Monday, February 06, 2012

Florida Rock Development Reboots, Meets Resistance

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With demolition of the concrete plant finally complete, RiverFront on the Anacostia, the on-again off-again Southeast waterfront mega-project is on, again - pending various hearings, presentations, meetings, and ultimate approval of some very substantial changes to the zoning application.
Developers Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. and Midatlantic Realty Partners LLC (MRP) filed a modification with the Zoning Commission last month to, among other things, modify the Phase One building from an office complex to a residential building. The proposed residential building would be nine stories tall and include up to 350 units, 286 underground parking spaces, and 300,000 square feet of gross floor area (8% of which would be set aside for affordable housing at 80% of AMI). The new filing retains the 12,500 s.f. of retail space for lease, but now wants to earmark 7,000 s.f. as "flex space" or "residential amenity space."

Last week, the Zoning Commission gave their first impressions of the new plans, and it wasn't pretty. One commissioner called it "an affront" and a "bastardization," even going so far as to suggest the developers might have to start the PUD process from square one. Another excoriated the developers from reducing the initial 80,000 s.f. of retail space to under 24,000 s.f. in the latest filing, with 7,000 of that possibly being converted to non-retail "flex space." Even the most positive board member damned the project with faint praise - characterizing it as an improvement on the original PUD, but "boring" and "simplistic." In the end, the board deferred a decision, and the next public hearing is on February 13.
The new building, designed by SK&I, is U-shaped, facing the river, with a private inner courtyard. On the east side is a planned greenspace (Anacostia Plaza) and on the west side, in between the Phase One building and the Phase Two (also residential) building, another large plaza (the Mews) that "privileges pedestrians over vehicles." The new landscape plan, by Oculus, uses the idea of "ecotone" (in the report, this is defined as "an ecological term referring to the transitional zone between two ecologies") to create an impressive stormwater management and filtration system that will both provide lush public native plant green spaces, and filter runoff. (And the Anacostia River can use all the help it can get.)

Phases II (a 262K s.f., 130-foot tall residential building), III (326K s.f., 130-foot tall office building), and IV (275K s.f., 130-foot tall hotel) are unchanged. FRP anticipates a Q2 2013 groundbreaking, with move-ins starting in Q1 2015, and everything wrapped up by that summer.
Big picture, the plan is cut from the same cloth as the plans for the Wharf and the Maryland Avenue redevelopments. (There are only so many ways to skin a cat, after all.) Much like those plans, this latest filing is hoping that their conversion of the Phase One building from office to residential "will provide the critical mass of people necessary in order to support future office and retail uses." Of course, this could take a while, which is the thinking behind the "flex space." What if they build it, but people don't come? The plan also asks for permission to use the Phase II/III/IV sites for interim projects like a farmer's market or temporary retail, rather than letting those spaces remain dormant. It's a good strategy to lure more people to the area, and can only help not just their development, but the neighborhood as a whole as it gears up to make the transition to world-class waterfront. But first, developers need to win over the Zoning Commission, which is proving to be a harder task than they may have anticipated. 

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Your Next Place

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By Franklin Schneider

A name can be so evocative. This place, for example, is located in the "Ritz Residences," so you know pretty much what you're going to get before you even walk in the door. Class, sophistication, timelessness, and various other virtues not at all embodied by my ironic mullet. (What, it's a commentary on contemporary mores. Also, it keeps my neck warm.)

And this place certainly lives up to expectations. Two entire walls of the elegant living room are floor-to-ceiling windows, opening onto a stunning view of the city. The formal dining room features more huge windows and a low-slung, very ritzy chandelier. The long, roomy kitchen features tons of cabinet space, a breakfast room, and a balcony. Then there's the master suite, which boasts another private balcony, and a palatial master bath that has more marble in it than many museums. There's a den (to do all your dennin' in) and all the bedrooms have, yes, massive windows, much like the rest of the place.


Amenities include a round-the-clock-concierge, two parking spaces AND valet parking to go with them. If you're a terrible driver like me, you know how much stress valet parking can alleviate. The last time I drove a car, I was sitting at a stoplight doing totally fine, until for some reason I thought to myself, “boy would it be bad if I suddenly forgot which pedal was the accelerator and which was the brake!” It was like that mental trick where you tell yourself, “don't think about a purple polar bear,” and then that's all you can think about. Next thing I knew, I was careening backwards at 30mph down a narrow one-way street. The only reason I didn't crash was because of my uncanny ability to drive in reverse at high speeds. (Not really, I hit a construction dumpster. Luckily, it wasn't my car.)

