tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79768304000856944282024-03-05T05:58:25.653-08:00Trend Futura Real Estate Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15135383508010952473noreply@blogger.comBlogger351125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-90616982277435107872014-01-14T09:28:00.000-08:002014-01-14T09:28:04.332-08:00Understanding Wisconsin Mortgage Rates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCRqipF1NrMUZ8owMKz79gw9l2Th5AJe_6lNquLhzEX3uotsPRvhTuth4WJ2GdtoAnGIP7j6fGzPapbxqN-VBLlUUaFGX1XPoJQ9LzUvi5dhYbMTQTOA0y4d4ksyncSKU1XBpZzPGI4xw/s1600/payday+loan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMCRqipF1NrMUZ8owMKz79gw9l2Th5AJe_6lNquLhzEX3uotsPRvhTuth4WJ2GdtoAnGIP7j6fGzPapbxqN-VBLlUUaFGX1XPoJQ9LzUvi5dhYbMTQTOA0y4d4ksyncSKU1XBpZzPGI4xw/s1600/payday+loan2.jpg" /></a></div>
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If you are in the market for a new home, Wisconsin mortgage rates, which have been hanging around near the 3 percent rate for several years now, are headed back upward. The reason has to do with the progress in the American economy over the past couple of years. One area of concern has been the jobs market, as unemployment went well over 10 percent during the worst parts of the recession that began in 2014. However, with the job reports <a href="http://justbeautifulmen.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">improving</a> each month, that rate has now dipped just below 8 percent. Also, home prices had plummeted in recent years, because of the high number of foreclosure filings out there. In the past 12 months, Wisconsin home prices have gone up an average of 14 percent, indicating that values are returning to more palatable levels.<br />
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As a result, the Federal Reserve appears to be ready to allow interest rates to start rising again. There are many reports indicating that the Fed will increase its prime rate, and other rates are likely to follow suit. The most recent Wisconsin mortgage rates for a 30-year loan with fixed rates is 4.26 percent. This is down from a recent high of 4.33 percent a week ago, but it still represents an increase from rates a couple of months ago. As rosy job reports keep arriving in the economic news pages, interest rates are likely to go up even further. If you are a lender or someone who already owns a home, this is great news, because it means that demand for your home will increase, making values go up. Also, having fewer foreclosures taking place in your neighborhood will help keep your comparable transaction reports higher, leading to higher home values over time. If you are still looking for a home, and your credit scores and available savings for a down payment aren't quite ready to purchase a home yet, you face the prospect of interest rates climbing significantly higher before you get your <a href="http://paydayloansdotcom.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">loan</a> terms set.<br />
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Wisconsin mortgage rates are lower with a 15-year loan instead of a 30-year loan. The fixed rate that you can get right now is 3.21 percent. If you are open to a 5/1 ARM (adjustable-rate mortgage), you can get an even better rate at 2.76 percent. If you're wondering why the rates are different, it has to do with the risk and reward available to the lender. A 30-year <a href="http://elmindreda.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">loan</a> ties up the lender's money for a long time, so the interest is higher than it would be with a 15-year note. You might think that a 15-year note is going to be a lot more expensive per month, but that isn't always true. Let's say you want to buy a $191,000 home, and you have saved $41,000 to put as a down payment. You're going to be borrowing $150,000. If you borrow that over 30 years at 5 percent, your payment is $805.23 each month. If you took out a 15-year note at 4 percent interest (remember that these loans have lower rates), then you're looking at a payment of $1,109.53 each month. That's about 40 percent more than the payments on the 30-year note, but you only have to make 180 of them, instead of 360. You end up paying just under $50,000 in interest instead of about $140,000 for the 30-year note. So a 15-year note is definitely worth taking a look at.<br />
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And what about the adjustable-rate mortgage? Wisconsin mortgage rates right now make this something to look at as well. If you think that you can pay for your house outright within five years, then locking in that 2.76 percent rate makes sense. The lender can adjust the rate one time during the loan, but you will still save money if you plan to knock out your principal amount that quickly. Even if you aren't going to pay for the entire house, if you can knock out a significant percentage of your principal, then lock that in and then refinance in five years. Remember that your home is one of the largest investments you will make, so do it wisely.<br />
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Douglas Lenski is a 14 year veteran of the mortgage industry and the current President of Wholesale Mortgage Services of Wisconsin. He has trained 20 loan officers and 8 mortgage loan processors. He is considered an expert in the mortgage industry by his peers. He has written many blogs on Mortgage rates particularly Wisconsin Mortgage rates and many more.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15135383508010952473noreply@blogger.com0United States37.09024 -95.712891000000013-41.116323 99.052733999999987 90 69.521483999999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-50851426097971508702013-01-04T05:29:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.930-08:00Winstanley and GoliathQ and A with Michael Winstanley<br />by Beth Herman<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB8LBbDOSexW_LMVOc6xPzZ2g6tEwS9chyphenhyphen8jYzwvZ28A4s8LrgvWLXGwu6tiLw8zxNKu2YeWS3ABYtXNbGl2S0vfR9ibFWlIW18BgUR7yMB4UWect1mVNpIcHKU-MzBSyJXnqPtKr4GhK/s1600/architecture_exterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijB8LBbDOSexW_LMVOc6xPzZ2g6tEwS9chyphenhyphen8jYzwvZ28A4s8LrgvWLXGwu6tiLw8zxNKu2YeWS3ABYtXNbGl2S0vfR9ibFWlIW18BgUR7yMB4UWect1mVNpIcHKU-MzBSyJXnqPtKr4GhK/s400/architecture_exterior.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0f5oKudapdmHsS9g3RSuhg1j31rg0U6o6UkSKsStUyN3q9f4oMFHRlbRbwvz3H_w0RK6aQjrQ4AaWokzJ64LLpUZAijM_b5w1qoZfRr-De9X9tCJb-4wpBqYdWc5lpO96lordtSO8n3T/s1600/architecture_studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0f5oKudapdmHsS9g3RSuhg1j31rg0U6o6UkSKsStUyN3q9f4oMFHRlbRbwvz3H_w0RK6aQjrQ4AaWokzJ64LLpUZAijM_b5w1qoZfRr-De9X9tCJb-4wpBqYdWc5lpO96lordtSO8n3T/s400/architecture_studio.jpg" width="258" /></a>Creating his own office space for a burgeoning staff at 107 N. West Street in Old Town, Alexandria, along with a state-of-the-art photography studio for wife Jessica Marcotte under the same roof, Michael Winstanley of <a href="http://www.michaelwinstanley.com/">Michael Winstanley Architects and Planners</a> slayed the giant. Pitting the $490,000 design against Goliath projects by other firms, including a $50 million Columbia University biology lab, the 4,350 s.f. Winstanley office won 2011's National Society of American Registered Architects (NSARA) Award for building design. In the same year it also garnered a National Association for Industrial and Office Parks (NAIOP) Award for building renovation.<i><b> DCMud</b></i> spoke with Winstanley about the little office that could.<br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Your firm is renovating Union Station and has designed large-scale structures in faraway places like Macau and Kazakhstan. How did you choose a building to reflect the range of your work? <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybhreCqLHKfcwQWwgISVVsu7zey_bcQ1QpZOpM50OqN5zIGxcmHBesjSbi5qSqS-00XNTKjCGNNzgpeoW0Ddr7aWgcFELiYvbambl1q63ka2tM4LkRRBXCVAjBrn01X4jVwPfo_Oik2HJ/s1600/photo_studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiybhreCqLHKfcwQWwgISVVsu7zey_bcQ1QpZOpM50OqN5zIGxcmHBesjSbi5qSqS-00XNTKjCGNNzgpeoW0Ddr7aWgcFELiYvbambl1q63ka2tM4LkRRBXCVAjBrn01X4jVwPfo_Oik2HJ/s400/photo_studio.jpg" width="307" /></a><b>Winstanley:</b> We were originally in another old building in Old Town which was sold and was to be torn down. Jessica and I had about 1,000 s.f. each, and I had four employees. My practice was growing, and my wife needs a 12-foot high space for her photo stand and light booms. In Alexandria there isn't a lot of warehouse or industrial space, so it took a long time to find but we finally located it - a former carpet warehouse. Financing was done through a combination of private funds along with SBA and bank loans.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUShWvgtsDSiZ9UIbFbRu958Z1RZWbP8DXfbyBRLe93bGf_44ysn_HRwhLliCFWivyYZzZzWqH4ZlyGRoxQ1nRLkhfhUFpTksfS7StE2vxBmEeVPqwuHhxjHbRGyTiO7zU9NPwh5Zgc3XM/s1600/Site+Plan+-+Location+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUShWvgtsDSiZ9UIbFbRu958Z1RZWbP8DXfbyBRLe93bGf_44ysn_HRwhLliCFWivyYZzZzWqH4ZlyGRoxQ1nRLkhfhUFpTksfS7StE2vxBmEeVPqwuHhxjHbRGyTiO7zU9NPwh5Zgc3XM/s400/Site+Plan+-+Location+.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> What were some of the design challenges you faced?<br /><br /><b>Winstanley:</b> Our building sits on the property line so that's as much land as we had: a zero lot line. We had a tight budget and no windows except for clerestories, and needed to have some vision windows, so we put windows along the alley which is really a fire lane - the only place we could have them. Because we work late, our office looks out onto the alley so it no longer feels unsafe for the neighborhood. We also used four operable skylights on the opposite side of the building to balance the light inside, which washed the walls in daylight.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLJxq0hMPuNCzlxQDipOGbrJzW0A9ewH50WGQdCkzIT6RR2pq2exNVEF48BGvAmsZRIdkWCugGJTDVTaV-ovebuVspTX1ozzd6CvJmqoiZN33DsZ_gmH4DhfnOOXWx_lQiBhugUTq9wLE/s1600/North+West+St-Alex+interior+view-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheLJxq0hMPuNCzlxQDipOGbrJzW0A9ewH50WGQdCkzIT6RR2pq2exNVEF48BGvAmsZRIdkWCugGJTDVTaV-ovebuVspTX1ozzd6CvJmqoiZN33DsZ_gmH4DhfnOOXWx_lQiBhugUTq9wLE/s400/North+West+St-Alex+interior+view-13.jpg" width="400" /></a><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Sounds as though you had an eye to sustainability.<br /><br /><b>Winstanley:</b> In fact during the day you don't even need the lights on. We also did operable windows to open for fresh air as often as possible. The entire concrete block envelope is now heavily insulated (there was none at acquisition): floor; roof; walls. The HVAC system is automated so it's off at night. For flooring we used reclaimed oak from Virginia, and it's raised up on sleepers to run our data cables underneath it to avoid data drops from the ceiling. Finally, though the building was marketed as a tear down and rebuild, we chose to use the existing building instead of razing and starting over. We are also five blocks from the King Street Metro.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcU3IZvdypjUcX6CTf033njXfVybCcVzQEAVjvQVXdXIB_WBI6mUHZxd4iJqtfS1UDNiJXDavfqLmlktgXUzcSXV03tRiwXWN4o_yIcOiwNelzT24MzEIqKIb8-NsYZxGXb4x2HaAWJ4PB/s1600/architecture_stations_no_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcU3IZvdypjUcX6CTf033njXfVybCcVzQEAVjvQVXdXIB_WBI6mUHZxd4iJqtfS1UDNiJXDavfqLmlktgXUzcSXV03tRiwXWN4o_yIcOiwNelzT24MzEIqKIb8-NsYZxGXb4x2HaAWJ4PB/s400/architecture_stations_no_logo.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> We understand the IKEA workstations have their own little backstory.<br /><br /><b>Winstanley: </b>We currently have 20 workstations in 3,350 s.f. (the remaining 1,000 s.f. is allocated to the photography studio) but can comfortably seat 25 to 30 employees when necessary. I knew that IKEA was an economical solution but had always thought it looked too inexpensive given the kind of work we do. My concern was that IKEA furniture would indicate a modest practice, when we actually do a lot of large scale projects - like a $300 million, one million s.f. development in San Antonio. I looked everywhere for something else but never found anything with the right feel.<br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> So you acquiesced?<br /><br /><b>Winstanley:</b> I wanted to do something that didn't scream IKEA, but using the same we designed a very simple four-piece furniture system. The colors and textures matched the office. The irony is when I went to add a few more desks later on, IKEA had stopped making some of the components. A carpenter agreed to replicate things for $400 - for just one of the tabletops - when it had cost $80 at IKEA. But we had to do it!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_RT_qoANGtc7MkFUeSyJooaowHbQXoP-KorqlHAmPzxf77MuGWuNwsipAHcwDBc8BbI3N8AUUtpTmvtN8vOHjbur068d2hD0x-0_I9N23814HdWqBMYWupOgkZAw_AmbZYCAQIUuezek/s1600/architecture_conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju_RT_qoANGtc7MkFUeSyJooaowHbQXoP-KorqlHAmPzxf77MuGWuNwsipAHcwDBc8BbI3N8AUUtpTmvtN8vOHjbur068d2hD0x-0_I9N23814HdWqBMYWupOgkZAw_AmbZYCAQIUuezek/s400/architecture_conference.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> The conference room seems to be open to the rest of the space. How does that work acoustically?<br /><br /><b>Winstanley:</b> It's far enough away so that meetings don't interfere. We also have an in house model making shop in our space.<br /><br /><b><i>DCMud: </i></b>Tell us about the photography studio.<br /><br /><b>Winstanley</b>: It's all open with its own entrance. Jessie has (dedicated) office space with her desk and couch within the studio. There's also an IKEA kitchenette, just like we have in the architecture studio.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6U5VEYPNNFWl1VrnRxP9kGfm3_EuJZwCCxw2TIkLbLwq6yrpXl3lCTj_KiYJ00sb4ny24CDd59hAew3XYKrNmxmXiyC217-IPd_s1rrr_42b5bqm1xwnEeEza9aWBWplrn0-eUYWDk8cs/s1600/photo_studio_office.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6U5VEYPNNFWl1VrnRxP9kGfm3_EuJZwCCxw2TIkLbLwq6yrpXl3lCTj_KiYJ00sb4ny24CDd59hAew3XYKrNmxmXiyC217-IPd_s1rrr_42b5bqm1xwnEeEza9aWBWplrn0-eUYWDk8cs/s400/photo_studio_office.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgped4tG-74yUOH0OJB18fntgRBKqig7JDiFpDwevJq-SFMJBP3hhWDAe5Si138kTBWWmgte1ds9hyphenhyphenpsfGZlCuuQhrfJZHk6bN5HAyFMvIEQAvmrn9HGzqzRnhEEwyzeumUezlYmoj-hL5-/s1600/photo_studio_entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgped4tG-74yUOH0OJB18fntgRBKqig7JDiFpDwevJq-SFMJBP3hhWDAe5Si138kTBWWmgte1ds9hyphenhyphenpsfGZlCuuQhrfJZHk6bN5HAyFMvIEQAvmrn9HGzqzRnhEEwyzeumUezlYmoj-hL5-/s200/photo_studio_entrance.jpg" width="181" /></a><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Given the breadth and scope of your work, why are you based in Old Town and not D.C.?<br /><br /><b>Winstanley: </b>We're planners as well as architects and<b> </b>I've lived in a lot of cities, including Boston. Old Town reminds me of Beacon Hill which I like. In D.C., however, you surely can't escape the power of the L'Enfant plan: the organization of the city; the symbolism of the capitol; the location of important public buildings in the Federal Triangle. It's a green and livable city that appeals to me because Charles L'Enfant was smart about the way it was planned and organized. D.C. is unlike any other place.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photos courtesy of Jessica Marcotte </i></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-46574142620559581782013-01-04T01:48:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.926-08:00Your Next Place<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP25GidfQP2vuP8WrGwp3BM4ed9q1oExbh4gHdETyzdancaA3XTvsv-Twlxc_mw1IfObOwWYTKKw9z0MH0J-ObnfWvkaatbAkd5UHHgqsI99jBwdC6idMdLfKGahNxIflbpreIp5x2fJNE/s1600/DC7971882_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP25GidfQP2vuP8WrGwp3BM4ed9q1oExbh4gHdETyzdancaA3XTvsv-Twlxc_mw1IfObOwWYTKKw9z0MH0J-ObnfWvkaatbAkd5UHHgqsI99jBwdC6idMdLfKGahNxIflbpreIp5x2fJNE/s320/DC7971882_0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />This stunning semi-detached Georgian Colonial looks like something you'd see in the British countryside, an expansive, sophisticated home for all occasions, the type of house that might make you say to the fellow next to you, in jest, mind you, "aren't you tempted to hide in a closet until the open house is over, and then live here all week?" Only for him to reply, "Why would I do that, this is my house," and then fast-walk over to agent and whisper to them for thirty seconds while gesturing in my direction. I had the last laugh though, since I bought the house on the spot and evicted him! Ha ha! (Just kidding, I just left quickly while feeling stupid.)<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2qfgidPYR7s1W4ZNHPQZystJYPowbww0Iq-9rsIEvJVx0Iy7BAtWwWPnPjqfXht-R_rEkODogCBJxm1V7rmKMxiO_vvCm5ifddmapDPGHmpHDC3Uv3_oiOg-Xj6WWkb0INSgVl9631oR/s1600/DC7971882_13_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU2qfgidPYR7s1W4ZNHPQZystJYPowbww0Iq-9rsIEvJVx0Iy7BAtWwWPnPjqfXht-R_rEkODogCBJxm1V7rmKMxiO_vvCm5ifddmapDPGHmpHDC3Uv3_oiOg-Xj6WWkb0INSgVl9631oR/s400/DC7971882_13_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Off the huge foyer is a massive, bright family room, and a formal dining room fit for royalty. There's also a very fine study featuring some extremely elegant woodwork, and the bright, sprawling living room. It features huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and opens via French doors (freedom doors, dang it) onto the wonderful flagstone patio. The kitchen is sleek and spacious and features stainless steel appliances and enough counterspace for a regulation Slip-n-Slide. (The next trend in bridal showers?) Upstairs, the master bedroom is one of the most palatial I've seen, and I've seen a few, not only as a professional open-houser, but as a burglar too. Incredibly long, it has a beautiful salmon-colored marble fireplace at one end. The house actually has four fireplaces, so when the cops come, each member of the family can grab an armload of evidence to dispose of separately, instead of everyone trying to fling papers into the same fireplace. Awkward! And finally, there's a garage; nothing sadder than seeing a car outside in the cold, all alone at night. Here little car, does it cheer you up when I tickle your sides with my key?