DC's Islands to Reopen - Better, Greener, Smarter

50 acres of island in the Anacostia River will soon reopen to the public, now with more federal dollars, a new educational mission, and a greener look. Kingman and Heritage Islands, both closed last September for a makeover, will come back online within the next week as recreational parks with a mandate for environmental education, and a new federal law to fund restoration and education.

The islands have had their challenges - begotten from a polluted source, the islands were created from the residue of dredging excessive agricultural sedimentation that gummed up the Anacostia, the never ending recipient of the trash-laden effluvium. Kingman (42 acres) and Heritage (7 acres) are now in the midst of a restoration that will eventually add 3 outdoor classrooms spaces, a 9/11 memorial grove, outdoor seating, and observation deck. Preservationists will add a nursery where the public can make their own contribution with tree plantings, and habitat restoration will remove a host of invasive species - from trees to groundcovers - and replace them with "an extensive list" of native species.

Lee and Associates, a DC based landscape architectural firm, is working with the District to give the parks a more natural aesthetic, while keeping the visitor center, hiking and biking trails and building environmental workshops in "outdoor classrooms." Access points are being improved - from both sides of the river - at Benning Rd. and from RFK stadium (parking lot #6). Living Classrooms, hired by the District in 2008 to manage the parks, provides the educational element with environmental instruction throughout the school year and volunteer opportunities in the summer, highlighting the challenges of environmental stewardship in an urban setting. "We see the trash flow down the river," says Matt English, Kingman Island Programs Coordinator for Living Classrooms, of the distant tidal forces that raise the water levels up to 3 feet, "and then we see it flow back up."

But thanks to more federal largess - President Obama just signed a bill providing funding to restore the Anacostia River ecosystem - and to educational efforts, conservationists hope that will be a decreasing problem. Footbridges to both parks allow for ample public access when the parks reopen. Matt English says the next event is scheduled for the Martin Luther King holiday, so the team is working to finish the first of three phases before that date. "Fingers crossed," says English.

Washington DC real estate development news

The Wine Man Cometh

By Beth Herman

It's his time, by design. For venerated former French pastry chef Michel Richard (writer’s note: in the 1980s, my Valley girl friends and I doubled our Jane Fonda workouts due to weekly pillages of his S. Robertson Blvd. patisserie in L.A.), reinventing himself as a celebrated Hollywood restaurateur, and then again in Washington, has had several iterations, but maybe none as personal as his latest venture: Michel.

Hanging his toque in the former Maestro (restaurant) space at the Ritz-Carlton, Tyson’s Corner, Richard encouraged his friends at Group Goetz Architects (GGA) to use a pinch - or maybe a gallon - of alchemy in creating a space that naturally reflected his signature style and food, but genuinely trumpeted the wine connoisseur within. With his D.C.-based Citronelle and more moderately-priced and GGA-designed Central, restaurants representing a more high-end and down-in-the-(Manhattan) boroughs kind of ambience, respectively, the concept for Michel is more bistro than urbane, though Richard’s sophisticated palate and passion for the grape are manifested in its velour fabrics and deep, sumptuous colors.

"He wanted the look to be contemporary but also like going to a winery, a vineyard,” said GGA Principal Al Gooden, noting the celebrity chef’s robust personality and penchant for randomly seating himself at a table to ask surprised diners how he’s doing. “He’s not interested in your coming, eating and going,” Gooden continued, explaining that the traditional measure of restaurant success is the quick turnover. “He wants you to make an event of it.”

Wood, Walls and Wine

Located off the 4^th floor Ritz Carlton lobby, the 4,800 s.f. Michel came together in a warp speed-like 14 weeks, thanks to Forrester Construction Company, with a magic budget of about $800,000 (far less than most high-end restaurants of its ilk). The space boasts a 19-ft.-tall glass wine room displaying all of the restaurant’s wines, adjacent to the space’s entrance stairs, and at the bottom of the stairs, where the maître d’ is posted, a pickled grey wood wall – actually a large sliding door – swings out and becomes a total opening, according to Gooden, with the effect both dramatic and contemporary. For the first image as diners enter the restaurant, which takes into account what Gooden called Richard’s “unproclaimed logo: the tossing of plates” (echoed in Citronelle and Central), the architects used LED lighting to illuminate a 6-foot stack of translucent plates, 3 feet in diameter, which appear to float as they are tossed into the air. In the dining area, raised leaf-pattern bolsters in a light green color, such as one might see in a vineyard, complement burgundy banquettes and mahogany tables redolent of wine country colors. Built for 124 patrons, which includes the option to incorporate 16 seats of a private dining room directly into the space, Gooden said among the room’s focal points is the 9x3½-foot chef’s table made of honey-colored alabaster with deep purple veining. Strategically backlit (it glows), the team decided to suspend the table with cable using one small leg to stabilize it.

Retaining the previous restaurant’s coffered ceilings, the architects removed crown molding and added silver leaf which they uplit so that it sparkles like champagne. A white tensile fabric, suspended from the ceiling in individual bowl-like fashion, contains LED lighting that meanders from various purples to greens to ambers, and an open kitchen design makes diners a part of the process. “Michel wants you to have a real experience here,” Gooden affirmed. “The funny thing about the space is that the color scheme, lighting and selection of materials is very regal,” he said, acknowledging his client’s homage to quality and great wine, “but the seating and placing of elements are all very casual – very relaxing.”

