Bryant Street - Rhode Island Avenue

Directly across the street from the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, local developer MRP Realty is in the process of building what will be a 7-building, 13-acre project, one that will ultimately comprise 1.5m s.f. of residential development and 272,000 s.f. of retail.  The project is replacing a smattering of industrial and big box retail uses, but will nonetheless create a net gain in retail space once complete. The current phase will deliver 487 residential units and 47,000 s.f. of retail, including a 9-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, all designed by SK&I Architecture.  One of the central features will be a retail-activated plaza oriented to the Metropolitan Branch Trail, connected to the adjacent Metro station via a new pedestrian bridge.

The project will be the first major project on the Rhode Island Avenue corridor since the completion of Rhode Island Row in 2012, despite serious attempts over the past two decades to build more density along the artery, attempts that began in earnest in 2009 with the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development calling for $1.2 billion in investment on a 3-mile section of Rhode Island Avenue.

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Project:  Bryant Street

Address:   600 Rhode Island Avenue, NE, Washington DC

Developer: MRP Realty

Architect:  SK&I Architecture

Construction:  CBG

Expected Completion:  Rolling completion with first deliveries scheduled for late 2020

Prior to construction

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

Thaddeus Stevens School

Development of the Thaddeus Stevens school is, after more than a decade of attempts, nearing completion.  The District government began the process with a solicitation in 2008 that saw Equity Residential selected as the developer, an award that was revoked over controversy with the developer and selection process.  A second solicitation occurred in 2011 eventually led to the selection of Akridge and the Argos Group as public-private partnership with the District government to renovate the school and build on the adjacent land.  Both projects are now nearing completion, with the Stevens School scheduled to open for the start of the next school year in August.

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The two-part development project saw the construction of 2100 L Street as an office building surrounding the Stevens school, and a full renovation of the school as an expansion for School Without Walls.  Akridge's involvement in the school building will cease once exterior construction has completed this summer.

The school, "the first modern school in the District built for African-American students,” built in 1868 for children of freed slaves, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and even hosted First Child Amy Carter in the 1970's.  The surrounding block has recently undergone a massive transition with new projects and redevelopments, a new Ruth's Chris across the street and DC's second Proper 21 opening imminent.

Thaddeus Stevens, a staunch abolitionist member of Congress from Gettysburg, is perhaps remembered more vividly from his depiction in "Lincoln" by Tommy Lee Jones.

Project:  Stevens School

Address:   1050 21st Street, NW, Washington DC

Developer:  Akridge, Argos Group

Architect:  OTJ Architects, Martinez & Johnson

Use:  School

Expected Completion: August 2020

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

We're Back

We're back!  Really, it was us, not you.  Its been a long, strange road, and much has changed since DCMud last published our love letters to the city, not the least the city itself.  Back in 2012 downtown DC still had plenty of surface parking lots, a brand new convention center, the Navy Yard was getting some of its first apartments and factory conversions, and Douglas Development was starting its Ivy City Development.  And while development has continued, DCMud took a break from the high expectations we had for ourselves, consumed as we were with first-in-time reporting and from-the-source research.  And while our format was simple, the effort, coordination and resources that went into this humble blog were monumental, consuming more resources than it generated.  It distracted us from ordinary commerce, and what started as an impulsive post on a hastily chosen blog domain (DC Dirt not being available) soon became a heavy labor and then an obsession.  But the community that supported and absorbed us always counterbalanced the cost of our efforts.  We missed our interactions with you, and some of you even missed us.

Among the changes was the dissolution of my old company, DCRealEstate.com, that supported this blog, and much more recently the creation of my new company, City Grid Real Estate.  I have spent the interim years in the business of commercial real estate, representing many of the regions more recognizable retail tenants and restaurants (if you're curious), marketing for landlords and selling commercial real estate, and City Grid represents a return to the independent, creative roots that started DCMud.

The intent of the new DCMud is not to replicate the previous format. I have always been immensely proud of the site, having generated more than 10 million page views and earned a Washingtonian "Best of" in the process.  But as I move through the city marketing and analyzing commercial property, I will also be photographing, documenting the change that never stops.  There are now ample alerts about zoning decisions and groundbreakings (ceremonial, mostly), so my attempt will be capture and display the construction as it happens, changes that often take us by surprise as we pass a new building that seemed to appear spontaneously.  I hope you find this helpful, and I look forward to your contributions - photographs, information, comments - as part of this new endeavor.

