 East West (32 of 245), Gramax Towers (153 of 180), the Veridian (58 of 457), and as DCMud reported just yesterday, the Galaxy is now under construction next door with 82 of 195 units dedicated to low-income tenants. Occupancy of the Argent, located at 1200 Blair Mill Rd., will begin in October. The ceremony will take place tomorrow at 9:30am.

Update Sept 16: At the ceremony, Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett released a statement that said “One of my top priorities is increasing the amount of affordable housing in Montgomery County...These units will provide much-needed safe and affordable housing to 96 individuals and families and give yet another boost to South Silver Spring.”

Silver Spring real estate development news

Silver Spring's Contracting Galaxy

The Galaxy in Silver Spring is at last underway, at least in name. RST Development began excavation work on the site last month to make way for the apartment building that will soon rise at 8025 13th, just west of Georgia Avenue on the Silver Spring-Washington DC border, but now as a smaller, subsidized version of the original project.

Initially planned and approved by the county as a 328-unit, 700-parking space condominium, the project has spiraled downward in scope over the intervening four years. The ultimately prevailing design is a 195-unit rental apartment building with 113 market rate units and 82 subsidized units reserved for occupants making less than 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). RST began sales for the Galaxy, then a condominium, in 2006, which ended unsuccessfully in 2007. By early 2008, with the condo market in Silver Spring moribund, A.R. Meyer's & Associates' designs for the approved condo project shrank to a more modest 241-unit complex with 430 underground parking spaces - with some as public spaces - was rebranded as an apartment building. But the shrinkage continued and - any port in a storm - the developers took advantage of public dollars by amping up the affordable housing component, and earlier this year RST submitted an application for $40m in tax exempt bonds, nearly $3m in Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), and an additional $5m from the county's Housing Initiative Fund.

 

The Galaxy is RST's third project on the site, but the first new construction. In 2004, RST converted the vacant, 15-story office building around the corner into Gramax Towers, a-182 unit apartment complex also heavily subsidized by the state with 153 subsidized units. A year later RST began the renovation of the Williams and Willste buildings, two abandoned office buildings next to the Galaxy site, which it converted into the Aurora Condominiums. Developer Scott Copeland of RST declined to talk to DCMud for this story.

Silver Spring Maryland real estate development news

Passive Solar House Coming to Deanwood

Parsons and the Stevens Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the DC Department of Housing and Community Development and the DC Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, are taking their passive solar house design from the National Mall and bringing it to Deanwood in Ward 7. The design team for emPowerhouse also includes Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, coalescing expertise from the fields of design, management, and engineering, and operating under the guidelines of the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition, in a unique effort to unite

competition-level design with sustainable and affordable development.

Sponsors held a "Site Warming" event in Deanwood yesterday, which celebrated the upcoming Spring 2011 groundbreaking on the residences. Laura Briggs of Parsons's School of Constructed Environment reported that over 100 students have been involved in the course of the project. "It takes that many people to do a job like this," she commented, noting that students from multiple disciplines, including architecture, engineering, planning, policy, management, communications, product, lighting, and even fashion design have been collaborating on the project. John Clinton, Associate Professor of Sustainability at Milano - The New School for Management and Urban Policy added "[w]e wanted to provide opportunities for the community to learn about sustainability and infuse it in the design process. We also wanted to go from the house to housing." In a public address at the event, Sylvia Brown, ANC- 7C04, called the occasion a "monumental step." She hopes that conventional developers will have to contend with a new standard of housing in Ward 7, once the project is finished in October of 2011.

The Parsons (officially Parsons - The New School for Design) design team was selected as a finalist for the biennial Solar Decathlon Competition, next held on the Mall in the fall of 2011. The team is working on design at all scales: neighborhood and building, and even on fixtures and appliances. Taking into consideration the sun's path during different months of the year and the layout of the street grid in Deanwood, the plan adjusts the orientation of the buildings on the site to maximize southern exposure and thermal retention. The houses are designed to reach their optimum energy efficiency when they are side by side as a duplex, so the ultimate goal is to erect them both in Deanwood, providing the community with an affordable model for an innovative energy-efficient home.