Energy, Efficiency and Eggs

Avoiding landfills by retaining some of Maestro’s elements for sustainability purposes was paramount in Richard’s plans. To that end much of the older kitchen equipment - such as grills, steaming pots and fryers - was refurbished, with the addition of more efficient burners. Various functions of the Ritz’s current restaurant kitchen (or room service restaurant kitchen, as Gooden referred to it), shared space with the former Maestro kitchen, and Richard elected to maintain the shared facilities, such as the dishwashing area, though some Energy Star equipment had to be purchased. “It saves energy and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of construction,” Gooden said. “It was a very good move.” In best practices form, any new woods used in the restaurant space, including the entrance’s grey pickled wood wall, were reconstituted and came from within 500 miles. Adhesive for the ceiling’s silver leaf was low-VOC, carpeting has a minimum 30 percent recycled product and fabrics and finishes were all local and readily available.

Noting that the firm really had two clients, Richard and the hotel, Gooden said Ritz-Carlton, owned by Host Hotels and Resorts, was adamant about being involved in the design and all approvals. “The restaurant is, after all, only accessible through the hotel, without its own entrance,” Gooden explained, adding that the corporate design team was present throughout the entire process. “They were definitely active, which worked out really well because the great thing is they are really excited,” he said, noting the plan to position Michel, which the restaurateur has designated his flagship, as a “destination restaurant,” with customers coming to dine and then perhaps deciding to stay over (the opposite of most hotels). Additionally, like his predecessor in the space, Richard has elected to serve breakfast, as well as lunch and dinner, to perpetuate the D.C. “power breakfast” paradigm, but ideally with his own signature patisserie offerings – the hallmark of his early career.

“We teamed with a lot of really good people to make this happen,” Gooden said of the project. “You can sit down and totally focus on the experience.”

Photo credit: Len Depas and Sokol Kokoshi

District Condos Construction Monday

While the rest of the real estate world is still rubbing its eyes and trying to take stock of 2011, development work is racing ahead in some quarters. Take JBG, for instance, which let fly yesterday that it would start building Rosslyn Commons in two weeks, and today said that it and partner Grosvenor are starting work on their other high-visibility condo project - District Condos - on Monday.

A source within JBG says groundbreaking for the 125-unit, Shalom Baranes designed building, is in fact scheduled for Monday on Logan Circle's trendy 14th Street. JBG will also incorporate the former AIDs clinic at the southern end of the lot for additional retail that will wrap around the corner of S and 14th Streets. The Chevy Chase developer has teamed with Toronto-based Cecconi Simone Inc. and local retailer Vastu for interior design and finishes, respectively. Unit sizes will trend smaller than might have

been built a few years ago, with a preponderance of 1-bedroom condos, respecting the more conservative outlook (fiscal, of course) of the average buyer in the neighborhood, where turnover of small units tends to be quick even at a more pricey range than is found in adjacent neighborhoods.

JBG had earlier predicted that construction would commence at the end of 2010, and the site still has to be cleared of the buildings that are not being preserved, putting delivery well into 2012. Sales are expected to start sometime in the late spring.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

NCPC Takes Action on District Development Plans

The National Capital Planning Commission met yesterday and approved a series of amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, a roadmap for the District's urban planning and economic development. The Commission also deferred action on design of the last section of Georgetown Waterfront Park and approved a series of changes to the District's zoning laws governing building heights.

NCPC, which has the authority to block land development by the District that impinges on the federal land, agreed to allow more than 100 amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, last modified in 2006. The changes were submitted by the District's Office of Planning and set Washington DC's development priorities. Approved amendments include:

-Prioritizing development of the Center Leg Freeway (pictured) and Burnham Place behind Union Station,

-A resolution to encourage more transit-oriented development within the District, as well as a generalized support of public transportation options such as increased bus, bike, and pedestrian accessibility.

-Various modifications to the environmental impact of development, including support of the Kyoto Protocol,

-Proposals under the Capital Space plan to better link District and Federal parks and develop a shared database to report issues, inform the public, and manage the parks,

-Concept approval for development of a Marriott hotel and retail center (pictured, at right) at the corner of Michigan and Irving Streets. Developers have long sought to build out the 5-acre federally owned parcel next to Catholic University, and

-Increase density along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE.

The Commission put off until its February meeting review of the National Park Service plan for the last section of the Georgetown Waterfront Park, stretching from Thompson Boat Center to the Kennedy Center. The final phase of the project includes a resurfaced asphalt bikeway, a new asphalt-tile pedestrian promenade, and replacing the Sycamores now on the site.The Commission also approved a report to the Zoning Commission regarding proposed text changes to the city’s zoning regulations on permitted uses and building heights. In 2007 the District undertook a comprehensive review of its zoning regulations, last updated in 1958. The approval does not change overall height limits in DC, which are governed by federal law, but bring the code up to date to better reflect current ideas and technology.

