The House that Straddled Time

By Beth Herman

It's either in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley or in your wildest dreams, depending on how much Ketel One you've had to drink the night before, but for a noted NYC expat/physician, this place is really home.

For Winchester, Va.-based Chuck Swartz and Beth Reader of Reader & Swartz Architects, creating a place to retire for a client whose lifetime interests included opera and what some might consider colliding collections of pop art, rare books, skeletal remains, insects, an imposing statue of bad-boy Greek character Actaeon and antique scientific oddities presented a design challenge largely unparalleled in their 20 years in practice together, but one the firm truly embraced. Ultimately receiving an AIA D.C. merit award in the historic resources category, the architects’ efforts to integrate 300 years of art, objects, books and furniture, including a 1959 Eames chair and Mies van der Rohe daybed, into slightly more than 3,000 s.f. of a late 19^th century “street side farm house,” known as vernacular Victorian, resulted in a home that’s rich, tactile appeal rivaled its intellectual brio.

“When you see these things,” Swartz said of his client’s eclectic though erudite taste, “it’s not an ego collection for him. He actually reads these amazing books and knows all about them. And all of the objects – he knows who did them, who they were related to. He lives in the history of Western culture.”

Upstairs, Downstairs

Originally four apartments, Reader & Swartz Architects, who also credit Lodge Construction, Inc.’s craftspeople and project manager Earl Burroughs, began by converting the structure into two spaces: lower and loft. The smaller, bottom living space of 939 s.f. went to the homeowner’s caretaker who maintains the precisely landscaped, vibrant grounds and gardens that further define the space. Primarily a renovation, the only addition to the premises was the inclusion of another library, in fact a third library, commonly referred to as the “secret” library due to its windowless location, which houses some of the homeowner’s estimated 4,000-book collection under unusually creative circumstances.

“In this case, the library is the room and the room is the library,” Swartz explained, noting the shelves go from floor-to-ceiling on all four chocolate brown walls in the 13x13x13-ft space. When the door - which is backed by more shelving - is closed, it disappears, and a highly mobile library ladder runs the entire perimeter of all four walls to access any and all books. A 1920s art deco Murano glass light fixture hangs from a coffered ceiling, and isn’t electrified, holding candles instead. The room is actually lit by a minimalist fixture above this one, which shines down on the glass. “We’re taking an old light fixture and thinking of it as an object rather than a source of light," Swartz said, which is exemplary of other repurposed entities throughout the home. “Everything is looked at for its properties and thought about a lot,” Swartz noted. “So if something is beautiful and (the homeowner) loved it, we figured out how to have it make sense in the building.”

In the garden library, which overlooks a rather formal Karesansui rock garden, black Corian bookshelves are traversed by tapered, vertical, floor-to-ceiling pieces of wood, almost like airplane wings, which add precision and scale to that room’s collection of books. The remaining library, called the main salon, is a large, pale green room with floor-to-ceiling glass, a barrel-vaulted ceiling and mirrors at each end. On one wall is a changeable wooden apparatus, thought of as kinetic or interactive sculpture. “The verticals are set, but all the horizontal pieces can be unscrewed very quickly, almost in IKEA fashion,” Swartz explained, adding the whole composition can be moved around to accommodate the client’s glassware, antique medical objects, sea shells and more. “He calls it his Wundercamera,” Swartz quipped.

The Butler with the Candlestick in the Kitchen

In tandem with the home’s robust personality and old/new functionality, the kitchen needed to have its own voice. The last thing the team desired was to default to a “subdivision-type” kitchen with little dignity. “We wanted the space to be the way a really old kitchen would be, where it’s a room with things that are worthy,” Swartz explained. In this respect, plastic laminate “caskets” were designed to hold base cabinets and wall cabinets so that everything looks like built-in furniture. While the cabinets themselves are modern, they’re made of red oak providing a grain that, at closer look, permeates their black veneer. Visible joists were covered with black milk paint, with a floor on top of them so that the wood is visible. White subway tile on the walls flanks concrete countertops, and glass blocks from an old building in Tulsa, Oklahoma, separate the kitchen from a bathroom but allow light to shine through (as well as down the staircase when the bathroom is in use). A high-design Italian light fixture from the 1950s punctuates the space, with nearly all of the home’s light fixtures - such as the main salon’s Vassilakis Takis colored lights on stalks display - offering some kind of pedigree, according to Swartz. “The kitchen actually has an old feel without any particular reference to time,” he affirmed.

Lie Back and Think of England

Recalling the homeowner’s English roots and dry sense of humor, Swartz said a problem arose when the mechanical system had to be placed outside, up high, in plain sight of the bedroom. A resulting abstract steel pyramid design, in a kind of homage to artist Sol LeWitt whose actual work can be found in other places inside and outside the building, was cut by computer to form what is affectionately called “mechanical lingerie” or the “secular steeple.” In short, it camouflages the mechanical hardware and reflects the rooftops of Great Britain. And where the loft itself utilizes floor-to-ceiling glass to appreciate the view of the gardens below, the façade of the first floor caretaker’s unit - in a nod to history and for privacy - is clad in something resembling Victorian-era pressed metal, similar to what’s seen on ceilings in old stores or in restaurants.

The overall structure, which Swartz said is not a restoration but in sustainable terms a reuse of an old building, is compared, by the architect, to a chef who might find some less contemporary thought-of foods, such as venison or cornbread, and use them in a whole new way. “It doesn’t have a static view of either architecture or history,” Swartz said about the home. “It’s a serious building, done with an open-minded sense of humor. It’s not trying to be old or modern or opulent or minimalist or anything. It’s more of a celebration of life.”