14th Street Short-Term Family Housing Project

A family housing shelter is now taking shape in Columbia Heights, replacing the former Rita Bright Family and Youth Center.  The $20m project will provide 50 family rental units - 35 for short term housing and 15 for seniors, and will recreate a recreation center that existed prior to construction, all on land currently owned by the District government.  Cunningham Quill, which has designed such notable buildings as the Yacht Club at the Wharf and Wooster & Mercer Lofts, designed the project, which is expected to wrap up in the fall of this year.

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Project:  14th Street Family Housing Center

Address:  2500 14th Street, NW, Washington DC

Developer: District of Columbia

Architect:  Cunningham Quill

Construction:  GCS Sigal

Use: Homeless Shelter

Expected Completion: Summer / fall 2020

Rendering

Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

City Ridge - the Former Fannie Mae Site

The City Ridge project will transform the former Fannie Mae headquarters just south of Tenleytown into a mixed-use development including the city's first Wegmans, scheduled to open in 2022.  Roadside, which developed City Market at O in Shaw nearly a decade ago, initiated construction in 2018 and employ an impressive 5 construction cranes to cover the entire 10-acre site.  More impressive still is the need to lift and support the entire Georgian revival building to allow the old foundation to be removed and excavate a further 8 feet, supporting the existing building on micropiles and creating a new base added that will house Wegmans.  The completed project will feature 690 residential units, 153,000 s.f. of retail, and 174,000 s.f. of office space, for a "mixed-use urban village."

On top of adding Wegmans to the roster, Roadside and partner NASH (North America Sekisui House) also signed International Baccalaureate, a global non-profit that designs educational curricula, now based in Bethesda, as the signature tenant for the historic building, vacated when Fannie Mae decamped for their new downtown campus.  The successful relocation of three 600,000 pound heritage oaks from the construction site to the front yard was yet another upbeat element for the project.

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Project:  City Ridge

Address:  3939 Wisconsin Avenue, Washington, DC

Developer:  Roadside Development

Architect:  Shalom Baranes

Construction:  Whiting Turner

Landscape Architect:  Michael Vergason

Use: 690 residential units, 153,000 s.f. of retail, 167,000 s.f. of office

Expected Completion: Early 2022

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

The Brooks at Walter Reed

Construction has topped out on the Brooks, a wood-framed, 77,000 s.f., 89-unit condominium fronting Georgia Avenue as part of the Parks at Walter Reed, one of the first of numerous projects replacing the historic medical campus.  The Parks will ultimately deliver 2100 residential units, 175,000 s.f. of retail, 300,000 s.f. of office, and a hotel, for over 3m square feet of very mixed use development, spearheaded by Urban Atlantic and Hines. Whole Foods has already signed on as an anchor tenant within the master planned community, a section for the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus and the State Department's Foreign Mission Center is also underway.  Sales for the condominium began early last fall.

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Project:  The Brooks

Address:  1000 Butternut Street, NW, Washington DC

Developer: Urban Atlantic, Hines, and Triden

Architect:  Torti Gallas + Partners

Construction:  Paradigm

Use: 89 condominium units

Expected Completion:  Winter 2020

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

Work Starts on Silver Spring's Tallest Building

Washington Property Company began work this past week on Silver Spring's tallest building in the Ripley District, which will clock in at 26 stories.  The Solaire will be the 5th Solaire-branded apartment building by Bethesda-based WPC, with 6 levels of above-grade parking and 18,000 s.f. of retail, part of which was expected to be a 15,000 s.f. food hall designed by Eimer Design of Philadelphia.  WPC partnered with Cresset-Diversified QOZ Fund on the $163 million project to provide equity.  The site was formerly known as Progress Place and housed Shepherd's Table, which was moved to Georgia Avenue prior to demolition.

Project:  Solaire

Address:  8200 Dixon Ave., Silver Spring, MD 

Developer: Washington Property Company

Architect:  Design Collective

Construction:  Clark Construction

Use: 420 residential units, 17,000 s.f. of retail

Expected Completion:  Early 2022

Silver Spring real estate development news

Foulger Pratt's Press House

The Press House in Noma's east side is being developed by Foulger Pratt, repurposing the old National Capital Press building and adding significant new construction for a 3-building mixed use project adjacent to Union Market.

Project:  Press House

Address:  301-331 N Street, NE, Washington DC

Developer: Foulger Pratt

Architect:  Torti Gallas, AA Studio

Use: 356 residential units, 27,000 s.f. of retail, and 25,000 s.f. of office space

Expected Completion:  Spring 2021

Washington DC real estate development and retail news