1111 23rd Street NW Unit S5A
3 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths
$2,000,000



Washington D.C. real estate news

Friday, February 03, 2012

Glenmont Sector Plan Changes Unveiled

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At last week's monthly meeting of the Montgomery County Planning Board, MoCo planners unveiled an ambitious updated sector plan intended to spur redevelopment of the area surrounding the Glenmont metro station.

The previous plan, from 1997, envisioned a transit-oriented center surrounded by stable family-oriented neighborhoods, but the new plan seeks to seriously increase density by encouraging commercial development. The first major target of this strategy is the Glenmont Shopping Center, a 196,000 s.f. Sixties-era strip mall at Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road that, according to presenters, many in the community describe as "an eyesore." There hasn't been large-scale construction there for over a decade, a stretch of inactivity presenters ascribed to the patchwork ownership situation. At present, there are fifteen properties under thirteen ownerships; presenter and Montgomery County Planning Department senior planner Michael Brown said that his office had surveyed the owners and that "nine or ten of them agreed they wanted something to happen," but that that's as much of a consensus as they could reach. (Later in the meeting, someone remarked that solving this divided ownership situation should be at the top of the "to do" list. After a moment of silence, everyone broke out into cynical easier-said-than-done laughter.)

The second major parcel is Privacy World, presently a 31-acre complex of 352 garden apartments. Brown said that there was a development proposal "in the pipeline" to convert Privacy World into a 1500-unit mixed-use complex with ninety thousand s.f. of retail space. "It's the only private project in the pipeline right now."

But there is a significant amount of public development, which is partly why planners think now is the time to push forward with a wholesale makeover for the area. The state is building a raised interchange at the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Randolph Road which will significantly ease traffic flow in the area, and there's also a 1200 space parking garage being constructed by WMATA along Georgia, as well as a new Fire Station 18 going in next door.

Planners also singled out a trio of Sixties- and Seventies-era housing complexes for particular scrutiny: Winexburg Manor, a 625-unit 33 acre parcel, Glenway Gardens, a 214-unit 15 acre parcel, and Glenmont Forest, a 482-unit, 33 acre parcel of three-story garden apartments. "Given their age and condition," says the report, "their redevelopment potential should be evaluated." The presentation also touched on Glenmont Greenway, a large greenspace set on top of the Glenmont metro station. Residents have long complained that the space is desolate and deserted, a charge acknowledged by planners. "The 1997 plan intended for adjacent townhomes to activate the space," said Brown. "But they never came."

Brown outlined a tentative schedule for the next steps: a series of "community visioning" workshops throughout February and March, presenting the board with draft recommendations in April, a public hearing in September, and a finished planning board draft at the end of the year. (Board members remarked on this "aggressive scheduling," which provoked another round of rueful laughter.)

Though some board members urged Brown's office to consider ways of making the area more pedestrian and bike friendly, and warned of the "active discussion" he was sure to get from the community in response to the proposed changes, the scope of work sector plan was approved by the board unanimously. The first community visioning workshop is February 4th.

Montgomery County Maryland real estate development news

Wisconsin Ave. Giant to Close In March as Cathedral Commons Gears Up

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The Giant supermarket at 3336 Wisconsin Avenue, NW will close in March in preparation for the construction of Cathedral Commons, according to a spokeswoman for the supermarket chain.

Sharon Robinson, an outside spokeswoman on behalf of Giant said that construction for the $125 million project will begin this quarter. A raze permit for the building as well as other parts of the 3300 block were approved Jan. 30th by the Historic Preservation Office according to documents released this week by the Office. Meanwhile, the Giant Pharmacy has closed, and Starbucks cafe in the 3400 block also closed this week; its building also has a date with the wrecking ball as part of the project.

(Photo by Ken Johnson)
United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400, which represents Giant employees at the Wisconsin Ave. store, were also given notice this week that the location will close within the next 30 days to begin razing the old building.


The UFCW employees won't lose their jobs, but will be transferred to other Giant stores in the region, according to UFCW Local 400 Secretary Mark Federici.

