WASHINGTON, DC | Development News

[202_Cyclist]

Here are a couple of photos I took this past weekend of 2251 Wisconsin Avenue. Chesapeake Realty Partners is building an 82 apartments with two levels of retail facing Wisconsin Avenue (currently occupied by Glover Park Hardware and Washington Sports Club.





Here is a rendering:

Image courtesy of Chesapeake Realty Partners.

[202_Cyclist]

This is excellent news for this sterile section of DC. With the Southwest Ecodistrict redevelopment and the Wharff development, there is a lot of potential for Southwest.

A new vision for an old L'Enfant Plaza

By Daniel J. Sernovitz
Washington Business Journal
8/21/13

"The JBG Cos. has begun marketing two new additions to L'Enfant Plaza, including a 14-story office building at 500 L'Enfant Plaza, which would bring additional vibrancy to the mostly drab concrete feel of the existing mixed-use complex in Southwest D.C.

The developments are also being positioned to tie into D.C.'s proposed Southwest Ecodistrict, aimed at a 110-acre swath of land from the National Mall to the waterfront.

The images posted with CoStar Group Inc. appear to be an attempt to drum up interest for new construction in the L'Enfant Plaza area. However, the projects have been on JBG's boards for some time, and it is unclear whether the Chevy Chase-based developer will build speculatively or wait for enough preleasing activity before breaking ground. Representatives from the company could not be immediately reached for comment..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...ant-plaza.html

[202_Cyclist]

Admittedly, this is right across the river in Rosslyn, but this is pretty significant. It is good to see more residential units planned for Rosslyn, because currently the immediate area is mostly offices (except for River Place and the Turnberry Tower.

Monday Properties plotting two more Rosslyn skyscrapers

By Daniel J. Sernovitz
Washington Business Journal
August 22, 2013

"Monday Properties has applied to Arlington County to build a pair of skyscrapers by Wilson Boulevard and North Oak Street in Rosslyn as it works to put the finishing touches on 1812 N. Moore St. nearby.

Monday has submitted a 4.1 application to the county to develop nearly 1 million square feet of residential, retail and office on the site of what are now two 1960s-era office buildings at 1401 Wilson Blvd. and 1400 Key Blvd. The full-block redevelopment would replace two more of Rosslyn's aging office-heavy structures with a pair of mixed-use buildings with a much heavier mix of residential and retail. The replacement, Monday Executive Vice President Tim Helmig told me, reflects the area's transformation from an enclave of office dwellers into a more dynamic community..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...-two-more.html

Here are some renderings of the two proposed buildings: http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...=image_gallery.

The 1812 North Moore building looks decent enough but it doesn't really stand out in the Rosslyn skyline. I think the Turnberry Tower building is a lot more prominent. Here is a photo I took a few weeks ago. It barely stands out from the Corporate Executive Board building in front of it.

[shakman]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Admittedly, this is right across the river in Rosslyn, but this is pretty significant. It is good to see more residential units planned for Rosslyn, because currently the immediate area is mostly offices (except for River Place and the Turnberry Tower.

Monday Properties plotting two more Rosslyn skyscrapers

By Daniel J. Sernovitz
Washington Business Journal
August 22, 2013

"Monday Properties has applied to Arlington County to build a pair of skyscrapers by Wilson Boulevard and North Oak Street in Rosslyn as it works to put the finishing touches on 1812 N. Moore St. nearby.

Monday has submitted a 4.1 application to the county to develop nearly 1 million square feet of residential, retail and office on the site of what are now two 1960s-era office buildings at 1401 Wilson Blvd. and 1400 Key Blvd. The full-block redevelopment would replace two more of Rosslyn's aging office-heavy structures with a pair of mixed-use buildings with a much heavier mix of residential and retail. The replacement, Monday Executive Vice President Tim Helmig told me, reflects the area's transformation from an enclave of office dwellers into a more dynamic community..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...-two-more.html

Here are some renderings of the two proposed buildings: http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...=image_gallery.

The 1812 North Moore building looks decent enough but it doesn't really stand out in the Rosslyn skyline. I think the Turnberry Tower building is a lot more prominent. Here is a photo I took a few weeks ago. It barely stands out from the Corporate Executive Board building in front of it.