DC's Highest Retail Site

Tenleytown, averse to larger developments in demand around the rest of Washington DC, must get its much-needed retail in little bursts. Such is the case at 4619 41st Street, at Wisconsin Avenue, which happens to be the highest retail point in the city - elevation, that is. But just because it is located on the side of Fort Reno, don't expect grand views; the building will rise only 4 stories, nearly opposite the Metro station, with space for "1 or 2 restaurants," a small retail element in the basement, office space, and a small number of residences above.

The owner 4619 41st LLC has begun construction on the site, certainly better known for what it was than what it will be. The land abuts the landmarked Western Union tower, an art deco, 73-foot limestone tower designed as a microwave relay station to replace wired telegraphy, the first structure in the country built for that purpose. The construction site also was used briefly by American Tower for a 760-foot behemoth that would have dwarfed others nearby, but was heavily protested by neighbors who fought the concentration of radio towers on the visible site. The tower was about 50% completed when the city forced it to halt construction, the tower sat half-finished for several years before coming down in 2007.

Engineers for the site call the project one of the more technically difficult sites to work on, with the tiny site adjoining the Western Union tower and Dancing Crab, both of which have to be dug below and underpinned, caisson footings from the removed radio tower have to be excavated, and a Metro tunnel underneath that WMATA doesn't really want punctured.

The engineering firm seems up to the task. KCE Structural Engineers has been part of $42 billion worth of construction projects, having engineered Washington Harbor, Federal Triangle, the John Wilson building addition, Bethesda Metro Center, the PTO building in Alexandria, and Arena Stage. KCE Principal Allyn Kilsheimer has a more personal connection with the construction site, having grown up in the neighborhood and having been part of the engineering team that readapted the Western Union tower as a junior engineer at Beall & Lemay in the early '60's. Kilsheimer went on to found KCE in 1968, engineering buildings throughout DC and beyond. With such eminence in the engineering world, Kilsheimer was called to the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001, but, barely en route, got the call that he was needed at the Pentagon and had to turn around. Kilsheimer went on to lead the Phoenix Project team, which rebuilt the Pentagon under budget and ahead of schedule.

"This is a very, very complicated building" said Kilsheimer. "We're now doing the underpinning of the Crab Shack and tower, the foundation should be laid in 3-4 months." Georgetown based Grupo7, which has worked with the Ed Peete company on numerous interior designs and restaurant build-outs, is providing architectural design. With Tenley's Babes and Safeway going nowhere, the new restaurants will add some flavor at the top of DC.



Washington DC real estate development news

Adams Morgan's Champlain Street Slated for a Residential Uprising

Just east of the main night life drag - 18th Street in Adams Morgan - in Reed-Cook is Champlain Street, pegged as a prime area for residential development, despite the street's struggle to overcome a crime-ridden reputation thanks to a dead end that brought cops staked out in squad cars over the past few years. Now, three projects, that will bring a combined 90 residential units to the street, look to be making moves in the next one-to-six months, the first of which will be one that was sidelined in 2009, D.B. Lee Development's boutique "Eden" condo.

Bill Bonstra designed it several years ago, the market softened, but that area of the city has seen a lot of interest, like the Brass Knob project.  "Eden - hence the name - is really about the outdoors, sustainability, and is actually designed to take advantage of the maximum sun angles of the property." "Most outdoor space for as many of the units as possible." combo of masonry and "metal panels that slice through the building almost like a knife." Fits into the neighborhood context by maintaining the street wall. 18 units, very spacious. 4 story, wood-frame on podium, parking along the back. "is really expressive of its name."

The condominium designed by Bonstra | Haresign will replace two 3-story brick rowhouses at 2358 and 2360 Champlain St; permits to level these and make way for the second coming of "the promised land" are pending. A building permit, approved two years ago, was reinstated at the end of August and an assistant with D.B. Lee confirmed that the project aims to be underway soon, with financing secured this summer.

Since 2009, the number of condo units to be tucked into the Eden has doubled, as verified by a Champlain Street neighbor, "I believe the developer is adjusting to market conditions and reducing the square footage and increasing the number of units [from 9] to 18."

The Eden will be built directly across the street from D.B. Lee's last boutique (11-unit) condo project The Erie at 2351 Champlain, completed in 2009. The Erie property is saddled up to an infill site at 2337 that was purchased in July and will be turned into a 40-unit, PGN Architects-designed condo by Federal Capital Partners and Altus Realty Partners. Construction is in the design phase and is expected to be underway in late spring/early summer of 2012.

On the other side of FCP's property, still an apple's throw away from the Eden, is the 1950s-era auto dealership and plating shop at 2329/2335 approved as a 31-unit residential project currently listed for sale with CBRE. The broker asserts there has been promising interest of late.

At the top of Champlain, only 200' north of the Eden and the Erie, developers continue to wrangle with the design for the reinvention of the 100-year-old First Church of Christ Scientist at 1700 Euclid Street NW. With a substantial footprint, the project will also extend down Champlain and overtake the headquarters of the Washington City Paper. The plan is to create a 227-room luxury hotel by the boutique-hotel mastermind Ian Schrager, with ongoing community debate over the potential effect it could have on Adams Morgan, and wide eyes regarding the $46 million tax break from the District.

