Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider


This amazing Woodley Park classic is ten pounds of Old World charm in a five pound satin bag. (Note: that's a good thing.) I like bleeding-edge trendy things as much or more than the next guy (you should see how I dress) but this house has a sort of sophistication and fine craftsmanship that's timeless and irresistible.

The house still has much of the original woodwork and details and boasts beautiful seasoned hardwood floors, a vast kitchen, and a spectacular dining room. Check out the ceilings. If I had a dinner party here I'd make people eat while lying on their backs. I should start doing this anyway, just for the comedic potential. Upstairs there are six large bedrooms and 3.5 baths; the master bath is Tony Montana nice. The house comes with a two car garage and multiple canopied deck areas, because everything is more enjoyable outside. Yes, even that.

Downstairs, the basement is a fine one bedroom apartment that you can rent out to defray the cost of your mortgage, or you can just use those monthly checks to buy shoes. And really, who wouldn't want to live in Woodley Park? It's scenic and you're close to everything but not actually right in the middle of it all. (I once lived right in the heart of Adams Morgan – you know how it feels to try and sleep in a busy airport? Imagine feeling like that all the time for an entire year.) A short walk to the metro, shops, nightlife, restaurants, and the zoo, which is arguably the only place you're always guaranteed to see something more miserable than you are.

2626 Woodley Place NW
6 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$1,300,000

Brookland Mixed-Use Project to be Reviewed by Zoning Commission, Finally

Shortly after the first of the year, the Zoning Commission will finally review the Planned Unit Development application for 901 Monroe Street, a 220-unit apartment building with 12,700 s.f. of street-level retail, running the length of Monroe between 9th and 10th Streets.

As the Washington Examiner reported this past spring, the "hotly contested development project" was, as of last March, "deemed too controversial by a city zoning panel to move forward just yet." A hearing date has now been set for January 19th.

The joint development team - The Horning Brothers, The Menkiti Group, and property owner Jim Stiegman - will once again attempt to move forward, with the aim being to follow close behind the 9-acre, mixed-use Monroe Street Market, a $200-million transformation south of Catholic University that broke ground last month. "We're excited about [901 Monroe]," said CEO and president of Horning David Roodberg. "It'll be a nice connection to Abdo and Bozzuto's development [Monroe Street Market] on the other side of the metro tracks."

Eventually, Brookland will become "a metro-accessible destination in itself," believes Roodberg, highlighting the continuous frontage of street-level retail bays included in 901 Monroe that will seamlessly connect to the retail corridor running through Monroe Street Market (site plan at left).

Of course, some fear that the quantity and scale of new residential and retail development in the area will render Brookland unrecognizable in coming years, while others argue that's not a bad thing.

A notable aspect of the development is that the site is a 60,000-s.f. area (below, in yellow) currently fringed with several small buildings, both commercial and residential, including a long-standing local pub, Colonel Brooks' Tavern.

The tavern's owner, Jim Stiegman, started down the path to develop, back in 2006. Last year he told the Washington Business Journal that the beginning of the end for his watering hole was in 2003, when the tavern was the victim of a bungled - and horrific - robbery on Palm Sunday that left three employees dead, and his business debilitated.

It's believed that Stiegman approached the Menkiti Group with the idea to develop, and The Horning Brothers were brought on board soon after.

Eight years later, a PUD is ready to be reviewed, and once approved, the development checklist will begin: construction documents, permits, and financing, confirmed Roodberg. If zoning approval is swift - if - construction could begin as early as the fall of 2012, said Roodberg, with delivery in 2014.

Designed by Esocoff & Associates, the building has already made some concessions, including the loss of 12 percent of its density, down to 197,000 s.f. of gross floor area (from just over 220,000 s.f. sought in the initial 2010 design). The zoning application proposes somewhere between 205 to 220 residential units, mostly 1 bed/1 bath, 150 parking spaces below-grade and 66 bicycle parking spaces. The development will also create wider sidewalks through 15-foot setbacks around the property. The architecture also bears an uncanny resemblance to the Whitman Condos (see picture below), one of Esocoff's recent residential projects.