With input from the Stevens Institute of Technology, which brought engineers into the design process, the design team is planning for a cellulose-insulated building envelope with R-values in the 40s and 60s, a Zehnder energy recovery ventilator system to heat and cool the houses, as well as hybrid photovoltaic-thermal cells, which not only generate electrical energy from the sun, but collect thermal energy reserves to offset solar cell energy loss, which occurs when solar cells heat up and their thermal resistance increases. Sinks with built-in greywater filtration devices and on-site storm water management

through an underground collection cistern and rain gardens are also under consideration.

The transition to Deanwood came when Shana Mosher, a student with connections to both Parsons and DC local government contacted ANC rep Sylvia Brown and Dennis Chestnut, Founder of the Ward 7 Non-Profit Network, and matched the idea of a Decathlon-worthy home with DC neighborhood development. As part of the community-building, the team is producing monthly newsletters with background information about Deanwood, Habitat for Humanity's efforts to improve storm water runoff by installing rain gardens in the neighborhood, and analysis on how the layout of a neighborhood affects passive house design.

The Deanwood neighborhood is no stranger to sustainable development practices. A participant in the the CarbonFree DC "Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover," which retrofits existing homes with green features and, as of July 22nd, has gotten funding to retrofit 20 additional homes in the DC area, Deanwood residents have been given a hand in caulking drafty windows, weather-stripping doors and windows, converting to smart power strips that monitor idle vampire usage, exchanging incandescents for compact flourescents, and gardening.

"We anticipate a 10% cost increase, which will be paid back in seven years. With 90% increased efficiency, for a 30-year note, that is $60,000 in savings," estimated David Gano, the Habitat for Humanity construction manager on the site. Habitat, which acts as a guarantor for low and middle income families that decide to partner with the organization, is in the process of selecting residents for the much-anticipated pilot housing in Deanwood.

Truck Stopping Design 101

By Beth Herman

The grandson of a gifted painter, and with a childhood penchant for creating fine art himself, landscape architect and Principal Bruno Carvalho of Carvalho & Good, PLLC couldn’t have anticipated that requisites for the post-9/11 world in which he plied his craft would include the use of elements such as Jersey barriers, concrete blockades and bollards, and terms such as kinetic impact, all informing his profession.

Practicing for about a dozen years, Carvalho cut his designing teeth in explosive South Florida, careening through the real estate and condo boom but leaving a stalling market in 2006 for D.C., where security - aka perimeter - design was the new black.

"Before 9/11, except if you were dealing with very secure sites, usually military, it wasn’t mainstream at all,” Carvalho said, referring to evolving ideas of barrier design – or more or less making art out of harsh, prison-like barriers hastily erected after the World Trade Center incident. In fact, after 9/11, an incalculable number of cement blockades and barriers feverishly went up around federal buildings in cities throughout the U.S., Washington DC key among them of course, until security proponents began to take stock of the war zone ambience they created.

The challenge for landscape designers in the realm of security/perimeter design, in an area like Washington, according to Carvalho, is to incorporate reinforced but disguised security elements into park-like public spaces that evoke more of a sense of respite and harmony than duck and cover.

Beware of Trucks Bearing Bombs

In the case of the Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E St. NW, a retrofitting of the existing building included in an overall landscape upgrade involved redesigning the perimeter to include security outlets, Carvalho said. “Instead of simply designing a typical streetscape with trees, benches and bus shelters, all of these elements now serve to provide a secure perimeter,” he explained, adding that the former practice of simply placing intrusive Jersey barriers everywhere (3 ½-foot high tapering concrete walls originating in the NJ highway system) has been replaced by elements such as giant concrete planters teeming with flora, hefty, anchored benches or reinforced concrete bollards that are highly aesthetic, all of which meet rated security standards based on “kinetic impact.” In short, Carvalho noted, you can’t drive a truck through them. Even light poles, redesigned for heft and anchored differently, qualify in security/perimeter design, with the grand prize going to covert pit design. According to Carvalho, though quite rare, some entities have a camouflaged pit in the landscaped area where unknowing pedestrians can walk right over it, but the weight of a truck will surely collapse its camouflaged covering.

At the Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, a low, 2-foot seating wall where people can linger, made of granite for aesthetics, serves as a vehicle barrier with landscaping for shade just behind it. “This wasn’t as involved as the OPM,” Carvalho said, “but it’s a simple element you can incorporate within the landscape to provide a required safety perimeter. If a developer wants a federal tenant, Carvalho explained, it has to incorporate some kind perimeter security, now more than ever an integral part of D.C. development. You don’t always perceive they’re safety elements, and that’s the contribution of the landscape architect.”