It remains to be seen whether new residential in the middle of Champlain will significantly impact the street, and if the luxury-hotel-created ritz at Euclid Street will trickle all the way down Champlain to the historically rough end at Kalorama Road, recently improved with a new, flashy mural.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Falkland Chase To Begin Review Process

Home Properties is set to unveil their Falkland Chase redevelopment plans later this fall. The proposed development site is 9.7 acres of land at the northeast corner of 16th Street and East-West Highway in Silver Spring. The recently revised plans call for the currently standing 180 garden apartments to be demolished in order to make way for an urban infill, multi-building complex totaling some 1,250 rental apartments upon completion. The developers had first proposed stacking over 1,000 units into a single high rise, but smartened up when they realized such a large building would not go over well with the surrounding community. Last week the Montgomery County Planning Board approved a 60 day extension of the Project Plan Review phase, meaning developers will now present their plans to the Board on October 13th. In the works since 2006, just last year the developers caved to pressure from local preservationists and designated two parcels of the Falkland Chase Apartments complex as historic. But that hasn't stopped the developers from moving forward with their massive redevelopment of the northern portion of the property.

Master-planning was done by Shalom Baranes Architects. Four separate buildings (two of which rise 12 or 13 stories), connected by pedestrian pathways, will surround pockets of green space and landscaped courtyards featuring a swimming pool, pond, and water fountain. Nelson Byrd Woltz shouldered the landscape design work. Over 150 units will be designated as moderately priced, serving those making 50-65% AMI, while at least another 59 will be reserved as workforce housing. Also divided amongst the four buildings is the proposed 70,000 s.f. of retail space, with the 20,000 s.f. anchor space set to become a major grocery store. Although nothing is official, Home Properties expects to wrap up negotiations to bring Harris Teeter to the development shortly. The other retail venues will likely feature a mix of restaurants, dry cleaners, and convenience stores. A four story (half below grade, half above) 1,600-space garage will satisfy the parking needs of future residents and shoppers.

Sustainability will be a major factor given the project's proximity to the fragile Rock Creek watershed. Developers have committed to earning at least a LEED Silver Certification, and have promised to recycle as much of the construction waste as humanly possible. Several green roofs, rain gardens, and infiltration beds and cisterns will assist in collecting and processing storm runoff.

The review process is bound to shed light on some public criticism, as at least a few neighbors will be upset with the scope of the project. Developers are pushing to the ceiling on all the zoning specifications, proposing the maximum 3.0 FAR, 166 units per acre, and 143 feet in building height.

Detailed architectural renderings have not been released, although designers describe their material palate as consisting of the usual brick masonry, metal, cast stone and glass. The contemporary facades will also feature a variety of balconies, bays and exterior spaces.

Silver Spring, MD Real Estate Development News

Mather Studios Condominiums

Mather Studios
916 G St., NW, Washington DC
Mather Studios was the first downtown conversion of an office building into housing in the history of the District of Columbia, according to its architects at Cunningham | Quill. The Mather Building, located in the Downtown Historic District, was built as an office building in 1917 by Alonzo Mather, then converted to academic use by the University of the District of Columbia in 1967, and abandoned in 1989 until its revival in 2001 as a condo residence. The gothic revival terra cotta facade was restored to its original condition, with large interior units sectioned off that have appropriately minimalist features like concrete floors, exposed ducts, industrially sized windows, and a new rooftop penthouse added. A front desk and bike lock room provide amenities, but there is very limited parking in the building, not much of a problem with parking garages around. The building conversion into a mixed-income project provides 12 affordable housing spaces for artists on the 2nd and 3rd floors, as well as 38 market-rate condominiums. The District began the conversion process when it selected the Cultural Development Corporation, PN Hoffman, and Gilford Corp. to redevelop the dilapidated office building. Gilford also served as the general contractor. The project required an exception to the District of Columbia Height Act.

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Clarendon Center Retail and Office Space Going Fast

By now, everyone inside the D.C. real estate blogosphere knows Trader Joe's is tantalizingly close to being named the major retail anchor at Saul Centers' Clarendon Center development. While it's not official, TJ's is expected to occupy the Center's 10,000 s.f. space as long as the County Board accommodates the grocery giant's request for 76 reserved customer parking spaces in the currently unrestricted, public garage. Developer Saul Centers filed the site plan amendment application on Friday of last week, and if all goes smoothly a hearing would likely happen on November 13th for the new Clarendon Center, with apartments now being readied for December 1st occupancy. County Officials wouldn't commit to granting approval to the exact amount of spaces being requested, but were confident, given the desirability of a tenant like Trader Joe's, that all involved parties will be able to work out an agreement. One doesn't have to gaze too far down the Wilson-Clarendon corridor from the potential TJ spot to recognize the traffic that popular grocery chains generate: horn-blowing SUV's queued around the block in hopes of a spot in the nearby Whole Foods parking lot is a regular rush hour sight.

The mixed-use development consists of three buildings and takes up two whole blocks: two office buildings, and one residential. As local blogs like Arlington Now continue to roll out the news about new tenants, developers have confirmed that the buildings are sealed off, contractors are finishing up interior detailing, and everything will be ready for occupancy before the end of the year. The residential building, situated on the South Block, consists of 12 stories of totaling 244 rental units. The two office buildings will total some 170,000 s.f. divided between the six-story building on the North Block and the nine-story building to the south. Tea Party activists will soon be fed and bred to political perfection on one of the floors, as the Leadership Center ("Training Conservative Leaders") has reserved space in the new complex. The local investment firm Winston Partners has also reserved one of the eight floors in the southern building, leaving six stories available. And Airline Reporting Corporation has leased four of the six available floors in Clarendon Center North.

The 42,000 s.f. of retail space is also drying up. Counting Trader Joe's, half of the 16 spots are spoken for. Several restaurants including the BGR Burger Joint, Dupont's Circa Cafe, Pete's New Haven Apizza, Tangy Sweet Garden/Red Velvet Cupcakery, and Burapa Thai & Sushi Restaurant will join a local bank and a dry cleaners. It won't be long before more restaurants will sign up, as the crowded patios along Clarendon Blvd. attest to that fact that even on weekdays there is no shortage of hungry, moneyed young people in Arlington.