<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">3045 P Street NW</span></b><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">4 Bedrooms, 4.5 Bathrooms</span></b><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">$2,150,000</span></b><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfRI6qs_jQDhtrP6x2qjc2g5iijYk2Wfg664GBh0QD_gXN9tFo0q2Hvy8NhUDHiM_iyoUJ8W298C1bHBsznKfi-bmLlqlB5QtaOVIfEQqvJMpMNxMPI-dds3xQiA8NF181_fcpGm7vdCA/s1600/DC7971882_11_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfRI6qs_jQDhtrP6x2qjc2g5iijYk2Wfg664GBh0QD_gXN9tFo0q2Hvy8NhUDHiM_iyoUJ8W298C1bHBsznKfi-bmLlqlB5QtaOVIfEQqvJMpMNxMPI-dds3xQiA8NF181_fcpGm7vdCA/s400/DC7971882_11_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4qaV_XIK4rmkSyopqYPSfRbfYMu1BDdnM0SEutsbF66j5TX0sYJvDfT90a5lLXpWDwt0Oj-GCePUswppR5AhokiX-gWbgMxUaARkkpxfrljogFIdSRE4do1ahVoYPC7uk0lOa98bSV6h/s1600/DC7971882_16_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF4qaV_XIK4rmkSyopqYPSfRbfYMu1BDdnM0SEutsbF66j5TX0sYJvDfT90a5lLXpWDwt0Oj-GCePUswppR5AhokiX-gWbgMxUaARkkpxfrljogFIdSRE4do1ahVoYPC7uk0lOa98bSV6h/s400/DC7971882_16_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVxMSNpdZ2jJDtY0bFKZqcNGSu_ZoWl3Szwrnbun3moBq1r2YVxPF0AqNI5Kk6uVf3I0naYI_bz0k9xxpKRWRRYinu2ow3zIq6RVfrgpRPcUHJHe9-yvoeBCaRsasoAp7emKTNd3N_fH6/s1600/DC7971882_26_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijVxMSNpdZ2jJDtY0bFKZqcNGSu_ZoWl3Szwrnbun3moBq1r2YVxPF0AqNI5Kk6uVf3I0naYI_bz0k9xxpKRWRRYinu2ow3zIq6RVfrgpRPcUHJHe9-yvoeBCaRsasoAp7emKTNd3N_fH6/s400/DC7971882_26_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8wPQ22IO8YM2fYC4XAcllHSkI2PSwU6s0i3NrBSQfytGxoBNx5QmCTusbRpXUPXgpVLEmIwfesRO6FUvCsd4HD22-FF8FQzsJeyqD33Y1whDh7oY7VoxcPyodo6vm1J0U0LB-BfOMuRL/s1600/DC7971882_5_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8wPQ22IO8YM2fYC4XAcllHSkI2PSwU6s0i3NrBSQfytGxoBNx5QmCTusbRpXUPXgpVLEmIwfesRO6FUvCsd4HD22-FF8FQzsJeyqD33Y1whDh7oY7VoxcPyodo6vm1J0U0LB-BfOMuRL/s400/DC7971882_5_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKZ-vlgC4uYuujoGNX_NlC843RdxzPvb9Py7dOYtHbZEsELS7E2_7JmDIHwlkD8g1-PmXPSTDim8W0CleWMZDHDfUMWxAzCDnAhQgpbxiDJAED8RCufaFq4Iwg1QQxeDtY6qGpXMIKUiZ/s1600/DC7971882_7_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKZ-vlgC4uYuujoGNX_NlC843RdxzPvb9Py7dOYtHbZEsELS7E2_7JmDIHwlkD8g1-PmXPSTDim8W0CleWMZDHDfUMWxAzCDnAhQgpbxiDJAED8RCufaFq4Iwg1QQxeDtY6qGpXMIKUiZ/s400/DC7971882_7_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-68799116580871926532012-12-29T05:06:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.947-08:00Eat Stay Love: LEBANESE TAVERNAQ and A with Francisco Beltran and Angel Betancourt <br />by Beth Herman<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmpde2At4LS4ApUb2RKvbOXKdvoHiNDKmGbq7aeGx5EwfUBDFKbD6n1vRU7b6SeTSCPeWRMwAjxL7We4ycoQJUoeEZHco_elOkLtqrZFRn4z9V9sTwq1tcqN8pmJo0mu_9GpePS8T0qXb/s1600/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%285%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvmpde2At4LS4ApUb2RKvbOXKdvoHiNDKmGbq7aeGx5EwfUBDFKbD6n1vRU7b6SeTSCPeWRMwAjxL7We4ycoQJUoeEZHco_elOkLtqrZFRn4z9V9sTwq1tcqN8pmJo0mu_9GpePS8T0qXb/s400/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%285%29.jpg" width="400" /></a>Very much a family affair, the revered late 1980's-era Woodley Park Lebanese Taverna, 2641 Connecticut Avenue NW, is one of six restaurants, four cafe's and a market in the industrious Abi-Najm kin's epicurean gallery. Undergoing a complete demolition, Principal Francisco Beltran of <a href="http://www.designrepublica.com/">Design Republica</a> and project manager Angel Betancourt of <a href="http://www.pcs-gc.com/">Potomac Construction Services</a> reimagined the 165-seat, 4,300 s.f. space. <b><i>DCMud</i></b> spoke with Beltran - veteran of more than 100 restaurant designs - and Betancourt about the venue, which reopened in early November.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQA0vFuCQNMLAxdjvT7IhD2JjvsR21lZqISfy6tMx_BkOHO0WK_3m2Jmx2AKc8aIupuxI9bMdfQNDx9jojjx9ocCyo4t9R7jmxpYnFj3_2pUIHpAG0AUEpgPv8h7WvLYGdTUEqb4v19BnC/s1600/LT+Woodley+-+Before+Photo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQA0vFuCQNMLAxdjvT7IhD2JjvsR21lZqISfy6tMx_BkOHO0WK_3m2Jmx2AKc8aIupuxI9bMdfQNDx9jojjx9ocCyo4t9R7jmxpYnFj3_2pUIHpAG0AUEpgPv8h7WvLYGdTUEqb4v19BnC/s320/LT+Woodley+-+Before+Photo+4.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> From a general perspective, what did the renovation entail?<br /><b><br /></b><b>Betancourt:</b> It was a total demolition resulting in a more open feeling and contemporary design. <br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Did anything survive the former design?<br /><br /><b>Betancourt:</b> We did retain the cross-vaulted ceiling, though removed a lot of beams so the ceiling looks higher.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGiB9q3s9cxcybQuNJitKb3i8Q9MGmooCGVUs9RlPRswvfnDI7uZJu6bW1kNcszI2dzbdv1SSru32w0FN2lSkblOVhC3C800PXw-H87UJPh6FxlW97UFqvW8dFu9EN0bCR3faJGnHtumz/s1600/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%286%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGiB9q3s9cxcybQuNJitKb3i8Q9MGmooCGVUs9RlPRswvfnDI7uZJu6bW1kNcszI2dzbdv1SSru32w0FN2lSkblOVhC3C800PXw-H87UJPh6FxlW97UFqvW8dFu9EN0bCR3faJGnHtumz/s400/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%286%29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>Beltran:</b> The cross-vaults were something the family had invented back in '88, and that became the heart and soul of the restaurant. However previously, they'd had bulkheads that concealed air ducts and crossed the dining room horizontally that connected at points of the cross-vault. When we removed them, the illusion of a much grander ceiling, though it was already at 15.5 feet, was created. Removing the bulkheads gave a lot of verticality to the space as it's very linear and narrow.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud</b></i>:Was the space reconfigured in any way, and if so for what purposes?<br /><br /><b>Beltran:</b> The restaurant had taken over an adjacent space in the mid-90s, making it into the private dining room - but it had no connection to the front of the house and people felt they were not dining in the heart of the restaurant. In the new design that space became the kitchen, and the new private dining room was conceived as a part of the main dining room.<br /><br /><br /><b><i>DCMud: </i></b>There appears to be a lot of sumptuous custom mill and tilework.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8B5CefnWGmP4YSEHTX4IVtSlEZyNyIDZR-7I0Cfgp1Jil7UzaFDEj4uEq6qBgLcQbGiMt1AD6BJLdLzfp947p19yKrcEFUljpIijJkeAd9IFg06jsQuf7lU8B7vsqK9si5XqKFSadK-zB/s1600/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%281%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8B5CefnWGmP4YSEHTX4IVtSlEZyNyIDZR-7I0Cfgp1Jil7UzaFDEj4uEq6qBgLcQbGiMt1AD6BJLdLzfp947p19yKrcEFUljpIijJkeAd9IFg06jsQuf7lU8B7vsqK9si5XqKFSadK-zB/s400/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%281%29.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>Beltran:</b> The way we chose to finish the walls, floor surfaces and more was based on the Lebanese tradition of using hardwoods like walnut, much of which is reclaimed wood.Tabletops throughout are reclaimed walnut.<br /><br /><b></b>The main floor is assimilated wood plank flooring that's made of porcelain. It provides the illusion of warm hardwoods but is much more durable and non-slip. Custom concrete tile was used on the bar faces, and will be used on the storefront facade later on.<br /><br />Carpet tiles in the restaurant are recyclable and have an oversized print and more of an antique look, which gave a warmth and character to the main dining room.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYqz2zNkw_uCFEtxxvh_d_y7y1h5iwM3u_0ra8vFDbWNQMNft9xT-HqAaA0XdNtMLnYTw-4MBf4ES43UGXJS8v1ZhW_HmpzKkBa_WsCInOO1n8QRyyyp4aRlRhBi9sJLfhg_E5qNpRyy8/s1600/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%288%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYqz2zNkw_uCFEtxxvh_d_y7y1h5iwM3u_0ra8vFDbWNQMNft9xT-HqAaA0XdNtMLnYTw-4MBf4ES43UGXJS8v1ZhW_HmpzKkBa_WsCInOO1n8QRyyyp4aRlRhBi9sJLfhg_E5qNpRyy8/s400/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%288%29.jpg" width="400" /></a><b><i>DCMud: </i></b> The private dining room appears to be swaddled, if you will, for luxury and sound. <br /><b><br /></b><b>Beltran:</b> In that space, we used a floor-to-ceiling striping pattern where we alternated walnut hardwood planks in between 18-inch wide fabric panels, actually Homasote boards with batting, for dimension. We wrapped green tea leaf velvet fabric. All three major walls are encased in wood and velvet panels.<br /><br />In the other part of the restaurant, we used copper velvet fabric for the banquettes treated with Nanotech stainguarding. <br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Can you speak to the lighting?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8LUshwarZxdCBvSvbhRnLtMPah4QUgXdXe-AfcEjchBMU9aQaNBxJRBIokQtdy4CERl1KiXzAd-rpcXSV7FfO9mcSFypFr_0TkMAbXPSj_D2eyKxzC6s2jW2i1LePVrZTW5uyrULfKvf/s1600/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%287%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm8LUshwarZxdCBvSvbhRnLtMPah4QUgXdXe-AfcEjchBMU9aQaNBxJRBIokQtdy4CERl1KiXzAd-rpcXSV7FfO9mcSFypFr_0TkMAbXPSj_D2eyKxzC6s2jW2i1LePVrZTW5uyrULfKvf/s400/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%287%29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>Beltran:</b> All lighting is LED. Chandeliers were custom made in Egypt specifically for this project. The chandeliers in the wall that divide the private dining room from the main dining room are Moroccan lanterns that we find in most Lebanese Taverna restaurants.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Does the new restaurant resemble any of the others?<br /><br /><b>Beltran:</b> From the time I first starting working with the family, in 2000, it was clear they didn't want their spaces to look like anything cookie-cutter, or a franchise. Each restaurant is specifically designed and detailed within the community - each has a different look and feel. And it's always a team effort, as the family, chefs and staff are deeply involved. The food, service and friendliness may be the same, but the experience of the surroundings is completely different. And the family treats each restaurant like it's their only one.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud</b>:</i> More like Louis Sullivan's contextual architecture, perhaps.<br /><br /><b>Beltran:</b> Each speaks the language of its community or neighborhood. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqiAvljxPSWTShOg5wZlvER5Eh3GeJw8dGt5gX8JaAkJKd95VaENSVnL45LcuA9_OPIPxMjIH2BEBow-g-0ZtEvNzckZkryuw3MfFBuoYUplOqV-RFhwVMwWWHbdyQCmbJsivqK-egC4gz/s1600/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%289%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqiAvljxPSWTShOg5wZlvER5Eh3GeJw8dGt5gX8JaAkJKd95VaENSVnL45LcuA9_OPIPxMjIH2BEBow-g-0ZtEvNzckZkryuw3MfFBuoYUplOqV-RFhwVMwWWHbdyQCmbJsivqK-egC4gz/s400/Lebanese+Taverna+Potomac+Construction+Services+Restaurant+General+Contractor+After+%289%29.jpg" width="266" /></a><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> You began working for family in the restaurant business when you were 14 years old, something that evolved to later experiences with renowned chefs/restauranteurs Victorio Testa, Roberto Donna and others. Is your hospitality design work a strategic outcome of this?<br /><br /><b>Beltran</b>: I knew in junior high school I wanted to be an architect. Combining food and design was more of a coincidence, though, when the first architecture firm at which I worked did a restaurant. I said, 'I know all this,' so it was a natural blending and I never looked back. <br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Is there a particular D.C. building that has impacted you as an architect?<br /><br /><b>Beltran:</b> It has to be the Holocaust Museum. It's not so much the displays but the actual path through the building - the lighting. It's the way the walls enclose and direct you to experience the space - something very successful, very powerful and moving. I try and do that with my restaurants. I want to tell a story and give a different experience in any point of the restaurant - not just have it be one big open space where you see everything and know what it is. If you sit in different areas, they should evoke different feelings and emotions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-6735028369302402962012-12-28T08:55:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.946-08:00First Look at Parcel N at The Yards <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://goo.gl/maps/TZKqG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fwOE0R9v6bksCrcqpu7s30Qlo4mFzttJdudbX-ePGtF45zb58uvINdyzcrjVz8hwMwqA6k351__kJ2pQ1eBp4EQRc6V1zwap6juv59WDbWVWkEDNbyn8TLU1QJ9PZkbvDctJgx5eRNyK/s1600/map+DC.GIF" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvnGv_1Sw4PUCWarbz4qnAuyOviWTpC2P677VYyZd_dSptHADjUodDntuD1M5qMy_hHJ8r3JFU8fhkS1T8XOs7YFBCrVPho21wdRujd8OWNbV-ZNwxXKpRzrzQgkKUkRE02sjHakJxBFh/s1600/Water+street+looking+North+with+gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVvnGv_1Sw4PUCWarbz4qnAuyOviWTpC2P677VYyZd_dSptHADjUodDntuD1M5qMy_hHJ8r3JFU8fhkS1T8XOs7YFBCrVPho21wdRujd8OWNbV-ZNwxXKpRzrzQgkKUkRE02sjHakJxBFh/s400/Water+street+looking+North+with+gate.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Parcel N at The Yards. Image: Robert A.M. Stern</b></td></tr></tbody></table>New renderings have been released of "<a href="http://www.capitolriverfront.org/go/the-yards-phase-i-parcel-n">Parcel N</a>," one of two new apartment buildings planned for <a href="http://www.forestcity.net/offices/washington/Pages/default.aspx">Forest City Washington</a>'s <a href="http://www.dcyards.com/">The Yards</a> mega-development in DC's Capitol Riverfront neighborhood.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.ramsa.com/">Robert A.M. Stern</a> is the primary design architect on the "Parcel N" project, <a href="http://www.wdgarch.com/">WDG</a> is the architect of record. Planning for the building is still in the design stage, although architects said they expect permits for the 340,000 s.f. structure to be secured by May 2013, with a groundbreaking set for August of 2013, according to WDG.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6lon29Vy7RAkrMCKzBoeC0u22OgK7CbrjSpKbHVAflVEfSGboVHFO7q6T60oxnmrFA7TuA0CvRUImkyKVSp-BB87SardTlrSOdf-tox2_EbqiX8S53z7HSnvR9-SoWS2GgIbEdGjgaBI/s1600/NEW_water+street+looking+north+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6lon29Vy7RAkrMCKzBoeC0u22OgK7CbrjSpKbHVAflVEfSGboVHFO7q6T60oxnmrFA7TuA0CvRUImkyKVSp-BB87SardTlrSOdf-tox2_EbqiX8S53z7HSnvR9-SoWS2GgIbEdGjgaBI/s400/NEW_water+street+looking+north+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Parcel N at The Yards. Image: Robert A.M. Stern</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Forest City <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/10/vida-at-yards-officially.html">broke ground this summer</a> on the other project, "Parcel D", directly catty-corner to Parcel N. That building is being designed by <a href="http://www.sbaranes.com/">Shalom Baranes</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.capitolriverfront.org/go/the-yards-building-m">The Foundry Lofts</a>, a 170-unit adaptive re-use project and the first residential building in the group, completed last year. In June Forest City secured funding for an adaptive reuse project called The Lumber Shed, described as <a href="http://dcmud.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/lumber-shed-construction-at-the-yards-begins-this-week/comment-page-1/">the The Yards' "retail centerpiece"</a>. Another adaptive reuse of a century-old building into retail and restaurants, <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/10/today-in-pictures-boilermaker-shops.html">The Boilermaker Shops</a>, is set for opening this spring.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_U-La9chc_hDxX1qPKZlfPVlcKKcie5Vfnnxva5kBnoNQD7EsPV8Sxxvsad5EymCVBgo3Rn1KRCijQVoE7gPY3mxLe-IFJvFvRh5m5tdrUZLotuJYyyLJMGQuK52u_T69CfaWFPKN8Yi/s1600/Courtyard+Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_U-La9chc_hDxX1qPKZlfPVlcKKcie5Vfnnxva5kBnoNQD7EsPV8Sxxvsad5EymCVBgo3Rn1KRCijQVoE7gPY3mxLe-IFJvFvRh5m5tdrUZLotuJYyyLJMGQuK52u_T69CfaWFPKN8Yi/s400/Courtyard+Final.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Parcel N at The Yards. Image: Robert A.M. Stern</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Plans for parcel N include an 11-story, 325-unit building at 310 Tingey Street with ground floor retail, two courtyards, a rooftop pool, a small green roof, and a LEED target of gold.<br /><br /><b>Peter Garofalo</b>, architect with Robert A.M. Stern in New York, said the building's design references the area's industrial architectural tradition. There used to be an old foundry on the site, Garofalo said, but it was torn down in the 1970's.<br /><br />"What we are striving to do is build a building that references historical essences, but updates them in a playful and modern way and stitches those two vocabularies together..." Garofalo told <i>DCMud</i>. He said the design features glass on top of a traditional base. Materials include glass, concrete, and dark metals.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWeZCSXz3k9hemLmSvcx_nry8tURRktLG6NR_zhnxG4O_y-yD83tVmJZCY0T11kyTqyTEQVHTEPeJA-8ao0XY-Y5AViihUQ7RJ8jOLozBYxsNF1bPrcXSAB9Ey3Q2zvuqbGK09FnK0VsI/s1600/Entry+View.