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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DC's Newest Arches

Replacement of the 70 year old Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, aged well beyond its useful life, will improve a vital link across the Anacostia River when it completes late next year, but has already made its mark on Washington D.C.'s skyline.  Built in 1950 as the South Capitol Street Bridge and serving "upwards of 77,000 cars per day" (pre-pandemic), the utilitarian structure has few admirers, but the replacement is destined to be far more appreciated.  The concept took more than a decade to secure the $200m in federal funding, and is being lead by South Capitol Street Bridgebuilders, a joint venture of design and engineering lead by AECOM.  The project broke ground in February of 2018.  The project will not complete until late next year, but the dramatic arches will soon be fully connected.

The new bridge, at 1445 feet, will have 6 traffic lanes (one more than the current structure) and parallel arches reminiscent of sine waves that appear from the sides to bounce off the water.  An enhanced bicycle and pedestrian route connecting the Suitland Parkway Trail and Anacostia Metro Station to the Anacostia River Trail, will add what the Washington Area Bicyclist Association calls the "best bicycling bridge in the region." Four pedestrian overlooks - two on each side located at the nadir of each arch - will be suspended outside the bridge frame for unobstructed views. The project will also remake the interchanges at each end of the bridge, with traffic circles replacing the South Capitol Street interchange and the I-295 / Suitland Parkway interchange at the southern end.

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Project:  Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge

Architect:  AECOM lead a team as project manager, landscape architect, and engineer

Expected Completion:  Late 2021

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Cheers to the Australian Embassy

The Australian embassy on Scott Circle celebrated its 50th year in 2019, but that was its last, with demolition underway to build a new chancery seven blocks due north of the White House in the diplomatic heart of Washington D.C.  Bates Smart, the Australian architectural firm that designed the original mission, has fashioned a replacement that will up the sustainability ante while "paying tribute to the unique Australian landscape."  The embassy staff has meanwhile decamped at the National Geographic headquarters on 17th Street during construction, demolition of the structure is nearly complete.

Having outlived its useful life - the familiar scaffolding and Australian scenery cocooning the building protected passersby from the crumbling exterior - its successor will be clad in vertical strips of glass, an interior atrium, and will be designed to achieve the "highest global environmental design standards available."   A green roof with photovoltaic panels will top off the building, while the white Tennessee marble of the prior facade will be replaced by what its designers claim will be a slightly shifting facade, heavier on the north side where marble dominates, turning to a "crisp... vertical horizon edge" facing Scott Circle.  The new embassy will take roughly the same shape, set back again from Massachusetts Avenue, when construction completes in mid 2022.

Project:  Australian Embassy

Address:  1601 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington D.C.

Architect:  Bates Smart

Construction:  Clark Construction

Expected Completion:  Mid 2022

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Starburst Delta Towers

The starburst intersection in northeast DC, a name given for the five main corridors that radiate outward is, like its astrophysical counterpart that generates exceptionally high star formation, the epicenter of a great deal of commercial development in a relatively small space.  The next real estate project to complete, at the hub of the five corridors (Benning Rd., Florida Avenue, H Street, Maryland Avenue and Bladensburg Road) is the Delta Towers project that faces H Street but carries a Bladensburg Road address.

Delta Towers will be joining Phase 2 of Kettler's Flats at Atlas, adding 325 rental units to Maryland Avenue early next year, 1402 H Street, which completed 28 condos last year, 180 apartment units at 1701 H Street (still being contested) and the gestating Hechinger Mall redevelopment which will transform 8.6 acres into an enormous mixed-use project, to name just a few.

The project is owned by the historic Delta Sigma Theta sorority (founded by Howard University graduates), and includes the '60's era tower next door.  Partnering with Dantes Partners and Gilbane Building Company, the new Delta towers will include 179 subsidized apartments entirely for seniors.  The project is the culmination of decades of work, according to Tom Donaghy of KGD Architecture, the project architect.  On the design of the building for seniors, Donaghy noted the differences from traditional apartment buildings, such as differentiated designs and colors by floor to help with navigation and, to fight loneliness, a double-sided entrance that meets in a central gathering space, as well as universal design principals that make access within individual units easier.  On top, the residents will have their own spaces for private gardens, and the Delta sorority will maintain their headquarters in the new building when it completes late this year.

Project:  Delta Towers

Address:  808 Bladensburg Rd, NE, Washington DC

Developer:  Dantes Partners, Gilbane Building Company

Architect:  KGD Architecture

Construction:  Bozzuto Construction

Interior Design: Determined by Design

Use:  179 subsidized apartments

Expected Completion:  Q4 2020

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Washington D.C. retail and real estate development news

Today in Pictures - Metro's New Offices

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners are jointly developing an office building adjacent to L'Enfant Plaza, a project that gutted and skinned a dated office building, and add 3 new floors to the 7-story skeleton.  When completed in late 2021, the project will serve as the new headquarters for the transit organization, which is being relocated from 5th Street, NW, part of its consolidation plan into a 200,000 s.f. building.

Project:  WMATA Headquarters

Address:  300 7th St., SW, Washington DC

Developer:  Jair Lynch

Architect:  Studios Architecture

Construction:  Gilbane Building Company

Use:  200,000 s.f. of office space

Expected Completion:  Q4 2021