Torti Gallas designed the buildings, while Clark Construction has brought their plans to life.

Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

Preservationists In Alexandria Play the Race Card

Drawing the line between honest historic preservation and nagging nostalgia is a difficult task. But sometimes the more difficult task is pulling back the layers of hyperbole to find the truths hidden behind the stereotype of bad, cigar-sucking developer squashing hopes of poor, kindhearted preservationists. In October of 2009 the Alexandria City Council upheld (with a 6-1 vote) the previous Board of Architectural Review (BAR) decision to allow demolition of the crumbling American Legion building at 224 North Fayette Street in the Parker-Gray neighborhood. But in an effort to avoid demolition, owner and developer Bill Cromley offered to delay his residential redevelopment plans for sixth months, hoping a preservationist would take the property off his hands at the city's assessed value. Nothing came to fruition. However, a bid of a different kind eventually did come, as self-proclaimed preservationist Boyd Walker recruited a group of 25 mostly elderly and African American Parker-Gray property owners to sign an appeal petition against the proposed razing.

Although all but two of the 25 signatories (including Walker) failed to show up and voice their concerns at the Council hearing, the group went ahead with the protest and hired the formidable local law firm Williams & Connolly to file a discrimination suit against the City Council, putting an indefinite hold on Cromley's plan to develop the property into a contemporary condominium. "Elevating architectural significance above cultural and historic significance inevitably has a disproportionate impact on buildings in historically black neighborhoods, while affording ample protections to historic structures in predominately white neighborhoods," reads the lawsuit. The building served as a childcare center assisting African American women who left their children daily to go to work, replacing the men that had gone overseas to fight in WWII. Later the building became the only American Legion post in Alexandria to serve black veterans as they returned from war, and throughout the '50's and '60's served as backdrop to community life in the predominantly black neighborhood. Later, the building became well known as a place of public drunkenness, fighting, and drug activity, until its liquor license was revoked in 1992. More recently it's remained empty, uncared for, and rotting from the inside out. It's hard to deny the building's history, but then again history is naturally embedded in everything, everywhere.

How does one decide when history is significant enough to favor preservation in the face of progress? Cromley argues that even if it is agreed that the building is historically significant (which he doesn't), there remains the question of feasibility, of practicality, of plain and simple economics. Opponents to demolition have communicated no viable plans for restoration or preservation, and the status quo would be demolition by default. Cromley remains convinced that the money it would take to stabilize and restore the old American Legion post would be impossible to reclaim in the marketplace. But he remains open to someone stepping in and proving his estimates incorrect. In order to make renovation and re-use of an old property financially worthwhile it has to have at least one of three factors working in its favor, explains Cromley: "location, size, and/or something special or quirky about the building. This building has none of these."

Cromley, only interested in the purchased land, originally offered to give the building to the city of Alexandria for free, and even offered to pay for it to be moved some fifty feet to the neighboring parkland as well as foot the bill of a new foundation. The city declined the offer. Cromley also contacted the Director Lonnie Bunch at the Smithsonian whom he knew to be in pursuit of storied artifacts for his newly planned Museum of African American History and Culture. But Smithsonian curators deemed the building unfit to convey their particular message, as they were hoping to illuminate the contrasts of "separate but equal." Historians revealed that the former nursery building in question was at the time built identically for both white and black communities.

Cromley, who has worked extensively on several successful historical restoration and adaptive reuse projects, such as the historic renovation of an old warehouse into Virginia's first LEED-certified condos on Queen Street, and formerly served as chairman of the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review, contends that "if this were the local Robinson Library, the Alexandria Black History Museum," a place built in response to one of the first Civil Rights sit-ins during which several young black men peacefully demanded library cards at the Alexandria Library, "I'd be adamantly opposed to whomever was trying to tear it down." But Cromley believes the opposition to his development is simply a cynical stalling effort, less a move for historical preservation and more an attempt at self preservation - a self-serving attempt by Boyd Walker to garner attention and publicity as a preservationist. If this was really about preserving African American history, Cromley insists, a legitimate institution would have stepped up to the plate and offered to preserve this property. "I've been open and trying my best to facilitate that solution," he says, "but the proof is in the pudding, no one has stepped forward."

In 2007 the BAR levied the highest fine in its tenure against Boyd Walker, docking him $25,000 for tearing down the historic canopy of the Old Town ice house at 200 Commerce Street without permission or proper permits. Tom Hulfish, then Chairman of the BAR, chastised Walker's actions, saying, “Boyd knows the process better than most people and yet he simply ignored it. This entire episode has been an embarrassment to the historic preservation statutes." This isn't the first time Walker gotten behind efforts to stop development. Walker, this time with broader community support, helped end a larger, more expensive commercial retail redevelopment on several blocks of King Street a few years ago, squeezing the developer out of his plans with promises of protest. But Cromley insists it won't work with him. He admits the lawsuit could tie his plans up for many, many years, but isn't too stressed. "I bought the property for very little," he says, "and the market can't get much worse, so it's bound to be worth a lot more in ten years."

The trial is set for November, but the waiting game has only just begun, with the plaintiffs invoking the Equal Protection clause of the 14th amendment. "They were clever to add that civil rights claim because that opens the case up to an appeal in the federal courts...," Cromley concedes, "...this thing could drag on for a decade." In the meantime Cromley will focus his efforts on his most recent project, a pure restoration of an 1851 Greek Revival residence in the heart of Old Town, located at 227 South Fairfax. A stately home was built the decade prior to the Civil War, and the structure was quickly expanded, eventually encapsulating a pre-existing shack, serving as a rare example of a residence in which the slave quarters were actually included within the confines of the house.