JBG Announces Rosslyn Multi-Family Start Date

The JBG Companies has said it will begin construction of its 474-unit Rosslyn apartment project on January 25th. The Chevy Chase developer plans to build 25 four-story townhouses and two high rise apartment buildings with a small retail space on the Clarendon Boulevard site that until recently held a 8 two-story apartment buildings.

The town houses and two L-shaped towers (12 and 13 stories) were designed by Bethesda-based Architects Collaborative. Fifty-five of the apartment units will be subsidized. Both apartment buildings (Sedona and Slate) are expected to be LEED Silver Certified, and both residential towers will include a rooftop pool, rooftop club room, and rooftop fitness center. Tower Two will showcase "a more modern design...with neutral colors, clean lines, boutique lobby, European-styled kitchens (flat panel kitchen cabinets with modern door pulls, white Corian or quartz countertops, dark/light cabinets (with dark or light hardwood floors), alternating by floor." JBG has not yet stated whether the market-rate units will be sold as condominiums or rented.

The 4-story townhouses have been designed as a buffer to blend the development into the surrounding garden-style apartment complexes, and the super-block split by a landscaped pedestrian plaza, Clarendon Blvd. to 16th Road North. JBG has selected Clark Construction as the general contractor.

Arlington, VA Real Estate Development News

Your Next Place...

By Franklin Schneider

Some people like old, vintage items with character; tattered jeans and scuffed boots and classic cars. Others prefer the newest, glossiest, and most up-to-the-minute; the latest smartphone, a pair of pristine running shoes fresh out of the box, that still have that “new car” smell. This condo is for the latter group. Located in the newly-constructed Trevelyan House on sedate Ogden Street in Columbia Heights, this unit is like an iPad that you can live in. Even the building's white brick exterior and weirdly minimalistic shutters make it look like an Apple product.

The two-level interior is all muted tones and burnished steel handrails and recessed lighting. There are two bedrooms and two full baths; in the bathrooms, the sinks look like stacked slabs of porcelain, a mini-Stonehenge that you can spit into. The kitchen is equally sleek; I kept waiting for a robot to ask me what I wanted to drink. There's also a private patio and wireless is, of course, included in the condo fees (that may sound insignificant, but think about it for a second – no more hassles with Comcast, and what's more important than internet? My gas went out and I didn't miss a beat, I just turned on my space heater and ate out. The last

time my internet went down I felt like I'd been buried alive.) Columbia Heights still has a really cozy neighborhood vibe (translation: parking is impossible), and is close to pretty much everything, except for downtown. But then why would you want to go there? Downtown is for old people.

1436 Ogden St NW

Unit 3

Washington, DC 20010

2 Bdrms, 1.5 Baths

$389,000

Historic U Street Building to Get New Life

A historic and vacant building on U Street - first a post office, more recently a night club - will now be redeveloped with office space and retail in mind. Local developer Rock Creek Property Group purchased the early 20th century building at 1438 U Street for $2.75m on December 29th and is working through ideas on how to convert and market the site.

RCPG principal Gary Schlager says his team is looking at several options for the site, focusing on retail and non-profit uses with the potential for a residential development on top. "It's an ideal not-for-profit headquarters location, for lease or purchase. On the retail side we'd like to bring in a national or regional user, versus a nightclub, a user that contributes to the block in some way, like a bank branch or furniture store." Rock Creek Property Group purchased the site from The Harbor Bank of Maryland as a foreclosure after other groups had the building under contract but were unable to bring it to settlement.

Schlager adds that the 12,000 s.f. building has the zoning capacity for 25,000 s.f., leaving open the possibility of residential levels above. "That's something we're just exploring as a possibility. We're about to start marketing the property, and we're testing the viability of each use." The structure was most recently home to Station 9 nightclub, and Schlager says the group will start interior demolition of the fixtures and infrastructure from that use within the next 30 days. "We're going to be exposing the brick on the inside...it will be very cool and hip," a welcome contrast to the nightclub's interior design choices. RCPG is the sole owner of the building and will be using its in-house construction team for the demolition.

Washington DC real estate development news

The War On Windows

By Beth Herman

Designing a 5,900 s.f. home for his own family in Bethesda, Md., interior designer I. Michael Winegrad, of I. Michael Interior Design, decided to travel a controversial road when building for himself – strictly without an architect. The three bedroom, three full and two half bath home, still under construction, and which includes the designer’s office and library with a separate entrance in its finished basement, is an exercise in creativity and independence for Winegrad, who admittedly tires of battling architects and mending their mistakes.

“It’s a touchy subject”, Winegrad said, “but most of the time architects and interior designers don’t agree about how to design a house and really don’t like each other for different reasons. I’m continually fixing problems,” the designer said. “Quite simply, as an interior designer, our job is to manipulate, control and create the interior environment in which one works or lives. We work from the inside out,” said Winegrad, whose portfolio includes residential, hospitality, commercial and religious projects in greater D.C. and throughout the world. “An architect works from the outside in.”