Furthermore in our nation’s capital, security design needs to be more than a barrier: it needs to be a functional part of the urban streetscape, which in some cases means excluding vehicles as was achieved at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “You don’t lose anything by not having everyday cars drive in front of the White House,” Carvalho noted, also citing similar pedestrian projects in cities such as New York and Philadelphia, “and you gain this great linear plaza.”

Dressing the Fortress

Listing the Israeli Embassy and the Vice President’s residence on their dance card, Carvalho maintained that sometimes it is incumbent upon the landscape architect to address - and dress - security elements that are already in place such as looming walls and cameras. “Security has always been part of high profile site design in Washington, D.C.,” he said, “regardless of the condition of the country.” To that end, and particularly with regard to the Vice President’s residence, planting schemes designed to upgrade the property could not obscure security cameras, and in other areas were devised to enhance or reveal existing security measures.

Earlier this year, Carvalho & Good was charged with landscaping the World Bank headquarters in Yemen where, Carvalho said, the country is almost a failed state. “There’s a lot of radicalism and extremism, and obviously there were tremendous security elements going on in that project: a huge perimeter wall and tons of cameras.” He noted their task was to work within those walls, designing a beautiful plaza and garden for the everyday use of employees, so that they would not feel as though they’d stepped out into a battle zone for lunch. Yemen’s World Bank, Carvalho reflected, is a symbol of world unity in a place that doesn’t have much unity.


Recently embarking on a project to landscape the Suitland Parkway entry road to the new headquarters for Homeland Security, where safety elements will clearly dominate the site, Carvalho said at the same time it will be important not to have them detract from the existing aesthetic of the parkway. “The main point of what our firm does is to bring balance to perimeter design,” he said. “Anyone can put a row of Jersey barriers around a building, based on the standard, and call it secure, but the difficulty comes in providing that same standard and making it beautiful.”

Washington DC commercial real estate design news

District Releases Hurt Home to Developers At Fire Sale Price

Roughly two months ago, the DC City Council voted to release several District properties for redevelopment, but the most noticeable deal in the large release is the transaction that enables Argos Group, in partnership with Potomac Investment Properties Inc., to scoop up the historic Hurt Home mansion at 3050 R St. NW, a "contributing" building in the Georgetown Historic District, for $450,000. The deal is pending, and Jose Sousa of DMPED cautions that "[t]hese numbers are not yet final." But Sousa and Argos Principal Gilberto Cárdenas estimate that all the minor details will be chiseled out in the next couple weeks. Cárdenas has plans to redevelop the former assisted living facility for the blind, and more recently the Devereux Children’s Center for foster children, into a 15-unit luxury condominium. This isn't Argos's first effort at acquiring and transforming a vacant, District-owned, historic property into high-end condos: the development group broke ground on the renovation of the Northeast's historic Firehouse No. 10 and Police Station No. 9 earlier this summer.

Argos has again contracted familiar partners Sorg Architects for the design work, and developers are leaning towards bringing in another interior design specialist to assist with some of the remodeling work. Three poorly executed wood additions will be stripped from the back of the original brick exterior, while the interior will be almost entirely gutted and rebuilt, walls, stairs, mechanicals, and all. The facade of the building will be improved and restored to its original historic charm, accented by giant two story front windows and an entrance stoop railed with hefty white columns. When finished the condos will be a spacious 1200-1700 s.f., each with two to three bedrooms and loft space. Given that the property was put mostly to philanthropic uses over the course of its long history, developers have agreed to offer three of the units at affordable rates and reserve them for blind citizens. Designers plan to link up with the American Council for the Blind to methodically outfit the units to meet the domestic daily needs of those living without sight. The back lot will be extensively landscaped, and a 30 car parking lot will be installed. Developers say there is a strong chance several Zip Car spaces will be included.

Sorg already oversaw the G-town Post Office Renovation

After the City Council meeting in July, Councilman David Catania seemed unsure of the decision: WBJ quoted Catania wondering why they'd "sell a property for $450,000 that’s worth $6.1 million," and asking, "Why not bid that out just to make sure we have the best reimbursement for the taxpayers?” But although at least five or six developers toured the property following the District's Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) last summer, Mr. Cárdenas and his partners were the only ones to go forward with an offer, and negotiations went from there. Initial plans called for an addition to the building and as many as 41 units, with the building being offered for more than $1.5 million. But it quickly became clear that community organizations, Zoning Commission, and the Historic Preservation Review Board would combine forces to put a quick stop to a proposal of such proportions, and so the number of units, with some back and forth community dialogue, was slowly reduced to 15.

