DC Metrocentric

Capitol Riverfront - As the Navy Yard plans for expansion, they will have lots of real estate choices given all the new empty office buildings in the neighborhood. [JDLand]

Columbia Heights - A vacant abandoned house has finally been refurbished after years of neglect. [New Columbia Heights] 

Dupont - The District plans to put out a request for proposals for the old underground trolley station. One of the ideas (pictured below) for the massive subteranian space is an art gallery. [WPost]

Exciting news this week on the redevelopment of the 3800 block of Georgia Avenue, NW. Ground has officially been broken on the project to convert two empty District owned properties into a first class restaurant on the historic site of what was once Billy Simpson’s House of Seafood and Steaks.

Mosaic Urban, in partnership with Donatelli Development, is developing the vacant lot and two dilapidated storefronts into a $5M mixed-use, mixed-income project including 12 condos (4 of which will be low income set asides) and 8000 sq ft of restaurant and retail space.

Not only is this project helping to revitalize the block, which is right around the corner from the Petworth metro station, but it is also helping to preserve history. Billy Simpson’s restaurant originally occupied the space on Georgia Avenue in the 1960s-70s and was the site of many historic events in the Districts history. In March of 2009 the site was named to the National Register of Historic Places, so it will be nice to see the finished product.

[Renderings: Mosaic]

The Best Open Houses in the DC Area: The $450,000 to $550,000 Edition

In this week’s special edition of Best Open Houses we feature properties that all fall within the $450,000 to $550,000 price range. The listings include homes in Dupont Circle, Capitol Hill and Takoma Park.

Read the rest of this entry on UrbanTurf.com »

One of the things that we love so much about progress is that there is almost always demolition involved! There is just something about watching a building be dismantled piece by piece that captivates us. In order to make way for the new Consolidated Forensics Lab (CFL), the old First District Police Station is now just a big pile of rubble.

This entire block in SW is about to go through some major changes, including the new CFL as well as two new commercial office buildings one of which incorporates a very cool design for the Fire station which is also being demolished.

[Photo: M.V. Jantzen]

Ever since we reported back in October that the unfinished development at 1015 Half St. in Southeast was being bought by Douglas Wilson we have been waiting to see work resume. Well a little birdie has past on word that things are being put in place to get things moving again.

This seems to correlate with some of the other things we have been hearing including that most of the liens against the previous owners have been paid off. Will we see the completion of the unfinished project (pictured above) by year end? We hope so, it just makes us sad to see the shell of the building every time we are in the area. We will keep you posted.

There are not many streets around town where you could take a picture from over 70 years ago and see pretty much the same scene. Along 7th Street NW the structure at the corner of D Street still stands to this day with its incredible facade and arched windows. Back then it was Wines and Whiskies, but now the 1st floor is occupied by Jose Andres’ Oyamel.

It takes a real skill to line up shots like this! [Photo: JasonEPowell]

The Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle is apparently now suing over its renovation from a few years back (rendering below). The allegation is that the Cox Graae + Spack Architects‘ renovation and expansion designs were so poorly planned that it resulted in at least 67 costly change-orders to correct issues. The Washington Business Journal reports that the lawsuit is for $2 million.

This does raise an interesting question though, how much of the responsibility is it for the architect to ensure their plan is properly executed by the contractors who actually put the thing together? Clearly if the design is unbuildable or unsafe there is an issue, but there are areas in between… what do you think?

[Rendering: Cox Graae + Spack]

Rosslyn is often more know for its office skyscrapers than being a place people call home, but there still are a few residential buildings scattered throughout the office wasteland. One of which is the high end Turnberry Tower condos which we have covered extensively in the past.

With many of the larger units on the market, we thought we would take a look at the drool worthy floor plans of Turnberry Arlington. For your viewing pleasure is the three bedroom, four and a half bath Unit K.

Weighing in at 5,300 sq-ft this baby has it all, need a craft room… check, grand salon… check, private separate entrance for the help… check. Not to mention the views from the two balconies out over Georgetown and the Potomac. Click on the floor plan for a larger view.

Best New Listings: Petworth, Columbia Heights and Dupont Circle

This week’s Best New Listings include a renovated three-bedroom in Petworth, a two-bedroom condo off Columbia Road in Columbia Heights and a studio in Dupont Circle for about $200,000.

Read the rest of this entry on UrbanTurf.com »

The area North of the new convention center has generally been past over by the recent development boom, however there are plans in the works by the folks at Metropolitan Development to bring a mixed use high rise apartment complex to the neighborhood. Given the character of this area, it is good to hear that at least 20% of the units will affordable low income set asides.

In addition to the 256 units, there will also be 15,000 sq-ft of retail. What do you think of the Lessard Group’s facade design? We think it’s decent enough, if not a little bit boring.

[Credit: Lessard Group]

Over the last few years the area North of Massachusetts (NoMa) has gone through some major changes transforming what was once an area filled with parking lots and warehouses into a high density mixed use corridor. You might expect that with all the new office buildings, there would be high vacancy rates, but apparently that’s not the case.

According to the NoMa Business Improvement District, despite adding so many new buildings last year there was over 1 millions sq ft leased. Interestingly NoMa experienced more net absorption in all of 2009 (494,000 SF) than any other District submarket and NoMa’s 2009 net absorption represents 53 percent of all net absorption in the District of Columbia.

We imagine those numbers won’t be as high next year though (Near Southeast is probably right at NoMa’s heals). Oh and by the way we still hate the name NoMa!

[Photo: Mr T in DC]

Mt Vernon Triangle - The proposed consolidated condo tax has residents objecting on several fronts. [The Triangle]

Columbia Heights - How do you define a neighborhoods boundaries? Apparently tax districts often times don’t work. [New Columbia Heights]

LeDriot Park - A flash back to the year 1958 at the corner of 9th and U Street (pictured below), things sure have changed. [Left for LeDriot]

[Photo: DDOT]

Now that construction on the Yale Steam Laundry West has started back up, you may be wondering why the about face… well of course it is all about the benjamins. The developer IBG Partners secured $50 million in Housing and Urban Development loans to start back up.The second phase will include over 200 new condo units and they are shooting for a Summer 2011 delivery. We have a question though… is high end condos apartments a good use of HUD loans?

Being obsessed with what new development is going on around town we have spent our share of time peeking into covered over windows to see what activity is going on inside. As a result we can really appreciate the effort these developers have taken to make sneaking a peak a little easier with a dedicated cut out in the widow just to watch construction.

The project is a new casual restaurant at the corner 14th St & Church St (which also as you can see happens to open today).

[Photo: M.V. Jantzen]

Malcolm X Park is a great setting for photography and this great shot makes it almost seem like Spring (or Fall) is in the air! Who knew we had our very own Spanish Steps… we like the perspective and the fast shutter speeds effect on the water too!

[Photo: Daquella Manera]