Alternatives for community benefits offered through the project include the creation of a community park on the west side of 9th Street, on property owned by DDOT and WMATA. Developers say they "found those agencies to be receptive to the idea of a community park" due to the area's shallow depth (limiting potential uses), as it's hemmed in by WMATA/CSX train tracks.

The Brookland business community has also been gunning for "significant sign pylons welcoming people to Brookland, heavy duty mounted poles and banners advertising the Brookland commercial area, potential art/sculpture in public space, the installation of six Metropolitan Police Department cameras, enhanced landscaping and various public space improvements."

The pre-hearing statement for the PUD was filed in October, and all 147 pages are available for late-night reading.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Once Uncertain Rosslyn Office Tower Reaches Milestone

Judging by the 1812 N. Moore construction livecams, the historically massive Monday Properties Rosslyn project is about to hit ground level - a significant milestone for any big project, much less The Tallest Office Tower in D.C. Area History - that almost wasn't.

When project backer Lehman Brothers went belly up in the wake of the financial crisis, some wondered if the 580,000-square-foot 35-story property at 1812 N. Moore would run out of funds, raising the specter of a skeletal, half-finished tower marring the Rosslyn skyline (or worse yet, a gaping pit in the middle of downtown).

Those doubts (groundless in retrospect, as Monday says it always had completion funds on hand) were put to rest when Goldman Sachs stepped in last month and bought out Lehman's stake in the 1.2 billion dollar portfolio, and the project has remained on schedule for a late 2013 delivery date.

As of today, below-grade construction is nearing completion, and the project should break above grade in a matter of weeks, if not days. “The crane is scheduled to jump up next month,” said Tim Helmig, Executive VP and Chief Development Officer at Monday. He also noted, with evident pride, that their construction crane when fully extended

to its maximum of 451 feet, will be the tallest in area history.

1812 is only one part of a massive ten building, three million square foot portfolio that altogether comprises over a third of the entire Rosslyn office submarket of Arlington, making Monday/Goldman the Microsoft of florescent-lit Starbucks-and-Dockers NOVA anomie.

Construction on 1812 was started on spec – a risky proposition in a down economy and a soft-ish market. But Monday assures DCMud it's in active negotiations with three clients to collectively lease out the entire tower. Questions about these three mega-tenant's identities were met with amusement but then expected silence. At present, 1812 is LEED Gold certified for Neighborhood Development, and anticipates being LEED Platinum certified for Core and Shell when delivered in 2013, keeping it on track to be the first LEED Platinum certified office building in Virginia, as certified by the USGBC.

Central Place, the competing project from JBG and Beyer Blinder Belle right across N. Moore Street, hasn't broken ground yet, but its developers offer assurances as to its progression. JBG spokesman Charles Maier told DCMud that is JBG is finalizing permits for the project and doesn't anticipate any obstacles to a 2012 start date.

Arlington, VA real estate development news

Shops at Dakota Crossing and Costco to Start Now, Open Next Year

It's official. The District and the developers of the Shops at Dakota Crossing - a forthcoming 42-acre big-box retail destination revolving around Costco - have struck a deal.

On Friday, the development team, facilitated by a $46.5-million construction loan, acquired the Fort Lincoln land from the District. In turn, the District pledged a final $17 million in tax increment financing (TIF) subsidies. The site is now ready for construction to begin on the 430,000-s.f. mall, capping a portion of the city's urban renewal retail redevelopment vision for Fort Lincoln that dates back to the '70s.

Joint developers Trammel Crow Companies, Fort Lincoln New Town Corporation (FLNTC), and CSG Urban Partners (a CBE partner) will commence site work immediately ("any day now" sources say) to prepare for a formal ground breaking - likely in January or February - under general contractor Harvey Cleary.

The approximately $60-million project, with urban planning/architecture by Bignell Watkins Hasser, was also on hold pending environmental approvals, secured about a month ago says Cel Bernardino, VP of Development and Construction for FLNTC. Bernadino adds that despite skeptical press of late, the project still has the interest of several big retailers, and that the loss of Target, which is halting expansion nationwide, is not fatal. In addition to Dakota Crossing, Target at one time was also considering - but abandoned - both Georgetown Park and Skyland.