Cárdenas reckons that other developers were reticent to get involved with the sometimes stubborn and often vocal Georgetown community. "They're a community that knows what they want, are well organized, and have the resources to force compromise," says Cárdenas, "but we came into this project with nothing but a positive attitude, good intentions, and willingness to compromise." Jose Sousa confirmed this, saying: "The development team worked in concert with the surrounding neighbors to address many of the concerns raised regarding parking and unit counts." Although the vetting process has already started, developers don't expect the receive final Zoning and HPRB approval for approximately a year. If all goes smoothly, construction will begin shortly thereafter.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Arlington Mill In Process of Selecting Newest Suitor

Plans for a mixed use development set for 4975 Columbia Pike that couples the construction of a new Arlington Mill Community Center with a large mixed-income residential project have been brewing for several years now. Originally devised as a three story multipurpose center with several levels of residential units stacked on top, the now 5-story Community Center stands solo and starkly modern in its newest configuration; the residential building will be constructed separately on the adjacent land. In its inception the development was billed as a large public/private partnership, packaged as a singular entity. But fed up with the roller-coaster-like search for development partners, and having lost their most recent teammate in Edgemoor Real Estate (a subsidiary of Clark Construction) to the slow economy, Arlington County officials decided to press on with their publicly funded side of the development (the community center) while they issued yet another request for proposals for the residential half of the project.

The County steering committee and involved public officials held an open meeting last night at Walter Reed Community Center to unveil the latest redevelopment plans for the Community Center. Looking to make up for lost time, planners are moving forward aggressively with the intention of demolishing the current building in October, breaking ground in early 2011, and opening the doors of the new center in the spring of 2013. The public development team will meet with the Transportation Commission, the Planning Commission, then wrap up proceedings with a final Board hearing on September 28th. With plans finalized, a request for general contracting bids will soon follow.

One of the earlier site plans.

Although a construction team won't be selected until winter, architects at DCS Design (Davis Carter Scott) have already supplied the updated schematics. The boxy, glassy building brings a bold, urban flare to the Columbia Pike thoroughfare, but an aquatic inspired color scheme of light blues and greens give a calming sensibility to the imposing structure. The five stories will be stacked on top of two tiers of underground parking (140 spaces) and feature a full gymnasium (8,700 s.f.), an entire floor's worth of fitness center, a game room, visual arts studio, mini libraries, a career center, computer labs, and a variety of multipurpose classrooms, study rooms, and meeting rooms.

A County spokesperson explained that their strategy for the updated programing line-up was to create "one stop shopping for County services." The plethora (10) of multipurpose rooms, as well as several fixed classrooms and conference rooms, will provide flexibility for programing, especially as new relationships are built with nearby schools and libraries that may utilize the new space. The Community Center will be financed with general obligation bonds already sanctioned by County voters, most recently a $26 million bond authorized in November of 2006. Community members seemed supportive, but anxious about the dearth of details for the accompanying residential plan.

The Starry Night version

Arlington County issued a request for proposals earlier this summer, receiving several official plans before the early August deadline. When asked about the proportion of affordable housing going forward, Arlington Mill Steering Committee Chairwoman Linda LeDuc explained that "all six of the received proposals would at least meet the originally stipulated 61 units at 60% AMI. We accepted both mixed income plans," she clarified, "and entirely affordable housing propositions. But it's all kind of up in the air right now." For those who've been tuned in since the beginning, the project has come together at a snail's pace, but once a new developer is decided upon, the process should move more quickly. Officials are expecting the new development team to be poised and ready to apply for HUD's Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) by spring of next year.

Because previous plans have already been approved for a 2-5 story residential building, and because the site is to be developed to Form Based Code as part of the Columbia Pike Special Revitalization District, the normally grueling planning process should be quicker and less painful. Financing and other details will of course remain obstacles, and so no time line has been issued. Vetting of submitted proposals will take place throughout the fall, and additional information will likely be provided as the County irons out their more immediately plans for the Community Center.