Old Town Alexandria, Virginia Real Estate Development News

Mt. Rainier - A Whole New Town

Call it Mt. Rainier 4g. The small Maryland hamlet on the Washington D.C. border is reflecting on being a great place to live - which it most certainly is(!) - with its cute little bungalows, cultural diversity, a small-town feel, proximity to downtown DC and, by golly, a historic little town center that even once had a streetcar line. But while the rest of the DC area has been consecrated with mixed-use projects, trendy lofts and retail development, approximately none of that occurs in Mt. Rainier, and the town needs a reinvention. Enter the urban planners.

Most Washington DC denizens go to Mt. Rainier about as often as they go to NASCAR or the Woodrow Wilson museum, but the town is only a good jog away from the Metro (red line, at that), on Rhode Island Avenue where it exits the District, and has the visual hallmarks of a once self-sustained community. But its apogee was in the '40's, when a rail line still connected it to DC, population was rising, and local retail boomed. But the automobile superceded the small town, and in 1958 the town began its decline, dropping from 11,000 to 7361 at its nadir. Conditions remain bleak: population is static, the working town center storefronts were torn down, leaving gaps in the once contiguous retail now filled by parking lots. One in 5 buildings in the commercial district are unoccupied. Average household income is $49,000 (to the District's $86,000), only one in four homes are owner occupied, and the median home price is $246,000 to DC's $358,000. And no one seems to go there.

That, planners (cautiously) assert, is about to change. In 1994, the county founded the Gateway Community Development Corporation, which dwindled, despite the boom, but is now being dusted off and reinvented. Seeking "economic revitalization" that the plan promised, on June 4, 2009, the Prince George's County District Council began the process of creating the Mt. Rainier mixed-use Town Center (with the ungainly M-U-TC acronym) to create a first class commercial district on the axis of Rhode Island Avenue and 34th Street. With the hope of a potential MARC station and trolley line in its future, planners see destination retail, thriving commerce, better architecture and statuary, and a streetscape that tilts design more toward pedestrians and visual appeal than prostration to the automobile. In short, a boulevard suitable for strolling, relaxing, eating and shopping.

Despite the fact that Mt. Rainier "boasts one of the largest and most vibrant artist communities in the Washington Metropolitan area," the problems are dire, but largely a function of design. As its own report notes, sidewalks are "extremely narrow" and not wheelchair - bike - stroller accessible, land is "underutilized," curbs have deteriorated, retail space is occupied as office space or less stable local proprietors like overabundant beauty salons. Perhaps most humiliatingly, cars passing through Mt. Rainier "tend to speed up rather than slow down."

But a lemons-to-lemonade approach could transform outdated buildings into showcased features, extending building fronts up to the municipal line, adding curb extensions and alternate paving at crosswalks on Rhode Island, turning a pre-war gas station into a cafe, with sycamore-lined bike lanes claimed from unnecessarily wide parking lanes. The new MARC station would be added on the existing rail line 4 blocks south of Rhode Island Avenue, and PG County would link to the District's streetcar line, already planned (in later phases) to run the length of Rhode Island Avenue.

To develop its updated, strollable urbanity, the county turned to Cunningham | Quill as the prime consultant to direct, inspire and build a consensus among Mt. Rainierians about what to achieve and how to accomplish it. The DC based architecture and design firm and hired others to collaberate, with R. McGhee & Associates on historic preservation as well as economic consultants, market analysts and transportation experts to help inform the process. "This is very collaberative, a plan that could become a model for other revitalization areas throughout the region" said Lee Quill, principal of the architecture firm. At the very least it was speedy; CQ was brought on in July 2009, and went through the entire consultative process with an "extensive community engagement process," followed by design, coming up with a plan it submitted to MNCPPC in April 2010. The plan was distributed to the public in July and is now in the public comment period. Quill says the plan is a significant improvement over the '94 plan, and more likely to succeed, since the '94 plan "did not have a vision component, only guidelines to help the community in shaping future desired development."

Despite the "very aggressive" schedule, Quill is guardedly optimistic. "As the economy comes back, those communities that have take the time to develop a vision, or level of development, walkability and sustainability...it provides a better assurance that development will move forward." Robert Duffy, Planning Supervisor at Prince George's County Planning Department, is optimistic that planners have gotten it right, but not ready to predict immediate results. "Its an incremental process that can take a number of years, but the plan is based on sound opportunities given the current economic climate." Duffy stresses that whatever the outcome, the updated plans can only be a good thing. "The plan attempts to adjust guidelines to reflect current conditions...No matter what, we still need to revise strategies and plans. Its difficult to say 'how soon,' but some goals can be very short term."

As for the inevitable question about financing, county officials hope that as interested parties see the wisdom of the plan and opportunity for growth, funding will happen. PG's Duffy says that "the plan makes a number of recommendations for redevelopment, and for capital improvements, which can be paid for through future development activity, or by a developer, or through various requests through WMATA and state of Maryland...Each project could have a different blend of financing." In other words, no dedicated funding exists, but the goal is fund-worthy. But success of the project will undoubtedly be tied to mass transit, and neither the trolley line, which is dependent upon DC's own back shelf development, nor the MARC station addition, appears to have anything like a hopeful timeline. Says Duffy, "there's been discussion with MARC, but given the state budget its important that businesses and residences work with and advocate for this to take place, and the trolley too. They are long term, they are very expensive, but rail transit is truly the great benefit here."