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWeZCSXz3k9hemLmSvcx_nry8tURRktLG6NR_zhnxG4O_y-yD83tVmJZCY0T11kyTqyTEQVHTEPeJA-8ao0XY-Y5AViihUQ7RJ8jOLozBYxsNF1bPrcXSAB9Ey3Q2zvuqbGK09FnK0VsI/s400/Entry+View.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Parcel N at The Yards. Image: Robert A.M. Stern</b></td></tr></tbody></table>Garofalo said the building's design also features a zig-zag pattern across the east face of the building. "That was done so that in the future, when the rest of the parcel is being built out, it will create diagonal views up and down 4th street for those residential units."<br /><br />Designers anticipate one and two-bedroom units that Garofalo called "standard DC-sized," and don't foresee any micro-units. "There is some debate about it, but I doubt that is going to be included," he said.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYKPmOCA_1Zh6IZlUJcOa9TbVWQ6Ms8DJJ6ERWLmYjzxBi1K3wqWclnW6am8svBQxB5NCIUrRdaCb5ciFgs8BEX7pbqajEBF1_9NQdv02FZFmZTYPzLaVsWsbyV59DWkHe9VYFB3otrcH/s1600/4th+street+south.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGYKPmOCA_1Zh6IZlUJcOa9TbVWQ6Ms8DJJ6ERWLmYjzxBi1K3wqWclnW6am8svBQxB5NCIUrRdaCb5ciFgs8BEX7pbqajEBF1_9NQdv02FZFmZTYPzLaVsWsbyV59DWkHe9VYFB3otrcH/s400/4th+street+south.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Parcel N at The Yards. Image: Robert A.M. Stern</b></td></tr></tbody></table><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Washington D.C. real estate development news</span></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-47233668942679607492012-12-28T01:13:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.928-08:00Your Next Place<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUl02P-yRy7r2f923AHjuSP-3eQla6VGNdsXuPNyK5nnO7U9DBiUrnJGHIahH-LyuCxA5zmyXPk7fYb-gwI1rMgrGPtNpiP7DRYl1ZjktJC7bruhd-FU02llsZm0MkpteLaTPxQkmLmTh/s1600/1435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUl02P-yRy7r2f923AHjuSP-3eQla6VGNdsXuPNyK5nnO7U9DBiUrnJGHIahH-LyuCxA5zmyXPk7fYb-gwI1rMgrGPtNpiP7DRYl1ZjktJC7bruhd-FU02llsZm0MkpteLaTPxQkmLmTh/s320/1435.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The awesome penthouse of a breathtaking boutique building, this unit is like a plum-sized diamond crazy-glued to the top of a grapefruit-sized ruby. A two-level masterpiece of a condo, this place has ceilings that are super high (insert your own "legalized marijuana" joke here), immaculate hardwood floors (if I ever become a male stripper, Immaculate Hardwood is going to be my stage name), and recessed lighting (uh ... I got nothing.). <br /><br />The designer kitchen sports stainless steel appliances, Silestone counters, and a breakfast bar that's perfect for flinging junk mail onto (no one eats breakfast anymore except for babies and retirees). Upstairs, are the bright, wide bedrooms, all of which have dramatic views. But the real highlight is the private rooftop terrace. If I lived in this place, I'd rent the indoor rooms out as storage compartments and just live out here all the time. With over six hundred square feet of patio space, you could probably land a helicopter out here, though there's a good chance it might collapse the roof. If you decide to try it out, make sure you tape it for me.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbddB_Oyr30jD3dkwC9yLgQe98ThkVIu0IsMMXBydZM9XhCnp0Ltc15e5GcL7IVWoc95sYO51tzgodoK6d7RhxOqQs-StdHc2jTrKUEznWURMctg9hKQuo-ajTMBpZBFK85UX9A-_vuz-/s1600/1435a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCbddB_Oyr30jD3dkwC9yLgQe98ThkVIu0IsMMXBydZM9XhCnp0Ltc15e5GcL7IVWoc95sYO51tzgodoK6d7RhxOqQs-StdHc2jTrKUEznWURMctg9hKQuo-ajTMBpZBFK85UX9A-_vuz-/s400/1435a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The building is only a block from Meridian Hill park, still the best place in the city to drift off to sleep on a blanket on a warm summer day and wake up to a homeless person frantically touching himself while looking at you through a gap in the hedges. (True story.) It's also right between two metro stations, so you can alternate between the two and make your morning commute, like, three percent less depressing. Hey, with the retirement age rising steadily (according to one study, the average 40 year old today won't be able to stop working until 18 to 24 months past physical death), every little bit counts. <br /><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>1435 Chapin Street NW 305</b></span><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>$650,000</b></span><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths</b></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdE_A0xYBSoBY0aphInIMFiu71NhUIlQTnKTjFQMym-wazcOEHvDTxjS4yBSAZiTgfbBUBt5bAWvH38fXXDuTkIOOaY3YYNaOoPYc1tc3iClefZTVhNNKTSWWKZmnGaMZkPIpGOuNIW4R/s1600/1435b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdE_A0xYBSoBY0aphInIMFiu71NhUIlQTnKTjFQMym-wazcOEHvDTxjS4yBSAZiTgfbBUBt5bAWvH38fXXDuTkIOOaY3YYNaOoPYc1tc3iClefZTVhNNKTSWWKZmnGaMZkPIpGOuNIW4R/s400/1435b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOGMRLWkBHbuWLUncg8VUCNL_Z8BSnSii4xPSsKowmGqG3wulucW7OExnxn_WsE8IKxyloW8jUP4WP-5P3bXEZwz37_kAhyZskXs29GhnDZcjLyzVewK2dH0edVvia28PCHFbDr59zQrC/s1600/1435c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPOGMRLWkBHbuWLUncg8VUCNL_Z8BSnSii4xPSsKowmGqG3wulucW7OExnxn_WsE8IKxyloW8jUP4WP-5P3bXEZwz37_kAhyZskXs29GhnDZcjLyzVewK2dH0edVvia28PCHFbDr59zQrC/s400/1435c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ69xJWAzWERff4VOSjHuaRPF8pAt5mvbfcJ11sM826Nw1Mw9v0uEOhaSBqgtzXSX1RZx5YPEYJWod6ZlHSRamN5BoTPiEJBrz-T4TXaAJCX3KrFW-Mx_-lqSqfHALRS0eeO59WD-RGiJd/s1600/1435d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ69xJWAzWERff4VOSjHuaRPF8pAt5mvbfcJ11sM826Nw1Mw9v0uEOhaSBqgtzXSX1RZx5YPEYJWod6ZlHSRamN5BoTPiEJBrz-T4TXaAJCX3KrFW-Mx_-lqSqfHALRS0eeO59WD-RGiJd/s400/1435d.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcsq5IDJOZJfSsLpT_s3CkzH-kiwu5ZFyPPr7l4mq5gttI_AICHxU3lMy7jXrhYS3HrR-phvtdXs4-cdA3Y4bsy7tugSYa5CtcHi5hBmHemgRSOoYwWF0_9iEzhdB0EP8pGVaBjVBzOR1/s1600/1435e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcsq5IDJOZJfSsLpT_s3CkzH-kiwu5ZFyPPr7l4mq5gttI_AICHxU3lMy7jXrhYS3HrR-phvtdXs4-cdA3Y4bsy7tugSYa5CtcHi5hBmHemgRSOoYwWF0_9iEzhdB0EP8pGVaBjVBzOR1/s320/1435e.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-90626906382548746422012-12-20T04:54:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:25.009-08:00Thoreau Slept Here<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJCtWt_bci04NY_ZjxK1e3e4Wn2AtFsvP9djQZkGACAvhJYEzGNEQ9WyqibUfzK7KLgY9SR77PpQ7596MHD5ZcqiJtU9tc7i6eeDNgpyE07VCwFPKY4ku3agHE3vIg7IkVgncm12FtbT9/s1600/26thPl-13_DSC5421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJCtWt_bci04NY_ZjxK1e3e4Wn2AtFsvP9djQZkGACAvhJYEzGNEQ9WyqibUfzK7KLgY9SR77PpQ7596MHD5ZcqiJtU9tc7i6eeDNgpyE07VCwFPKY4ku3agHE3vIg7IkVgncm12FtbT9/s400/26thPl-13_DSC5421.jpg" width="400" /></a>by Beth Herman <b> </b><br /><br /><br />In his quest for an unembellished life, transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau took to the woods with perhaps a not-so-novel battle cry. "Our life is frittered away by detail," he famously wrote. "Simplify. Simplify."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTyftJP7sLTDKA9bMbfE7zyTZ1Rqs7De0_ZnJr29assJGfMJA5XVxXRDpu707nydzdQptUsMFvlTGqAElyqBU-xasEB-KKWXwYqMfPTFwQ8TXAIWgh-URjl1Z3pczTBLHc7EWwy4nahVy/s1600/26thPl-09_DSC5385.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTyftJP7sLTDKA9bMbfE7zyTZ1Rqs7De0_ZnJr29assJGfMJA5XVxXRDpu707nydzdQptUsMFvlTGqAElyqBU-xasEB-KKWXwYqMfPTFwQ8TXAIWgh-URjl1Z3pczTBLHc7EWwy4nahVy/s400/26thPl-09_DSC5385.jpg" width="287" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGj-xRENHOZv1pGE1rm05tcqZFXE3rSJCHU_sWBcN9ivtF2vZlCd-e0C3QBe3z-ftfrSsWNpKgnqS7EPenhZzfSkrKlBkmUS5wPEVqRYvgCtsNl4Shsby0FcgKHjsle925_nqDgvYOvzYk/s1600/IMG_1212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGj-xRENHOZv1pGE1rm05tcqZFXE3rSJCHU_sWBcN9ivtF2vZlCd-e0C3QBe3z-ftfrSsWNpKgnqS7EPenhZzfSkrKlBkmUS5wPEVqRYvgCtsNl4Shsby0FcgKHjsle925_nqDgvYOvzYk/s200/IMG_1212.jpg" width="200" /></a>In their pursuit of a renovation and addition to a 1950s modern house that would reflect a Thoreau-esque aesthetic, and also court the abundance of mature trees around their Arlington, Virginia property, homeowners Jed and Marie joined forces with award-winning architect <a href="http://www.reve-studio.com/">Patrick Carter of Reve Design Studio</a> to achieve their goal.<br /><br />'The client had a 1 1/2-story house with a master suite, kitchen and living room on the first floor and a tiny hallway with two secondary bedrooms on the second," Carter said of the 1,666 s.f. residence. "It was an open floorplan and though not really a formal space, there were no informal places for the kids to play." At certain times of the year, it also provided a view of the D.C. skyline.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuejWeSvwJXjspS04lolbEUFkNch4qOA58-59s1YbgiSMqrglUp4sAS-aN7aU85TIEqmOBMbKm9nPnrBWltjb_bCUO-4uSMII7XaCzgROqTzE_W1f8tTu4NrqzRCCH8bqZwUD4YWOWyR42/s1600/26thPl-04.1.1_DSC5296-2+%281%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuejWeSvwJXjspS04lolbEUFkNch4qOA58-59s1YbgiSMqrglUp4sAS-aN7aU85TIEqmOBMbKm9nPnrBWltjb_bCUO-4uSMII7XaCzgROqTzE_W1f8tTu4NrqzRCCH8bqZwUD4YWOWyR42/s320/26thPl-04.1.1_DSC5296-2+%281%29.jpg" width="320" /></a>Parents of two young children, Jed grew up in a modern Michigan home designed and built by an architect father. Marie is a card-carrying minimalist, according to Carter, and creating a modern-minimalist residence for a growing family that tipped its hat (or roof slope) to nature was a tall architectural order.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-40XztYMG5XcJiLIRLLrEgR82rw7kzoI0Bu3RdjarLzQkfQX9opgSY9lN9cGWVY9AR06bzuwee6LyS9gzMPobsVXiD5hDC3QMBbhJhXoJdlLIrshIrUMadIGbQS54PHvIcRzNloqY1wHm/s1600/26thPl-04.2.1_DSC5294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-40XztYMG5XcJiLIRLLrEgR82rw7kzoI0Bu3RdjarLzQkfQX9opgSY9lN9cGWVY9AR06bzuwee6LyS9gzMPobsVXiD5hDC3QMBbhJhXoJdlLIrshIrUMadIGbQS54PHvIcRzNloqY1wHm/s320/26thPl-04.2.1_DSC5294.jpg" width="320" /></a>With a program to keep the master on the first floor and add 549 s.f. by reconfiguring the upstairs to maintain the two children's bedrooms, but add a family room, home office/music room (the family plays multiple instruments), and also retain a portion of the roof deck as a second floor balcony, Carter reached out to Mike Madden and John Page of Madden Corporation (construction) and Andrew Greene of Potomac Woodwork. A prodigious use of custom millwork came to define the new space, including a strong display of sandblasted rift-cut oak door panels between the family room and office/music room.<br /><br />"Sandblasting eats away at the soft grain and leaves a physical texture - not just a visual one," Carter explained. The result of a "tricky" treatment in the drywall, when the closet doors are closed there are five equal segments: two wood and three wall.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTMwu95ak8WlG4gcB9IG8Efsu_Z5fzl_5HsShCzKjXSsg7IE6q8xt4JrnQGpeWdUQRZEGLVTr-iLVGkDLxVWnaFeJO63DyYwqvuK6nm6d5BOUTe77BMcEVlq82Yc1S1SA5-QbUOZjRcx2/s1600/26thPl-07_DSC5355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNTMwu95ak8WlG4gcB9IG8Efsu_Z5fzl_5HsShCzKjXSsg7IE6q8xt4JrnQGpeWdUQRZEGLVTr-iLVGkDLxVWnaFeJO63DyYwqvuK6nm6d5BOUTe77BMcEVlq82Yc1S1SA5-QbUOZjRcx2/s320/26thPl-07_DSC5355.jpg" width="229" /></a>With the design driven largely by Marie's need to compartmentalize and eliminate clutter, the house, which had virtually no storage, received a series of ample closets with double doors in the new space. Keeping the rooms open, furnishings are sleek and spare, including designs by LeCorbussier, Marcel Bruer and Charles and Ray Eames. And because you're up in the trees, Carter explained, keeping a clean color palette was imperative to draw attention out to the home's exterior. To that end white oak flooring, originally found on the first level, is carried through upstairs, along with pristine white walls and ceiling.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyhYFnopLAK5E5AbKteCei4vnmWsRn-hoI3q_dx-ZeBLTxIttkeDScq5hVjVizE6WDSI55jC_UVR9T_6mVwck_lLvAqRPTNdiHDgyDatGs80_RdFjnOaQsHlLcsVSJdFe9UHY3qaGtCEN/s1600/26thPl-08_DSC5377.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguyhYFnopLAK5E5AbKteCei4vnmWsRn-hoI3q_dx-ZeBLTxIttkeDScq5hVjVizE6WDSI55jC_UVR9T_6mVwck_lLvAqRPTNdiHDgyDatGs80_RdFjnOaQsHlLcsVSJdFe9UHY3qaGtCEN/s400/26thPl-08_DSC5377.jpg" width="292" /></a><br /><b>Room with a view</b><br />"Because the house is on a hill in the woods, and there's no yard, having a way to be outside was important. We wanted to keep that outdoor space on the second floor," Carter said of the now Ipe-decked balcony with tongue-in-groove cedar ceiling, citing the tree house effect as a key design component. Double-paned, low-E floor-to-ceiling windows, operable at the bottom and at full length on the ends, give the effect of "stepping out into the trees," as does the bay that cantilevers out, extending beyond the building's main box envelope.<br /><br />With Jed an Air Force Academy graduate, the idea to represent the roof line as an inverted wing also provided the opportunity for a Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie-style moment inside the home. As the roof butterflies with the low point at the center of the house, the occupants' experience of the space is compressed, beginning with the 8-foot. ceiling height, and then swept up and out through the expansive glass, where the ceiling is 10 feet.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQ_tSfxsFGOzbHKSBkLY4MLIFjNkG2h6NEdBkBIoK8uauifOyv-eE6WvYtkcfvaiRi34StFRiyeRJaJjF9GCaLjZSHG_98nd4-2CEuVatqgNY39SH-UQpGwY3Uhc9hqiOen-RBC0NNe-z/s1600/26thPl-03_DSC253-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQ_tSfxsFGOzbHKSBkLY4MLIFjNkG2h6NEdBkBIoK8uauifOyv-eE6WvYtkcfvaiRi34StFRiyeRJaJjF9GCaLjZSHG_98nd4-2CEuVatqgNY39SH-UQpGwY3Uhc9hqiOen-RBC0NNe-z/s400/26thPl-03_DSC253-2.jpg" width="290" /></a>On the exterior, bronze accents and siding in muted green tones - specifically Benjamin Moore Nantucket Gray and Celery Salt - harmonize with the surrounding Evergreens and other arbors. Carter worked to preserve the existing 1950s brick and matched its natural-hued mortar with the exterior paint choices so not to create additional maintenance issues for the homeowners.<br /><br />Cable rails, creating an open and closed railing system, were a device to open up the outdoor space as much as possible. Though the house is in the woods, there are neighbors on either side and across the street. "It was a balance of privacy and openness, of taking advantage of the views and still allowing privacy if you're out on the deck," Carter explained.<br /><br /><b>Showing you the door</b><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiciwZDtqW4ArhGYmXKHx9ZaNDmzLuCHDL7D3XQa4zegjvBGZ2XyJB_Laqtm1Gv9zvxrzUMcxQx-FlwADrnyh4KVyitgg_Sog3u8Xd1Vg55uf2I1gF-FG3Z6EIq0e_XsGZQ_gbx9fcoXW/s1600/IMG_1215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKiciwZDtqW4ArhGYmXKHx9ZaNDmzLuCHDL7D3XQa4zegjvBGZ2XyJB_Laqtm1Gv9zvxrzUMcxQx-FlwADrnyh4KVyitgg_Sog3u8Xd1Vg55uf2I1gF-FG3Z6EIq0e_XsGZQ_gbx9fcoXW/s200/IMG_1215.jpg" width="200" /></a><br /><br />Recalling that the first time he went to the Arlington house a solid wall atop a brick wall prevented him from finding the front door, opening the front to engage the street was paramount for the architect. "It was a little foreboding and unapproachable," Carter said, identifying a rhythm of open and closed cable railing systems that now punctuate the building. <br /><br /><b>Seinfeld and I</b><br /><b><br /></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyrrMYjDYuEWPrvK1LeYJEtPCx9nbMrp_feCOpLQOXPpRpNa-3nnzdBkDjIqAHXZrJjBnZvzsawnsMMJPjjqWSbrvgrq4NiGasQoWTUIJpcQmWh9L8GWzspfi6j6vioDxpOEtDMp7WQwv/s1600/26thPl-06.1_DSC5331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyrrMYjDYuEWPrvK1LeYJEtPCx9nbMrp_feCOpLQOXPpRpNa-3nnzdBkDjIqAHXZrJjBnZvzsawnsMMJPjjqWSbrvgrq4NiGasQoWTUIJpcQmWh9L8GWzspfi6j6vioDxpOEtDMp7WQwv/s400/26thPl-06.1_DSC5331.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>With a nod to the episode where Jerry's new girlfriend, a victim of capricious lighting, looked alternately angelic and haggard, Carter's lighting tenets include horizontal lighting as opposed to direct, overhead, which he firmly eschews. "Some architects tend to fill a room with recessed lights, somewhere in the middle, which is not always flattering when they shine down on you," he explained, adding the key is to light the room's perimeter so it bounces off the walls for a gentler result.<br /><br />Delving into his architecture philosophy, the professed closet Frederick Law Olmsted said the way he thinks about work is in terms of something "subtractive.<br /><br />"A lot of architects think about design as additive," he explained. "They say you're creating a building on the land, so you're adding something to it. But when I get into design, it's a lot like pushing and pulling of volumes so you're breaking the box - carving out spaces. In this project you see it on the front porch and how it works with the bay window above above that protrudes. On the second floor the deck is recessed."