Arlington Real Estate Development News

Crescent Falls Church Construction Complete, Minor Finishing Touches Await

A representative of Texas-based Hanover Company confirmed that construction teams have nearly wrapped up the Crescent Falls Church project and the building received their Certificate of Occupancy earlier this summer. This is Hanover's second major development in the Metro area, having completed Ashton Judiciary Square in 2009. The 6-story, 214-unit Crescent, a mixed-use and multi-family residence in Arlington near the East Falls Church Metro, was delivered only ever so slightly behind schedule, originally set to finish earlier this spring. Given that the developers planned to start leasing this summer, and now report the building 25% leased, there is plenty for Hanover to celebrate in a downmarket summer that has seen many more groundbreakings, affordable housing plans, and proposal extension requests than ribbon cuttings. The finished community neighbors the Washington & Old Dominion Trail (W&OD) and Falls Church Park, but the area surrounding East Falls Church Metro remains underutilized - largely a commuter zone, often simply passed over by shoppers on the way to Tysons. This development is part of a larger effort by Arlington and Falls Church officials to encourage denser redevelopment that will help transform the vicinity into a more urban, mass-transit friendly locale.

The new building is stockpiled with the standard amenities: private screening room, concierge, daily hot beverage service, two courtyards – one with a fire-pit and outdoor grilling and dining areas, and the other with dual-sided fireplace and outdoor grilling and dining areas. Like Hanover's previous venture in Penn Quarter, the apartment building focuses heavily on a variety of sustainable features. Developers believe that its metro location, recycling center, technical features, "oversized" bike room, and underground parking garage with priority for low-emission vehicles will help the building receive LEED certification upon review.

Hanover's nationwide record of apartment construction and operation likely helped the company muster proper financing and get this project completed. Other projects originally expected to be delivered on a similar time-line continue to limp along through the recession with little material progress to show for their efforts. Akridge's nearby Gateway development, set for the 500 block of N. Washington Street and unveiled way back in 2006, has yet to get off the ground. Delayed by the economic downturn, developers continue to bicker with city officials over the ratio of commercial (offices and retail) to residential square footage. Akridge is proposing one 73-foot, 5-story office building with 71,000 s.f. of office space and 12,000 s.f. of retail, coupled with a slightly shorter second 5-story building, this one offering 200 units (averaging 800 s.f. in size) and 2,500 s.f. of ground floor retail space. Their current plans offer a 70-30 percent split between residential and commercial, but officials look to push developers closer to a 50-50 setup.

Hekemian's "Northgate" development, a mixed use project, including 124 rental apartments, on the N. Washington St. side of the old Pearson Funeral Home, also had an initial expected completion date in 2010, but continues to trudge through the final site plan approval process and futilely fish for financing packages. A site plan amendment to incorporate the approved North Washington streetscape design is currently under consideration; it is unknown when construction will start.

Falls Church real estate development news

Construction on Tysons Corner Apartment Building to Start Next Month

Tysons has it good these days. What was just a few years ago a distant, forgettable suburb with prohibitively wide streets that looked nothing like its urban neighbor to the east, now has the hope of a new comprehensive urban plan, a foursome of Metro stations on the way, and developers queuing up to build. The latest is AvalonBay, which paid the Penrose Group $13.3 million for just 2.64 acres of land on Westpark Drive and plans to start construction of a 354-unit apartment building next month.

The new Avalon Park Crest, as it will be called, follows on the heels of Capital One's application to create a gridded street system and multi-phase development on 23 acres at the Tysons Metro stations. With construction already approved by the county and designed by the Lessard Group of Tysons, the units are expected to be occupied in early 2012. Arlington- based AvalonBay will build, own, and operate the apartment building. AvalonBay will not seek LEED certification, but will incorporate "numerous" green features.

The site is now within Park Crest development that currently includes condos, apartments and a Harris Teeter grocery store, and already includes the 558-unit Avalon Crescent. Despite being an aggressive investor with 171 buildings and more than 50,000 units to its name, this is the first new community AvalonBay has built in the mid-Atlantic since 2005, though it has been planning another new community in Wheaton.

The building will hold a 2-1/2 level underground parking garage, wifi lounge, "ample" bicycle storage, and two private one-quarter acre courtyards with a pool, and outdoor cooking.

McLean, Virginia real estate development news

Wisconsin Giant "Launch Party" this Thursday

Despite a pending legal battle that has tied up the Wisconsin Avenue Giant, developers are moving forward - pretty soon - with their 56,000-s.f. grocery store project that will add additional retail, residential, and office space. Developer Steet-Works has announced a "launch party" for this Thursday to celebrate the impending demolition of the abandoned 1950's era G.C. Murphy Co. store and existing Giant, which will yield to a newly renamed "Cathedral Commons."

