DC Metrocentric

It is time once again to take a look into the DCMetrocentric mailbag. This time we have a question from Erin who is looking to get a good deal on an apartment lease:

“I hear that rents during the summer months are pretty outrageous in DC. But come September, can you get a good deal on an apartment? Or, perhaps a better way to phrase the question is: Are there any times of the year when apartment rents in DC are cheaper than others? My boyfriend and I are aiming to move in together in September, but want to put it off if we’ll get a better deal later in the year. Thanks! Erin“

Well for the most part if you are signing a year long lease we wouldn’t worry about timing, most of the larger apartment management companies set their prices once a year and that is it. In those cases it would actually be better to sign a lease sooner to lock in a monthly rate before they rise. However you are right that during the summer time, things get crazy with all the interns in town looking for housing. Short term summer leases can end up being almost double a typical comparable rate. Anyone else out there want to chime in?

Do YOU have a question for DCMetrocentric? We love to hear from you, send your questions, comments and tips to: DCMetrocentric (at) gmail.com

A project that has long been on the drawing boards, the Mosaic development is planned for a piece of land right behind the UMD Business School in College Park. Interestingly the project is being billed as a non-student housing alternative. We can’t imagine many alumni are going to want to live this close to the school, but you never know.

The project will eventually have 300 multi-family units and the detailed Site Plan was approved by the Planning Board over a year ago. We shall see how much traction a project like this can get considering the location and the current market, we are not sure it will be very much.

The latest property to be up for auction is the 432 unit luxury apartment building in Northeast right behind Union Station at 2nd and Eye Street. Senate Square is going up on the auction block at the end of this month under the threat of foreclosure.

This is unfortunate news for the folks at Broadway Capitol who are all too familiar with the threat of foreclosure, having just gone through the process last year with the massive Dumont Condo building (which is still sitting empty).

We guess the view and the amazing rooftop pool were not enough to entice people to live behind Union Station. We hate to see things like this happen because these massive residential developments that were planed at the peak of the real estate boom are going to take years to become fully rented or be converted back to condos. Right now… supply definitely is exceeding demand!

[Photo: HexBlock]

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]

Reflecting back on the year that was 2009, we wonder will it be remembered as the year the housing market finally turned around… or perhaps as the year where things really just stalled? What ever it ends up being, there was certainly no shortage of activity in the world of construction, architecture, and development in the Metro area.

During the beginning of last year things were not looking so good, but as of late the picture has been a little more rosy. However even in the face of difficult conditions, the commercial development market continued to buzz with its share of new projects, some good, some not so good.

We finally got to see how some of the new museums on the National Mall are going to look, and watched as the new National Institute of Peace’s flowing arches jumped from rendering to reality.

The more we think about it, 2009 might end up being “the year of the library” as more than a handful of neighborhoods got newly designed bastions to reading, some we liked more than others.

Of course you may have heard that our newest first family moved to town (and no we don’t mean the Real World cast). There were lots of grand openings and parties, some of which reminded us of the extravagance of the good old days!

To make way for all the new development, there was plenty of demolition to go around, but unfortunately some projects ended up not getting much further than being a big hole in the ground.

We can only hope that next year will be as interesting as the last and that the DC Metro Area continues to lead the way as one of the Nations top markets with enough innovative and inspiring architecture to bring us into the next decade!

From everyone here at DCMetrocentric, we wish you a very happy New Year!

[Photo: M.V. Jantzen]

Once the dust settled from the furious bidding, Federal Capital Partners has walked away with the winning bid on the new Allegro Apartments in Columbia Heights. The building, which is currently 60% leased, couldn’t continue to operate because the debt holder needed liquidity, thus forcing the auction this week.

Interestingly we heard that almost no one who is currently living in the building even knew a sale was taking place, but it shouldn’t have an effect on residents. We expect to see some major deals in the near future as the new owners try to get the building completely leased and profitable.