<br /><br />Citing a personal mantra and phrase, "levels of 'insidedness'," as a student Carter recalls an architecture professor who told him a door is more than a hole in the wall. "It's all about approach and that level of 'insidedness,'" he affirmed. "Are you inside when you climb the stairs to the front porch? Are you inside when you cross the threshold of that beam and column? What about when you're covered but then you take a step to the right and you're not? Architecture is about creating a progression - a series of stills." <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDcP9Dt8XE_e_8jcNfGuTyiSMY-BNbeByiQTYOW1zFEZ81DQ3A9sD6_TtNpY1_42BjJy2COCw9gqtVbNDmb1aKttA-5yrOvf8lBg8OTludljj4nSha03tSk2wCHimFzMSuoF4Vdl6uKEU/s1600/AR_EXIST_02publish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBDcP9Dt8XE_e_8jcNfGuTyiSMY-BNbeByiQTYOW1zFEZ81DQ3A9sD6_TtNpY1_42BjJy2COCw9gqtVbNDmb1aKttA-5yrOvf8lBg8OTludljj4nSha03tSk2wCHimFzMSuoF4Vdl6uKEU/s200/AR_EXIST_02publish.jpg" width="154" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYXMY8ImX9Gic5l4o4uJQByKtn69YbZRTWKzi4DGhHQqr5T86PrYFiN3hi6l6wxKqVgFArse4Hkla79hwUYQsIS1H8D00YjOgf8uh2EAzViuCdWzWt7mb4rOk0apWZVFiKXuuCj2kDzHg/s1600/AR_NEW_02publish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirYXMY8ImX9Gic5l4o4uJQByKtn69YbZRTWKzi4DGhHQqr5T86PrYFiN3hi6l6wxKqVgFArse4Hkla79hwUYQsIS1H8D00YjOgf8uh2EAzViuCdWzWt7mb4rOk0apWZVFiKXuuCj2kDzHg/s200/AR_NEW_02publish.jpg" width="154" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos courtesy of Paul Burk</span></i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-90618352448434366732012-12-18T11:45:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:25.007-08:0010 Questions with ... Jim Graham<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnv5QZrIKXGzR-rtMTXoCcDGhwuS8ShGiHRfx0sdu1g7sfwikdIPY8B0uPBfGwFfEqZNGbbvxi-lzmYi3EO4Lqc7XVNpd1JaSc73C9QQYz9aCrK6mcHk7Za8Nk4QGy1WEEs5YEvxu9rs0I/s1600/graham.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnv5QZrIKXGzR-rtMTXoCcDGhwuS8ShGiHRfx0sdu1g7sfwikdIPY8B0uPBfGwFfEqZNGbbvxi-lzmYi3EO4Lqc7XVNpd1JaSc73C9QQYz9aCrK6mcHk7Za8Nk4QGy1WEEs5YEvxu9rs0I/s320/graham.jpg" width="320" /></a>From his leadership at the Whitman-Walker clinic through the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, to his days teaching at GW and Georgetown Law, to his work on the City Council, Jim Graham has been one of the most influential - and thanks to his trademark glasses and bow ties, most recognizable - pillars of DC cultural life for going on four decades.<br /><br /><b>1. What's a typical weekday for you?</b><br /><br />Start emails at about 7:30 AM, work until 8 or 9 PM<br /><br /><b>2. What or who is your biggest influence?</b><br /><br />Prayer <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmn22vc4zstWyXhH-5Koog4BmLFd2SeJzFXv5HHtUdCXdT2w3xidQBDhi80GcmTLeBaHKZk85t-Qwovo5ZC9G51wKA_PrQ5JU5BernP5OMwqb1Vhyphenhyphenq54POMyO4dwp5OMJM3MFCDZ61oml1/s1600/admo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmn22vc4zstWyXhH-5Koog4BmLFd2SeJzFXv5HHtUdCXdT2w3xidQBDhi80GcmTLeBaHKZk85t-Qwovo5ZC9G51wKA_PrQ5JU5BernP5OMwqb1Vhyphenhyphenq54POMyO4dwp5OMJM3MFCDZ61oml1/s200/admo.jpeg" width="200" /></a> <br /><b>3. What neighborhood do you live in?</b><br /> <br />Adams Morgan<br /><br /><b>4. What is your biggest DC pet peeve?</b><br /> <br />Gum chewing and ballpoint pen clicking<br /><br /><b>5. What is the #1 most played song on your iPod?</b><br /> <br />(1) "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," from "Dreamgirls." (Jennifer Hudson) <br />(2) "Jesus Is The Best Thing," Rev. James Cleveland<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexVSjztM5EWS4CD4CNyh5SI9Naab7kkAh4ppspmaxvdqUeFXj-7h2Mnaa3XT_iJ1cJn56LAM-M0E1kCisFhm-8VGg7kjP4jLD6Oj-v03qpwlnAuctfhXpSp4iDg6RLOe3kJvSJz74OFjQ/s1600/bens.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjexVSjztM5EWS4CD4CNyh5SI9Naab7kkAh4ppspmaxvdqUeFXj-7h2Mnaa3XT_iJ1cJn56LAM-M0E1kCisFhm-8VGg7kjP4jLD6Oj-v03qpwlnAuctfhXpSp4iDg6RLOe3kJvSJz74OFjQ/s200/bens.JPG" width="200" /></a>(3) "Symphony No. 5," Gustav Mahler<br /><br /><b>6. Favorite DC haunt?</b><br /> <br />Ben’s Chili Bowl <br /> <br /><b>7. What's your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?</b><br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UlOU6GXoCcTYqXhczkDhO6Ikv6HhqVWpZUkDiA4ZjidDba1MaUY6VOGfdhCNUE31lgchmDuRUbZkrFtnKUJU0R7QN3UDrMpzWpad66i5brxvwau3FFt07HQ1La9S1VRomLSURfsMrQk7/s1600/havana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2UlOU6GXoCcTYqXhczkDhO6Ikv6HhqVWpZUkDiA4ZjidDba1MaUY6VOGfdhCNUE31lgchmDuRUbZkrFtnKUJU0R7QN3UDrMpzWpad66i5brxvwau3FFt07HQ1La9S1VRomLSURfsMrQk7/s200/havana.jpg" width="200" /></a>Rest<br /><br /><b>8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?</b><br /> <br />Havana<br /><br /><b>9. If you couldn't be a councilman, what would you be?</b><br /> <br />Law professor<br /><br /><b>10. Name one thing most people don't know about you.</b><br /> <br />I am a naturalized citizen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-23018999203727302132012-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.912-08:00Your Next Place<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCISdSYyr6d0oYog7tD6jvE0cxVKg9K-B_cVFRXwxpf7UA1X1DLcc0402FWxSPC-HVxgvYYkaS1585nBfnETBPx2xQ6lVXf79U6L3Z13bh4ussxAtRv-2iVqKqv0RTF4tVYuLjQebmhDX/s1600/1177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuCISdSYyr6d0oYog7tD6jvE0cxVKg9K-B_cVFRXwxpf7UA1X1DLcc0402FWxSPC-HVxgvYYkaS1585nBfnETBPx2xQ6lVXf79U6L3Z13bh4ussxAtRv-2iVqKqv0RTF4tVYuLjQebmhDX/s320/1177.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This corner duplex in the exclusive steel-and-glass tower of 22 West is one of the finest units in a building full of very fine units. You enter into a long, swanky foyer; I like a foyer, as it gives you a little half-beat to transition from "out there" to "in here." Like if you go to a party at a place with a foyer you can do that thing where you pretend to be taking off your coat or whatever but you're actually just dawdling and asking the host in hushed tones, "is my ex here yet? How do they look? Bad? How bad? Like 'they should get their apartment tested for radon gas' bad? God, that makes me happy."<br /><br />Farther in, you enter the stunning lofted two-story-tall living room that opens onto a private garden (!). Though the <i>pied a terre</i> is somewhat common in high-end New York places, you rarely see this sort of thing in DC. (In that way it's similar to European models, and non-Dad jeans.) The gourmet kitchen counters are nonstop Carrera marble, thus insuring you'll end up standing helplessly puzzled in the middle of the kitchen several times a week, because putting dirty dishes on Carrera marble is just insane. There's even a guest bedroom on the main level that also opens onto the private garden, so when your friends visit you can really subtly rub their faces in your success. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhznJTiodUWmk_TPma25kwlTxyzomyVyba1aHRY5cu9w-GHi3_xeVV8nh84gZo6A6vJ_aTDmvdFF70LX5A4-vf1mQRxTOoiP7hiKZvJ_XJtYCwBMRIVuXr9MG2pwdsiq1Z6PkmV3cejrXW1/s1600/1177a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhznJTiodUWmk_TPma25kwlTxyzomyVyba1aHRY5cu9w-GHi3_xeVV8nh84gZo6A6vJ_aTDmvdFF70LX5A4-vf1mQRxTOoiP7hiKZvJ_XJtYCwBMRIVuXr9MG2pwdsiq1Z6PkmV3cejrXW1/s400/1177a.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Upstairs, the lofted second level features a truly luxurious master bedroom suite, with its own small living room area and a huge, Vegas-style bathroom. If this was your bedroom, you could absolutely never have to go downstairs except to get more ice once in a while and sarcastically ask your teenage children, as they play Xbox and sext their peers, "haven't you moved out yet?" There's a separate gated entrance, so you can avoid the requisite stop-and-chats with the other tenants (can't put a price on that), and a rooftop pool for the building's use where you can go and ogle your neighbors' stretch marks and wonder how THAT sleazy-looking guy can afford to live in the building. (He can't; it's me, and I've snuck in just to use the pool. Go ahead and rat me out, but if you ever want to sell your place and have an open house, I'll write that I came and saw a four-inch-long silverfish in the kitchen.)<br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">1177 22nd Street Northwest #1-A</span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">$1,589,000</span><br /><span style="color: #999999;">2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths</span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMxQF8RvcW8lLAg31YqS6TOK2iCBjCIRQzSEqg6GpVT6PK6xTXWeR6SJS34QL8V56DOVCiuhpEkHveyw8oflQZHr_AmH1FIL8hfGMUBmXg_SoX78ql8Z4VnNseNhaxnQoo-60BUHBt8i1/s1600/1177b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHMxQF8RvcW8lLAg31YqS6TOK2iCBjCIRQzSEqg6GpVT6PK6xTXWeR6SJS34QL8V56DOVCiuhpEkHveyw8oflQZHr_AmH1FIL8hfGMUBmXg_SoX78ql8Z4VnNseNhaxnQoo-60BUHBt8i1/s400/1177b.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRlREP3f8uupHZroTL9i-aOsJEoiL2eQN8B4AeRZoQTyvTG8VOMBjHdM5DGVkG9Xh2hAONC90p_lEwydDAiifXaNFXl2J27CdsEzuzC_5_y5bQZ5M9Sg8XNSd1OW_gyUjPwhjwRA6jTtC/s1600/1177c.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRlREP3f8uupHZroTL9i-aOsJEoiL2eQN8B4AeRZoQTyvTG8VOMBjHdM5DGVkG9Xh2hAONC90p_lEwydDAiifXaNFXl2J27CdsEzuzC_5_y5bQZ5M9Sg8XNSd1OW_gyUjPwhjwRA6jTtC/s400/1177c.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUj9HYI2J4NKLvRZaaRMiHVrMXHdSEq7n-O2hHloKkIwnqrjcseCtoISydf7BuEb3vp8yX-Xvd50zcrB1mXxNiOj4e9UyMNB9skmKy0mCqxJDrxff1LLmh7n0HMJt49ZS1eNF4pYSlcSn/s1600/1177d.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxUj9HYI2J4NKLvRZaaRMiHVrMXHdSEq7n-O2hHloKkIwnqrjcseCtoISydf7BuEb3vp8yX-Xvd50zcrB1mXxNiOj4e9UyMNB9skmKy0mCqxJDrxff1LLmh7n0HMJt49ZS1eNF4pYSlcSn/s400/1177d.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjia4SKIIEdPknx84gwSAESY4iN2BnuUd-FqmqYnbBtI3EsUDL0KvyeiufPJ-PHCi_8SsdLDk0J6YAkJ_ZmVRa7JJPSWUpy0zBJGcqLtjJF3yzMMqzlWMPgetyW6mHq2vyBMZXQkBh9ye-T/s1600/1177e.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjia4SKIIEdPknx84gwSAESY4iN2BnuUd-FqmqYnbBtI3EsUDL0KvyeiufPJ-PHCi_8SsdLDk0J6YAkJ_ZmVRa7JJPSWUpy0zBJGcqLtjJF3yzMMqzlWMPgetyW6mHq2vyBMZXQkBh9ye-T/s400/1177e.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-51280211190411112152012-12-14T08:36:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.932-08:00JBG's 13th and U Street Project Moving Forward--But Sans Hotel<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208425919838980728969.00047ce235cb97ec7f914&msa=0" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkbw5dBrwsSNOFn3qN9ZAdxfDXRywshJEy7D5h9m8UXsuNSEX5Wd8OnwyWLWKthbsx-QN4YdOLN5BZZAbXmCObwp03QgicTMYGQy-vT80QmtGpUlGVeWXXBoC4ehmzzYEs8ZPuAaHrFo/s1600/Map+DC+gif.GIF" /></a><a href="http://www.jbg.com/">JBG</a> launched <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2009/03/jbg-lays-out-plans-for-u-street-hotel.html">big plans</a> for a <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2011/03/13th-street-hotel-signs-of-life.html">U Street hotel</a> sometime around 2007 that have been percolating ever since. But now that the hotel idea has been scrapped, plans to build an apartment building on the site have picked up speed and construction may begin as early as next summer.<br /><br />The hotel idea was tossed out in early 2012. In its place at the corner of 13th and U streets will be a <a href="http://www.13thandu.com/">large residential building</a> designed by <a href="http://www.dmsas.com/">David M. Schwarz Architects</a> that will hold around 138 units and include ground floor retail. After many months of community meetings, JBG finally submitted a PUD to the Zoning Commission in September; earlier this week, the commission held an initial hearing action and deemed the project ready for a public meeting. That will probably occur in early March 2013. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyTM2-4IGPBbbjtCJGbjdDssuO7EW65dvBfRqokg1D1U0igSzWYXW9fwxR9eCeBws1MPZjCJZFP6jKYRn6JdY41NGloyVv_A3LZaK5od5RhqFsa_AEchxjxlWUY6_OcP25K5XnHZQxk4/s1600/full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyTM2-4IGPBbbjtCJGbjdDssuO7EW65dvBfRqokg1D1U0igSzWYXW9fwxR9eCeBws1MPZjCJZFP6jKYRn6JdY41NGloyVv_A3LZaK5od5RhqFsa_AEchxjxlWUY6_OcP25K5XnHZQxk4/s320/full.jpg" width="320" /></a>It’s been a very long road that’s nowhere near done. A first round of meetings earlier in the year with the <a href="http://ustreet-dc.org/">U Street Neighborhood Association</a>, ANC 1B’s design committee, and the full ANC led to the developers making some substantial adjustments to the eight-story building: its height was lowered to 86 feet, the seventh and eighth floors were set back by 5-6 feet, and plans for a rooftop pool were eliminated in response to neighbors’ concerns about noise.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUb6wr8W6mQEDaBFsSYR7s3XLvNCdLI0aMLpedQKIbktlCIIcaNpx4lVF1g2P8rNyhd1SzlaoQHfSjwHHqWyoGJf9IDnfz0vyap2fLnKyPrUUFxCf5CUaUI1GoapErF-IdqVoOAbdJhku/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-14+at+11.29.04+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUb6wr8W6mQEDaBFsSYR7s3XLvNCdLI0aMLpedQKIbktlCIIcaNpx4lVF1g2P8rNyhd1SzlaoQHfSjwHHqWyoGJf9IDnfz0vyap2fLnKyPrUUFxCf5CUaUI1GoapErF-IdqVoOAbdJhku/s400/Screen+shot+2012-12-14+at+11.29.04+AM.png" width="400" /></a>That was the plan delineated in the PUD. Once the basics of the building’s shape and contents were worked out, JBG representatives met with neighborhood groups again to discuss the project’s design elements. Those have also been fully approved by the community, and an initial hearing with the Historic Preservation Review Board is scheduled for next Thursday. <br /><br />As for design, the project won’t need to incorporate any historic facades; the site is currently home to a bland, low-slung strip that holds a Rite-Aid and a Pizza Hut. “But we do need to design a building that’s in context with the historic neighborhood,” said Leary. The resulting design is a classical-style building that led one zoning commission member to remark on the building’s unusually ‘historicist’ look. That was intentional, explained JBG reps, who said that Schwarz has gone to great lengths to look at precedents in the neighborhood and incorporate them so that the building looks as though it's been there for years.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HcXHnpiM6-guNmAEdb8LjuADy4UKNRVfMdAP88R3eldwLbttUMRVALmFG3wJGWErUqoeU6ZBvkf4ESuSgqXCowzMyX942yhXgwBjxV_fKMyKbOKmfwDSpXzg5Das0JuwgGoBr_C_tjM/s1600/sw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HcXHnpiM6-guNmAEdb8LjuADy4UKNRVfMdAP88R3eldwLbttUMRVALmFG3wJGWErUqoeU6ZBvkf4ESuSgqXCowzMyX942yhXgwBjxV_fKMyKbOKmfwDSpXzg5Das0JuwgGoBr_C_tjM/s400/sw.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />All of the units—a mix of one- and two-bedrooms—will most likely be rentals and will include 12 affordable units that fulfill the District’s inclusionary zoning requirement. At an average of 970 square feet, the units will be a bit bigger than those typically found in new high-rise buildings. “We’re serving a different market—more of a mature renter-by-choice who wants to stay in place,” said <b>James Nozar</b>, a development manager for JBG. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkyM9xvYVqqJ7fO_7M9qCur5LYdqN7hQOR3BX8UFsZLh0EW22SDxQ5vDG4EoIyUwJ1h9dD5ZhRb1S-HafMq65M_c6vtMu84XGGJ_I7WF_QxjXeuRwS6fThqS2zZyckmQAg9N7dKJWOWo/s1600/nw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGkyM9xvYVqqJ7fO_7M9qCur5LYdqN7hQOR3BX8UFsZLh0EW22SDxQ5vDG4EoIyUwJ1h9dD5ZhRb1S-HafMq65M_c6vtMu84XGGJ_I7WF_QxjXeuRwS6fThqS2zZyckmQAg9N7dKJWOWo/s320/nw.jpg" width="320" /></a>As far as retail goes, the company hasn’t decided on the exact balance yet. So the only element fully in place is the Rite-Aid, which will return to its corner spot after construction is finished. <br /><br />Some of the meetings that occurred this year between JBG and the neighborhood were an effort to determine the project’s community benefits package. In the end, the PUD submission contained a general clause that JBG would contribute $600,000 for amenities like streetscape improvements, alternative transportation options such as Capital Bikeshare or Zipcars, establishment of a business improvement district, and school or recreation programs. Exactly how the funding will break down will become clearer once the zoning commission's public hearing occurs. <br /><br />JBG reps say a mid-2013 groundbreaking is possible, but construction is more likely to begin in the third quarter of next year. <br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Washington D.C. real estate development news</span></i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-89775227470874842182012-12-13T07:48:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:25.006-08:00DC's Massive Pipeline Project Being Rethought<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB0xIhRAe7FZ6-ZslQbS85ewFEscKNMsmIXpoBaR2e51iHkXudgWWDDj-uoBy-lNDupAsAoT6nDd9uW3n56ZlD9uyJJcaQVlPpNyv8LM2GOIy76nb6x53GzC_5XMYKX9zZZme5lgqu-oy/s1600/DC_watersheds_Image_DCWater.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKB0xIhRAe7FZ6-ZslQbS85ewFEscKNMsmIXpoBaR2e51iHkXudgWWDDj-uoBy-lNDupAsAoT6nDd9uW3n56ZlD9uyJJcaQVlPpNyv8LM2GOIy76nb6x53GzC_5XMYKX9zZZme5lgqu-oy/s320/DC_watersheds_Image_DCWater.JPG" width="237" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Area watersheds. Image: DC Water</td></tr></tbody></table>Billions of dollars in spending set aside for a massive pipeline project to keep polluted DC water out of area waters could get delayed and re-channeled to more decentralized infrastructure like rain gardens, rainwater harvesting, trees and rain barrels - that is, if DC's independent water authority gets its way.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqP5dQ4bCGGcwG4i4txexD-Az4dcrpdfa2mz0cMXQ_0xcdHV4Up7Q4dUBnQKoHBYB8f_blB8qzvPpFalacodeaRLmznkCFJKXRMof_Q2XrdlwxMQV0s6JiavGrVBEJgld64j8x3OajwbPQ/s1600/map+DC.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqP5dQ4bCGGcwG4i4txexD-Az4dcrpdfa2mz0cMXQ_0xcdHV4Up7Q4dUBnQKoHBYB8f_blB8qzvPpFalacodeaRLmznkCFJKXRMof_Q2XrdlwxMQV0s6JiavGrVBEJgld64j8x3OajwbPQ/s1600/map+DC.GIF" /></a>The sea change in the city's 20-year timeline for cleaning up area rivers will happen only if DC Water can <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/site_archive/news/press_release522.cfm">renegotiate a 2005 federal decree</a> to build the full tunnel system. That consent decree from the Environmental Protection Agency emerged out of a lawsuit over DC's management of runoff in which several environmental groups were plaintiffs.