Parent company Stop & Shop owns the site bounded by Idaho Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, and Macomb Street and divided by Newark Street, all of which now contains a mostly-abandoned, one-story retail strip and surface parking. Upset with the parking provisions, the threat of increasing density in the area, and even challenging the Commission's authority to make the specific zoning amendment ruling that approved the project, the Wisconsin-Newark Neighbors Coalition (WNNC) had filed a lawsuit to prevent the project, challenging, as they had previously, the Zoning Commission's 2009 approval of the project.

Despite the burst of optimism on the ultimate outcome of the development, the litigation has not yet been resolved, and Street-Works does not plan to begin construction until March of next year. DC officials and President of Giant Food Robin Michel, among others, will gather to announce their commitment to moving forward, ambitiously marking the last days of the 50-year old block that is a deteriorating and out-dated eye-sore. In an official press release Giant promises: "the development will create new jobs and feature neighborhood retail shops, restaurants, a 56,000-square-foot supermarket, townhomes, apartments, engaging open spaces, and an attractive streetscape." Developers insist that the current tenants will relocate into the new retail space upon completion.

When asked what circumstances changed to justify throwing a launch party this week, Sharon Robinson, a consultant for the Giant Team, explained that "this is simply a chance for the company to publicly voice its support for the project, and its commitment to move forward." She added that it will provide the opportunity for Giant officials to elaborate on the details and timeline of the development plans going forward. Councilwoman Mary Cheh is one of the many invested individuals who is happy to hear the news. "I am delighted, as I'm sure residents are," Cheh explained, "that after waiting for many years for this development, that we are finally on the threshold of it actually happening." There is always the worry that the litigation will again prove a hitch in the development's progress, but Cheh has been assured that the legal case of the opposition is not very strong.
In total, the proposed project will contain approximately 136,500 square feet of retail space and 140-150 residential units. After construction begins, developers expect the entire project to be completed within three years. How the project will be phased - likely in two phases - and how developers plan to transition from the old grocery store into the new, remains unsettled. Perhaps those answers will be revealed on Thursday.

Update: The launch party, as predicted by our prescient poster below, has been called off. Giant recently sent out an e-blast saying: "Giant Food wants to give all members of the community an opportunity to join us to launch the new project to redevelop the Wisconsin Avenue Giant and Friendship Shopping Center, which will be known as Cathedral Commons. To honor the High Holy Day, Rosh Hashanah, we will postpone the previously announced launch event." A new date has yet to be set.

Washington DC real estate development news

Reston Station: Planning for the Last Stop of the New Metro Line

When it comes to development along the new Dulles Corridor Metrorail Silver Line, connecting downtown Washington D.C. to Tysons Corner and Dulles Airport, developers think big. Reston Station, a transit-oriented, mixed-use development soon to be brought into the orbit of Washington DC as the terminus of Phase 1 of the Silver Line, is no exception. Zoned for 1.3 million s.f. of development and incorporating three office buildings, two residences, one hotel, retail space and a 2300-car underground garage, developers expect to break ground on the garage next March and start the residences in late 2012. Davis Construction, now at work on Reston Station's county-sponsored underground garage, intends to complete work by 2013 to sync with the Silver Line's debut.

Comstock Partners, the Reston-based developer behind the vision, is just now beginning to market to prospective office users and hotel operators to fill up the 60,000 s.f. of retail, 650,000 s.f. of office space, and 220-key hotel that have been planned 3/4 of a mile east of Reston town center. Comstock has just begun design process for the 500,000 s.f. of residential space with the search for an architect, but already plan pair of residential buildings, 205 and 140 feet high, with a total 370 units, 19.5% of it designated for workforce housing.

