Shakespeare and Ray Charles Were Here

In normal times, a shuttered and decaying theater on one of DC's main corridors would be unusual, even alarming.  Though normal times these are not, the site of a decaying outdoor theater in one of the nation's great parks is an arresting vision, and while the world searches for outdoor venues as safe havens of fresh, virus-free air, the city's preeminent outdoor theater, tucked benignly into Rock Creek Park, is gradually decaying in silent abandonment.

Closed in the spring of 2017, the victim not of age or accident, but of an engineering study finding that the stage did not meet updated building codes and was therefore not safe for supporting the plays performed  since 1950, the theater was locked down pending an upgrade to the stage floor.  Built in celebration of the sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary of the nation and christened by President Harry S Truman, and by the Executive Vice Chairman of the commission dedicated to commemorate the anniversary, Carter T. Barron.  Shortly after its opening, the latter died of cancer and the theater was renamed in his honor, and before long hosted Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Diana Ross, Harry Belafonte and Ray Charles.

The riots of '68 saw a change of fortune for the Carter Barron Amphitheater, but the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Kool and the Gang still made appearances, though it was not until 1991, when updates to the facility, a group of benefactors and a popular Shakespeare production brought crowds back to venue in the park, with the seating completely rebuilt in 2004.  Little has changed since 1950, with a stage curtain added, then removed, though weeds and graffiti are now slowly winning the battle of attrition, with no anticipated date for reconstruction.

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Reed Street's Residential Transformation

It may seem strange that replacing an industrial strip and gravel parking lots next to a Metro station with new residential units would be contentious, but such is development in Washington DC.  To wit, Trammell Crow's project next to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station had its share of detractors (supporters too), a vociferous few who decried the 9-story building (permitted by right) as out of sync with the neighboring townhouses.  But the forces pro beat those in opposition, and the Reed Street project has now topped out in Brookland, on a two-block street off Rhode Island Avenue that has long served as a parking pad for trolleys, a Budget Truck Rental facility, car repair sites, and DC Duck Tours staging area, not to mention adjacent 5-story pop-ups nestled among the rows of townhouses.

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Trammel Crow acquired the lot in June of 2018 for $12.3m, on a site across from Douglas Development's Brookland Press project, a 296 unit residential complex.  The project, designed by SK&I Architecture and built by CBG, will add 353 apartments, 27 of them subsidized, with a top floor penthouse, roof deck and pool, sitting on top of an 85 space garage.  The brick and glass structure exposes a curvilinear support column on the southwest corner, a nod to the street's industrial heritage.  The developer has more recently begun Armature Works overlooking Union Station.  More development is planned for the immediate area, or already underway, including MRP's Bryant Street project completing its first phases later this year.

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Project: 2607 Reed Street 

Address: 2607 Reed Street NE, Washington DC

Developer:  Trammell Crow 

Architect: Ski+ Architects

Construction: CBG Building Company

Use:  353 Apartments

Expected Completion:  Summer 2021

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The Shape of Mt. Vernon Triangle

At least some second waves are a good thing (too soon?). A new hotel in the center of DC's Mt. Vernon Triangle is adding to a surge of openings in the neighborhood, as Marriott prepares to open its AC Hotel near the Washington Convention Center at 6th and K Streets, joining a soon-to-be Holiday Inn, the recent opening of the Lydian apartment building by Wilkes, and on the retail side, restaurants RASA, Melange, and Baan Siam all debut their unique styles, while Stellina will soon take the historic and relocated Waffle Shop.  Once dim in the shadow of Penn Quarter, the neighborhood has come into its own.

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Marriott's AC hotel program, like its Moxy brand (already located just a few blocks away) aims for a more boutique feel but at less boutique prices.  The hotel is accepting reservations beginning October, but already improves the neighborhood with a geometric design that makes a statement among a fleet of newly designed apartment and office buildings.  The project was developed by Douglas Development, designed by FILLAT, and built by CBG, expedited with the help of DC's velocity program, a pay-to-play program that grants review and approval in as little as a day for a hefty fee to the DC government.  The site was once home to a historic gas station, which Douglas preserved and moved across the intersection to the southeast corner.  The new hotel will feature a ground floor cafe that will spill out onto the sidewalk, and a subterranean lounge.  Kenyattah Robinson, the energizing head of the Mt. Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District, says the neighborhood is well positioned to lead the city's resurgence, given its residential component and commercial mix.  "We're still growing!"  Indeed.

Project:  AC Hotel by Marriott

Address:  601 K Street, NW, Washington DC 

Developer:  Douglas Development 

Architect:  FILLAT + Architecture

Construction: CBG Construction

Use:  235 key hotel

Expected Completion:  October 2020

Washington DC retail and real estate development news

Buzzard Point's Turning Point

If there was a moment for Buzzard Point, the tip of DC where the Anacostia meets the Potomac, it might have been the opening of Audi Field, bringing tens of thousands of occasional fans to southwest DC's formerly industrial and empty midpoint.  But perhaps a more significant moment is the transition from parking lots and decrepit office buildings to actual neighborhood status, as long-planned real estate developments begin to fill with residents.  Three recent developments alone add more than a thousand residential units to the waterfront, with Peninsula 88's completion this summer adding 110 condos to Buzzard Point's southern tip, Akridge's Riverpoint residential project converting the former Coast Guard headquarters into 481 apartments and 60,000 s.f. of retail (coming soon), and, beginning delivery this week, the Watermark.

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The residential project by Douglas Development turned an "E" shaped 9-story office building - one of 2 buildings in the neighborhood that housed the U.S. Coast Guard - into 419 apartments, 15,000 s.f. of retail and some of the top water views in the city.  Amenities include views of the suddenly captivating Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, and the building even helps fulfill the dream of DC's bikers with a new stretch of the eventual Buzzard Point Trail, which will round Buzzard Point (avoiding Fort McNair) and connect with the Anacostia River Trail and the Wharf, which already connect well to the rest of DC and beyond.  Add to that a short walk to Nationals Park and even shorter walk to Audi Field, which will someday (sigh) host public sporting events, and you do, in fact, have a legit neighborhood to call home.

Project:  Watermark

Address:  1900 Half St., SW, Washington DC 

Developer:  Douglas Development and PTM Partners

Architect:  Antunovich Associates

Construction: Davis Construction

Use:  481 apartments, 15,600 s.f. of retail

Expected Completion:  Summer 2020

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