<br /><br />A decision on the future flow of the city's $4.6 billion <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/workzones/projects/cleanrivers.cfm">Clean Rivers Project</a> could come in the next week or so, a spokeswoman with the city's water authority, <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dcwater.com%2F&ei=T07GUN7VIu-00QGai4DQDA&usg=AFQjCNGKtFa8Y4gFxdTf_ZFEHQsQk7qVBQ&sig2=oMnQyiODVBGO9GAePLpIQw">The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority</a>, or DC Water, told <i>DCMud</i> this week. <br /><br />"It might shift to a more green solution, or it might be a hybrid of the two: green and gray," DC Water spokeswoman <b>Pamela Mooring</b> told <i>DCMud</i>. Green infrastructure, here, refers to infrastructure that absorbs or uses water before it enters the sewer system in the first place. Gray solutions refer to engineering to deal with runoff after it happens - in this case, a massive tunnel infrastructure project to build underground storage tanks for overflow.<br /><br />The water authority is making efforts to re-focus the Clean Rivers Project for an eight-year pilot <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/education/lowimpact.cfm">"Low-Impact Development"</a> program. The proposal could emphasize infrastructure like rain barrels and rain gardens instead of pipes that have been the mainstay of water channelling. DC Water says that approach - if it proves successful - could render two future pipelines, planned to keep run-off out of the Rock Creek and Potomac waters, obsolete, possibly saving millions of dollars. It notes that other cities including Kansas City and St. Louis have already experimented with similar versions of green infrastructure.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvDv_9qHfkQ6NZJBHA6j5sBxrZ-0AZeOAOOLAJ0VmlohhCPEZhEg7erpN1piWCShkhXIHpnVYEI95_1NZcArmk6XqwSttG7X1-tU-aMR2u2rwnXhSwYvNGgbngWANTAqSO7WULwso2e97/s1600/6195395411_db95631b24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCvDv_9qHfkQ6NZJBHA6j5sBxrZ-0AZeOAOOLAJ0VmlohhCPEZhEg7erpN1piWCShkhXIHpnVYEI95_1NZcArmk6XqwSttG7X1-tU-aMR2u2rwnXhSwYvNGgbngWANTAqSO7WULwso2e97/s320/6195395411_db95631b24.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Plains Treatment Plant. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcwaterandsewerauthority/sets/72157627657690531/">Image: DC Water</a></td></tr></tbody></table>DC Water says revising the plan could <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/education/lowimpact.cfm">save rate-payers</a> millions of dollars and slash $120 from the monthly water bill increases forecast by the end of the decade.<br /><br /><b>Old System, Old Problem </b><br /><br />Regardless, consensus holds that the city must do something about its dirty water problem. About one third of DC's water system was built in the 1800's, before pipe systems separated storm water, or run-off from non-permeable surfaces, from sewage. That part of the system is called a combined sewer system (CSS), and when heavy rains like those from Hurricane Sandy hit the low-lying city, the CSS can't handle all the water and dumps it - along with sewage - into area watersheds, <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/wastewater_collection/css/watershedissues.cfm">reducing water oxygen levels and killing wildlife</a> at <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/wastewater_collection/css/default.cfm">53 documented places</a>.<br /><br />A portion of the pipeline system planned for the Anacostia River is already under construction. In 2011, DC Water awarded a <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/site_archive/news/press_release506.cfm">$330 million contract</a> to a joint proposal from <a href="http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/skanska-in-winning-team-for-330m-tunnel-contract">Traylor brothers-Skanska-JayDee (TSJD)</a> to build the first part of the system. The pipe, 23 feet in diameter, would be laid 100 feet underground and extend 12,500 feet <a href="http://www.dcwater.com/site_archive/news/press_release522.cfm">from southwest DC, along the Potomac and under the Anacostia</a> to about RFK Stadium. Slated for completion in January, 2018, the massive system will hold dirty water from the CSS until it can be piped to the Blue Plains Treatment Plant for processing in dryer weather. Of the scale of the project, DC Water General Manager <b>George Hawkins</b> called it "absolutely huge." "The machine our teams will use to build these tunnels is the size of a football field," and needs to be assembled underground.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbh7hceM3Yki7HE90qoUeng6T6eJGu6kMdaX1irXPFS1PsNXgEgI051iTh1n4clqwi-4AT6DBsZd_cj8K4_6uZq_omygfD78vTQYOsLihKoVh0jgsRFxbmZrCI-3UbXTJG32yNisW5lUd/s1600/A9nBeTPCEAEKEMU.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBbh7hceM3Yki7HE90qoUeng6T6eJGu6kMdaX1irXPFS1PsNXgEgI051iTh1n4clqwi-4AT6DBsZd_cj8K4_6uZq_omygfD78vTQYOsLihKoVh0jgsRFxbmZrCI-3UbXTJG32yNisW5lUd/s320/A9nBeTPCEAEKEMU.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image: courtesy Mike Bolinder, <a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" data-user-id="167154696" href="https://twitter.com/AnacostiaRrkper">@AnacostiaRrkper on Twitter</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Riparian Repair - "Not a Zero Sum Game"</b><br /><br />Although he supports a low-impact development approach, Anacostia Riverkeeper <b>Mike Bolinder</b> said it's an approach that he supports in combination with the full, planned tunnel system. "In general I love the idea of green infrastructure, but there is a consent decree in place."<br /><br />Bolinder said yearly sewage overflow into all three DC watersheds amounts to 2.5 billion gallons.<br /><br />On the money question, Bolinder said the CSS under the city was built in the time of Abraham Lincoln, so it makes sense that replacing it will cost some money. There is also the cost of maintaining and monitoring the efficacy of low-impact development. "If they don't maintain rain gardens, they stop retaining stormwater," Bolinder said. "Then we have the same system that we had beforehand, with a couple of rain gardens."<br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Washington D.C. real estate development news</span></i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-21812724223301682522012-12-13T04:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.910-08:00Morning Real Estate Fix<a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/17051/52-years-late-rockville-will-be-whole-again/">Rockville town square to be redeveloped, finally</a> (<i>Greater Greater Washington</i>) Years after the rest of Rockville saw development take hold, and after many failed attempts, the gaping hole in the center is finally about to see its own construction.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/foreclosure-starts-lowest-since-2006-2012-12-12?siteid=rss">Foreclosures starts lowest since 2006</a> (<i>Wall Street Journal</i>) Foreclosure starts in November were 13% below October, for the lowest monthly start in 6 years.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/286869.aspx">Mortgage rates up after Fed announcement</a> (<i>Mortgage News Daily</i>) A slight shift in the way the FRB approaches monetary policy played out as jittery banks raised rates slightly.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=6400">Davis Brody Bond digs in at St. Elizabeths</a> (<i>Architects Newspaper</i>) The architectural firm, chosen to build the St. Elizabeths pavilion, has created a subtle design for the historic property.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-68874978230448073972012-12-12T07:25:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.948-08:00Arlington Adds Affordable Housing to Columbia Pike<a href="http://goo.gl/maps/2X3p5" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODECIDBmVy_vnUB1aao76OZ83JeyAgbl2LqX0kjbyAnZpRiYVRTjlR7IHhU5KZLEHq2TIv5o02GH_Cr8DHvsdj_1_qIgX5txhG30pitUOjntmaA8Qwq23ga66qy-_xp3kvunRmSHNXf2i/s1600/map+VA.GIF" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAvdGUy4Bsa4RYsU_1_rUcRZPgvfMu62Hce3VDAeB7lvaKPj8e03iV8VvjMO0qo34usQ_f5Juo3gixA7bpsV6x37MxaNXytyMNY_qlY41eYrKBe5msFyxr60WQ-vpj3gUmsqR1hrgD_u0/s1600/shell2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAvdGUy4Bsa4RYsU_1_rUcRZPgvfMu62Hce3VDAeB7lvaKPj8e03iV8VvjMO0qo34usQ_f5Juo3gixA7bpsV6x37MxaNXytyMNY_qlY41eYrKBe5msFyxr60WQ-vpj3gUmsqR1hrgD_u0/s320/shell2.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />An 83-unit mixed-use affordable housing complex built on the site of a Shell gas station in Arlington is set to break ground early next year, according to developer <a href="http://www.ahcinc.org/index.html">AHC, Inc</a>. <br /><br />"We're scheduled to start construction on February 1" said <b>John Welsh</b>, <b>Vice President of the Multifamily Division</b> at AHC, Inc. "And we plan to have the building done in eighteen months."<br /><br />The $13 million, six-story building is designed by <a href="http://cunninghamquill.com/">Cunningham + Quill Architects</a> and will include ground floor retail space and two levels of below-grade parking. The building is designed around a central courtyard, and the retail space faces Columbia Pike. Plans call for the building to be built on two adjacent parcels - one at 870 South Greenbrier, largely a surface parking lot and undeveloped scrubland, and one at 5511 Columbia Pike, the former site of the Shell station. Though that parcel did require environmental remediation - mostly the excavation and removal of contaminated soil - Welsh says that the previous owner handled it before selling to AHC.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAS_xNxACNlmApa7qmAOMlJ7hTXZ6yyNrBvsiiktjrfZkz6biuq2YvWnWAKSMw2EYdHdtlSx2ZrhqahmQf2GbHTw-nhrUW_OrNVHy_8n87wxH9uTDKWYUSP5o7AMA2wmZTcZKzbfIIed33/s1600/Shell+Rendering.TIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAS_xNxACNlmApa7qmAOMlJ7hTXZ6yyNrBvsiiktjrfZkz6biuq2YvWnWAKSMw2EYdHdtlSx2ZrhqahmQf2GbHTw-nhrUW_OrNVHy_8n87wxH9uTDKWYUSP5o7AMA2wmZTcZKzbfIIed33/s400/Shell+Rendering.TIF" width="400" /></a></div><br />The <a href="http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Arlington-Approves-Affordable-Housing-Plan-142195565.html">project will be funded</a>, in part, by a $6 million loan from the Arlington County Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF), and AHC's Multifamily Revolving Loan Fund, which consists of federally-funded Community Development Block Grants. According to reports, 19 dwellings will be affordable to families making 50% of the AMI ($53,750 for a family of four), with the remaining 64 dwellings affordable to families earning 60% of the AMI ($64,500 for a family of four).<br /><br />No word yet on who might occupy the retail space. "Tiffany's turned us down," said Welsh, when asked about potential tenants. "Just kidding."<br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Arlington, Virginia real estate development news</span></i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-54163936606320974292012-12-12T04:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.934-08:00Morning Real Estate Fix<a href="http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/vacant_apartment_petworth_to_be_converted_into_15-unit_condo/6419">15-unit apartment in Petworth to become condo </a>(<i>Urban Turf</i>) 4226 7th Street to become the latest condo conversion, by owner Goldstar Group.<br /><br /><a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/17050/whats-in-the-zoning-update-fewer-parking-minimums/">What's in the zoning update? Fewer parking minimums</a> (<i>Greater Greater Washington</i>) Changes to the planned zoning update will remove some parking minimums for certain smaller projects and for downtown.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bethesdanow.com/2012/12/10/residents-at-odds-with-planning-staff-on-bethesda-development/">Bethesda residents balk at 7 story apartment project downtown</a> (<i>BethesdaNow.com</i>) The West Lane project has been criticized by neighbors as too tall for the area, despite being surrounded by taller projects.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.jdland.com/dc/index.cfm/3782/Sale-of-70-I-Street-Apartment-Building-Completed-for-$165.7M/">70 I Street, SE, sells for $165m</a> (<i>JD Land</i>) The building was one of three originally built by JPI as part of its Capitol Yards project.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.fanniemae.com/portal/about-us/media/corporate-news/2012/5897.html">National Housing Survey results</a> (<i>Fannie Mae</i>) Things are improving in the housing market - at least as measured by consumer confidence.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-79603850593839555442012-12-11T12:16:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.999-08:00Phase One of Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment All but Approved by Zoning Commission<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208425919838980728969.0004cc1053d42e2dc6a91&msa=0" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtukrJnEUVdcqb3NYEUIS9bpJ75VT8YuU7iUjXg_Pow5GsTL8NWXv9NKtwnyy9tHIiSh8X1Q4Tssihpz9K76INxXTi6yqvX_Y9EDO0cOFScxYcNI5xClZQEr-ambm4qasuYsTpqT-fDmw/s1600/Map+DC+gif.GIF" /></a>Last night, the massive redevelopment of Southwest’s waterfront inched a couple of notches closer to reality. DC’s Zoning Commission held a proposed action hearing for the project’s first phase, approving information that had been newly submitted and asking no follow-up questions. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmUsKP1YOdfZYFh1J4s0J1PWe0r8vY7FOOPMnGXXtfwVj50bcDI_b5hIM0Lp2eDcPi4wpOskOGclI7ZWVLjM25u5reDSPqSQHV5_9NQ5Cl2RmRv6JIE_jS4K3MB8uvIOvobLbSdcLmy8/s1600/wharffff2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYmUsKP1YOdfZYFh1J4s0J1PWe0r8vY7FOOPMnGXXtfwVj50bcDI_b5hIM0Lp2eDcPi4wpOskOGclI7ZWVLjM25u5reDSPqSQHV5_9NQ5Cl2RmRv6JIE_jS4K3MB8uvIOvobLbSdcLmy8/s320/wharffff2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>That sets up the $1.5 billion project, technically titled <a href="http://www.swdcwaterfront.com/">The Wharf</a> and comprising 3.2 million square feet in total, for a final action hearing next month, which at this point should largely be a formality. After that, developers <a href="http://www.pnhoffman.com/">PN Hoffman</a> and <a href="http://www.madisonmarquette.com/">Madison Marquette</a> will be in the clear to begin applying for permits and seeking construction financing. <br /><br />This was a very short, perfunctory hearing. On November 14, the commission approved three out of the development’s four parcels for the <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/02/hoffman-madison-details-second-stage.html">second stage of the PUD process</a>, which examines public benefits, architecture and design (the first stage, which looks at height, density and zoning issues, was approved late last year). <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2ApV7DUqN_tLP0DiI4X_eJx2VtoR60FoRNuKt6B_T-b1Xsj1q_32XO1A9hJl_AGxiQLzU2eSkSmiNn7wm1vMjZ83mlHFFlKrXitJFmx_7QgGqbhSzX7J5j81IK1H6D5pftj2PyKEq_0/s1600/Shot+of+Pier+and+Offices.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2ApV7DUqN_tLP0DiI4X_eJx2VtoR60FoRNuKt6B_T-b1Xsj1q_32XO1A9hJl_AGxiQLzU2eSkSmiNn7wm1vMjZ83mlHFFlKrXitJFmx_7QgGqbhSzX7J5j81IK1H6D5pftj2PyKEq_0/s320/Shot+of+Pier+and+Offices.png" width="320" /></a></div>But the members had questions regarding the last parcel; most prominently, they worried that the residential building on 6th Street lacked direct entrances and looked unusually stark. In response, the developers changed the facades, pushing the residential building back five feet in order to allow for direct entry by residents. <br /><br />“This is a significant improvement,” said <b>Commissioner May</b>, who’d expressed concern at last month’s meeting. “I’m pleased with this result.” The commissioners had no other questions. <br /><br />That means all four parcels, each of which contains one or two buildings, have been approved—“knock on wood,” said <b>Shawn Seaman</b>, a PN Hoffman principal and project director for the development. The team has a lot to accomplish in the next few months, and the estimated start date has been pushed back a few months from earlier predictions. “We’re looking at a groundbreaking early in the second quarter of 2013,” said Seaman. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL8rR_kC0FYNAv0dQUeSm4GvxArV3MHV-hWDNGgOu50ZDSfBKIVgIaoamvsiFjrCfCzSJsTfT5rWePpQfDVwXm5FoOQbtwYW8Mb7UwQFKxJjjRTFgCYBcVM4c8LYpwnQmT2NUFPZCc36o/s1600/Retail+Street+Level+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL8rR_kC0FYNAv0dQUeSm4GvxArV3MHV-hWDNGgOu50ZDSfBKIVgIaoamvsiFjrCfCzSJsTfT5rWePpQfDVwXm5FoOQbtwYW8Mb7UwQFKxJjjRTFgCYBcVM4c8LYpwnQmT2NUFPZCc36o/s320/Retail+Street+Level+.png" width="320" /></a></div>This first phase of development will eventually bring 1.5 million square feet of retail, residential, hotel and office space to the area, along with four piers and several open spaces, including a three‐acre waterfront park. The Hoffman-Madison team sees the project as eventually matching internationally-known destinations like San Francisco's Embarcadero and <a href="http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/">Pike Place Market</a> in Seattle.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Washington, D.C., real estate development news</i></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-64819145686181707632012-12-11T08:21:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.943-08:00The Shaw Shine RedemptionQ and A with Suzane Reatig <b> </b><br />by Beth Herman <br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1glcnrE_EVo3Ks53PU0E6x6ElmXCOml5jHqNZclMWNQypkVZKkZhCq7ujwvGnfQiQ0wHGbnbKGQvWKT3UbIlvazZB_5oNRmi74JGPQGHlPuaBa2LOBbEkihQRP0qdJPevVQiuPjKpzFpT/s1600/2011AK14_101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1glcnrE_EVo3Ks53PU0E6x6ElmXCOml5jHqNZclMWNQypkVZKkZhCq7ujwvGnfQiQ0wHGbnbKGQvWKT3UbIlvazZB_5oNRmi74JGPQGHlPuaBa2LOBbEkihQRP0qdJPevVQiuPjKpzFpT/s400/2011AK14_101.