Turning what looks, at least aerially (mislabeled picture above courtesy of MWAA), like a land of parking lots dotted occasionally by office buildings, into a community that is "edgy, contemporary, with easy living and walking to the Metro" as Comstock's Maggie Parker puts it, will require a bold metamorphosis. Anchored by the indispensable Metro station, various groups are working to design a more urban Reston. Reston 2020, a committee of the Reston Citizen's Association, which represents residents of Reston in the Reston Master Plan Review process, has outlined its own optics for the area, A Strawman Proposal for The Wiehle Area Metro Station, that envisions a thriving mixed-use, beyond 9-5, transit-oriented community. The group calls for increased residential uses, pedestrian and bike interconnectivity along the Silver Line corridor, embracing the urban center paradigm and integration of growth along the corridor. According to Penniman, Strawman Proposal author and board member of the Reston Community Center,

"Reston is a wonderful, planned community of urban and village centers, but running in the middle of it is the toll road, which has historically been lined with office buildings. With the arrival of the Metro and three stations running through Reston, there is an opportunity to add some urban flavor that would allow more people to live, work, walk and play...If we can create more pedestrian connections and manage traffic, that should do a lot to energize the corridor and would fit in well with the image of Reston as a community of open spaces and quality architecture."

Not everyone would agree that Reston calls to mind architectural splendor or exudes urbanity, but Comstock hopes their site next to the Metro will afford the opportunity to change that. Comstock plans on entering Reston Station in the running for LEED-ND (LEED for Neighborhood Development) certification, a relatively new category in the LEED rating system, which the US Green Building Council, the Congress for New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council developed collaboratively to certify neighborhoods that are planned according to smart growth principles with attention to urban planning and environmental design characteristics at the community scale.

Debate on the project has focused on traffic mitigation from the beginning. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority began increasing tolls on the Dulles Toll Road last January by 33% to help finance the Silver Line, with further toll increases expected in 2012. With increasing gas prices and suffocating traffic, the commute along the toll road has become less sustainable.

Comstock's Parker says the developer has focused on traffic management from the start, making the most of the pedestrian bridge that will link its project to the Metro station. Planners have designed Reston Station Blvd. as a new cross street, "an east-west spine road parallel to both Sunset Hills Road and the Dulles Toll Road provides a key cornerstone to the ultimate goal of a well-planned grid of streets." "We have proffered to significant traffic modifications to accommodate the suggested increase in traffic with the arrival of Metro. We are also committed to conducting other traffic studies as the development progresses through an aggressive Transportation Demand Management plan designed to reduce automobile trips generated by the office and residential uses" explained Parker.

Ultimately, construction timelines will be determined by economic realities, with even citizens groups acknowledging that "development will not proceed as fast as might have been thought a couple of years ago." With three years to go until the Metro station opens, time will tell what awaits sojourners venturing out to the end of the new metro line.

Reston, Virginia, real estate development news

New Grocery Store Chain to Land In Northeast

The supermarket wars rage on, now with a new competitor. The poor man's Trader Joe's is coming to Ward Five next week, as discount grocer chain ALDI will break ground on what is set to become their first store in the District of Columbia. Work will officially begin on September 7th at 901 17th Street, NE; ALDI executives will be joined by Ward 5 Councilmen Harry Thomas Jr. to celebrate the good news. ALDI summarizes their unique business model as this: "A select assortment discount grocer featuring its own ALDI select brands, ALDI applies smart and efficient operational and business practices to save more than 20 million monthly customers up to 50 percent on their grocery bill." With limited shelving, and most products displayed on the same wooden pallets they're shipped on, it seems as if the end product will be the less complicated, groceries-only version of Costco.

As it is now

Looking more like Soviet Safeway here

Although it may be tempting to poke fun at the grocer as the District becomes overpopulated with gourmet supermarkets, it will likely be a vast improvement upon the "UnSafeway" just next door. With a neglected Safeway on Rhode Island Avenue shut down earlier this year, it is clear that northeast has not received anything like the attention from grocers lavished on northwest. In Germany, where ALDI originated, the chain was once sneered at and dismissed as a low-quality, thrifty-alternative for impoverished shoppers, but has now gained momentum as hip and simplified shopping for the parsimonious. Future customers be warned however, you must come armed with a quarter (redeemed upon return of the grocery cart), and cash or a debit card (credit cards not accepted). Customers are also required to pay for the grocery bags they use, so bring your own reusable cloth sacks to save time, money, and the environment.

The new store should look something like this

Since their business philosophy is a no-frills shopping experience that focuses on cutting costs and passing the savings onto the customer, it's hard to imagine the architecture being inspirational. And like the majority of ALDI's business relationships, they've contracted with a single entity, ADP Engineering and Architecture, to bring their new stores across the country to life. No official construction timeline has been published, but it is expected the turn around will be fairly short. The need for better shopping options in the area certainly remains strong.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News