WASHINGTON, DC | Development News

[202_Cyclist]

Although it isn't in Washington, this is an interesting proposal.

Forest City has a makeover in store for mall


Rendering of the remodeled non-mallish Ballston Mall (Image courtesy of the Washington Post).

By Jonathan O'Connell
Mar 25, 2013
Washington Post

"The de-malling of Washington continues.

Forest City Washington is planning an upgrade of Ballston Common Mall in Arlington that would include adding a row of sidewalk retail along Wilson Boulevard and building 306 residential units above the property.

Thomas W. Henneberry, chief operating officer at Forest City Washington, said he has begun discussing the future of the 579,000-square-foot mall with county officials and pitching the idea of a reconfiguring it with prospective restaurant and shop owners..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...7ad_story.html

[202_Cyclist]

200 Apartments Going Up Adjacent to Union Market?


March 29, 2013
by Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf


4th Street and Florida Avenue NE (Image courtesy of Urban Turf).

"A project with either 200 apartments or hotel rooms could finally be moving forward on a plot adjacent to Union Market.

On Thursday, ANC 6C Commissioner Tony Goodman tweeted that EDENS, who developed Union Market, and Sang Oh Choi, whose family controls much of the surrounding land, are preparing to file an application for a six-story, mixed-use project with ground-level retail below residential or hotel units. Goodman told UrbanTurf that he expects an application for the development to be filed within the next 10 days..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...on_market/6855

[202_Cyclist]

The District could have sold its prime land right next to the Van Ness metro station in upper Northwest and used this to finance a new University of the District of Columbia campus at Saint Elizabeth's. This would have made Van Ness more vibrant and allowed more people to live next to the metro station, encouraged economic growth east of the Anacostia, and provided significant revenue to finance a new campus. Oops!



City Seeks Academic Anchor for St. Elizabeths

Posted by Aaron Wiener
Apr. 4, 2013
Washington City Paper


The St. Elizabeths master plan puts the academic anchor in repurposed buildings in the Maple Quad and CT Village. (Image courtesy of the Washington City Paper)

"The city's stutter-step approach to developing the St. Elizabeths campus in Ward 8 inched forward this morning with a call for academic institutions interested in anchoring a planned innovation hub on the site..."

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/b...comment-100875

[202_Cyclist]

Foundation permits issued for controversial 5333 Connecticut apartment building

Michael Neibauer
Washington Business Journal
April 4, 2013

"The controversial Cafritz apartment project is moving forward, as the property owner promised it would despite neighborhood concerns about design, traffic and density.

The developer of 5333 Connecticut Ave. NW was issued sheeting and shorting and foundation permits Wednesday for the 263-unit building, which will include multiple levels of underground parking. The project, at Connecticut Avenue and Military Road, is matter-of-right, meaning it is not subject to review by the D.C. Zoning Commission.

A coalition of neighbors created an organization to oppose the project, but to no avail..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...ssued-for.html

[202_Cyclist]

14th Street’s Central Union Mission Condo Project to Begin Construction in June

April 9, 2013
By Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf


Image courtesy of Urban Turf.

"The current occupants of the Central Union Mission at the southeast corner of 14th and R Streets NW will be moving in about a month, and construction on a 51-unit condo project slated for the address will start in early June, UrbanTurf has learned..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...n_8_weeks/6904

[202_Cyclist]

Split in public opinion for two Connecticut Avenue apartment projects


A rendering of Park Van Ness, a mixed-use project planned for Connecticut Avenue. (Image courtesy of the Washington Post)

By Jonathan O'Connell
Apr 28, 2013
Washington Post

"They are just a mile apart on Connecticut Avenue, proposed by two family-owned companies with long resumes in real estate development, but they could not be faring more differently.

Recently, representatives of Saul Centers, a publicly traded Bethesda firm, have unveiled plans to build 271 luxury apartments as part of a mixed-use project at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Van Ness Street NW. The project, dubbed Park Van Ness, is designed by architect Torti Gallas and would replace a dated shopping and office center..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...y.html?hpid=z5

[202_Cyclist]

The Washington City Paper has an update on the developers that are interested in the Walter Reed site.