The Charge of the Light Tirade

Citing a litany of issues including a ubiquitous window placement flaw perpetrated by architects, Winegrad said it is standard for an architect to fenestrate with eastern or western exposures, contingent on light and view. “If you have them facing sun or view,” he said, “and then the homeowner moves in on that first day, when the sun comes up or sets, depending on the room, they can’t sit there – they can’t use the room because the sun’s in their eyes.” In addition to that, sunlight can promote intense heat gain in the summer, taxing HVAC systems and the environment. It will also fade fabrics and bleach artwork and rugs, he indicated, adding that he generally espouses a northern and/or southern exposure.

Speaking to other fractious design issues, Winegrad said he can’t begin to count how many phone calls he gets from people who say they “… don’t know how to dress this window, don’t know where to seat the furniture, or can’t put their TV in the bedroom,” all because architects are not sensitive to where windows ought to be, where doors ought to be, how furniture lays out properly. “How many times have you seen a fireplace on a 45-degree angle in a house?” he asked. “They do it for various reasons because buildings have clipped corners and curves,” he explained, “but nobody can use those spaces.”

Blinging the Barracks

Residing in Darnestown for about 10 years before breaking ground in Bethesda, Winegrad revealed that his former house, “a Colonial on a cookie-cutter block,” was part of a development, but at an increased cost he’d been able to prevail upon the builder to allow him to customize to some extent, in part by moving windows around to open up wall space. Recalling that neighbors commented consistently on the differences between the Winegrad house and their own, where in some cases they’d been forced to situate furniture so as not to block windows, where light fixtures were consequently off-target and displaced furniture narrowed a room considerably, Winegrad said analyzing how design and construction need to work for the homeowner right out of the starting gate is vital to creating a livable space.

For the designer and his family, an issue with two adults sharing a bathroom (an admittedly universal problem with humidity from a shower precluding effective use of a hair dryer, mirror, etc.) precipitated the creation of a master bath in their new Bethesda home that boasts a common spa-like shower, but with his and hers dressing rooms, each with its own sink, hair dryer, mirror and space for clothing. In the family room, floor outlets eliminate running electrical and extension cords around furniture and under rugs, and slot windows frame a flat screen TV area. “It’s enough for daylight, but not enough to interfere with where the built-in unit goes or create glare on the screen,” Winegrad explained. A linear gas fireplace is anchored on both sides to give it balance, and traffic flow is considered with the seating group easily accessed, unlike a lot of rooms the designer said he sees where one must enter around the backs of a couch and chairs. Due to architecture-related issues, things can’t practically or aesthetically be configured another way. The designer’s own new home reflects and promotes an active family’s lifestyle by facilitating traffic flow, diffusing Mid-Atlantic sunlight and its thermal effects, eliminating conventional though unused rooms (there is no living room because Winegrad said their Darnestown living room was very rarely used) and increasing kitchen space to accommodate family activities and entertaining.

Make Lofts, Not War

“Right now, I’m doing an expensive waterfront condo where it’s a battle to get the rooms to work because there are silly little niches that are the result of a column in the wrong place,” Winegrad said. “You can’t put up draperies because they ran the ductwork in the wrong place,” he continued, adding the dining room isn’t wide enough for a dining room table. “You could step back and look at a photo of that building from the outside and you could admire it, and you might like the materials, but then you go inside and see the inherent design problems,” he said, noting condos are often poorly designed.

“I think the idea is to have an interior designer lay out the room– where windows and doors are; where the TV needs to go; where sunlight comes in; do you have to scoot around something to get to a closet–all so you don’t have to fight with anything,” he explained. “This is what’s really going to dictate the success of your space."

Back to Drawing Boards for Italian Embassy Owners

Earlier this year Valor Development LLC purchased the former Italian Embassy at 2700 16th St. NW for $7.5 million in what will be a second attempt at condo development on the site. Partnering with Potomac Construction Group, Valor intends to renovate the embassy into condominiums, add a three-story wing on the north side of the building (also to house condo units), and construct a nine-story apartment building at the rear of the site. Earlier this month developers' plans and the architectural diagrams provided by Trout Design Studio went before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB). While the HPRB found the conceptual site plan and rehabilitation of the landmark satisfactory, members of the Board directed the applicants to "restudy the architectural treatment of the north wing, and restudy the height, massing and architectural treatment of the new apartment tower, and return for further review when appropriate."

The first phase of the "Flats at IL Palazzo" will be the restoration of the landmark's facade and the conversion of the interior into condominium units "blending the character and charm of the historic building with the sophistication, class, and modern finishes that one expects in this premium location," according Valor's online description. The interior restructuring and transformation will preclude several significant interior spaces: the ballroom, library, dining room, and other smaller spaces will be preserved with some opportunity for public use and visitation. The second phase will include the north wing addition and the construction of the apartment tower, but those elements remain unapproved by HPRB.

Plan rejected in 2006.

Another development team in 2006 was close to moving forward with similar development plans for the ex-embassy, when HPRB designated the property an historic landmark just before construction was to begin, in part because the new tower would have eaten into part of the historic structure. HPRB asked the city to revoke the building permits for the 79-unit Il Palazzo condominium, a decision the developer litigated and lost. This go-round developers have moved the proposed apartment tower from near the front to the northwest corner of the site, far-removed from the 16th Street frontage and centered around a second courtyard. While the overall efforts seem to respect the historic nature of the property, and rearrange the site plan in accordance with HPRB's public wishes, the Board still found the three-story addition "capricious and discordant with the rest of the proposal" and the apartment tower's design to be "busy and composed of too many elements." Developers and designers have been advised to rethink their designs and try again soon. Although this is sure to delay Phase II, developers are still planning to deliver Phase I to the marketplace in summer of 2011.