All incoming retailers will benefit from the $17 million in TIF subsidies from the District, which has supported the development as a neighborhood improvement initiative. Developers expect Costco to be open for business in less than a year - next November - just in time for large-scale, back-your-truck-up holiday shopping.

As for the rest , the Washington City Paper pointed out earlier this fall that it appears that the development is moving forward essentially on spec, after Shoppers Food Warehouse (and pharmacy) and Target pulled out of the site. But Bernardino says that although that lease has not been signed, Shoppers, along with plenty of others, did not back away and continue to eye the site, but that Costco is driving the project. "Costco has always been the big dog."

In all, the plan allows for 26 tenants in 13 buildings at the Shops, but as of now, only 182,060 of the 430,000 s.f. has been claimed by tenants: 154,000 s.f. by Costco and 28,060 s.f. by Marshalls. After Costco's building is delivered late next year, the rest of the development will continue to rise and retailers are expected to be able to settle into spaces by mid-2013.

CBRE has been responsible for leasing retail space at the Shops' site, which the company is marketing as "a strategic location on New York Avenue/Route 50... [with] easy access to an impressive 100,000 vehicles per day." Of these vehicle passersby, 2,500 will be able to swoop into a parking spot at the Shops.

Bounded by New York Avenue NE, South Dakota Avenue and 33rd Place, the location was hotly debated because the site is currently a forested area with wetlands that filter waste and prevent flooding. In order to move forward, the developers agreed to incorporate a new wetland into the site, with the design reviewed and approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA, and the District Dept. of the Environment.

Additionally, in April of 2010, the District committed $3 million toward an effort to construct stormwater management ponds that will support the entire 360-acre Fort Lincoln redevelopment area, which includes the $80-million residential portion, The Villages at Dakota Crossing, with 334 townhomes and condominiums. The first of three phases will be underway soon, development of the site (roads, etc.) has already begun. Ryan Homes expects the first phase - construction of 63 townhomes and 11 townhome condominums (2 condos contained in each, for a total of 22 condos) to begin to deliver in 2012. Sales have begun, and already 15 condos have sold.

In the decades since developers of the Shops have been trying to gain ground, players have come and gone, and then come back again. Before Trammel Crow was involved, it was The Peterson Companies, and before The Peterson Companies there was Federal Realty Investment Trust and Trammell Crow. When Peterson Companies bowed out in 2007, Trammell Crow Companies stepped back in.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Today in Pictures

Today in pictures: CityCenter, 6 cranes, and a very large hole.

  Photography by Rey Lopez 

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Doomsday Shelters: Buy Now, the End is Near

Living and working in the nation's bustling capital it's difficult to notice the Cold War relics being transformed into modern day catastrophe-hideaways, or brand new doomsday shelters being installed in the back yards of paranoid Chevy Chase residents. But the relative instability of the geopolitical climate, the impending 2012 reckoning, melting ice caps, and Justin Beiber's quick rise to pop-star-power all have sales and construction of bomb-shelters and the like on the rise around DC and across the nation. This impending doom is bad news for just about everyone but investors in companies that develop, construct, and/or market massive fallout shelters.

For several years now, Vivos, a development group based out of Del Mar, California, has been planning a nationwide group of 20 fortified, underground shelters purporting to protect those inside for an entire year from a wide range of potential global or regional calamities: earthquake, terrorist attack, nuclear war, financial meltdown, the Rapture, you name it. But to muster the financial resources necessary to construct each new bunker, Vivos president Robert Vicino must recruit 200 owners to pay $50,000 a piece. Vicino insists that his marketing strategies are not thinly disguised scare tactics. His website even stresses that "Vivos is not about 2012." But just in case you are, they've provided several online videos to watch, informing any potential customers about the multitude of "viable threat scenarios." For those unaware, ancient Mayan calenders and renowned New York street corner thanatologists point to the year 2012 as the beginning of the end for life on earth.