Developer Street-Works, which also designed much of Bethesda Row, has designed Cathedral Commons to bring 137 apartments, eight town homes and more than 125,000 s.f. of retail space, including 56,000 s.f. to replace the 50-year old store.

For the past decade, Cathedral Commons has been ground-zero for redevelopment politics, pitting anti-development activists versus the food store and its financial partner The Bozzuto Group.


Meanwhile, Giant, like its fellow unionized grocery chain Safeway, is facing increasing pressure to improve or replace its smaller-footage legacy stores like the one on Wisconsin Avenue, one of the least liked supermarkets in the District.

That's the result of stiff competition from non-unionized upscale chains like Harris Teeter and Whole Foods, which have entered the District in force, as well as discount food sellers like Walmart, which just this week began work for a groundbreaking at its first store in the District at New Jersey Avenue and H Street.

Pleasanton, California-based Safeway Inc. is also looking to replace its 35,000 s.f. Safeway in Tenleytown, less than a mile away, with a five-story mixed use project that will bring a new 56,000 s.f. store to the neighborhood. But that project likely won't get started until the new Cathedral Commons Giant is ready and open for business. Giant also closed their large Shaw supermarket last September, in advance of what will (in two years) become an anchor supermarket and residential project in Shaw.

Update: According to Sharon Robinson, the above-mentioned spokesman, a date has not been set for closure of the Giant.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Washington Gateway Finally Breaking Ground?

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MRP Realty edged closer to a groundbreaking of the $360 million Washington Gateway in NoMa, as crews this week began disassembling commercial billboards occupying the three-acre site at the intersection of New York Avenue and Florida Avenue, NE.

While some real estate insiders said construction would start shortly, Julie Chase, a spokeswoman on behalf of MRP Realty, said in an e-mail not to read too much into the action on the site as MRP is still in the permitting process. "Yes, the billboards are coming down, but that does not mean they are starting any construction," she said.

The two billboards on the site, both facing the railroad tracks, the Metro Red Line and inbound New York Avenue drivers, have been a familiar sight for road and rail commuters, but now it appears they could finally be replaced by construction cranes and equipment.

The million-square-foot project, designed by SK&; I Architectural Design Group and Gensler and to be built by Davis Construction, will be completed in three phases. The first step will be SK&I's 11-story apartment building with 400 units and 5,200 s.f. of retail.

The initial phase will be followed by two Gensler-designed 11-story office buildings, one with 200,000 s.f. and the other with 400,000 s.f., along with 10,000 s.f. of retail. Gensler is the designer of PNC Place at 800 17th Street NW, and SK& I recently designed Wisconsin Place in Friendship Heights.

All told, the 170-foot high (by some ways of measuring), triangle-shaped project with green space in the middle will have about 15,000 s.f. of retail facing Florida Avenue, NE, which will get its own facelift with new sidewalks, street lighting and landscaping.

The anticipated construction of Washington Gateway comes as the District is in the middle of a $36.5 million rehab of the nearby New York Avenue bridge which will run through September 2013, thanks to federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funding. The bridge reconstruction, which began in March 2011 is about 40 percent complete, according to contractor Fort Myer Construction Company. Already, on the northwestern side of New York Avenue, NoMa West, by Mill Creek Residential Trust, is nearly a year in towards constructing more than 600 residential units, having broken ground in March 2011 and is expected to be complete by spring of 2014.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

One Loudoun Unveils New Renderings

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One Loudoun, the on-again, off-again project from McLean-based Miller & Smith and Japan-based Sekisui House, recently unveiled new renderings of its planned 358-acre community in Loudoun County, Virginia.

The Torti Gallas and the Eisen Group designed-community along Route 7 and the Loudoun County Parkway began building in 2007 until it ran into financial difficulties, including foreclosure in September 2010. It was resurrected by Miller & Smith's vice president Bill May along with help from Sekisui House and now will include 1,040 homes, 700,000 square feet of retail and 3 million square feet of office space.

One Loudoun will also be the future home to the World Trade Center Dulles Airport which is expected to bring 14,000 jobs to the area.




The first phase of One Loudoun, known as Downtown, will open in the spring of 2013 on 100 acres and include 446 multi-family homes, 155 town-homes and 663,000 s.f. of retail space, 3 million square feet of office space and 750 hotel rooms. A 10,000 square foot community center is slated for completion in 2013 as well.