The last project was spun by Spaulding & Slye, Colliers & Castleton Holdings, lender O’Connor North American Property Partners LP was forced to foreclose on the property, and enabling Valor to swoop in and purchase the site.

Washington DC real estate development news

Axumite Village to Break Ground in Spring

Although not exactly equaling the golden-clad grandiosity of the great Axumite Kingdom in ancient Ethiopia, the four-story, 36-unit "Axumite Village" set for 1100 S. Highland St. in Arlington will be a proud accomplishment for the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) nonetheless. The Arlington County Board approved the Columbia Pike project plans in the summer of 2009, but the developers have been slow to secure financing and move forward with construction. That patience is soon to be rewarded with progress according to project manager and President of the ECDC Dr. Tsehaye Teferra.

Developers are now polishing off the last of the many necessary construction documents due to the County before building can began. "Financing is finalized, and now we must wait for our construction documents to be approved and permits issued," says Teferra. Drafted by local firm KGP Design Studio, the structure, dressed in red brick and accented with sleek black-metal framed industrial windows, will see 12 new townhouses divided into three stacked apartments. The $12 million project also features detailed landscaping as well as 41 parking spaces. Nearly a quarter of the development site is being forked over to the County for public access, as officials propose to extend 11th Street through the northern end of the property.

The Columbia Pike Form Based Code helped guide the development's planning and design, expediting the often lengthy approval process; unfortunately there is no such mechanism to accelerate construction, estimated to last 12 to 18 months. Dr. Teferra says his team hopes to begin that countdown to delivery with a groundbreaking celebration in late May or early June.

ECDC is a local nonprofit that works to "resettle refugees and promote cultural, educational, and socioeconomic development in the refugee and immigrant community in the United States."

Archstone Breaks Ground on Gaithersburg Apartments

Development plans approved for the heart of Gaithersburg back in 2008 by the Montgomery County Planning Board are finally coming to fruition as just last week Archstone broke ground on their "Westchester at Olde Towne" project. The mixed-use development will replace several old buildings with a 389-unit (194 one-bedrooms and 195 two-bedrooms), transit-oriented apartment community, rising four stories, spanning 6.49 acres, and featuring 15,000 s.f. of ground-floor, street-front retail. The architectural design is courtesy of the Preston Partnership, and takes its cues from historic Gaithersburg structures like the old Gaithersburg School and the Thomas Cannery building.

Situated just south of the intersection of North Summit and East Diamond Avenue and opposite the Gaithersburg MARC Rail Station, the infill project will not only offer an abundance of new apartments and retail opportunities, but also includes impressive amenities like a "beach-entry lagoon-style pool" and a "re-oxygenating fitness center." Future resident dog and cat owners will be in for a special treat as plans call for an in-house pet salon. The development site will also be spruced up by three internal courtyards, one of which will have open access to the public during the daytime.

“Gaithersburg is located in the center of the Montgomery County Technology Corridor, the heart of biotechnology research in the United States,” said Neil Brown, Archstone’s chief development officer, in a press release. "We are excited to begin construction on another landmark project that we believe will create significant long-term value for the City of Gaithersburg, for our future residents and for our shareholders," he added. The commencement of construction was largely made possible by a recently finalized $89.9 million FHA insured Section 221(d)4 loan through CWCapital.

Gaithersburg, MD Real Estate Development News

Church and Housing Provider Vindicated in Clarendon Case

A church's involvement in affordable housing subsidies by the state doesn't violate the Constitution. So says another court in the ongoing battle at The Views at Clarendon, which has cleared yet another legal hurdle in its battle to build an apartment building heavily subsidized by the government in place of the First Baptist Church of Clarendon. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit this week upheld a ruling, issued last May, that found that Arlington did not violate the state or U.S. constitutions by subsidizing the church-led project.

The struggle may finally wrap up 5 years of lawsuits 7 years after the Church hired the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) to advise on an affordable housing project. The Church later sold the land to The Views at Clarendon Corporation, a non-profit, for $5.6m, with plans to build 46 market-rate and 70 affordable apartments. The Church retained 3 of 7 seats on the board, and will retain two floors within the new structure and a small building on the side. That lead to a neighbor arguing in Peter Glassman v. Arlington County, et. al that the subsidy amounted to unconstitutional support to a church, an argument that has been repeatedly rejected by both state and federal courts.

The news is a relief for the housing provider, not least because it began construction on the project last January (tearing down) and has just now begun building the 10-story structure, and the courts have refused to enjoin construction. While the case could be appealed - back to the same appellate court or to the U.S. Supreme Court - "further appeals are unlikely to be successful" says Raighne Delaney, an attorney Shareholder with Bean, Kinney & Korman, a law firm representing the non-profit. With plaintiffs having exhausted all automatic appeals, further appeals would be heard only at the discretion of the court.