1812 North Moore is very prominent when viewing from the Key Bridge and from various areas along the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

[202_Cyclist]

My girlfriend ate and drank our way along 14th Street yesterday, so here are a couple of photos of development on the 14th Street corridor that I took.

The Louis (http://louisat14.com/register.html)





1919 14th Street (http://www.level2development.com/1919_14th.php). This is right next to Matchbox's new 14th Street restaurant, which looks to have a very nice layout.

[202_Cyclist]

Target considering a store near Metro Center in downtown D.C.


Customers make their way through the back-to-school section of a Target store. (Image courtesy of the Washington Post)

By Jonathan O'Connell
September 3, 2013
Washington Post

"Target is considering opening a store in downtown Washington at the corner of 11th and E streets NW, in space once occupied mainly by ESPN Zone.

It would be Target’s second store in the District, following its 2008 opening in Columbia Heights, and would continue the chain’s expansion into big cities, sometimes by using unique or smaller store designs, some of them offering WiFi and mini Apple showrooms.

There is a hang-up, however, and it doesn’t just have to do with how to fit the big-box retailer into a downtown office building..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...74c_story.html

[202_Cyclist]

100-Unit Georgia Avenue Project Plans to Break Ground in Late 2014

September 5, 2013
by Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf


Image courtesy of Urban Turf.

"A 100-unit residential project planned for 3400 Georgia Avenue NW (map) is estimated to break ground in late 2014, UrbanTurf has learned.

The development, from Redbrick Partners, is currently in the entitlement phase. RedBrick is teaming up with Yanni Xanthos to develop the project, which will also have 40 underground parking spaces. William Passmore of Redbrick tells UrbanTurf that the firm hasn’t decided if the project will go condo or rental..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...ound_2014/7511

[202_Cyclist]

There is an excellent post on GGW about Brookland and the Monroe Street Market. I had no idea that this development was so far along. Brookland has tremendous potential. It is more affordable than much of the rest of DC and it is only a few metro stops away from both Union Station and Columbia Heights.

According to the GGW post and other news sources, a Barnes & Noble will be opening in this development as well.

Shops begin to open at Brookland Metro development
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...o-development/

Here are some excellent photos on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/beyond...th/9659716856/

[202_Cyclist]

32 Units and a Crate & Barrel For H Street?

September 6, 2013
by Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf

"Is there a name-brand furniture store in the H Street Corridor’s future?

UrbanTurf recently learned that Douglas Development has plans to build a 32-unit residential building and three-story, 30,000 square-foot retail space, possibly with a furniture store like Crate & Barrel as the tenant, at 501 H Street NE (map).

On Wednesday, Douglas Development’s Paul Millstein stopped by the ANC 6C Planning and Zoning Committee meeting to discuss the early vision for what is currently a one-story structure on the hot corridor. Douglas bought 501 H Street NE from JAIR LYNCH, who scuttled plans to build a 48-unit project at the site earlier this year..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo..._h_street/7519

[202_Cyclist]

ANC Supports Movie Theater, 600+ Residences For Navy Yard

September 10, 2013
by Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf


Image courtesy of Urban Turf.

"On Monday evening, ANC 6D voted unanimously to support the newest plan for the Navy Yard, a high-end movie theater and mixed-use development project with over 600 residential units.

Forest City, the master developer behind The Yards, has been communicating with the ANC and larger community about the project over the last year. Forest City attended the meeting to seek support in advance of their hearing with the Zoning Commission later this month.

In addition to a 16-screen movie theater, the three-block project, located just east of the ballpark at N Place SE and the future 1 1/2 Street SE (approximate map), calls for two apartment and retail buildings, which are currently going through a design review process. There will be a total of 600 apartments...."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...navy_yard/7535

[TexasBoi]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

100-Unit Georgia Avenue Project Plans to Break Ground in Late 2014

September 5, 2013
by Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf


Image courtesy of Urban Turf.

"A 100-unit residential project planned for 3400 Georgia Avenue NW (map) is estimated to break ground in late 2014, UrbanTurf has learned.

The development, from Redbrick Partners, is currently in the entitlement phase. RedBrick is teaming up with Yanni Xanthos to develop the project, which will also have 40 underground parking spaces. William Passmore of Redbrick tells UrbanTurf that the firm hasn’t decided if the project will go condo or rental..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...ound_2014/7511

That's just around where I live now. I guess they are going to close the Murray's.