Quill says the plans are worth waiting for, noting that AIA Maryland gave it an award for urban design and planning. The plan will break the town center into Rhode Island Avenue ("the boulevard"), upper 34th ("Main Street"), and the civic center at the traffic circle. "We developed a vision collectively with the community and worked with committees on specific issues. We put together guidelines to help facilitate everything from window painting to signage, to converting the bus turnaround to a true civic green, and are working with WMATA. The city purchased the Eastern Star building in effort to make this a true civic core." Quill, who also planned part of Potomac Yards, stresses that with the community being an integral part of a design that aims for a true town center, the plan has a high chance of success. "The reinforcement and definition of the public realm, that's probably the real strength of this that can come back to everyone in the city. That's part of the strength of the plan. And now there's a clarity of vision of how to get there." Developers take note. And bring money.

Museum of Arts and Sciences Making Peace With Neighbors, To Throw Parties Soon

After strongly worded community opposition looked to stall new development at the former Platinum night club venue, tensions have calmed, construction is underway, and the property is set to officially become the Museum of Arts and Sciences (MoA&S) shortly. But this isn't exactly your mom's museum, as there will be no exhibits, simply empty space making room for the private events that will eventually fill its rooms. Bought by Peter Andrullis through The Equitable Place, LLC for $10 million in June of last year, developers hope 915 F Street will become to new hot spot for receptions, fund-raising events, and art shows (ahem, and partying, ahem) in the Penn Quarter neighborhood.

There had been serious concern from residents that the new business operating under the moniker "Museum" and purporting to act as an "educational" event space for curated art events, live performances, poetry readings, and the like, is all simply a guise for a nightclub like Platinum to be reincarnated. It's difficult to fault locals for having concerns, as the museum's plans call for three large dance floors (40' x 40', 34' x 20', 30' x 10') and the ability to serve alcohol to patrons (with up to 1,300 imbibers allowed) until 2am on weeknights and 3am on weekends. In an attempt to explain his new venture, owner Andrullis originally communicated his business as one that would cater to museum/party-goers aged 25-35 and earning upwards of $50,000, insinuating that income level largely determines a person's propensity for bad behavior.

Think this, but with dinosaur bones hanging from the ceilings.

And while the museum vs. night club debate will certainly linger, the project team, under new leadership, has weathered the storm of protest and worked to quell some fears about the excessive noise levels and raucous behavior that the site was previously known for. In a business overview initially given to neighbors, the team emphasized that the site will "not operate as Platinum did or as other area nightclubs do" and will shy away from events that "lessen management control" like "cash bar only" parties. The locals didn't buy it at first, and were well organized and forcefully vocal in their frustration at community meetings, but the parties have sinse approached middle ground.

At one point the venture was threatened when official letters of opposition from ANC6C, ANC2C, Downtown Neighborhood Association, and The Ventana/Mather studios were sent to Alcohol Beverage Regulatory Administration (ABRA). But the Andrullis family decided to take a back seat and allow local resident and hospitality expert Giles Beeker to lead, manage and control the development going forward. Employing a more effective community relations campaign, the MoA&S is now moving quickly forward with their business plan. Addressing the next door residents' security concerns, Beeker helped forge an in-depth security plan, laying out their strategy to maintain "neighborhood peace, quiet, safety and security" before, after, and during the Museum's events; the plan also includes specific policy and procedure to curb, if not entirely eliminate, lines of patrons waiting to enter the property. In coordination with the surrounding community and their legal representative Manny Mpras, Beeker also developed a Voluntary Agreement incorporating specifics of the security plan and other stipulations such as noise abatement and parking issues; the Agreement was recently approved essentially as-is by ABRA.

Renovations at the future Museum are moving along and inspections have begun. The third floor theater-like balcony has been stripped away so the interior sets up more like the multi-purpose facility developers promised and less like a nightclub. One of the most important renovation features, the soundproofing of several top floor, rear rooms was recently completed. The facade of the building is also getting a thorough makeover helping to erase the scars of the bullets from the shooting that shuttered the Platinum night club in 2008.

After rejecting the community protesters' initial request to deny and dismiss the Museum's ABRA application in late June, the MoA&S was required to submit more detailed business plans and security measures before moving forward with their liquor license application. All requested details were submitted in late July and a fact finding hearing was held in early September. The results of that meeting have not been made public, but the process appears to be moving more smoothly without the weight of community opposition. Developers initially hoped to open the venue on October 1st, but will certainly not have the proper licensing by then. Inspections are expected to continue as construction on the main floor winds down this fall, and work on the upper floors will continue into the new year even after doors are opened. The first experimental mash-up of art, science, and alcohol could happen very soon.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

The Varsity to Rise Quickly in College Park

While many housing projects in the metro area are getting underway thanks to government subsidies, University of Maryland student housing is going private. Clark Builders Group are ahead of schedule on The Varsity, a six-story, 258-unit apartment complex being developed by College Park Gateway Properties. Contractors report that they are currently "topping out framing, hanging drywall, installing interior trim and cabinets and laying bricks." The development, although not required in any way to accommodate students, and open to all interested individuals, is being heavily marketed to University of Maryland Students. Located just off Route 1, a stone's throw (or an empty beer bottle's throw) from campus, at 8147 Baltimore Avenue in College Park, developers claim the 401,297 s.f. wood-framed building will be able to house over 900 students upon completion.

The standard brick and concrete exterior over wood frame design by Grimm & Parker Architects won't necessarily win any awards, but the building has been packaged with plenty of student-friendly amenities (study rooms, game rooms, and a 2-story state-of-the-art gym, to name a few) and access to green open parkland, as well as landscaped courtyards. The development also includes a partially elevated parking deck (over 200 spaces) and 19,298 s.f. of ground-floor retail space, which developers confirm were completed on May 15th are set to become a sit-down restaurant/sports bar along with a large convenience store. Although the deal hasn't been made official yet, Looney's Pub is expected to be the first tenant of The Varsity.