"The county got a great bargain here," said Delaney. The nature of the bargain was a $13.1m loan the county gave to the developer, for which it got 70 subsidized apartments, with the feds kicking in a $14.5m loan and $20m grant for the project thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. "Constitutionally, the only thing that mattered here was what the church got out of it. Even if it was a bad deal, the government is allowed to make bad deals," said Delaney, who stressed that the transaction is unbeatable for the county. Delaney said the real test is not whether the state is doing business with the church, but whether there is any "excessive entanglement" with the church. "The answer to that really is no. The state is not disallowed from doing business with the church, prohibiting regular business with the church would be a sort of anti-religious bigotry, and that's not allowed either."

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

DCMud 2010 Year in Review

2010 may not have been a chart buster for real estate, but by most accounts it beats 2009. DCMud presents its annual report of what happened, and what didn't, this year in the world of commercial real estate. 

To start the year, the Coast Guard Headquarters received a thumbs up (Jan 7) from NCPC for the WDG Architecture and HOK designs. Silver Spring will get its arts venue now that the county has reached an agreement (Jan 15) with developers to swap land.  Lee Development Group intends to build a hotel, office building, and 2,000 person music hall in the CBD. Another church sold out to developers (Feb 2), as Lakritz Adler planned to build 200 apartments in place of the First Baptist Church of Silver Spring, just across the street from the library that just got going. Right next door, the county asked developers to submit bids (Feb 3) for another residential project. Progress crept forward on the purple line when the county decided to place it next to the bike trail. The Moda Vista finally took off (Nov 8). Wheaton could be transformed, now that Montgomery County and WMATA have asked developers to submit bids (Jan 21) to control 10 sites downtown, with a B.F. Saul lead team chosen for most of it (July 29). Patriot Realty submitted formal plans (April 13) for 500 apartments above a new Safeway downtown (pictured). EYA began plans to demolish the James Bland Addition public housing project in Old Town Alexandria, which it followed through on, to make way for a mixed-income housing project, now for sale. The Takoma Theater was the subject of a showdown between its owner, who wanted to tear it down and build apartments, and the Historic Preservation Review Board, which liked it just the way it was. The District pushed forward with plans for Skyland, pushing out owners to make room for a developer, testing constitutional boundaries (March 12), even after a national trend by states to stop such practices. Middle Georgia Avenue boomed this year, while the northern and southern ends were a bust. Middle Georgia got a new restaurant (Jan 27), and a new apartment building by Chris Donatelli (March 21), now that both have started construction and are well on their way to completion, as well as a new CVS. NDC got underway on The Heights (May 24), and proposed The Vue (Dec 12). On the lower end, redevelopment of the Bruce Monroe school fizzled (Aug 10), and the planned Howard Town Center went nowhere.