The second phase of One Loudoun, South Village, will incorporate more than 300 single-family homes and town homes, along with 39,000 s.f. of retail and 124,000 s.f. of office space, and is expected to complete in 2014.

North Village, with 97 single family homes, 28 town-homes and 500,000 s.f. of office space, will complete in 2016.

A Casbah Runs Through It

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By Beth Herman


Something tells us we’re not in Kansas anymore – and perhaps not even in D.C. for that matter.
Entering the 1910 three bedroom, three bath Adams Morgan row house condominium of interior designer John Hutson, one is supremely challenged by its provenance.
Greeted by starry skylights, a 15-foot tall Raphis palm, French grey alabaster urn from a Paramount Studios backlot auction, an Austrian Loetz lamp and Jugendstil box—both circa 1910-14, delicate lanterns of Iraqi glass with Moroccan filigree and mother-of-pearl inlay harem doors, these and hundreds of other artifacts collected by the former California documentary director/producer make for a two-story residence clearly more tactile than traditional.
Punctuated by comely Bertoia furnishings, the 2,000 s.f. space’s midnight blue carpeting and eight different paint colors on the walls of the living/dining area alone attest that Hutson’s tastes are a lot romantic and a little bit rogue. The designer maintains, however, that his style is firmly rooted in the dozen or so trips he has made to Morocco—so far.

Founder and principal of D.C.-based Lyric Space, an interior design firm named for Hutson’s unapologetically poetic world view, in addition to residences the designer has put his mirage-like stamp on such notable Washington eateries as PI, Mama Ayesha’s, Grand Central, Café 8, the former Trattoria Liliana and more.
“The chance to eat out is the chance to go on vacation for two hours and leave behind your troubles, and talk to people you’d never otherwise meet in your life,” Hutson said of his hospitality work and design philosophy. “Regardless of what I’m faced with, I turn (the space) into something that’s more nurturing of the human spirit.”

Discovered at Schwab’s
Moving his business from L.A. to D.C. in 2000, Hutson said an hour at a car wash precipitated a chance meeting with an Italian restaurateur, Liliana Dumas, who became his first client. Emptying his trunk so it could be vacuumed, he walked across the street with its contents and ordered a sandwich, depositing a pile on the table. A book called “Spirituality in Design” by Carol Soucek King caught the eye of Hutson’s sandwich maker who asked to see it.

“She looked all the way through it and I could tell she didn’t like it,” Hutson said, though she conceded she did like one particular design. Turned out it was a project of Hutson’s, and he was hired on the spot to create what would become D.C.’s Trattoria Liliana.
His soul and sensibilities infused with the warm tones of the California sun he’d left behind, Hutson set about gilding and lighting Trattoria Liliana to augment its owner’s skin tones, ensuring she projected vigor and warmth as she visited with her patrons each evening.

“One of the problems in D.C. is that often times people’s complexions are pasty—they don’t get the sun,” he said. For the restaurant owner, daughter of a style-conscious seamstress for a Paris couture house and haute coutured herself, Hutson designed low-hanging onyx lamps that directed white light onto the table and food, but streamed hues of orange, umber and tan out of the sides. “It always gave her a tan,” he said, adding he’d ascertained the happiest times in her and her husband’s lives to be sunset dinners in coastal Liguria, Italy, where they were from. Using orange and yellow stained glass lighting and red-tinted wainscoting throughout the space, the design and its atmospheric results were redolent of photography’s “golden hour” where everybody looks fit and healthy, like those evenings in Liguria, Hutson explained. In fact the decor was noted in a Washington Post magazine review, before any mention of the menu, by food critic Tom Sietsema.

(Not) Lost in Space
Growing up a different kind of Midwesterner in the 1960s, Hutson said he survived interminable childhood challenges from his peers by escaping into the pages of “romantic books.” He also lived largely inside his own head, imagining grand parties and the like.  “I think that’s where I came to realize the power of space,” he said, noting his highly successful salesman father used to wallpaper rooms in perhaps a Zen-like effort to relieve tension. “He showed me that a space may be one thing when the walls are white, but it’s a whole different thing once you put up crazy wallpaper. It kind of came together that if you could imagine a different place, it could happen.”