Vicino is currently undertaking the renovation of an unused Cold War bunker located in the remote desert outskirts of Barstow, CA. This is his only active project, but Vicino intends to have a shelter within 150 miles of every major metropolitan area. The map on his website shows a potential site somewhere on the southwestern border of Virginia and West Virginia. It's questionable whether a District resident could outrun a towering tsunami en route to such a distant safe-haven. When asked whether or not Vicino was taking financial advantage of people's fears, he responded: "You don't think of the person who sells you a fire extinguisher as taking advantage of your fear. The fact that you may never use that fire extinguisher doesn't make it a waste or bad." Thankfully, fire extinguishers don't cost fifty grand.

The first high tech fallout shelter built by Vivos will not only be equipped with security devices, air and water purification systems, and enough frozen and canned food for a year, but also a library, movie theater, hospital, and even a dentist's office. It's certainly reasonable for survivors of a massive worldwide disaster to expect a clean, white smile when the coast clears and it comes time to repopulate the earth. "We designed it after a kind of cruise ship meets luxury yacht, because we figured if you're going to be down there for as much as a year, we're going to have to make it as comfortable as possible," said Vicino.

Vivos isn't the only company getting in on the underground real estate action. Texas-based Radius Engineering designs, engineers, and manufactures underground disaster shelter systems that are "based on a 31-year history of protecting The Best and The Brightest" (as advertised on their website). It may seem like a loony excuse for a business plan, but these pure-bred capitalists, fear-mongering or not, are taking advantage of an apparent market need. Walter McCarthy, president of Radius Engineering, claims his $23 million business has doubled sales every year for five years running. They also assert to have built over 350 shelters, ranging in price from $400,000 to a $41 million, based in and around Washington D.C. (they would not say exactly where, as you might imagine). Other disaster bunker manufacturers of note are Hardened Structures located in Colorado and Utah Shelter Systems, each reporting a recent spike in sales.

Dr. Strangelove's initial fictional idea to send citizens at a ratio of one man for every ten "highly stimulating" women deep into mine shafts in the event of nuclear attack coincided with the U.S. government to consider its own doomsday protection options. During the height of the Cold War the Federal government embarked on a project which aimed to forge an unbreakable chain of command for military and civilian leaders capable of weathering a 6-month war and sustained nuclear attack on Washington. In April of 1994, 11 years and eight billion dollars later, the government abandoned the project. And now private developers continue to pick up where the government left off. If all of these options sound out of reach for the average citizen, one alternative is to buddy up with Tom Cruise. The celebrity reportedly built a luxurious ten million dollar bunker for ten in Colorado. Or lobby Fannie Mae to get them to underwrite mortgages on bunkers.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

Located on a charming cobblestone street, this O Street Federal townhouse has a lot to like. The first floor is a separate, very nice apartment with tons of windows and long sightlines, which I didn't realize at first. I thought the apartment was the entire property, and I was still like, “great, where do I sign?” (Any references to “signing” were only for entertainment purposes; the last time I tried to rent a place, the landlord checked my credit and said my score “literally couldn't be any worse.” I'm quite sure it's gotten worse since then.)

So imagine my surprise when I wandered upstairs and found the rest of the house, which was even finer. A spectacular living room (with fireplace), a huge kitchen (with skylight), a separate dining room (also with fireplace) and a sunfilled breakfast room (with yet another fireplace!). Upstairs, each of the bedrooms had their own distinctive personalities (something that's rarer and rarer); one had a ridiculous amount of closet space, another had tons of built-in shelving, some were square, some were oblong, et cetera. Out back is a very nice flagstone garden, perfect for grilling or lounging or just sitting around and fretting about where to park your growing fleet of cars. What? (Transition alert!)



Cars, you say? How many? Two? Three? More than three? Ten? That's cool, no one's judging you. (Yes we are.) But this could definitely be the house for you – because it comes with a parking garage. That's right, your very own parking garage. Not only that, but the parking garage is separately deeded, which can come in real handy for a lot of reasons (tax evasion). Kidding!

3409 O Street NW
5 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$1,395,000







Washington D.C. real estate news

Ukrainian Famine Memorial Clears Hurdles

Though no firm groundbreaking date has been set, the site for the Ukrainian Man-made Famine (Holodomor) memorial was consecrated last month by the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, just days after the project received concept approval from the Commission of Fine Arts.