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>Heralded for her consistent redesign and accruing revitalization of D.C.'s deteriorating Shaw neighborhood, where she practices architecture, Israeli-born and Technion-educated Suzane Reatig of <a href="http://www.reatig.com/">Suzane Reatig Architecture</a> continues to shine a tenacious light on Shaw's blighted blocks. Moving to Maryland during the 1975 recession, Reatig toiled for two years as a carpenter before finding work for various architectural firms, finally posting her own shingle in 1989. While her award-winning buildings are considered affordable as opposed to luxury designs, they are tantamount to the latter in many respects and celebrated for their exuberant facades, spare spatial qualities and prodigious use of natural light and air. <i>DCMud</i> spoke with Reatig about her latest multifamily project in Shaw. <br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> What is the genesis of the 623 M Street building, your eighth building in 20 years in Shaw, which we understand didn't start as a housing project at all.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJM8UcpTnp7K0ZToxEqIqMsLsqg3PjJ8dQX3TpllXae4O_Wrw5FSZlVxbBABuJket7pAmyuI6AF-0Hvr66Tp0gp9PBjDubrAQTpkPV6pXDIIyNTXeMUF1vdqhcWPZna3t0bTO-RGS0Fos/s1600/Picture+015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJM8UcpTnp7K0ZToxEqIqMsLsqg3PjJ8dQX3TpllXae4O_Wrw5FSZlVxbBABuJket7pAmyuI6AF-0Hvr66Tp0gp9PBjDubrAQTpkPV6pXDIIyNTXeMUF1vdqhcWPZna3t0bTO-RGS0Fos/s320/Picture+015.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Reatig:</b> The existing building with eight apartments was in terrible shape, next to a church. The occupants were elderly, and they could walk to the church, though the building had a lot of exterior steps which made it hard for them. The client, with whom I'd worked on another project, asked me to design a ramp. It really didn't make sense because there were also stairs inside the building these people would have to negotiate on their way to the ramp. I was able to convince the client that something more drastic was needed: a new building.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> But how did that work in terms of displacing an elderly group of residents - even temporarily?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXxbF3S08fxIl62gOLnjYwh4JQeB4vwvjwpsnYM-xfcq1JQRFLI6hOsAtf6bBtJrMc6Ua_FSYI7iJ6i-wHoBH77aQbundNq9oSrt3GrHAVJGRIyMNrxqu56gcJs7X2TfVYw7faApArVRF/s1600/2011AK14_106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKXxbF3S08fxIl62gOLnjYwh4JQeB4vwvjwpsnYM-xfcq1JQRFLI6hOsAtf6bBtJrMc6Ua_FSYI7iJ6i-wHoBH77aQbundNq9oSrt3GrHAVJGRIyMNrxqu56gcJs7X2TfVYw7faApArVRF/s400/2011AK14_106.jpg" width="300" /></a><b>Reatig:</b> I was doing another building for the client on 7th Street and told him we would have some of the units accommodate these people for a while. Then we could bring them back. Interestingly, some of them loved the other building so much, they let us know they were going to stay.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Did this alter the M Street design in any way?<br /><br /><b><i>Reatig:</i></b> When we realized the elderly residents were not coming back, we added a mezzanine (with staircases) to three top floor units, making them larger and fancier. These could be rented at market rate and there were nine units in all.<br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> What about the site itself, which we understand was a real challenge?<br /><br /><b>Reatig:</b> We were dealing with only a 4,700 s.f. site, including building and parking, and all the zoning regulations. But we achieved the design, in three stories, with an elevator though it was no longer critical in terms of the residents' needs. The exterior is concrete and has brightly-colored panels.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UqcoVYw6KIADB3UMD4esqH7t8MMHIbmCGFPXHPffV1lW-5QcbEOJ1xWM511CGwTnGosDJVL2SEa7yunIp_7rHW6Ug4YNRx7J-tOUKK74KEBJGFw-lkYiLVWcCXdLOVi1opLmYzSe0lms/s1600/623M_Plan1_2_colors+%281%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UqcoVYw6KIADB3UMD4esqH7t8MMHIbmCGFPXHPffV1lW-5QcbEOJ1xWM511CGwTnGosDJVL2SEa7yunIp_7rHW6Ug4YNRx7J-tOUKK74KEBJGFw-lkYiLVWcCXdLOVi1opLmYzSe0lms/s400/623M_Plan1_2_colors+%281%29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Can you explain the absence of wood in this design, and perhaps in some of your other projects.<br /><br /><b>Reatig:</b> We could have built it like you build houses, but it's an urban design, so for noise and fire safety purposes we do it the way highrises are built.<br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Some may say there's an absence of sustainable elements in the M Street building, but you have other ideas about that.<br /><br /><b>Reatig:</b> To build sustainably, you want to build something that will stand a long time and that people will want to use. It's not about LEED points but rather if it's built well, it will endure and people will continue to be comfortable living there.<br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Tell us about the interiors, with your signature focus on light and ventilation.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXm1BeoXoFLHBhB-Drw2TCtcLNzE_xGpYoPfaywHCDkqeysZFEOOIDbCEmTJqMjEqha6Y26zFqgBNEcsVHUYbOUgbf0gt4VHwKc2k6JJwMXkySJtpD7zFs5uACsEtYvctcBiZJ7TmsxZL_/s1600/2011AK14_111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXm1BeoXoFLHBhB-Drw2TCtcLNzE_xGpYoPfaywHCDkqeysZFEOOIDbCEmTJqMjEqha6Y26zFqgBNEcsVHUYbOUgbf0gt4VHwKc2k6JJwMXkySJtpD7zFs5uACsEtYvctcBiZJ7TmsxZL_/s400/2011AK14_111.jpg" width="300" /></a><b>Reatig:</b> The lower six units are one bedroom, 800 s.f. The top floor (three units) are 900 s.f. with the mezzanines, and a roof deck. Some apartments have three exposures so they are more like a house. Glass is low-E with a mix of fixed and operable windows. The units have cross-ventilation. There are exposed polished concrete floors.When they were marketed, they rented immediately. I've said before that whenever we design housing, we do something we would want to live in.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjIiGpOLai3lQIvAXN4BMvYZUZqvzADB88Vu69HPZrNEePVc_B2PuaTLOBSnOIdYvkwz1erV1zZVlaxRTdGY_YQaVbIkSWPphCUEVzXzXuqzKaOthjCBmMTVpoQWG8T1PpfEmrAdlOVjX/s1600/2011AK14_102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjIiGpOLai3lQIvAXN4BMvYZUZqvzADB88Vu69HPZrNEePVc_B2PuaTLOBSnOIdYvkwz1erV1zZVlaxRTdGY_YQaVbIkSWPphCUEVzXzXuqzKaOthjCBmMTVpoQWG8T1PpfEmrAdlOVjX/s400/2011AK14_102.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><b><i>DCMud: </i></b>You have spoken a great deal in the past of infill architecture, like this building on M Street. So how does it reflect the neighborhood vernacular?<br /><br /><b>Reatig:</b> Actually it's very different than the surrounding buildings, which are very old and a brown brick - very monotone. We have a building that is cheerful and makes people smile. You can always see the light inside and lots of color.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> In what ways does your considerable stint as a carpenter in the '70s affect your work today?<br /><br /><b>Reatig:</b> It gives me something important in terms of understanding materials as we don't always consider how things are built. I also have a great appreciation for these people who do the work. I always tell the contractor that as architects, we do a small portion of the work. They are the ones who build and are much more important than us, though the teamwork is also very important.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrtEOFQhk0jkClWhTswgO7qybG_D4Ma1pWVRVFdNO1h27XTf35lZozn9E9JlfZqgEaL71CkavtNZUI3o5nPTYoDL_DSR9-JVKNxZdcdeOizJjbOABx1qHHkJrZRn6249pn62AUIYFmyNp/s1600/2011AK14_104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGrtEOFQhk0jkClWhTswgO7qybG_D4Ma1pWVRVFdNO1h27XTf35lZozn9E9JlfZqgEaL71CkavtNZUI3o5nPTYoDL_DSR9-JVKNxZdcdeOizJjbOABx1qHHkJrZRn6249pn62AUIYFmyNp/s320/2011AK14_104.jpg" width="240" /></a><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> Speaking of a city that thrives on teamwork, is there a particular D.C. site that appeals to you?<br /><br /><b>Reatig:</b> There are a lot of buildings I love in D.C. like the Corcoran and I.M. Pei's National Gallery. I love buildings like the Freer that have courtyards. The Portrait Gallery enclosed theirs in glass, but I loved it when it was open and you could sit there with fountains and trees. It was lovely - a real oasis.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Photos courtesy of Alan Karchmer. </i></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-43750690182087674332012-12-11T04:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.923-08:00Morning Real Estate Fix<a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/design/2012/12/10-techniques-making-cities-more-walkable/4047/">10 ways to make cities more walkable</a> (<i>Atlantic Cities</i>) There are many steps a city can take to change the way it allocates space - and the inherent preferences given to cars.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greysteelnews.blogspot.com/">Greysteel brokers sale of 1702 16th Street</a> (<i>Greysteel</i>) The boutique building sold for $1.6m for seller Kerner Development.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/12/why-denser-cities-are-smarter-and-more-productive/4049/">Why denser cities are smarter and more productive</a> (<i>Atlantic Cities</i>) As DC considers raising height limits, does it matter that adding more people will likely improve DC economically, and make it a more interesting place?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/where-we-live/post/november-home-sales-in-washington-dc-region-were-better-than-expected/2012/12/07/68b636ca-40b6-11e2-a2d9-822f58ac9fd5_blog.html?utm_source=NEWSLINE+%7C+December+10%2C+2012&utm_campaign=GCAAR+Newsline+12-10-12&utm_medium=email">November home sales in DC better than expected</a> (<i>Washington Post</i>) While sales are up, listing of new homes is down, and inventory shrinking, which will likely put pressure on median prices.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.multihousingnews.com/news/bozzuto-construction-company-reveals-four-new-projects-totaling-107m/1004067177.html">Bozzuto announces new projects</a> (<i>Multi Housing News</i>) Bozzuto Construction announces contracts for the new projects that total more than $100m.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/109592--oxford-properties-in-joint-venture-to-develop-washington-d-c-office-building">Oxford to join Gould at 900 New York Ave</a> (<i>Canadian Business</i>) Canadian-based Oxford Properties Group will join Gould as a 50% partner in the <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/09/two-megabuildings-downtown-in-pipeline.html">planned office building</a> downtown.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-87148900588727430712012-12-10T07:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:25.003-08:00National Women's History Museum Taking Steps Toward Mall Site<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgMtQZfLt4fciw85zLgvemIOa130NWw5kQ7GZ3w-V7Tckx05O9JaQoR4vNVTl9vIzdQUEfvXCtWiELJQWCrzuxmC4coHYPbT7MFX6NOw0PLLHmWWs2AZqoydd1yT2bLlZ7fuyBFdt5dM/s1600/Map+DC+gif.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgMtQZfLt4fciw85zLgvemIOa130NWw5kQ7GZ3w-V7Tckx05O9JaQoR4vNVTl9vIzdQUEfvXCtWiELJQWCrzuxmC4coHYPbT7MFX6NOw0PLLHmWWs2AZqoydd1yT2bLlZ7fuyBFdt5dM/s1600/Map+DC+gif.GIF" /></a></div>If another year is approaching, it must be time for considering another museum on the Mall. Considering that a <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2010/09/smithsonians-new-museum-of-african.html">museum dedicated to African Americans</a> is currently rising on the Mall's front yard, <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2010/05/martin-luther-king-memorial-taking.html">Martin Luther King</a> got one, <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/03/debate-over-eisenhower-memorial.html">Eisenhower's</a> is on the way, and <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2010/07/museums-on-mall-latinos-throw-their-hat.html">Latinos are vying for one</a> as well, why not a women’s history museum? There is a coalition of folks who’ve been agitating for just that since 1996. Having built a comprehensive <a href="http://www.nwhm.org/">website</a> and an administrative office in Alexandria, little by little, they’re making some headway in moving to DC’s federal heart.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOgQqLSKVhhigoRHDjUhq_WwQDKW0qp0AxuBKbN1AoHFb7ft9wh4Xuvj-k_koHmTJzPNSYDMCfUIEi_Z2526SqPBPhQMoSAaIxFf4e3p3WR22Iy6LUUvJ_XKq_kIPgfFNgQCRppU0Wbo/s1600/mall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwOgQqLSKVhhigoRHDjUhq_WwQDKW0qp0AxuBKbN1AoHFb7ft9wh4Xuvj-k_koHmTJzPNSYDMCfUIEi_Z2526SqPBPhQMoSAaIxFf4e3p3WR22Iy6LUUvJ_XKq_kIPgfFNgQCRppU0Wbo/s320/mall.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>In mid-September, legislation to establish a commission that would identify a site for a National Women's History Museum was introduced in Congress, sponsored by <b>Rep. Carolyn Maloney</b> (D-NY) and <b>Sen. Susan Collins</b> (R-ME). It’s a relatively small step, but a crucial one if the museum is to be directly on the Mall, the organization’s goal. <br /><br />“We previously had legislation that did identify a site, but it then came on our radar that there’s another site on the National Mall,” explained <b>Joan Wages</b>, the museum’s president and CEO. “To consider that site, we need Congress to form a commission to study this.” Of course, she admits, “getting something through Congress is a major hurdle. But we’re working with Maloney and Collins’ staff now to see if there’s any way we could get something through the lame duck session or during the first part of next year.” <br /><br />Wages declined to describe the plot she and the museum’s board have identified, though she did say it’s located on the south side of the Mall. According to <b>Carol Johnson</b>, a spokeswoman for the National Parks Service, the Mall is currently considered "a finished work of art"--publicity about the African American museum touts it as getting the last available spot on the Mall--but that can be overriden by Congress. <br /><br />The originally-proposed site was at 12th and Independence Avenue, across from the Freer Gallery, but was less than ideal: the spot has a road running directly through it, requiring a building to arch over the roadway and mandating a number of tricky permits. <br /><br />Eventual plans are fairly ambitious. The concept, said Wages, would be “a world class museum—I think we’d be looking at 200,000 square feet and up.” As for content, she laughed. “There’s hundreds of years of women’s history. I think there’ll be plenty to put in there.” <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yLXMtNcZ11UqEj-15lZ-QQgraAkPjVDHx3fPApDI-7ZH4X3XqUH-RTlO8t7uaYPi2xUacZYTEh5VvzuNh8A_Ft4_yNuNhST686QB6k-Dt6_WYeMYW3Y0Cqww-DBf8qmYKiljQXtQ7lc/s1600/rosie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4yLXMtNcZ11UqEj-15lZ-QQgraAkPjVDHx3fPApDI-7ZH4X3XqUH-RTlO8t7uaYPi2xUacZYTEh5VvzuNh8A_Ft4_yNuNhST686QB6k-Dt6_WYeMYW3Y0Cqww-DBf8qmYKiljQXtQ7lc/s320/rosie.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>But a permanent structure is clearly quite a ways off. For now, the group is gathering support; the organization already has over 50,000 charter members, according to Wages, and almost 50 national organizations representing more than 8 million people have signed on. <br /><br />Supporters are also closely watching other museums’ strategies; after all, the African American museum also started out as a grassroots movement that took decades to reach fruition. <br /><br />In the meantime, museum staff are building out the website, which is currently running 22 virtual exhibits about women’s history, such as “First but not the Last: Women who Ran for President.” There’s no shortage of topics, said Wages, adding, “Women’s history is virtually left out of history textbooks today.”<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Washington, D.C., real estate development news</i></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-62486430283945593792012-12-10T04:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.940-08:00Morning Real Estate Fix<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/former-mayor-williams-pushes-for-public-private-partnerships-for-dc-infrastructure/2012/12/07/dbd69d64-3efb-11e2-bca3-aadc9b7e29c5_story.html">Former Mayor Williams pushes for DC infrastructure partnership</a> (<i>Washington Post</i>) Taking a page out of Chicago's book, Anthony Williams calls for a public-private partnership to build DC infrastructure.<br /><br /><a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/17006/whats-in-the-zoning-update-accessory-dwellings/">Examining DC's zoning update: accessory dwellings</a> (<i>Greater Greater Washington</i>) A place for guests or nannies is a good idea in a market that once had plenty of such space, but now is lacking in non-traditional homes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/revisiting-dc-building-heights-law-is-a-win-win/2012/12/06/2e82c68e-38e7-11e2-a263-f0ebffed2f15_story.html">Revisiting DC's Height Act is a win-win</a> (<i>Washington Post</i>) The recent call by Congress to revisit DC's building heights, at least in areas that don't affect the downtown core, make sense.