City Short-Lists Five Teams for Walter Reed Development


Image courtesy of the Washington City Paper.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/b...d-development/

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

"The controversial Cafritz apartment project is moving forward, as the property owner promised it would despite neighborhood concerns about design, traffic and density.

DC's very own Ashby Highrise?

[202_Cyclist]

There is also a mixed-use Safeway under-construction on Georgia Avenue and another mixed-use Safeway with approximately 180 condos planned for the their Tenley store.

Palisades Safeway may see mixed use
Development: Plan would include housing, supermarket

By BRADY HOLT
Current Newspapers
May 1, 2013

"The Palisades Safeway may soon become the latest D.C. supermarket
to be expanded and rebuilt as a mixed-use project.

Marc Dubick, president of the Virginia-based Duball LLC, said in an interview yesterday that he partnered with Safeway about three months ago to begin looking at potential future uses for the 4865 MacArthur Blvd. site.

Details remain undecided. Duball and Safeway have begun preliminary meetings with the Office of Planning and some community leaders, Dubick said...."

http://www.currentnewspapers.com/adm...1-2013%201.pdf

[202_Cyclist]

Construction has started on 1045 Wisconsin Avenue, a 8-unit condo development with ground-floor retail.

Here is a rendering.

Image courtesy of Urban Turf.



The Eastbanc website has more information about this development: http://www.eastbanc.com/index.php?id=50&projectId=62

[202_Cyclist]

The crane has gone up at the Smithsonian African American museum, right off of the Mall along Constitution Avenue. I took this photo when biking to work this morning.

[202_Cyclist]

The crane has also gone up for the Cathedral Commons development that will include a new Giant supermarket and approximate 150 condos and row houses at Wisconsin Avenue and Newark Street.

[202_Cyclist]

Edens proposes major changes for Florida Avenue Market project

Michael Neibauer
Washington Business Journal
May 3, 2013

"The developer behind Union Market in Northeast D.C. is proposing some radical changes to its plans for the nearby Gateway Market Center, cutting out the office component in favor of increased residential units, redesigned retail and possibly a hotel.

Gateway Market Center Inc., led by developer Edens Realty Inc. and landowner Sang Oh Choi, sees its "exciting mixed-use retail and residential project" as a catalyst for redevelopment of the 44-acre Florida Avenue Market over the next decade.

Essentially, the developer states, "the project has been right-sized for this location and will act as the ideal introductory development for the Florida Avenue Market Area revitalization..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...anges-for.html


Image courtesy of Urban Turf.

[202_Cyclist]

‘Densification’ is new a challenge for Downtown DC Business Improvement District

By Dan Beyers
May 05, 2013
Washington Post

"I dropped by a presentation on the health of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District recently to hear an update on the area’s ongoing resurgence.

The business leaders had plenty to say about their successes, of course, patting themselves on the back for snagging this restaurant and celebrating that anniversary. But they also were not shy about discussing their challenges, displaying a kind of candor I don’t often encounter at this sort of event.

A chief concern, it seems, is something called “densification,” which is a fancy term to mean that companies, law firms, banks and residents are settling for less space than they once occupied. The local lexicon is full of talk about “micro” apartments and office “hoteling,” where workers share desks and common spaces..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...e19_story.html

[202_Cyclist]

This is outside DC, in Montgomery County, it is a significant proposal.

Developer Reveals Plan For 300-Foot Towers on Rockville Pike

by Aaron Kraut
May 1, 2013


Image courtesy of Bethesda.now.

"Saul Centers, a part of Bethesda-based development company B.F. Saul, on Tuesday revealed its plans for three 300-foot residential towers and two 200-foot buildings on its two properties near the White Flint Metro station.