Shuttles to campus will help students avoid DUI's and get to class on time, and in-house tanning beds will aid students looking to supplement their vitamin D intake. Units will be fully furnished with granite countertops, full kitchens with modern, black energy-star appliances, upscale furniture, washer and dryer units, Wi-Fi, and a flat screen TV with expanded cable. Developers are promising over 27 different floorplans, and promising that all bedrooms will be paired with their own private bathrooms. Construction will be substantially completed this spring, and The Varsity will begin leasing over the summer, just in time for the start of the next school year.

Many other developments are planned for the Baltimore Avenue corridor in College Park. The local blog Rethink College Park reported earlier this year that five of the seven active developments in the are were student housing projects. Clark Enterprises has been involved with two nearly completed projects in University View I & II, both right next door to the almost completed Varsity.

D.C. Real Estate Development News

Designing to Parallel an Ocean of Achievement

By Beth Herman

For an organization rooted in sustaining the seas, relocating to a sustainable space that also trumpeted its mission, by virtue of design, was a lesson in synchronicity for global ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana, 1350 Connecticut Ave. NW, and OTJ Architects.

Jettisoning its former traditional square block building with weighty, dark interior finishes on the edge of Georgetown, Oceana opted for space in a DuPont Circle structure, completed in 1930, from a time when buildings were largely illuminated by natural light and built to utilize it. Also paramount to the organization was to have proximity to a place such as DuPont Circle (it is steps from Metro) so that employee commuting would be streamlined. Relocation, in fact, was the first step in a renovation process shepherded by OTJ project manager Lida Lewis whose design challenge was to make the 15,000 s.f. space reflect Oceana’s – with offices throughout North, Central and South America and Europe – worldwide outreach and goals. In short, both the organization and the walls that contained it needed to share an inspired identity.

“When we got in (to the new floor), it was divided into five tenant spaces that had to be completely cleared out,” Lewis said, noting it was one of those floors that had been “added to and subtracted from so many times.” With 70 employees, OTJ’s goal was to create much more of a contemporary environment where older, individual offices were largely dissolved in favor of expansive public work spaces. “Often that’s a tricky transition for a lot of groups,” Lewis observed, recalling that in the client’s previous building, much more of the staff had had private offices. In a nod to green practices - though strictly for time purposes Oceana had decided not to pursue LEED certification - low-VOC materials such as sustainably-dyed broadloom carpeting which is 100 percent recyclable were used throughout, and the organization’s older furniture was reused in the few private offices, and OTJ offered incentive for the new employee balance by providing brand new furniture for staff who went into the more public workspaces.

Where lighting was concerned, OTJ harnessed natural light for 90 percent of the floorplate. Occupancy sensors, fluorescent fixtures and some LED lighting were also used, and “mesooptic technology” which allows light fixtures to adhere closely to the ceiling, with light spreading widely across the ceiling plane, resulted in a decrease in the number of fixtures necessary. It also afforded a gentle light below, according to Lewis, which precludes glare on computer screens.

Who Let the Fish Out

While Lewis concedes that OTJ had considered strategic use of fish tanks in the client’s office environment, the team quickly learned that Oceana’s philosophy eschews fish in captivity. As such, the design challenge was to tell the organization’s story with visuals that did not involve compromising life forms. In place of tanks, the use of elements such as light boxes and layers of curved plexiglass with translucent printed film of sea images (fish; a diver; sea grass) serve to illuminate their work, with Oceana’s internal graphics department participating in this aspect of the design. The wall behind the reception area, which uses multiple glass panes, is actually different layers of glass and glass film emblematic of the movement and transparencies of the waves on Oceana’s printed materials. A dolphin, part of their logo, appears to be jumping through these waves on the wall, and Philips Color Kinetics’ LED lighting at the top of the wall cycles through colors - which can be restricted and changed by a dial next to the reception desk – so that like the ocean, the display is not static.

In order to express and perpetuate Oceana’s evolving mission and accomplishments to staff and visitors, graphic displays on “pucks” or “stand-offs” – one-inch in diameter square rods an inch tall that support plexiglass, sandwiched together, in which to display photographs, articles, awards and the like– punctuate the space. The major focal point for this “living story” is the seating lobby adjacent to the reception area, and also throughout the public corridor which is the Connecticut Avenue façade. According to Lewis, for the most part these displays are also not static and can be changed and updated as the organization embarks on its many undertakings and achieves its many goals. “It keeps things fresh,” she affirmed.

In tandem with the current trend for organizations to sublease internal space until they are large enough and ready to utilize it themselves, and with the space itself shaped like a giant letter “A” (the upper left corner is executive suites), OTJ Architects built out these suites in the same colors - Caribbean hues - and with the same finishes as Oceana’s occupied space. In this respect, when the time comes, transitioning to it will be less about extensive additional renovation and more about simply where to place a cherished family snapshot or two.

“Clients don’t like cookie-cutter solutions,” Lewis said in reference to Oceana’s practical, sustainable though highly inventive use of its new space. “We asked the question, ‘What is it about your organization that makes it a good place to work?’, and together came up with something that really works with their identity.”

Photo credit: Chris Spielmann

www.spielmannstudio.com

Skanska Office Project to Fill in Wilson Boulevard

Skanska USA announced on Friday that it would turn a pair of single-family homes-turned business into a 5-story Class A office building in Rosslyn at 1776 Wilson Boulevard. The self-financed project will turn one of the increasingly scarce development cavities on Arlington's main boulevard into 108,000 s.f. of office with a full ground floor of retail, designed to meet LEED Gold standards. Skanska says demolition of the existing buildings will take place within the next few months.