[aquablue]

They should really raise height limits in DC, in certain zones downtown or outside the downtown core. If we were seeing more innovative low rise structures downtown with more residential and retail and interesting exciting architecture i would be less concerned, but some height might at least improve density/vibrancy and design quality (i.e, more housing units) in downtown area. I live here (moved here 19 year ags) and I think Philly has a better downtown core, which is ridiculous as this is the nation's capital and it deserves to have a central shopping/entertainment area that is even more vibrant to reflect the importacet and power of the city. The US Capital should have a more vibrant downtown, at least as good as Philly, SFO, Boston, metros of similar size. The current downtown is not good enough at all and I think the low height limit and over reliance on ribbon-windowed boring modernist office groundscrapers with little character and very little daring in design combined with inadequate retail space and lack of resi towers is major cause. I never want to bother going to F street/7th street because it is too small of a shopping district and hasn't enough to compete with a major mall. Even with the CityCenter dc, i think it won't be enough to compete with those other cities. If Height limits are not possible to change, more conversion of federal buildings and old officesto residential and retail is the only hope downtown to create some kind of a real core where people from all over the inner suburbs will go to shop and play (think manhattan - people flooding in from jersey/LI to take advantage of it). The K street area, for example, is dull and a corporate wasteland. Yet is is the perfect area to build a vibrant street. If heights were raised here, mixed use buildings would allow for more retail and housing options and not just office. Also, low rise buildings offer a boring streetscape. this is not Paris (or other euro cities with block after block of immaculate beauty. Endless conservative and dull corporate boxes lining arrow-straight streets and with no variation in height reeks of communist Berlin, etc. Overall, the buildings are far too conservative and i think the restrictions are a cause of this in part, the other is just lack of interest in design on the part of the city, developers, planners, etc.. The worst example of this has to be in the I to M street areas downtown around the Farragut stations. The other problem i think is that the gallery place entertainment area is constrained by governmental buildings to the east and corporate crap to the west. It needs to rise to create even more options for retail and vibrancy. The city had very poor planning in the past IMO when it came to downtown development but it seems it was hindered greatly by the height limits.

For me, It's either Georgetown or Friendships heights/ Bethesda for shopping b/c I'm not a mall person and I would love for DC to have a Chestnut street downtown/mini Michigan Avenue, with decent sized sidewalks (none of that donkey-path G.Town nonsense) I think if height limits were raised in certain areas around NoMA or NE of the downtown area to around 500 feet, it would create a decent amount of population that would naturally flow into downtown to shop, play and eat and keep certain population groups in the city rather than the suburbs Then again, I'm a centralist and I don't like multi-core cities (Tysons, Bethesda, SS, etc) when the central core i Ts so corporate and sterile and most of the region shops and plays outside DC. I also don't buy the argument that some high rises buildings would impact the beauty of the monumental core (if placed within certain view corridors, the impact visually on the mall area would be limited. London has been successful with doing this to reduce impacts on it's major historical focal points.

DC has to raise heights in certain areas but done in a way as to not impact the monumental core. Therefore, a cluster approach would work best and good places to build would be on current areas downtown that are far from the federal areas.. Design also needs to be asking for more audacious designs. Does DC
s core want to be more than this or just a corporate ghetto with a smattering of small shopping areas that could never match the great cities of the world.

[CAYMON83]