From India with love and smoke
Relocating as he did to D.C., the Adams Morgan condo living room he would share with city planner Steve Cochran had the ubiquitous white walls—with what Hutson said were tedious microphone lights mounted every five feet beneath an 18-inch bump out concealing an air conditioner. He upended the banal effects of the fixtures’ grey lighting, heating it up by painting the walls terracotta, or Farrow and Ball’s “Red Earth,” with pigments produced by crushed rock in the old manner of the Dutch Masters. Noted for its reflective qualities, Hutson said the paint reacts to light much as crystals would, resulting in a room that exchanged pale and sallow for peppery and sunny.

Below the a/c bump out is a mother-of-pearl inlay wood panel from India, a gift to a close friend of Hutson’s, from now-deceased Moroccan Princess Lala Fatima Zhora. A pioneer and activist against all odds, the princess had formed a women’s union to protect her sisters in business. The panel is said to cure what ails you if burned and the smoke from the mother-of-pearl inhaled.

Also in the living room, two stained glass panels (formerly mounted together) are sited at each end of the axis. Appearing almost as sculpture, they flank two kilim-upholstered couches with 13 different colors in a nest-like arrangement, creating towers of light that raise the eyes to the room’s full 15-foot ceiling height. A dark wood fireplace with a mirror encased in mashrabiya—an intricately carved wood screen often found in harems because of their one-way viewing effect—creates a horseshoe effect around the mirror. Above the horseshoe is a stack of muqarnas balls, defined as a three-dimensional decoration of Islamic architecture.
Along the space’s north wall, which visitors encounter when they climb up to enter (the condominium occupies the 3rd and 4th floors), a seven-foot horizontal photograph of Burma by photographer Antonio Girbes sets the tone for the eclectic environment within. A marble foyer features a back-painted glass expression of the Titanic and notorious iceberg, along with a Moroccan door. A vintage inlay Moroccan secretary with two pedestals, multiple niches and compartments, and even a fez holder complements a 1974 Paolo Deganello torso armchair from the iconic Italian architect and designer’s Memphis period, according to Hutson—admittedly large for the space but a real statement of comfort.

Cabinets, closets and curves
In the residence’s kitchen (Hutson calls it a “cockpit” kitchen), designed to maximize storage—including the homeowners’ 100-strong vase collection— architect Brie Husted, who is Steve Cochran’s niece, suspended maple cabinets over the stairs that lead to the space itself. Cantilevered wall cabinets over the sink also help to utilize limited space. A curved wall projection designed by Cochran works to conceal the scope of the refrigerator, washer and dryer, and contains additional two-story closet space for clothing, with a recessed hanging display for flowers by artist John Dodd. Cochran also added stainless steel base moldings which reflect the living room’s midnight blue carpeting.

In the dining room, an M2L table with steel edges has glass in the center where drop-down leaves would typically be hinged, according to Hutson. This facilitates a curved flourish in the glass – “a sweeping angel wing half circle”—that the designer explained is visible to entering guests before they realize they are glimpsing the table.
Of kings and pop stars
In the master bedroom suite, a California King bed with Indian inlay headboard complements a collection of decorative six mother-of-pearl inlay fez holders on the wall. “What they really use them for is when they’re praying,” Hutson explained of the fez holder’s role in their country of origin. “They need a place to take off their hats and not lay them on the ground.”

Once in possession of some of King Farouk’s furniture, Hutson said he has an even older dressing mirror smuggled out of Egypt. Fashioned with pontoon feet, the designer explained when the Berbers traveled in the desert tents would be erected with layers of carpeting for flooring. The edges of the feet have extensions more like skis or pontoons to remain static and not sink into the sand.

A black and white master bath with crushed marble Bisazza tile features an inventive shower enclosure of charcoal grey fabric, stitched and perforated so the fabric flaps away from what would normally be its silk lining. “We did not want a cold piece of glass and instead use this as a curtain,” Hutson said, adding the tiles measure 22-by-22 inches with 20-inch white circles inside. The effect is both geometrical and dramatic.

In the guest bathroom, a 1980s period mirror purchased from singer Paul Anka has “…pointy shapes, circles, chrome, brass and screws—it’s just whack,” Hutson said. Beginning with a white space and deleteriously oversized magenta sink and toilet, the designer said a two-year investment of time was made in reimagining the bathroom around the mirror.