Located on a 3100-s.f. triangular wedge at the intersection of North Capitol Street, Massachusetts Avenue, and F Street, the memorial is dedicated to victims of the 1932 Ukrainian catastrophe, created when Stalin exported the bulk of Ukraine's grain stores, deliberately inducing a famine that he hoped would lead to a repopulation of the country by ethnic Russians. Presently the site is a popular lunchtime gathering place for the throngs of neighborhood workers who patronize the nearby food trucks, perhaps foreshadowing the future irony of young urban professionals shoveling back kimchi tacos and twelve dollar hula burgers in the shadow of a famine memorial.

Since securing authorization from Congress in 2006, the Holodomor project has made slow but steady progress. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) awarded the site in October 2008, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine began soliciting designs the very next year. From 52 submitted proposals, they narrowed it down to five, which were then vetted down to two that met NCPC standards. The project team, led by architects-of-record Hartman-Cox Architects (who were brought in to shepherd the project through the labyrinthine approvals process), presented these two designs at an NCPC meeting on December 1. The “preferred” scheme, dubbed “Field of Wheat,” is comprised of a small paved area and bench in front of a wall-like bas-relief sculpture of wheat. The “alternate” scheme (which seemed to be much preferred at the last NCPC meeting, due to the one-sided design of “Field of Wheat”) is a small sculpture in-the-round of a ten-foot-tall pair of open hands, surrounded by trees. The designs received concept approval from the Commission of Fine Arts in mid-November, and now go to the National Capital Advisory committee.

According to NCPC Acting Director of Urban Design and Plan Review Shane Dettman, the monument is being funded directly by the Ukranian government, which will also take on an unusual level of responsibility for the finished site. “Unlike most monuments that are given over to the National Park Service for maintenance, this particular memorial will be on a Park Service reservation that's owned by the federal government, but the Ukrainian government will take care of upkeep and maintenance,” Dettman said.

Still, the memorial does seem puzzling to some, in the same way that the U.S. erecting a “Trail of Tears” memorial in downtown Kiev might raise eyebrows. The boilerplate justification for the project, taken from the proposal/environmental impact study, is that America's long-standing role as the foremost champion of human rights in the world makes Washington, DC the best location for a memorial to this tragedy. Which is undoubtedly true, as far as that goes. (Which isn’t very far.)

The Ukrainian embassy wasn't forthcoming with any context, but recent history might lend some. George W. Bush signed the legislation authorizing the Holodomor memorial into law in 2006, coincidentally a few years after Ukraine was one of the only countries to make a significant contribution to the multinational Iraq invasion force, inviting the suspicion that the monument was a chip in a much bigger picture of backroom diplomatic horse-trading. Additionally, it's well-known that the U.S. needs a regional ally to keep Russian’s empire-ish ambitions contained (a Taiwan to Russia’s China, if you will), so it makes sense that we would want to keep the Ukrainians happy. They get a sculpture in the capital city of the world's leading superpower, we get a missile installation, that sort of thing. If it saves us from a 21st century “Red Dawn,” it's a small price to pay.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Your Next Place

By Franklin Schneider

You always hear Drake singing about how depressing and melancholy it is to sit in your penthouse and look out over the city, but then when I'm in an actual penthouse I'm like “how can you ever sit in a place like this and feel depressed?!” Drake should spend a little time in my shabby rowhouse apartment that features an unanchored toilet (you can lift it right off the floor or – horrifyingly – it can tip over when you're on it) and four layers of wall to wall carpeting (when a tenant moves out, my landlord just puts down a fresh layer of carpet on top of the old one). I'd love to hear a melancholy ballad about that.

This stunning Dupont penthouse in PN Hoffman's The Madison pretty much has it all: a floating staircase, dramatic high ceilings, tons of light. This is definitely what I would call a trophy home. The kitchen is expansive with maybe the most kitchen storage I've ever seen. The master suite it huge enough that it would be a fantastic apartment in and of itself; it even has its own terrace, and features ridiculously massive closets that made me want to twirl around and around with my arms spread like Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music.” (Not really.) The baths are of five-star hotel quality, with beautiful finishes and those rainfall-style showerheads that's just like showering outside in the rain except it doesn't end abruptly with you getting tasered by the police.