Originally Posted by aquablue

They should really raise height limits in DC, in certain zones downtown or outside the downtown core. If we were seeing more innovative low rise structures downtown with more residential and retail and interesting exciting architecture i would be less concerned, but some height might at least improve density/vibrancy and design quality (i.e, more housing units) in downtown area. I live here (moved here 19 year ags) and I think Philly has a better downtown core, which is ridiculous as this is the nation's capital and it deserves to have a central shopping/entertainment area that is even more vibrant to reflect the importacet and power of the city. The US Capital should have a more vibrant downtown, at least as good as Philly, SFO, Boston, metros of similar size. The current downtown is not good enough at all and I think the low height limit and over reliance on ribbon-windowed boring modernist office groundscrapers with little character and very little daring in design combined with inadequate retail space and lack of resi towers is major cause. I never want to bother going to F street/7th street because it is too small of a shopping district and hasn't enough to compete with a major mall. Even with the CityCenter dc, i think it won't be enough to compete with those other cities. If Height limits are not possible to change, more conversion of federal buildings and old officesto residential and retail is the only hope downtown to create some kind of a real core where people from all over the inner suburbs will go to shop and play (think manhattan - people flooding in from jersey/LI to take advantage of it). The K street area, for example, is dull and a corporate wasteland. Yet is is the perfect area to build a vibrant street. If heights were raised here, mixed use buildings would allow for more retail and housing options and not just office. Also, low rise buildings offer a boring streetscape. this is not Paris (or other euro cities with block after block of immaculate beauty. Endless conservative and dull corporate boxes lining arrow-straight streets and with no variation in height reeks of communist Berlin, etc. Overall, the buildings are far too conservative and i think the restrictions are a cause of this in part, the other is just lack of interest in design on the part of the city, developers, planners, etc.. The worst example of this has to be in the I to M street areas downtown around the Farragut stations. The other problem i think is that the gallery place entertainment area is constrained by governmental buildings to the east and corporate crap to the west. It needs to rise to create even more options for retail and vibrancy. The city had very poor planning in the past IMO when it came to downtown development but it seems it was hindered greatly by the height limits.

For me, It's either Georgetown or Friendships heights/ Bethesda for shopping b/c I'm not a mall person and I would love for DC to have a Chestnut street downtown/mini Michigan Avenue, with decent sized sidewalks (none of that donkey-path G.Town nonsense) I think if height limits were raised in certain areas around NoMA or NE of the downtown area to around 500 feet, it would create a decent amount of population that would naturally flow into downtown to shop, play and eat and keep certain population groups in the city rather than the suburbs Then again, I'm a centralist and I don't like multi-core cities (Tysons, Bethesda, SS, etc) when the central core i Ts so corporate and sterile and most of the region shops and plays outside DC. I also don't buy the argument that some high rises buildings would impact the beauty of the monumental core (if placed within certain view corridors, the impact visually on the mall area would be limited. London has been successful with doing this to reduce impacts on it's major historical focal points.

DC has to raise heights in certain areas but done in a way as to not impact the monumental core. Therefore, a cluster approach would work best and good places to build would be on current areas downtown that are far from the federal areas.. Design also needs to be asking for more audacious designs. Does DC
s core want to be more than this or just a corporate ghetto with a smattering of small shopping areas that could never match the great cities of the world.

+1000000000000000000000000
I wish I could have written this as well as you did. I agree with everything you said.

In my dreams Conn Ave between Dupont and Farragut Square is DC's Grand High End shopping boulevard bursting with foreign tourists, city dwellers and suburbanites in town for a taste of the big city. The surrounding streets are DC’s resemble Chicago’s Gold Coast or NYC UWS with their high density housing. Farragut Square and Franklin Squares are as teaming with life as Madison or Union Squares in NYC. F Street Metro center to Gallery Place is a more mid-range shopping/hotel district brimming with life 7 days a week.

Instead, Conn Ave south of the circle is mostly dead on the weekends (expect for a few bars and restaurants at night). Talbots and the Filenes spot sit vacant for years, as other retail gradually closes. The high end corner location designed for Tiffany’s on Conn and K Street is instead filled with a Bank. There is no residential base as the area is a sea of lackluster office boxes. Farragut and Franklin Sq are basically deserted except for the homeless. Metro center is vastly underutilized with the F street shopping district being underwhelming and even that quickly gives way to retail-less office blocks that will need to be completely rebuilt if F street to City Center to Gallery place are ever to become an intergrated urban core.

The District has moved in the right direction over the past 10 years, but without either 1) the high limit being raised or 2) as massive conversion of office space to retail/hotels/residential its always going to be an office ghetto with a few vibrant blocks. Not a civic center worthy of SF/Chicago or even Philly/Boston.

[202_Cyclist]

Regarding the Height Act, there is a post on Greater Greater Washington today suggesting that the National Capitol Planning Commission will recommend amending this.

NCPC will likely recommend tweaking DC height limit
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...-height-limit/

[CAYMON83]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Regarding the Height Act, there is a post on Greater Greater Washington today suggesting that the National Capitol Planning Commission will recommend amending this.