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/consumer_rates/286226.aspx">Mortgage rates rise on heels of last month's employment report</a> (<i>Mortgage News Daily</i>) Though the rise in jobs was modest, mortgage rates seemed to rise on the heels of the higher-than-expected jobs numbers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-75184330373446190072012-12-08T06:38:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.953-08:00Your Next Place<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfP1YWEQEO1N4ZV3edkrhdttMciZxd6voSrhA88K9sH68zLoiw1mG4wKYesyINY9tqWZ1deRMUrMWcAjtID-fCe_8WSqevUOkOykd8tZ0YZZcCvra9xk9YXBjjmGkT62GnP3jBJTwWblN/s1600/7035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnfP1YWEQEO1N4ZV3edkrhdttMciZxd6voSrhA88K9sH68zLoiw1mG4wKYesyINY9tqWZ1deRMUrMWcAjtID-fCe_8WSqevUOkOykd8tZ0YZZcCvra9xk9YXBjjmGkT62GnP3jBJTwWblN/s320/7035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This fresh new build in Chevy Chase is 7300 square feet of pure undiluted luxury, or approximately one square foot for every time I muttered "I knew I should've gone to law school," as I glanced covetously around during the open house. From the moment you walk through the imposing double front doors, you know you're entering a very special place, sort of like when you down that eighth shot of tequila. The house seems even huger from the inside, with a double-height entryway leading into a number of high-ceilinged, wide-open rooms. The great room features a majestic Porcelanosa wall that you could totally rappel down if you were trying to impress your guests, or were just really stupid. The kitchen is just massive, with a marble-topped island that features a gourmet chef's range, and the best in high-end appliances. <br /><br />Upstairs, the master bath sports one of those rainwater showers that simulates being homeless and bathing in the rain (just kidding, I love these showers), and a jacuzzi tub that I would've come back and stolen later that night, if I owned a crane. There's also an exercise room and a sauna. If I had a sauna in my own home, I'd use it so much I'd look like a lank-haired pink raisin. Also, if you're single, just imagine the power of being able to say, at closing time, "hey, after hours party in my private in-home sauna?" And finally, there's a heated three car garage, so you can rest easy at night, knowing your vehicles are toasty and warm.<br /><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;">7035 Wyndale Street NW</span><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;">6 Bedrooms, 8 Baths</span><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;">$1,949,000</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacHYu28Gaav4il-zFK2SWieBNoka2bQ-cDDllU996jgNqDyMtNsjEbds19lXyAOmQDxCGB_dwjf4tL_fax1Fpl49EoqHKL9xulaR6s2OQUfm41Al7QiCpn2a9Fc6j2RoUKzbp2J8Zb6kR/s1600/7035a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacHYu28Gaav4il-zFK2SWieBNoka2bQ-cDDllU996jgNqDyMtNsjEbds19lXyAOmQDxCGB_dwjf4tL_fax1Fpl49EoqHKL9xulaR6s2OQUfm41Al7QiCpn2a9Fc6j2RoUKzbp2J8Zb6kR/s400/7035a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldgG4StD6w0kp9z0PW4DzfDI9cnPhoBWBUW9m4UkMt3yA_oD7MtDPe6Qo7AuFVRZSlbt0ZsmGrkuBe79PHVomHqxiRnyJe-2rzNZlwj1MdF-gSoeK5M-UZOMMNT_QDN-vWYarUDPSn35X/s1600/7035b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldgG4StD6w0kp9z0PW4DzfDI9cnPhoBWBUW9m4UkMt3yA_oD7MtDPe6Qo7AuFVRZSlbt0ZsmGrkuBe79PHVomHqxiRnyJe-2rzNZlwj1MdF-gSoeK5M-UZOMMNT_QDN-vWYarUDPSn35X/s640/7035b.jpg" width="433" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCl_r4Log5sl28tdrI18YWOpXFQrOgiazrttWT0E_DtXuvdadliWwmQ53IHNWfsCgYcG3ot3re6FF9qK4SNtSXVFLlzDHt_0DpiNsZEMsNeW2ZNOEqlNuwUpD5dFSWcNmlc3_pbV9CzY0/s1600/7035c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCl_r4Log5sl28tdrI18YWOpXFQrOgiazrttWT0E_DtXuvdadliWwmQ53IHNWfsCgYcG3ot3re6FF9qK4SNtSXVFLlzDHt_0DpiNsZEMsNeW2ZNOEqlNuwUpD5dFSWcNmlc3_pbV9CzY0/s400/7035c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIhO7MGCFljBPPFDol5BaT3CJWOXNlg1nRtSWmpky8Z5-XRseM2mRItNn0wFFKzt5TtXd8U1nmyO9VYhh3I30pNX62UrINkim8smkbst8boneCd5dYUz6MDlQFeaJQYiXESDB_d7IYA57/s1600/7035f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXIhO7MGCFljBPPFDol5BaT3CJWOXNlg1nRtSWmpky8Z5-XRseM2mRItNn0wFFKzt5TtXd8U1nmyO9VYhh3I30pNX62UrINkim8smkbst8boneCd5dYUz6MDlQFeaJQYiXESDB_d7IYA57/s400/7035f.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Washington D.C. real estate news</span></i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-44690439171580606332012-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.924-08:00Takoma Central Underway<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?gl=us&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=111454573323877998268.00048d2d6cca0b29f1865&ll=38.975016,-77.014933&spn=0.003703,0.009645&z=17" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidipGSP7kiCBybT-lT8UXGqjWO0OAEajbhZyHrJyBM_BJEyVC6_BPPWhyGF_NBymnnDUe5_uKFrXdoxjB5YtLUO6YfpT7uQHtX1Jo4nHvh0orpNrpKy8zrpHw4t98U2WV4G53YIv0ziJnA/s1600/map+DC.GIF" /></a>Its been a long time coming, but construction at Takoma's metro-centered residential project is at last underway. Developers have begun work at 233 and 235 Carroll Street, on the District's side of Takoma, on 2 buildings that add 150 rental apartments to the traditionally tranquil neighborhood.<br /><br />Development partners <a href="http://www.fcpdc.com/">Federal Capital Partners</a> (FCP) and <a href="http://www.level2development.com/index.php">Level2 Development</a>, (in a crowded field of partners that includes MCZ and <a href="http://www.sgacos.com/site/home.asp?PageId=1">SGA Architects</a>), began work last week<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUykFoPW71Am7mWsu2ZKxirntHbhHryjfNHRWkSrrHlaXx-W-svFPlvcYfeNAYsYMb-VC_s1PkuBGkOOIBsxF_HNoH_ZQj2KtLB4rCcMdsRnQfy0iyPOh8Y19TvtsDp8iVSlGBbn3JJy8M/s1600/Takoma+C.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUykFoPW71Am7mWsu2ZKxirntHbhHryjfNHRWkSrrHlaXx-W-svFPlvcYfeNAYsYMb-VC_s1PkuBGkOOIBsxF_HNoH_ZQj2KtLB4rCcMdsRnQfy0iyPOh8Y19TvtsDp8iVSlGBbn3JJy8M/s400/Takoma+C.png" width="400" /></a>on the pair of buildings designed by SGA Architects, a 4-story building at the corner of Maple Avenue and a 5-story adjacent building closer to the Metro station. <br /><br />Now actively under construction, Level2 partner <b>Jeff Blum</b> says construction to start moving up from the bottom of the hole will commence "within the next few weeks." His plan incorporates the original 4-story building, plus a new 5-story, warehouse-like building to the west, along with new mandates on what to build. "The original project was designed and permitted under a set of zoning regulations that did not include the Takoma Overlay [increased density] nor inclusionary zoning [affordable housing requirements]. " The ANC initially argued against the height, but Blum notes that the higher density is permitted under the new zoning, a decision he says is "appropriate because it is only a few hundred feet from the Metro station."<br /><br />Each building will have its own parking garage (about 100 spaces total), with a total of 9700 s.f. of retail space. The buildings will be wood-framed over concrete, with differing architectural styles - the 4-story building featuring an "art-deco flavor," and the other a 19th century red brick, warehouse style apartment building. A "3-story glassy hyphen" will connect the two. Developers are shooting for LEED certification this time around, and expect completion in March of 2014.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYch9754z9uouRqsr9eXmcDYXBGtJWV8wnNQsMTUQexc16iqhgB5yVy0mcWPhyiJjtPEHS8yH2k0pj2mOQZcFvWarfgxV7luajDtzDl9khDUEflCghZYcMRZ66k-4vWjjy9zM8p-nZov9F/s1600/Takoma+Central.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYch9754z9uouRqsr9eXmcDYXBGtJWV8wnNQsMTUQexc16iqhgB5yVy0mcWPhyiJjtPEHS8yH2k0pj2mOQZcFvWarfgxV7luajDtzDl9khDUEflCghZYcMRZ66k-4vWjjy9zM8p-nZov9F/s400/Takoma+Central.jpg" width="400" /></a>The project has long stuttered, and for those that enjoy the long, twisted tale that accompanies many development projects, the tale of Takoma Central doesn't disappoint. Bethesda-based architecture firm SGA purchased the lot for redevelopment in 2004, with plans to build Ecco Park condominiums - "green," but not LEED certified, said the owner. <br /><br />To prep, the developer partially remediated the soil on the former gas station site, then <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2006/08/architect-to-build-new-takoma-condos.html">announced the project</a> in 2006. With nothing more than clean dirt at the site, the SGA sold a third of the 85 condos, but the coming housing bust forced the developer (and financial partners) to rethink, and like many other condo projects, the <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2008/05/takoma-park-condos.html">development went rental</a>. At least on paper.<br /><br />Returning deposit checks, SGA announced the project would still go forward, now as an apartment building. But financiers were as scarce as condo buyers, and it was not until August of 2010 that the developer thought it had a financial partner, and Ellisdale was <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2010/08/takomas-long-awaited-residences-may-be.html">awarded a $13m construction contract</a>. But financing was elusive, and it was not until early 2011 that Level2 and MCZ entered the picture to partner with SGA, acquiring the second site and expanding the scope of the project. Finally, earlier this year, FCP joined the fray and the site took on new life.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtkni7JRhI5_S76wDWvQco2_tLJGcMqpapMWe8QIzUeQJFWueCCN49cG4wSV_g9QpAeBcgYFr2O7IfpQ8AxoF8PQ7oFa4yGQEL5UQN-wV8F2Np_YuISdpCWGCG_Vfzvt8ApCLaa6IqgLj/s1600/takoma+night.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRtkni7JRhI5_S76wDWvQco2_tLJGcMqpapMWe8QIzUeQJFWueCCN49cG4wSV_g9QpAeBcgYFr2O7IfpQ8AxoF8PQ7oFa4yGQEL5UQN-wV8F2Np_YuISdpCWGCG_Vfzvt8ApCLaa6IqgLj/s400/takoma+night.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />"This is a neighborhood that is thirsting for new retail" says Blum of Level2, noting that the new streetscape "will better connect the Metro station to the existing shopping area on the Maryland side." In addition to the extra retail frontage, Blum says the sidewalk "is going to be vastly improved" - "from a 4-ft path of lose bricks and other obstacles" to an 18-foot wide space, including 6-foot sidewalk and space for a sidewalk cafe, for "a much nicer, and safer, pedestrian experience." <a href="http://www.hamelbuilders.com/">Hamel Builders</a> is doing the construction. Finally.<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Washington D.C. real estate development news</i></span><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-55186617763093721122012-12-07T04:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.935-08:00Morning Real Estate Fix<a href="http://www.reit.com/Videos/Political-uncertainty-affecting-Washington-market.aspx">Political uncertainty affecting DC's real estate market</a> (<i>REIT.com</i>) As the fiscal cliff approaches, some landowners are seeing a lack of willingness to sign on for a new term.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.arlnow.com/2012/12/06/staff-recommends-approval-of-bergmann-development/">Staff recommends approval of Bergman development</a> (<i>Arlnow</i>) The Lee Highway project in Arlington would have 200 apartments and a small grocery store in a 10-story building.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.jdland.com/dc/index.cfm/3781/Agua-301-Restaurant-Coming-to-Yards-Lumber-Shed/">Another restaurant announced at Yards Lumber Shed</a> (<i>JD Land</i>) Agua 301 is the next concept from the owner of Zest Bistro. The new restaurant is destined for the newest retail building in the Yards, according to a press release by Forest City.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=122&newsID=15619">Apartment and condo market remains steady in the 3rd quarter</a> (<i>National Assn of Home Builders</i>) For the third straight quarter the index is in positive territory in its measure of builder sentiment about market conditions.<br /><br /><a href="http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/16988/why-cant-we-build-enough-housing/">Why can't we build enough housing?</a> (<i>Greater Greater Washington</i>) Supply is well below demand in the DC area. One of the reasons is the process of getting housing past the locals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-82123386940417816172012-12-06T12:33:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:25.000-08:00Latest Plans for St. Elizabeths Irk Preservationists<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.849802,-76.990024&hl=en&ll=38.849108,-76.991833&spn=0.006467,0.013937&sll=38.844686,-77.181907&sspn=0.012935,0.027874&t=h&z=17" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidUR6ut_B2hPH1qVZcPs4ew3wLise7Rx8BIaFPSDhqP32N8Z62aMrHDq7BaHMe5ctWEMOmGR_YI0TCS8qLqX29GirAqCwo-3hG3W80H2Vyf8gPegqa3lbCG_tVYRaKR4r2j4QxYHabYvRR/s1600/map+DC.GIF" /></a></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9RQjSm50MzhmbQ8wyYYn0hzxmG1libCQk_LUGP4brvq52wTODyA3N9Jl1x0SJtdF2WLM8gw1TKv9BwvBw737fuxmSf2G8v7f-rNA9SWSN1HVyPPEHteUDajGVEt_VuEb5AUbcLS2scjA/s1600/Coastguard-Image.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD9RQjSm50MzhmbQ8wyYYn0hzxmG1libCQk_LUGP4brvq52wTODyA3N9Jl1x0SJtdF2WLM8gw1TKv9BwvBw737fuxmSf2G8v7f-rNA9SWSN1HVyPPEHteUDajGVEt_VuEb5AUbcLS2scjA/s400/Coastguard-Image.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gateway Pavilion rendering. Image: <a href="http://www.stelizabethseast.com/gateway-pavilion/">DMPED site</a></td></tr></tbody></table>An architecturally edgy cultural venue, <a href="http://www.stelizabethseast.com/gateway-pavilion/">Gateway Pavilion</a> will bring new life to DC's Congress Heights neighborhood, its high-profile design team told the <a href="http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic+Preservation/About+HPO+&+HPRB/Who+We+Are/Historic+Preservation+Review+Board">Historic Preservation Review Board</a> (HPRB) Thursday. The board heard comments on the design for an "interim" arts and cultural venue planned for the heart of the 173-acre campus of psychological hospital <a href="http://www.stelizabethseast.com/">St. Elizabeths Campus East</a>. It did not vote on the plans.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.stelizabethseast.com/gateway-pavilion/">Plans for Gateway Pavilion</a> call for a dramatic, wing-like roof and a five-module system that can be re-positioned to adapt the landscape of the venue, such as a for farmers' market or a concert stage, the design team told the HPRB. The pavilion is being cast as a temporary, or "interim", anchor for a larger, planned 750,000 square foot build-out of the East Campus.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwszqvqvA3sZdvXwnQcz74dLspgf0yXIe_qaR16xD7zGNAc3nxYSlVhSPSXse-D-2QdYAMScuOWa5zo-HHhlJsPCsrVW_NL3gaC7GIsNdWRcyB6UlsbkXKLXHCxzmvt0yeEo9iqJioynvM/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwszqvqvA3sZdvXwnQcz74dLspgf0yXIe_qaR16xD7zGNAc3nxYSlVhSPSXse-D-2QdYAMScuOWa5zo-HHhlJsPCsrVW_NL3gaC7GIsNdWRcyB6UlsbkXKLXHCxzmvt0yeEo9iqJioynvM/s400/photo.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gateway Pavilion model at WDCEP Showcase</td></tr></tbody></table>The Office of the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdcbiz.dc.gov%2F&ei=5OXAUNTaAdTC0AH82oCYDQ&usg=AFQjCNEFAb-AxNgesv4HMceNjbRpKyP1TA&sig2=3w_UUI8KYeKPjdbkbjBeag">Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development</a> (DMPED) selected the design team of <a href="http://www.davisbrody.com/">Davis Brody Bond</a>, <a href="http://www.kadcon.com/">KADCON</a>, and <a href="http://www.rsapc.com/">Robert Silman Associates</a> in a bid to design and develop the venue on the city-owned land. The high-profile firms are, individually, <a href="http://www.stelizabethseast.com/gateway-pavilion/">behind such sites</a> as the National September 11th Memorial and the reconstruction of D.C.'s Eastern Market. <br /><br />St. Elizabeth's, perched on the fringe of Ward 8, sits on the brink of a major overhaul under a <a href="http://www.stelizabethsdevelopment.com/master-plan.html">master plan</a> by the General Services Administration (GSA), the property management arm of the federal government, that calls for 4.5 million s. f. of office space to one day house the Department of Homeland Security.<br /><br />Construction on the West Campus is <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/11/district-releases-rfei-for-st-elizabeths.html">already underway</a>, and the East Campus package is set for delivery in 2023. The entire campus is expected to one day host about 14,000 employees. The new headquarters for the U.S. Coast Guard could bring 4,000 workers to the neighborhood by August. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileHq4ktnx3PSZFNYj3syfWLyCpZzHp898A62vMjyEqnRSBvJy09JlEupRNEo6BoAjMMjOqAM5JDoPkc1dpYdvnrSFMLan6Tv6hwYkN4Mui4NbIUMIusn7zgLSzrfAl3y-bpB8MFn5zriO/s1600/Marketplace2.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEileHq4ktnx3PSZFNYj3syfWLyCpZzHp898A62vMjyEqnRSBvJy09JlEupRNEo6BoAjMMjOqAM5JDoPkc1dpYdvnrSFMLan6Tv6hwYkN4Mui4NbIUMIusn7zgLSzrfAl3y-bpB8MFn5zriO/s400/Marketplace2.bmp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gateway Pavilion. Image: <a href="http://www.stelizabethseast.com/gateway-pavilion/">DMPED site</a></td></tr></tbody></table>"Our challenge is to continue to brand the campus as something that is not a mental institution," said Ethan Warsh of DMPED. He said the design met the Department's goals of bringing food options and entertainment amenities to the neighborhood east of the Anacostia River, and to an increasing number of workers in the area.<br /><br />The concept design has gone<a href="http://www.cfa.gov/meetings/2012/nov/20121115_02.html"> before the Commission on Fine Arts</a>, the body charged with overseeing design changes to historical properties in the District, which recommended several changes including increasing walkability and sight lines across the property. The proposed design calls for bike parking, rooftop rainwater collection, and self-composting toilets.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuibJj7B19s1s_6ziyRD9tOu3cDRELXj8Qw-5MHk5Pi4gdCuZjzb_1LKaEOC2zL91fHJprYIdtPgBINoNyfaCYFTOIywShi0nBvmiWYRt5zqPxpixHlIWvWf29F0OKTxR49THf8d9laim/s1600/photo(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOuibJj7B19s1s_6ziyRD9tOu3cDRELXj8Qw-5MHk5Pi4gdCuZjzb_1LKaEOC2zL91fHJprYIdtPgBINoNyfaCYFTOIywShi0nBvmiWYRt5zqPxpixHlIWvWf29F0OKTxR49THf8d9laim/s400/photo(1).