Saul Centers purchased the two-level shopping center at Metro Pike Center (across from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and the Staples-anchored shopping center at 11503 Rockville Pike two years ago with the intent of developing the site under the new zoning codes of the 2010 White Flint Sector Plan.

The buildings would likely be built in phases over a number of years, Saul Centers Vice President of Development Brian Downie told attendees of the required public meeting at the Bethesda North Conference Center. The company would begin building its first tower in about two years, if everything goes smoothly in the approval process..."

http://www.bethesdanow.com/2013/05/0...ockville-pike/

[202_Cyclist]

Office, residential project proposed for Congress Heights Metro

By Michael Neibauer
Washington Business Journal
May 7, 2013

"A partnership of D.C.-based CityPartners LLC and Sanford Capital LLC has submitted a planned-unit development application to construct a 236,000-square-foot office building and a 205- to 215-unit apartment building at the Congress Heights Metro station in Southeast D.C.

The partnership, Square 5914 LLC, is planning a project of 446,000 square feet that will “certainly serve as an anchor for further economic and civic development of the Congress Heights neighborhood,” according to the application.

The residential, office and retail components, designed by Maurice Walters Architect PC, will create an 18- to 24-hour-a-day neighborhood, said Geoffrey Griffis, managing member of CityPartners..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto...-proposed.html


Image courtesy of Urban Turf: http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...s_heights/7036.

[202_Cyclist]

Underwhelming Eastern Market plaza eyed for makeover

By Michael Neibauer
May 13, 2013
Washington Business Journal

"A study is underway to reenvision, and ultimately redevelop, the grand but underwhelming public space along Pennsylvania Avenue SE at the Eastern Market Metro Station.

Organized by Barracks Row Main Street and led by architect Amy Weinstein of Esocoff & Associates, the $500,000, congressionally funded design study and transportation management plan will examine how to upgrade, aesthetically and functionally, the 700 and 800 blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue, through which thousands of residents and workers pass daily.

And that’s the problem, officials say: People are much more likely to pass through Eastern Market plaza (often jaywalking dangerously across Pennsylvania Avenue's six lanes and wide, grassy median), then they are to stop and linger. Pierre L’Enfant envisioned that area as one of D.C.’s great public reservations, but that vision has never been implemented..."

http://www.bizjournals.com/washingto....html?page=all

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

"the project has been right-sized for this location and will act as the ideal introductory development for the Florida Avenue Market Area revitalization..."

One fundamental trouble with having the height limit where it is is right here. "Right sizing" means it's much cheaper to stop at 6 stories (the upper limit of stick construction, on a reinforced concrete retail base) than to go to 10-12 stories (the height limit for arterials). The incremental 4-6 floors don't pay for the additional cost of framing the whole thing out of concrete/steel -- not even at today's absurd prices.

[202_Cyclist]

220-Unit Residential Building And Harris Teeter Planned For Georgia Avenue

May 21, 2013
By Shilpi Paul
Urban Turf


Image courtesy of Urban Turf.

"DC’s Harris Teeter boom continues.

A recently proposed project at the intersection of Georgia Avenue, Eastern Avenue and Kalmia Road (map) would bring 220 residential units and a Harris Teeter grocery store to the area just south of Silver Spring.

Though neither project is final yet, Harris Teeters could also be a potential part of both the McMillan Redevelopment project and 965 Florida Avenue NW..."

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blo...rgia_aven/7097

[202_Cyclist]

Eleven Story Redevelopment Coming to 10th and F St NW (1000 F St NW)

5/28/13
Penn Quarter Living


Image courtesy of Penn Quarter Living.

"We learned that redevelopment, big time redevelopment, will now move forward for the corner of 10th and F St NW starting at the end of 2013. We’ve followed this corner since Douglas Jemal of Douglas Development purchased the properties in 2006 declaring that an 11 story building would follow. That redevelopment is now moving forward thanks to a partnership between Douglas Development and CBRE to the tune of exactly that, an 11 story office building, which will also include ground/lower floor retail..."

http://pqliving.com/douglas-cbre-red...nw/#more-15344