Moving to downtown DC, L'Enfant Plaza stands a chance of becoming less frightening, now that a cabal of federal planners and developers are in cahoots (sort of) (Jan 29) to rebuild the '60's era mass of concrete into something less awful. Not quite ready for prime time: a 14th Street condo project in Logan Circle promised for 2009 failed to get underway in 2010, despite ongoing predictions things were "imminent". The Arts at 5th and I took one step forward and two steps back, as Donohoe Companies and Holland Development, which won the rights to develop the site in 2008, admitted they were not ready and turned the Mt. Vernon site into a parking lot (Feb 9). Holland later said (Nov 18) that they were getting "closer." Alexandria pondered how to make the King Street Metro less unfriendly to pedestrians (Feb 10). The District began a long process (Feb 12) of reshaping Dupont's underground trolley station into something useful, long after it failed as a restaurant venue. The District eventually selected an arts coalition (Oct 21) to build out the space. The Corcoran, which had partnered with Monument Realty to convert southwest's Randall School into a large apartment building, gave up the ghost and sold the project to private investors (Feb 18). Senate Square on H Street was sold at auction (Feb 22) to its mezzanine lenders, relieving New York's Broadway Development of one its DC debacles. Broadway had already defaulted on the Dumont, and soon Arbor Place, its investment in Jim Abdo's New York Ave project-that-wasn't, would also fall apart (May 14). M.M. Washington High School was given to a team of local developers who planned to turn it into subsidized senior housing (March 15), construction is expected by mid 2011. A Woodmont Triangle church has been trying to morph into an 8-story, 107-unit apartment building along with a new church, moving through approvals and looking for a partner after Bozzuto backed out (March 16). DC and the feds gave money ($7.2m from DC) to Urban Atlantic and A&R Development Corp. (March 18) for the 8.5 acre Rhode Island Station, which then broke ground May 18th. Greenbelt Station gets more hopeless by the year (March 24). H Street swelters: The Rappaport Companies got ANC approval (March 26) for its Torti Gallas designed, 400-unit building on H Street, heating up the retail corridor just as the trolley lines are finishing up. Clark Realty broke ground on Arboretum Place (Sept 15) at the eastern end, and new supermarkets are planned for the east (Aldi) and west (Giant) ends. After years of litigation, Ed Peete's Bromptons project made a comeback in Arlington (March 27). Alexandria skyline rising: The Hoffman Company will put 1,200 new rental apartments and upwards of 70,000 s.f. of retail adjacent to the beltway in Alexandria, rising up to 31 stories (March 30). An Arlington church cleared its last legal hurdles (April 16) and began building the Views at Clarendon (pictured), a mixed church and residential project, which other urban churches eyed with interest (Oct 11). Arlington kicked off Long Bridge Park (April 21), its 46-acre isolated brownfield on the edge of Pentagon City that it hopes will become a major attraction. DC opened its riverfront park next to Nationals Stadium (April 27). Next door, Canal Park got underway in Southeast's Capitol Riverfront (Aug 26), a neighborhood that added more than a thousand new residents in 2010. Hopes of Utopia were raised, then deflated, U Street developer Georgetown Strategic Capital predicted imminent progress (Apr 22), then got a 2-year extension (June 26) to build his apartment building and retail project. LCOR broke ground on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission building in North Bethesda (April 28). The MBT bike trail opened a new leg in Northeast DC (May 3). Georgetown's Social Safeway reopened, newer, bigger, better (May 4), as did the Georgetown Library (Oct 14) after a devastating fire in 2007 on the same day that Eastern Market smoldered. The Cohen Companies floated plans for a large residential project at 14th Street and Virginia Avenue, SE (May 5). Brookland had a great year, breaking ground on Dance Place and Artspace, EYA broke ground (May 6) on 237 townhouses, and Bozzuto and Pritzker Realty Group partnered up to build Jim Abdo's mixed-use project (Aug 20). Abdo's other grand plan, Arbor Place on New York Avenue, got no such reprieve, and faded away (May 14). The District broke ground on Sheridan Station, a 344-unit public housing project in Southeast, hoping to cure its crime and upkeep problems (May 10), as well as a host of other affordable housing projects. Construction got underway on the Martin Luther King Memorial (May 14). Louis Dreyfus demolished a block of historic homes (May 20) on the edge of Capitol Hill, ostensibly to build Capitol Place, with 302 apartments, but so far have only turned it into a parking lot. Columbia Pike saw several apartment buildings open (May 23) as development of all kinds took hold, but no trolleys yet. The Loree Grand opened to residents (May 31) just after Paradigm opened its doors (May 28) as the first new housing in NoMa in a century. Archstone broke ground on more residences for NoMa (July 21), 469 apartment units (pictured, right) designed by Davis Carter Scott, on track for a mid 2012 opening. DC reached the 100th anniversary of the act of Congress that gave the District height limits (June 1). Southwest DC passed several milestones, as the Southwest station reopened (June 3) along with a new Safeway. It made nominal progress on the Waterfront (Aug 18) with its first demolition and release of early designs (Sept 30), but construction is not expected any time soon. Capitol Hill's Old Naval Hospital began the rebuilding process on its way to becoming a community center (June 10). The Monty, a long-planned Bethesda high-rise, got a new owner (Bainbridge) (July 1) and soon after got ready to break ground (Nov 5). Work got started on 1000 Connecticut Ave, designed by Pei Cobb Freed, perhaps DC's most visible office building (July 12). Post Properties got underway (Aug 9) on phase two of its Carlyle Square apartment project in Alexandria, 344 new apartments designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group. Park Morton got another public injection of cash, likely clearing the way for a large affordable housing project. Developers should break ground on the 500 units during 2011. JBG found a financing partner (Aug 15) for its 14th Street condo project, gave it a new name (Oct 27), and said it was ready to break ground this year, though that hasn't happened yet. A 42-acre parcel in Northeast was planned by Trammell Crow for a big box destination (Aug 17). Capital One proposed a more urban remake of 23 acres (Aug 19) in downtown Tysons Corner. The Bonstra Haresign design, however, is expected to be built only a few bits at a time, if at all. A long time coming, the Howard Theater began a transformation that should help restore some if its former glory (Sept 1). The Smithsonian unveiled revised plans for the the Museum of African American History and Culture, to take up the last free spot on the Mall (Sept 3). Reston Station got underway as the public garage component began construction (Sept 6), and Comstock Partners planned an early 2011 groundbreaking on their portion, more than a million s.f. of development at the end of phase 1 of the Silver Line Metro extension. Urban planners began thinking through a full makeover of Mt. Rainier nearly a century after the city peaked as an inviting community (Sept 22). Washington Property Company started work on its 16-story residential building in Silver Spring's Ripley district, designed by the Lessard Group (Sept 29). After decades in the making, Marriott's development team began site prep (Oct 20) in downtown DC next to the Washington Convention Center, then broke ground on the 1175-room hotel. Equity Residential bought the plans for a Lyon Park project in Arlington and expected to break ground soon on the new apartment building and retail (Oct 5). Arlington selected Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing as the developer of the residential portion of Arlington Mill, a subsidized residence and community center (Oct 6). In Rosslyn, the Artisphere opened, adding a touch of nightlife to the 9-5 neighborhood, a new office building and street got underway courtesy of Skanska (Sept 18), and JBG nearly started work on Rosslyn Commons (Oct 3), 454 new units of housing. Monday Properties began work (Oct 12) on 1812 N. Moore, their speculative 35-story, 390 foot office building (pictured), what will be the region's tallest building when completed. The Davis Carter Scott-designed structure will rise above the new Rosslyn Metro station. Developers of CityCenter DC said they would be ready to fill the gaping hole downtown by next spring (Oct 22), despite the apparent lack of an anchor tenant. Paradigm Development began work on more than 400 apartments in Mount Vernon Triangle (Oct 27). Carr Properties and architects at SmithGroup came up with plans to add an office building onto the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Nov 5). The cash-strapped Perseus sold 14W to JAG, which said it could start building the 14th Street project almost immediately (Nov 24). Next door, work began on UDR's apartment building after delays and extensions (Dec 15). In the last item of note, Shaw's Progression Place started up (Dec 22), though the more meaningful O Street market got nowhere, despite an official groundbreaking (Aug 30).