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gateway Pavilion model at WDCEP Showcase</td></tr></tbody></table>But the venue's seductive, green design isn't wooing everyone. A member of the <a href="http://www.dcpreservation.org/">DC Preservation League</a> (DCPL) argued the design obscured the historic buildings, and that the neighborhood needed basic retail more than it did entertainment venue and quick lunches. <br /><br />"This was also an area that we discussed should be the last possible space for development," said Rebecca Miller of DCPL. She said the neighborhood won't benefit from "fast, casual lunch places." Backers said the site would be able to host eight to ten food trucks at any given time.<br /><br />Instead, Miller said, neighborhood residents need places to buy basics, such as stockings. "It cannot be all things to all people," Warsh, of DMPED, later commented. "It can only be what $5 million will get us."<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #e69138;">Note:</span></b> An earlier version of this article, in quoting the DC government's website, may have misleadingly implied that KADCON and Davis Brody Bond worked on the Eastern Market DC restoration. That is incorrect. <a href="http://digital.turn-page.com/issue/22128/35">Robert Silman Associates was the structural engineering firm on the project</a>.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zzc9CvjAGIncDQdxB2aHumTYEqPFJFltJPh8CXGXk3z_tbaes6smvuAmqkWt86WOSCXJCANCwM_qxEsxEHkbNeaME-JOWXTs4qv67kznxc5cAvLUDdzYkeaDYMMeVhys97xjD9hwgDwb/s1600/master_plan_site_map_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Zzc9CvjAGIncDQdxB2aHumTYEqPFJFltJPh8CXGXk3z_tbaes6smvuAmqkWt86WOSCXJCANCwM_qxEsxEHkbNeaME-JOWXTs4qv67kznxc5cAvLUDdzYkeaDYMMeVhys97xjD9hwgDwb/s400/master_plan_site_map_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GSA Master Plan for St. Elizabeth's Campus.<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-75390132270888776142012-12-06T12:08:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.954-08:00Costello Construction Chosen as Contractor for Silver Spring Library<a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=210606987293752499366.0004bf126d7837480d88c&msa=0" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiispEy9xFKDeI6eNkBSOGsY0LmDM-ttzgytz9_wxw-unYrx08xS9pJW4QemBcFqfCgT9KZCa9RpOFBMii-0rhzft56PS4mJGYoaJ-fiN223KHGonn-PJNxSjQltHhtqnXnIdsaZlDk4gk/s1600/map+MD.gif" /></a>When Montgomery County’s division chief for the Department of General Services described the new <a href="http://www6.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcgtmpl.asp?url=/content/DGS/DBDC/RegionalProjectPages/SilverSpringProjects/sslibrary.asp">Silver Spring library</a> as <a href="http://dcmud.blogspot.com/2012/09/new-silver-spring-library-moving.html">a real priority project for the county</a>, he wasn’t just talking. <br /><br />The county has been swiftly moving forward and is set to announce that a general contractor, <a href="http://www.costelloconstruction.com/">Costello Construction</a>, has been picked to build the new structure. The Columbia, Md.-based company also built Silver Spring’s much-lauded civic building at Veterans Plaza, which means its representatives have experience working with city and county officials, the community, and local utility companies. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0M-HAg4INgNXVvi6wgRvy5kgyCdi4YGCApYRBLKSVMr6-K4VF0TLzKzljapmFAzq8XU9hcTTw9oq-bIIR_aN-SgQrb7aIjH3riBmHrVhqIWj4uLgdNVMVq3iXJU_w2OC0Jf-TRfjAJ4/s1600/ssl+exterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0M-HAg4INgNXVvi6wgRvy5kgyCdi4YGCApYRBLKSVMr6-K4VF0TLzKzljapmFAzq8XU9hcTTw9oq-bIIR_aN-SgQrb7aIjH3riBmHrVhqIWj4uLgdNVMVq3iXJU_w2OC0Jf-TRfjAJ4/s400/ssl+exterior.jpg" width="400" /></a>“The lowest bidder was Costello, and they were within the budgeted amount, so the contract will be awarded to them,” said <b>Susanne Churchill</b>, the senior architect and project manager with the county’s Department of General Services. “They really wanted the project.” <br /><br />The bidding process closed on November 7, and the contractor was recently chosen. The next steps should occur quite rapidly. The county and company are currently hammering out administrative details, and the company should begin work a few days after that. But observers might not notice much activity on the site at first, as the company gears up for construction by purchasing trailers and renting equipment. That should be just in time for the holidays, delaying the start date a bit. “This is a bad time, but one way or the other, we’ve started conversations about first steps, and they’ll probably be starting in January,” said Churchill. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2t8bzGjBTcuTu38_Q9nTecN6M20wyAvuHyPytiisR2UnbnaMFl7Iieq3kmzNK7824Pumv695OuBcUkJgvSfaHEjG3FgpzRYVIklMXW0IrE5SHkZjuVXkSRrHmGAnTO9GF152mgH6p3kg/s1600/ssl+4th+floor+view.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2t8bzGjBTcuTu38_Q9nTecN6M20wyAvuHyPytiisR2UnbnaMFl7Iieq3kmzNK7824Pumv695OuBcUkJgvSfaHEjG3FgpzRYVIklMXW0IrE5SHkZjuVXkSRrHmGAnTO9GF152mgH6p3kg/s400/ssl+4th+floor+view.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>That’s certainly not too soon for the many Silver Spring residents who’ve been anxiously discussing and waiting for their new library. The project, a 63,000 square foot building designed by the <a href="http://www.lukmire.com/">Lukmire Partnership</a> at the corner of Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue, has been on the table since 1999, when the county approved funding for it, but progress has moved very slowly. <br /><br />When it’s finished, the city will have a new downtown library that’s almost four times bigger than the current one. A five-story building with a glass curtain wall that crosses above the Purple Line’s path, the structure will include an arts center on the first two floors and expanded meeting spaces, a computer lab, and a larger children’s section on the top three. <br /><br />The project should be done by late 2014.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjxHhmZ6SOAulcictoB-Rwr6PpxPGu8qyg0UVCcDuQfLgxeeIkCnb9Nsr4Qsp90gwMvPN-dg2u_aIF8298jmmHu2iy4FwpeO6hSdL4-geji26SevJuGF6InBUAuMe7s45OuAJ9J-_K10/s1600/Silver+Spring+Library-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjxHhmZ6SOAulcictoB-Rwr6PpxPGu8qyg0UVCcDuQfLgxeeIkCnb9Nsr4Qsp90gwMvPN-dg2u_aIF8298jmmHu2iy4FwpeO6hSdL4-geji26SevJuGF6InBUAuMe7s45OuAJ9J-_K10/s400/Silver+Spring+Library-001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Silver Spring, Maryland, real estate development news </i></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7976830400085694428.post-28591376478399896302012-12-06T05:30:00.000-08:002013-01-07T09:01:24.919-08:00A Biotech Firm Runs Through It<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKCpG34P07vENLNdTSTdnVW_EK8YMdUGTlwQK_6_jJ8by18jbtD094uEMnOLWoQtWXH6-yD4wLsosxTevbojPYYEPM_JuFsXOsyHup0GUJY1vxeeo6d79PnhahWnzdpKthilw6IadPzbW/s1600/Design%252Blogo-1.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizKCpG34P07vENLNdTSTdnVW_EK8YMdUGTlwQK_6_jJ8by18jbtD094uEMnOLWoQtWXH6-yD4wLsosxTevbojPYYEPM_JuFsXOsyHup0GUJY1vxeeo6d79PnhahWnzdpKthilw6IadPzbW/s1600/Design%252Blogo-1.GIF" /></a>Q and A with Jill Schick and Howard Goldstein<br />by Beth Herman <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XKJRS9o0FZq5kPdbeLe5J1btzMq5Ju4GPRd6F0hHlFr4jEIQgyKDqmmzuN8n1zPqQ7y8jwrduZQHc-OmB8u1cxReC6qyGHyTydnXVXXoqP-B2RBG51vuKcKKk7VxVqCznmsOaJraaYmE/s1600/2010AK03_206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0XKJRS9o0FZq5kPdbeLe5J1btzMq5Ju4GPRd6F0hHlFr4jEIQgyKDqmmzuN8n1zPqQ7y8jwrduZQHc-OmB8u1cxReC6qyGHyTydnXVXXoqP-B2RBG51vuKcKKk7VxVqCznmsOaJraaYmE/s400/2010AK03_206.jpg" width="400" /></a>Charged with creating the behemoth mixed use world headquarters, including offices, laboratory, daycare center and 90-foot-long steel and glass connector for the 250,000 s.f. United Therapeutics Corporation, 1040 Spring St., Silver Spring, Maryland, Jill Schick and Howard Goldstein of <a href="http://www.sgarchitects.com/">Schick Goldstein Architects P.C</a>.left no stone unturned -- and no terrace untree'd. A biotech firm on the cutting edge of developing and marketing specialized products for individuals with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, the program for UTC included three buildings, green roofs and individual terraces, street level retail shops and extensive exterior and interior public spaces. Phase II, at 7 stories, achieved LEED Gold (the others were not submitted) and won the USGB's National Capitol Region Chapter 2010 Award of Excellence Project of the Year for New Construction. <i>DCMud</i> talked with Schick and Goldstein about the decade-long project.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrI632aPpKB0Y7UTffQcl8iZ94IxWEz0Ee00EpHxD6xRGUttXIDTLsW7Djp-HERrCsBUfS5Z74CE191Xu3MwaJDrT5ymJ8wXsJfRLYSeniDOlVxKfgH-zCS1JiAJyHjT5_DDRkLLlNu-ad/s1600/2010AK03_208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrI632aPpKB0Y7UTffQcl8iZ94IxWEz0Ee00EpHxD6xRGUttXIDTLsW7Djp-HERrCsBUfS5Z74CE191Xu3MwaJDrT5ymJ8wXsJfRLYSeniDOlVxKfgH-zCS1JiAJyHjT5_DDRkLLlNu-ad/s400/2010AK03_208.jpg" width="400" /></a><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Tell us about the unusual venue for UTC.<br /><br /><b>Schick:</b> Most biotech firms in the area would go out to I-270, where they'd have a sprawling piece of land and not have to deal with city codes, etc. Dr. Martine Rothblatt, who is the CEO, has lived in Silver Spring for years. She wanted to bring UTC to an urban setting and give back to the city by bringing in professional people, as a tax base, as well as offering the many courtyards incorporated into the design to the public.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> What was the process? <br /><br /><b>Goldstein:</b> We were asked to develop a master plan for the entire project in 2002-2003, so prepared a number of designs for the three buildings at the same time. They were built individually, the 4-story laboratory building completed in 2006, the 7-story Phase II in 2010 and the last one opening just this year. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUmw5-78iyavy3p3IFO1ZIIIx-hZVzsoYoCKcOap4mSAi7bQAjRnrL92LRWJxiUofopeEepAXQ84AauSJGwt9XMw6jD1-EpAKejVxW-3_goL-1gLrrtAwJQd_iYsa4oTkI-F9D-LhKfHa/s1600/2010AK03_218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUmw5-78iyavy3p3IFO1ZIIIx-hZVzsoYoCKcOap4mSAi7bQAjRnrL92LRWJxiUofopeEepAXQ84AauSJGwt9XMw6jD1-EpAKejVxW-3_goL-1gLrrtAwJQd_iYsa4oTkI-F9D-LhKfHa/s400/2010AK03_218.jpg" width="300" /></a><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> What was the program for the second building?<br /><br /><b>Goldstein: </b>It's mixed use. The first floor is retail shops and lobby space, entered from an amenity space. There are more laboratories on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, and it has offices on the 5th, 6th and 7th floors. Green roof terraces exist off of the 5th and 7th floors, accessed from individual offices. A vast interior stair encourages high use and interaction as opposed to employees using an elevator or fire stair.<br /><i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>DCMud:</b></i>What about some of UTC's sustainable elements.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFSoELlycUtsLMLZo_1Tzg2z3E305jBQ-5tqLoJ0y9U0QRxtv7jC4iA2Z66mOmsStAlGV4HFeoyx-BWk3zeucszGOTwuQ9ILx819Jl682_FHZuG8FwcHbInEyapNGWCPS5nZx4CsXPz3e/s1600/HDPhoto_070607_04+FS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFSoELlycUtsLMLZo_1Tzg2z3E305jBQ-5tqLoJ0y9U0QRxtv7jC4iA2Z66mOmsStAlGV4HFeoyx-BWk3zeucszGOTwuQ9ILx819Jl682_FHZuG8FwcHbInEyapNGWCPS5nZx4CsXPz3e/s400/HDPhoto_070607_04+FS.jpg" width="308" /></a><b>Goldstein:</b> First, we have 5,000 s.f. of solar panels on each building. <br /><br /><b>Schick:</b> On the first building we used a lot of precast concrete for environmental purposes. There is also a lot of channel glass which affords much natural light but does not sacrifice privacy for the employees. There are exterior sun control louvers on the south and west facades.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> We understand the choice of terracotta skews wide.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuF8Z2wSmC_6ZDUlsErnq5RqeB7R__4mHUtRqqg3Hll5U9JkTbUntc1XKomYzlfMElxs2g6vBfRnasoNUHkmFursoO2BRApw7s6tD25N5FMtjB-vK-rge7PBugukBUgjUXqEI6fxks1Z9/s1600/2010AK03_202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuuF8Z2wSmC_6ZDUlsErnq5RqeB7R__4mHUtRqqg3Hll5U9JkTbUntc1XKomYzlfMElxs2g6vBfRnasoNUHkmFursoO2BRApw7s6tD25N5FMtjB-vK-rge7PBugukBUgjUXqEI6fxks1Z9/s400/2010AK03_202.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>Goldstein:</b> We used (environmentally friendly) terracotta to define the area where the lab is on the 3rd and 4th floors of building #2. The office area above it on floors 5, 6 and 7 is glass and metal panel. The terracotta also scales the building down because there's a residential area to the north, so we used a color that's similar to brick. It also serves as a rain screen system, where the waterproofing is between the screen and the skin.<br /><br /><b>Schick: </b>It's done a lot in Europe. There's no caulking, sealing and tightening.You're getting the water not to penetrate the building at all; the rain drips down behind it with its pressure equalized. And architecturally, the design of this building swoops you around to the public space on Cameron Street. <br /><br /><b><i>DCMud:</i></b> What was the thinking behind the extensive use of public spaces?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2n-cQ88OUQfkt-7DbPF43J2KIxomlLO-O_rRUgDi_W8o71W5WFo3dYWJQwhYemcrnomsBIR2kYIeK22YI3Zm5RozmpsdnCiNWn30oBe1fi0fIx5K7LCXtZZ-ySR8_PMIjNjmASBH5eUKg/s1600/2010AK03_213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2n-cQ88OUQfkt-7DbPF43J2KIxomlLO-O_rRUgDi_W8o71W5WFo3dYWJQwhYemcrnomsBIR2kYIeK22YI3Zm5RozmpsdnCiNWn30oBe1fi0fIx5K7LCXtZZ-ySR8_PMIjNjmASBH5eUKg/s400/2010AK03_213.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>Goldstein:</b> In CBD's (central business districts), you're allowed to double the FAR (floor area ratio) if you provide a public amenity space in 20 percent of the lot. Our FAR was 'one' on this project, which was extremely low. One means if the property is 40,000 s.f., as with the lab area, then you can only build that much. But if you offer a public amenity space, like the courtyard we created, you can double it, which is what we did.<br /><br />We created what are called pocket parks. Across the street there is an apartment building with an amenity space also, so they could double their FAR. So when you take their amenity space, and our pocket parks, and then an atrium we've created for Phase III, it becomes one large dynamic green space with a road running through it, which is the goal of the Parks Department.<br /><br /><b>Schick:</b> There's also a public space that's interior, and it's three stories tall. It's always open, so if there's inclement weather, or you just want to experience that space, you can do it -- including on your way to the Metro which is nearby.<br /><br /><b>Goldstein: </b>Our client calls the UTC campus 'one of the gateways to Silver Spring.'<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_WJEaIGGz9_s5zxzoqSi8NgmhDg5pme2vYI7qPk9v5YNN9RNiOV0pMHKDkFxSKLv5THRYP9_KdCepTgX9su7aHBRhX0ltd3NKN6HL4mVZi08rKCMcL3ZP28It6lI23pa7iCjjj6G0Emh/s1600/2010AK03_212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_WJEaIGGz9_s5zxzoqSi8NgmhDg5pme2vYI7qPk9v5YNN9RNiOV0pMHKDkFxSKLv5THRYP9_KdCepTgX9su7aHBRhX0ltd3NKN6HL4mVZi08rKCMcL3ZP28It6lI23pa7iCjjj6G0Emh/s400/2010AK03_212.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><b><i>DCMud: </i></b>We understand the connector between two of the buildings has a bit of a backstory.<br /><br /><b>Schick:</b> That was a hard thing to get approved by the neighbors. They didn't want a bridge because it takes people off the street, but this was purely for the company - and it's really called a connector. It was constructed in the South, trucked up and lifted into place. They had to close the street.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud:</b></i> Tell us about the final building.<br /><br /><b>Goldstein:</b> It's an office building for staff. The entry is a 3-story atrium space off of Cameron Street. There's a pocket park off of Spring Street at the west end of the property, which is linked to the Cameron Street entrance through the atrium. The first floor is retail. The second and third floors - open to the atrium - are these 'Google spaces' - open, casual, working on your laptop, playing ping pong, having coffee or juice kinds of spaces. There's a lecture hall here as well.<br /><br /><i><b>DCMud</b></i>: A potent feather in Silver Spring's municipal cap - and yours - to say the least!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNf69uDTMHW5iYF99vpXUfBv0xyc1uA2FcLYzo-O1s_ZLed9y07gsv1UaEknyHWWIg0xWFLdmZBATmYx2PWa6WXl7e9mxhM7UnQTmN49UaSqR57n24GSeD9pGgDpd11Sbngq3GMbZBnnAz/s1600/2010AK03_220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNf69uDTMHW5iYF99vpXUfBv0xyc1uA2FcLYzo-O1s_ZLed9y07gsv1UaEknyHWWIg0xWFLdmZBATmYx2PWa6WXl7e9mxhM7UnQTmN49UaSqR57n24GSeD9pGgDpd11Sbngq3GMbZBnnAz/s400/2010AK03_220.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5xI0s1Mc-QPuul4hbW9RQisADDHuzIGGovmdtVbF1OYJioFnLlbit2wfGrlM4pq_MulBHagkSNWknI1Fyg5SHxzjxQwl5Cud0RE4yA0GpLbF0u2hl_rx1Hj2S2et1p0bZCieZDWpypC5/s1600/2010AK03_101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5xI0s1Mc-QPuul4hbW9RQisADDHuzIGGovmdtVbF1OYJioFnLlbit2wfGrlM4pq_MulBHagkSNWknI1Fyg5SHxzjxQwl5Cud0RE4yA0GpLbF0u2hl_rx1Hj2S2et1p0bZCieZDWpypC5/s400/2010AK03_101.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFbjI_dtLJHOQ9j5hLmNTW2nCUXeO-vzikRflWvhU8mUlztlICX16XJiQZrBjLRqhLr5MGrjEB8Jbo2p8p2hQqmfJjCxJBfNSThdyYDewJuuySSen807hO5gm6rkfUPkZMXD1KRcDKC3V/s1600/2010AK03_214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFbjI_dtLJHOQ9j5hLmNTW2nCUXeO-vzikRflWvhU8mUlztlICX16XJiQZrBjLRqhLr5MGrjEB8Jbo2p8p2hQqmfJjCxJBfNSThdyYDewJuuySSen807hO5gm6rkfUPkZMXD1KRcDKC3V/s400/2010AK03_214.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photos courtesy of <a href="http://www.alankarchmer.com/">Alan Karchmer</a> and Anice Hoachlander</span></i><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0