Morning Real Estate Review

DSF Group opens first Dunn Loring Apartment building (Wall Street Journal)  DSF opens the 220-unit Lotus, the 2nd phase of Halstead Square at the Dunn Loring Metro station, in "the heart of Vienna's cultural district."

Foreigners scooping up U.S. homes in greater numbers (Bloomberg) The dollar value of U.S. homes purchased by foreigners was up 24% over the 12 months ending in March, accounting for 4.8% of the American housing market.

FRB says American wealth plunged by 38% due to home price drops (Bloomberg)  The median net worth of U.S. families dropped from 2007 to 2010 due to falling home prices.

U.S. Mint Building earns LEED Gold status

Penzance begins renovation work at Watergate office building (Washington Post)  Penzance purchased the building one year ago and will begin construction today after the 40th anniversary of the Watergate break-in.

DC Gov Puts 1300 H Street on the Market

The District of Columbia government put 1300 H Street, NE - formerly a library kiosk - on the market today as a future development site.  The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) solicited development activity on the 10,800 s.f. site this afternoon with a bid for redevelopment of the site into "mixed income housing, community-serving retail, recommended uses of the H Street Arts overlay, and other cultural amenities."

The site has been vacant for 2 years since the District closed the temporary library, even though the site is surrounded by thriving retail development.

Because the site falls within the arts overlay, a maximum density of 3.0 FAR for residential is permitted on the site, or 1.0 FAR for other uses, with a 50-foot height cap under current zoning rules or 65 foot height cap under a Planned Unit Development (PUD).

The District will hold a site conference for interested bidders on June 21st and hopes to select a development team in the fall.


Washington D.C. real estate development news

Pennsylvania Avenue Office Building Redesign

David M. Schwarz Architects announced today it has been hired to redesign portions of the prominent Pennsylvania Building at 1275 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, and will begin work this fall.  The '50's office building was redeveloped in the '80's by owner Willco Companies, which purchased the building in the late '60's for $6,600,000. The 286,000 s.f. building was modernized in 2007.

The Pennsylvania Building sits across from Freedom Plaza and the Wilson Building.  Construction will entail re-skinning the lower three floors of the exterior stone façade, redesigning the metal and glass office entry marquee, a new rooftop terrace overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, and a redesigned office lobby.

Shwarz is also designing 2700 Woodley in Woodley Park, JBG's U Street hotel and the addition to Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

David M. Schwarz Architects announced today it has been hired to redesign portions of the prominent Pennsylvania Building at 1275 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, and will begin work this fall.  The '50's office building was redeveloped in the '80's by owner Willco Companies, which purchased the building in the late '60's for $6,600,000. The 286,000 s.f. building was modernized in 2007.

The Pennsylvania Building sits across from Freedom Plaza and the Wilson Building.  Construction will entail re-skinning the lower three floors of the exterior stone façade, redesigning the metal and glass office entry marquee, a new rooftop terrace overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, and a redesigned office lobby. 

Shwarz is also designing 2700 Woodley in Woodley Park, JBG's U Street hotel and the addition to Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Morning Real Estate Review

Supreme Court rules that settlement fees don't violate RESPA (JD Supra)  The Supreme Court resolves a split between circuits by ruling that settlement service providers can charge "unearned" fees as long as they don't share them.

Fannie Mae:  Home prices expected to rise tepidly over the next year (Fannie Mae)  Prices are expected to rise 1.4% over the next 12 months as the recovery once again seems halted and consumer confidence ebbs.

L.A. based CommonWealth Partners plans $6B in real estate investment (Wash Business Journal)  The investment company will join with CalPERS to focus on real estate investments around the country, including D.C.

Developers cool on Corcoran Gallery reuse (Washington Business Journal)  Developers say the need for upgrades and odd configuration of the building make it hard to envision the building as office spaces or residences.

Your Next Place

One thing I've learned is that when you go to apartment buildings, the foyer is always far far nicer than the apartments.  You'll be in a huge marble atrium with a roaring, gold-trimmed fireplace, walking on a red velvet Oscar-night-style carpet, thinking you're about to enter the lap of luxury, but then the place will be a broom closet with a kitchenette.  But this place - this is the first I've been to that was nicer - way nicer - than the lobby.  And bigger.  If you lived here, your neighbors would constantly be bugging you to let them come over and watch the big game, or sunbathe on your terrace, etc.  I'd suggest investing in a taser.

I mean, there's not really a lot I can add to the photographs.  This is like a place George Clooney would live.  Limestone flooring, plaster moldings, a silver leaf painted rotunda ceiling (!), a Vegas presidential-suite-quality master bedroom, with an en suite bathroom the size of a helicopter landing pad.  All this place is missing is a huge veranda with an ivy-covered stone arch overlooking the Potomac.  OH WAIT IT HAS THAT TOO.

When most places say they overlook the water, it means yes, you can see the water, if you squint and stand on your tiptoes and look between those two trees over there.  But you could actually jump from this veranda into the Potomac, if you wanted to.  Not that you'd want to, though on the other hand if you were, say, sitting out there playing Scrabble and losing really badly to your sister's boyfriend, and he started smirking as you spelled out "cat," then why not just heave the whole board into the river?  When I did this, we didn't have a water view, so it just landed in the yard and I had to go downstairs and retrieve it while my family watched from above in disappointment.  Really could've used a water view that day.

3030 K Street NW
Penthouse 106
2 Bedrooms, 4.5 Baths
$6,500,000

Washington D.C. real estate news

Morning Real Estate Review

The nasty logistics of inclusionary zoning (Slate) The idea of allowing low-income people to buy subsidized units runs into the reality that those people still can't qualify for a mortgage.

Walmart making its urban debut (Governing)  The giant retailer is expanding its presence in Chicago and Atlanta as it prepares its first stores in Washington D.C., as controversy remains.

Gaylord's planned reorganization (Costar)  The entertainment operator is converting to a REIT, selling its brand, and giving Marriott management control of 4 of its hotels.

Mortgage rates plunge to new lows (Housingwire) After a few days of ticking up, rates once again plunge to record territory.