[Photo: Sean Robertson]

We hope it wasn’t all the hor’devours we ate at the Allegros lavish launch party last April. Even though close to 60% of the units are rented, it may not be enough for the buildings owner Metro Properties to pay the bills. The WBJ is reporting that the company was served a foreclosure notice in October from one of its lenders, and is now going to auction.

When this project was first started, this development (like so many others) was going to be condos, so the conversion to high end apartments was always a stop gap. There clearly is a ton of inventory of these so called high end apartment buildings that were meant to be condos, and area renters are benefiting from this with special lease deals and all sorts of other amenities like high-end appliances and gyms. The Allegro has a ton of these features, a great location, and an amazing courtyard… but that apparently wasn’t enough for many renters.

[Photo: Sean Robertson]

While the new development 1200 East West in Silver Spring doesn’t exactly have the most interesting or original name, we do like the colorful art that’s going to be out front (lower left of the rendering). The multicolored sculpture will stand almost three stories tall and be at the corner of East West Highway and Blair Mill Rd. The building is slated to be ready for occupation in Spring 2010.

A photo of the building under construction after the jump…

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The folks at Abdo Development recently went before the Zoning Commission to present some shinny new digital watercolors of their vision of Arbor Place. The proposed 16-acre development on New York Ave, NE would consist of 1.7 M sq-ft of mixed-use, including 1,400 residential units, 7,000 sq. ft. of retail and 2.7 acres of open courtyards and plazas.

The project is named after the nearby arboretum and the architect of record is Maurice Walters and Torti Gallas & Partners. While this isn’t something we expect to see built this year, they are clearly getting things in place so when the market picks back up they will be ready to go.

A few more renderings of the plaza and courtyard after the jump…

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Yesterday Mayor Fenty joined Councilmember Muriel Bowser (Ward 4) and residents of the Brightwood neighborhood for a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of renovations of the abandoned housing project at 6425 14th Street, NW. The District partnered with Blue Skye Development to transform the vacant property into a new apartment building, eliminating a blight on the Brightwood neighborhood.

“The era of decaying conditions and neglectful ownership of this property has come to an end,” said Mayor Fenty “Today’s groundbreaking marks an important step toward welcoming more residents to this community through affordable housing and continuing our revitalization efforts up and down 14th Street.” Though this project has been referred to as the Brightwood Apartment Building, it is not the same project as this one. We were confused too!

Since the exterior construction on the new View 14 development in Columbia Heights is moving along so nicely, it’s time to start dreaming about what those finished units are going to eventually look like. STUDIOS architects sent us a few interior renderings to get our imagination going. The views certainly will be amazing.

Collaborating with the base building architects, STUDIOS tried to reduce the boundaries between inside and outside spaces to highlight the city views using large expanses of glass. The design will use stone and moss in both exterior and interior spaces to reinforce the organic flow and to try and create an environment that is sleek and modern yet still warm and inviting.

A rendering of the lobby after the jump…

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When we heard that a vacant 559 unit condo was about to come on the market this month, we immediately knew there was only one place it could be… The Dumont. The huge development in Mount Vernon Triangle has certainly had its ups and downs, but ever since they finished up the exterior last year, it looked like they might actually make a go at starting to move these units.

Well apparently they weren’t that successful, and like so many before them, are selling out so the two building complex can potentially be turned into an apartment building. The price for these empty buildings? Only $170 million, which by our calculation comes out to around $304,000 a unit. Considering the buildings design and amazing location right on Massachusetts Ave, that isn’t a half bad deal if you ask us. Now if only we could drum up $170 million, if anyone wants to start an investor group, give us a call!

[Photo: DCMetrocentric]

We aren’t saying it would be a good thing to eradicated the height restrictions for the District, but it sure is fun to see how an alternate future might look. Commenter John brought our attention to this stunning piece of work by artist James Clyne. We like how the inner core of the National Mall is completely unaltered, what do you think?

[Rendering: James Clyne]