There's also a fantastic roof deck and the place comes with a huge storage unit that would take decades to fill up, and that's assuming you have a severe and well-financed shopping problem.

1514 21st Street NW #9
3 Bedrooms, 3 Baths
$1,395,000

Sheridan Station Celebrates Opening, Now Nearly Half Built

Ribbons were cut today at Sheridan Station, a $100-million effort by the D.C. Housing Authority and William C. Smith & Co. to redevelop 11 acres in Ward 8 that once held the public housing complex Sheridan Terrace, torn down in 1997.

The ceremony this afternoon marked the completion of Phase I (of three), which delivered 114 apartment units (with gym, business center, etc.) to Barry Farm/Anacostia, confirms Carol Chatham, spokesperson for William C. Smith + Co.

Construction on the first phase of the project began in May of 2010. Now complete, the apartment building, designed by SK&I, is in the queue for LEED-Platinum certification (the highest certification possible from the U.S. Green Building Council), due to incorporation of rooftop solar panels that will generate energy to cover 30 percent of the building's needs, a rainwater collection cistern, LED lights, and low-VOC materials - among other green building tactics.

Expected to be in attendance today were the appropriate local and federal government representatives on behalf of DCHA, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, and DMPED - all celebrating the ability to fund the project, which includes the use of a $20-million HOPE VI HUD grant and ARRA funds.

Phase two - 80 for-sale townhomes - is under construction now; 22 of these townhomes are currently for sale and will deliver in February of next year. Chatham added that three are under contract now. The third and final phase is still in development, a start date has not been specified.

The 11 acres of Sheridan Station are jointly owned by DCHA and William C. Smith & Co. As lead developer, Smith partnered with Union Temple CDC and Jackson Investment Co. to form Sheridan Terrace Redevelopment, LLC.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

New Apartments for Hill East in 2013, Two Blocks from RFK

The recently formed joint venture - between Tritec Development and JBG - has just begun construction on its 141-unit apartment, Kennedy Row, at 1729 East Capitol Street in Hill East, just two blocks from RFK Stadium.

Construction on the 42,629-s.f. site, under general contractor Clark Builders Group, will take approximately 18 months, and the first apartments will deliver in April of 2013. Kennedy Row will be managed by JBG's residential property management arm (we're told the Kennedy Row website is coming next month).

Early this fall, the partnership - a $40 million effort brokered by Colliers - was formed, enabling the project to break ground late last month, just after a building permit was issued for the project, and just before the PUD was set to expire, this month.

The 4.5-story, red-brick apartment designed by architect Polleo Group, is located at 1705-1729 East Capitol Street, SE, right across the street from Eastern High School - which received a $70-million renovation last year - five blocks from the Stadium Armory Metro, and two blocks from RFK Stadium. There will be 113 parking spaces in an underground parking garage.

Well in advance of construction, demolition of the aged structures previously on the site commenced a year-and-a-half ago, and the south side of East Capitol Street between 17th and 18th has been waiting on development since that time. A representative involved with the project said that the timing of the project's start has been purely a market-driven decision.

In December 2007, The Merion Group/Tritec acquired the property for $6.2 million from Comstock East Capitol LLC, which paid $9 million the previous year.

The consolidated Planned Unit Development (by Comstock, with renderings by PGN Architects seen at left) was approved around the time Merion/Tritec took over (late in 2007), and the project was granted a time extension by the Zoning Commission in 2009.

Originally - four years ago - the project looked to become condos, however, developers confirmed that the aim is now apartments.

As for the rest of the Hill East area, the Washington Post reminded readers a month ago that the 67-acre area south of RFK known as Reservation 13 "has been eyed for an ambitious redevelopment for the better part of a decade," and reported that speculation surrounding the area's potential continues, noting the option for: "a new [Redskins] headquarters and training facility near RFK Stadium in anticipation of building a new stadium there when the FedEx Field lease ends in 2027." Meanwhile, D.C. United looks to a short-term lease at RFK, as the soccer team's management continues to try and sort out its future, and appears to be sticking to its guns in declaring that RFK is not a long-term solution.

Washington D.C. real estate development news