Skanska purchased the site for $10m this summer from George Contis, who had planned and received approval to scrap his own Medical Service Corporation International and build a medical office building on the site, a project Contis intended to start in early 2009. Skanska will take over Contis' plans, including the "virtually column-free" RTKL designed building, adapting it to much sought-after office space (oh wait, we got it confused with 2005 for a minute). Executive Vice President Rob Ward called it "an extraordinary site" in a statement, and promised completion in about a year and half. A 231 space, 3-level parking garage beneath the building will service tenants. It also appears that Skanska will honor Contis' plans to extend N. Quinn St, connecting Clarendon and Wilson Boulevards, breaking up the "super-block" and adding a pedestrian plaza.
Skanska touts that green credentials will be achieved with a vegetated roof, "energy-efficient windows" (those crazy Swedes), power outlets in the garage for electric vehicles, and improved air quality "to enhance worker productivity." Future employees take note. Skanska's speculative office endeavors include an office building under construction at 10th & G in Penn Quarter; its construction arm is finishing up work on an office building at Half and K Streets, in southeast DC.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Music to Developer's Ears in North Bethesda

112 new townhouses are on the way in North Bethesda. Streetscape Partners, a two-year-old McLean-based firm, has broken ground on the 18-acre site at Strathmore Avenue and Rockville Pike called Symphony Park at Strathmore (extreme caution: link plays Classical music upon opening). The on-schedule groundbreaking puts delivery of the first homes at "late spring," according to Ron Kaplan, Co-managing Principal at Streetscape. The homes have not yet been priced, but Kaplan expects pre-sales to begin within a month.

The community is adjacent to the Strathmore Music Center and Mansion, ergo the mellifluous name. Streetscape paid $5m plus "additional consideration" for the land, donating 5 acres back to Montgomery County for public open space, to include an amphitheater and "from scratch" forest. In addition to ticket deals with Strathmore, buyers will get Hord Coplan Macht landscaping. "HCM has done an amazing job to create beautiful outdoor, European mews," says Kaplan.

The developer described the finishes as "real materials" - brick and stone and solid wood doors. The design team tried to evoke the appearance of Georgetown, and Boston's back bay, a "sophisticated" community, according to Kaplan. The project is backed by Lubert-Adler Partners, LP. The land once belonged to the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and had been under contract with residential developer Centex; Streetscape stepped in when Centex went bust after several years of planning, leaving Streetscape with the original plans and architects, Lessard Group, which have since made revisions to the designs.

North Bethesda, Maryland real estate development news

Phase II Underway at Capitol Hill Oasis

"Capitol Hill Oasis" sounds like the place to be, especially after a long, frustrating day amidst the incessant bickering on the actual Hill's desert of political disputation. But unless you consider "SoFlo" (South of Florida Ave) and "Capitol Hill" interchangeable monikers, and/or your idea of an "oasis" is eight dingy, brown brick prefab townhomes instead of gushing springs of purified water, palm trees, and lush fauna, then you're likely to be disappointed after visiting the residential project at 12th Street and Florida Ave, NE. 

While the marketing may be clever, it doesn't seem to be swaying any would-be buyers, as the homes at 915 thru 935 12th Street, NE, completed in mid 2008, remain vacant and unspoken for, with no one taking them up on the original $1.5m asking price (long since cut in half). But the inability to find tenants for the initial eight houses hasn't deterred developers 12th Street Partners, LLC and G. B. Herndon & Associates, Inc from pressing forward, as phase two of the development began recently.

Two more townhouses, both five bedroom units, are set to be constructed in addition to the planned four-story, 16-unit condominium on the lot directly behind the already built rowhouses. The new condominiums include office suites that may end up as small doctor's offices, according to the developer. 

Sales representative Jesse Kaye of Prudential Carruthers says that the units are zoned for commercial use, so the developers would consider leasing to small businesses if they continue to have trouble selling and/or leasing to full time residents. Kaye also explained that while they have not officially leased or sold any units, they have had communication of sincere, solid interest from several parties (his words). Even if there were deals in place, the units won't be ready for occupancy until mid October, he elaborated, when some basic utilities installation for phase two is completed.

The developers describe the project as a "distinguished group of all-new residences incorporating an artful blend of traditional Washington architectural styling." Apparently the factory attendants at Deluxe Homes in Pennsylvania, where the pieces of these assembled modular homes were produced, are very knowledgeable about the District's historic rowhouse architecture. Tim Brown at Urban Turf contends that: "When the units are finally completed, it is nearly impossible to differentiate modular homes from homes built with traditional construction methods." But even Paul Wilson, an architectural consultant on the project (in a very "limited role"), said that while prefab housing makes the construction process easier and more cost effective, and also allows better quality control, it can also result in a definite "cookie cutter look." While the exterior might not be exactly distinguished, the amenities package may appeal to the fitness-averse home buyer, as each of the completed units contains an in-house elevator so residents of the lazy persuasion won't have to think about climbing all the way to the fourth floor.

Neighbors seem to have mixed feelings about the development. Some are happy to see activity in the area, but anxious to have the residencies occupied instead of unattended and neglected. But it seems others have found the development a nuisance to their quality of life. One nearby resident has reportedly "complained to the city on multiple occasions for standing water, late night construction, and impediments to parking/access." During the time lapse between phase one and phase two one neighbor has witnessed "a nasty fence [fall] into disrepair, weeds [become] small trees, mounds of dirt [become] fertile soil, and an abandoned truck find its final resting home." No timetable has been supplied for the phase two of construction. Given that completion of phase one lasted roughly 2 years, neighbors might be complaining for a bit longer. 

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News