Of Overlays and Embassies

By Beth Herman

In 2005, when entrepreneur and franchise expert Alex McKeague eyed the D.C. market’s wide world of art and design, packing along an artist wife raised the bar on what they could expect. Buoyed by an engineer father-in-law who called stained glass-making, which was his avocation, “the great melding of engineering and art,” McKeague and wife Lisa set their conceptual sails on a course toward Washington’s competitive, custom design market, with results that have brought light, elegance, privacy and even security to their customers. With SGO Designer Glass among the top 500 franchises on the entrepreneur.com website then and now, McKeague, who’d owned several restaurant and retail franchises in the past, recalled an SGO entity in Crofton, Md. (now closed) that had done some work in one of his businesses. "I remembered they did great work and it was a great product,” McKeague said. Following some prodigious market research, he and Lisa found themselves asking the fundamental questions, “Could we see ourselves doing this, and as customers, could we see ourselves buying it?” SGO, the acronym for stained glass overlay, is a specialized product that applies 21st century technology to traditional stained glass aesthetics, producing a product that is ANSI-(American National Standards Institute) rated for safety. Where creating a traditional stained glass product today requires sandwiching it in between two pieces of tempered glass for safety, replacing doors or windows with the product in the process, the newer overlay process – which includes taking colors, textures, lead and bevels and applying them to the glass of existing doors or windows – is achieved at far less expense to the customer and with spectacular results. Additionally, if someone moves, the glass can more easily be removed, packaged and shipped to the new address, leaving behind a functioning window or door. With the Libyan Embassy among their early customers and 22 individual 4x10-ft.windows to design, the McKeagues recalled they were part of a design conversation where their contact initially wanted an oasis pattern in one place, a wrought iron swirl in others and examples of Libyan art reflected in still others. “Inevitably they ended up getting an interior designer to take over,” McKeague said, noting the designer scrapped everything and started anew, exploring whatever designs their young company had done to date and going from there. “We put together a cohesive design that incorporated pieces of everything they wanted, and one that could be carried throughout the embassy,” McKeague said of the two-year process from initial conversations to finish. “Our typical turnaround time on most projects is 6-8 weeks.” Shining Through Crediting wife Lisa with unparalleled diplomacy in all matters, the candid McKeague said their business is about transparency (no pun intended) to the customer’s tastes and desires. “In the beginning, we got too emotionally involved with the pieces themselves, so when a customer wanted to make changes, we’d think that’s not what we wanted to do,” he recalled. Employing their own website, and also a master SGO Designer Glass site with 1,400 design images, the McKeagues’ customers participate in a discovery process that includes CAD drawings applied to actual photographs of the intended window or door space and thousands of colors manipulated to achieve a variety of effects. When a decision is made, custom-cut tempered pieces of glass are ordered, along with the different colors and textures, with Lisa cutting and bonding them to the glass. “To build in the glass can take four weeks, just prior to installation,” McKeague explained. Gilding the Castle In 2006, a business analysis McKeague instituted of their franchise revealed that 70 percent of their work solved some kind of problem–a privacy issue. McKeague said customers wanted to let in the light, but also obscure the vision. To that end, when a real estate agent purchased a home on the water in Davidson, Md., there were no neighbors but the situation evolved unfavorably to include what the agent called an unattractive house, according to McKeague, visible outside her bathroom window. Concerned about privacy and resale issues, SGO was commissioned for a stained glass overlay that was at once elegant yet significantly camouflaged the structure next door, obscuring the view from the outside in as well. In Potomac, Md., a therapist who practiced out of her home and was partial to all things art nouveau professed she couldn’t find a traditional piece of stained glass she really liked. “We came up with an overlay design that was so intricate,” McKeague said of the two 6x54-inch entryway sidelights that, because of their design, provided great privacy, "something this delicate would fall apart using traditional stained glass.” To assist the therapist with security issues, two discrete clear glass eye holes precisely at her own eye level were inserted, allowing her to see out without opening the door. In fact, in the safety arena, McKeague’s projections for his SGO glass in commercial enterprises include using it as a smash-and-grab deterrent. “When we bond the colors and textures, we have that ANSI rating for safety glass,” he explained. “If the glass is smashed, everything holds together.” With many hundreds of projects in the greater D.C. area that include residential, religious, institutional and commercial designs, McKeague indicated the market for SGO Designer Glass applications is only as limited as one’s imagination. “Whatever we create is actually what the customer creates,” McKeague said. “We are only the vehicle that gets them there.”