Citing other elements that include a modern maple desk for Cochran that deconstructs into a 6-by-4-foot cube, Hutson said it is important that people don’t see a space only for its utility.
“I want people to understand that you can really make poetry—really influence the way you feel,” he affirmed. “You can shape your life by how you change a room.”

Photo credit: Rey Lopez

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Historic MLK Library Gets a Preservation Owners Manual

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MLK Library downtown DC, EHT Traceries, Skanska, MRP, Ludwig Mies van der RoheEHT Traceries, downtown DC library, renovation, SkanskaJust in time for Black History Month, the District's Office of Historic Preservation recently unveiled a detailed roadmap to protecting and preserving every aspect of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial library.
From the Mies-designed Brno and Barcelona furniture, to the silver-leaf signage, to protection of the Detroit Black Graphite exterior paint and the Donald Lloyd Miller King Mural in the Central Lobby, the report spells out what it considers the do's and don'ts for preserving the International Style building. The library was completed in 1972 at a cost of $18 million to replace the Andrew Carnegie Central Library in Mount Vernon Square. It was the only library Mies designed and he did not live to see it completed before his death in 1969. His colleague, John Bowman, supervised much of the construction.
The four-story exposed-steel framed building was designated a historic landmark by the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board in June 2007. And as part of that designation, the D.C. HPRB instructed the D.C. Public Library to come up with a set of guidelines to help preserve its aging flagship.
Not surprisingly, much of the guidelines, drafted by EHT Traceries encourage DCPL to dramatically increase daily maintenance of everything, from the bronze-tinted glass to the beige brick on the exterior. But the key recommendation is to keep the Miesian principles of transparency of the 400,000 square-foot building intact, such as not subdividing the Central Lobby where Miller's King Mural was unveiled in 1986 or the reading rooms into smaller rooms.

"The key is to recapture the openness of the space," said Steve Callcott, deputy preservation officer with the District's Historic Preservation Office, who said the document however was not a roadmap to a full restoration but a way to manage incremental changes to the building now that the District is for the time being committed to keeping the library. "There are a series of challenges but there's nothing that we don't think can be worked out," he said.
Downtown Washington DC BID constructionThe neighborhood around MLK Jr. library has dramatically transformed in the past decade, with the rehabilitation of apartments and art space across the street, to the construction of Class A office space with ground level retail by the likes of Skanska and MRP Realty.
The sprouting of new construction is in stark contrast to the state of the MLK Jr. Library which has endured decades of deferred maintenance and neglect and a reputation as a hangout for downtown D.C. homeless.
While talk continues of a new main library in D.C., and there was some hope that CityCenterDC would include one, it appears that with the new guidelines the aging but iconic MLK Jr. Memorial Library, for better or for worse, will be part of downtown D.C. for some time.

Washington D.C. real estate redevelopment news.

Your Next Place

0 comments
By Franklin Schneider

Penthouse loft! Here's the thing: a penthouse loft is not just a place to live; it's a whole lifestyle. Like, if you lived here, you'd have to wear silk pajamas all day, have a pencil mustache, drive a vintage British convertible, the whole “dissolute bachelor” package. I'm pretty sure it's the law. I saw the agent turn down a guy with a briefcase of cash on hand just because he wasn't dating twins. (Not really.)



Okay, so it's not the law. But a space like this does seem “larger than life,” in a literal sense. This Chevy Chase penthouse is just a stone's throw (more like a gemstone's throw, get it?!) (sorry, sorry), from the Friendship Heights metro, and offers a level of quality you'd expect from the posh address. Right off the bat, you enter into the two story foyer, with the loft looming overhead; after going under it and through the very fine gourmet kitchen (granite countertops, Viking appliances), you enter the main space, a vaulted light-filled chamber that's part dining room, part living room. The bedrooms are spacious but still intimate, as bright as the rest of the house, and the master bath is spectacular. (I think the shower could double as a car wash, that's how big it is.)

Upstairs is the loft, of course. Looking down into the living room from up there made me legitimately dizzy, that's how high up it is. (Or, I guess, how much of a baby I am. I also may or may not have whimpered softly.) From the loft, you can go out onto a brilliant private rooftop terrace with spectacular views of Maryland and Virginia. How many states can YOU see from your rooftop? I rest my case.

4301 Military Road NW Penthouse #4
2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths
$1,499,000





 

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