NCPC will likely recommend tweaking DC height limit
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...-height-limit/

That is good to hear. But, the proposal sounds pretty weak. It endorses the idea of creating Bethesda-type nodes around Tenlytown and Anacostia and maybe allowing some mechanical parts of buildings to breach the height limit slightly downtown.

Both seem a little underwhelming to me. The idea of mid-rise nodes in the outer-neighborhoods is fine. But let's face it, these will have little impact on the overall city. High rise development in Anacostia has strong economic and political headwinds going against it. There is tons of land that could be developed under existing zoning and hasn't been.

Tenlytown and Upper NW in general is home to some of the most strident (and well funded) NIMBYs in the county. These people (even if they are just a vocal minority) will fight development to the bitter end (witness the multi-year litigation/political fight against Cathedral Commons). Once you get off Conn Ave or Wis Ave you are basically in small town SFH country. Even if zoning allowed for these areas to be redeveloped at greater density, the small plots and divided ownership would make redevelopment next to impossible. For all practical purposes that only leaves the main avenues to be redeveloped. A good idea and it should happen, but a few more apartment buildings on a couple main streets is not going to bring about car-free urban living the way a vibrant mixed-use urban core will.

Ultimately, it is the core of the city that needs to be built up and activated. Unfortunately, the plan looks only likely to provide small tweaks. Not enough to encourage a full scale redevelopment into a vibrant mixed-use downtown. I understand not wanting skyscrapers on the national mall. But, the city could have a more gradual cap. Say 150 ft south of E St, with a buffer for the white house between say 14th and 18th and up to K. Then have a transition zone with a 200 ft cap for a say 2 blocks outside that zone and then maybe work up to a 300 ft cap in the rest of the greater downtown.

That would preserve the low rise nature of the city, but allow the city to benefit from the clustering of activity in a mixed-use core.

[202_Cyclist]

I attended the Office of Planning/National Capital Planning Commission presentation about the Height Act held in August. Harriett Tregoning from the Office of Planning mentioned that one idea that some people have mentioned is auctioning off the right to build taller buildings in certain locations, (specifically K Street where the street is very wide and the 'canyon effect' would be less pronounced) within the L'Enfant City. This would allow the District to perhaps earn significant revenue and encourage grander, more elegant, buildings than the standard 10-story DC box.

Using the revenue from these auctions would also be an excellent way to help finance the Union Station - Georgetown streetcar route. This route will go via K Street.

[202_Cyclist]

After Monday's terrible tragedy, I notice a bit of good news for the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood. Construction will start very soon on the the property right next to the Velocity condos, at Half Street and K Street I emailed Toll Brothers yesterday and the response I received was that there will be 287 apartments in a 13-story building. Here is a JD Land post about the property: http://www.jdland.com/dc/index.cfm/3...Lot-From-Cohen .

Progress on Forest City's Twelve12 development continues. It is probably 6-7 floors tall at this point.

The 430-unit Park Chelsea (http://www.jdland.com/dc/880nj.cfm) buliding on New Jersey Avenue, SE is already above ground. This development will have a Whole Foods. I am very excited about this, as it is directly across the street from our apartment.

Finally, Bluejacket expects to open by the end of October... hopefully not October 2015!

[Eightball]

Amazing if they are actually starting construction on one of the buildings on half street. 13 stories is awesome. That area has a ton u/c or about to start!

On a more somber note, this is the best piece I read about the tragedy.

http://brunchbird.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/this-town/

[dc_denizen]

wow, right next to the 9:30 club!

375-Unit U Street Project Set to Break Ground in Coming Weeks

The Washington Business Journal reported early Friday that the 375-unit Atlantic Plumbing development at 8th and V Street NW is set to break ground in late September.

As planned, the Morris Adjmi-designed project from The JBG Cos. will include two residential buildings — one with 65 units and one with 310 units — as well as ground-floor retail and the package of amenities (fitness center, lounge) often seen in new high-end buildings these days.

At an event a few months ago, JBG’s Edward Chaglassian hinted to UrbanTurf that an independent movie theater may be coming to either this project or the 242-unit two-building complex that the firm has on the boards for the south side of Florida Avenue NW between 7th Street and 9th Streets (map). The WBJ noted that the latter project is expected to break ground around the same time as the Atlantic Plumbing development.

[easy as pie]

amazing adjmi designed that one, looks great and meets the street well, at least from that view. man, dc is on fire.