Jumat, 24 Agustus 2012

The Ground Floor

A new restaurant named Biergarten is coming to 1216 18th, St, NW, the former Guitar Shop space. Construction on the 3,371 square foot space is slated to begin in late September.  Rumor has it the Public Bar people are behind the opening of Biergarten.

The Clarendon Whole Foods grocery store located at 2700 Wilson Blvd. has plans to remodel and add a beer room. The beer room will offer growlers, wine by the glass, local draft beers and craft bottled beers.  Estimated opening date is late September.

Z Burger, the burger chain, has opened their fourth location in Columbia Heights in the Tivoli Theatre at 14th and Park St, NW.

Icebreaker Merino, a performance clothing store, will open it's first DMV location in Bethesda Row at 4821 Bethesda Ave.

Malmaison, a new restaurant from the owners of Napoleon and Bonaparte, is coming to 3401 K St, NW, at the base of Key Bridge. The restaurant will feature unique cocktails, pastries, hors d'oeuvres, dj's and dancing.  An opening date has not been announced.



*Biergarten is going into the former Guitar Shop space, not the former Fudruckers space.

Clarendon Project Underway

Clarendon is on its way to getting yet another apartment building. Zom Inc., which is developing USAA Real Estate's parcel at 1200 N. Irving Street in Arlington, finally began construction earlier this month on a 10-story apartment building with ground floor retail that will front both N. Irving Street and Washington Boulevard. The project was designed by Esocoff & Associates.

Formerly known as The Waverly at Clarendon Station, the development has now been christened The Beacon at Clarendon West, according to Greg West, chief development officer for the Florida-based Zom. "We’ve revised the design and rebranded the project," he said.

The company's original condo concept is off the table. Instead, the project will include 187 one- and two-bedroom units averaging 850 square feet, each with de rigeur hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. About half will have balconies, and a rooftop pool is included in the package.

The building will have "a very unique and interesting radius shape," said West. In part, that curvilinear facade is designed to take advantage of the lot's outline. On the ground floor, lining both N. Irving Street and Washington Boulevard - but not the corner itself - will sit 17,000 square feet of space designed for retail. Zom has hired Asadoorian Retail to fill the spaces, but West claims the development partners have not decided on a specific mix of types. "We have a lot of flexibility as to the size and variety of what we can take," he said. "We just want to find the best tenants who will provide a good amenity value to the building."

Construction of the project, which is being done by Donohoe Construction, is beginning with a major excavation to make room for two floors of underground parking. The development, which will incorporate an historic facade that’s still on the property, should be finished in about two years.

The site, located two blocks from the Clarendon Metro station, has a fairly long history. Zom bought it from Faison in 2006 but the property lay empty for several years. In 2011, USAA bought the property and is developing it together with Zom.

The partners are also involved in a second Arlington venture, located at 1919 Clarendon Boulevard in Courthouse. The Clarendon Boulevard project, which is also currently under construction, is similar to the N. Irving Street one: although it's five stories rather than 10, the development includes 191 high-end apartments and another 17,000 s.f. of ground floor retail. Asadoorian is screening tenants for that property as well. "We'll be selecting retailers soon," said West.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Morning Real Estate Review

Sequestration:  Government cutbacks are the thing to watch (Costar)  The coming $1.2 trillion in budget cuts could have a big impact on the DC market, though market watchers fear the big picture even more.

Existing home sales show element of vitality to recovery (WLTX) Existing home sales rose 2.3% in July, and prices were up 9.4% over this time last year, kept up by a smaller inventory, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Norton: Federal construction projects still skimping on local hiring (Washington Times) Number of residents getting local federal jobs is going up, but it remains unacceptably high.

Former ex-Tarp  boss issues "modern" financial reform (CNBC)  When it comes to official reform, the Obama administration could do what it did with GM.

Kamis, 23 Agustus 2012

Morning Real Estate Review

State of the DC market summer of 2012 (Huffington Post)  This time when your agent tells you your house of choice is not going to last long so bid fast, he might not actually be lying.

Mortgage rates move lower following Fed minutes (Mortgage News Daily) Mortgage rates moved sharply downward following the release of the Federal Reserve Bank's minutes.  Fed officials showed a strong commitment toward aggressive policies that would help the bond market, sending interest rates lower.

Voters fault Obama and Romney on solution to mortgage crisis (Huffington Post)  President Obama's timid response to the housing crisis and Romney's silence on the issue have voters unhappy with both when it comes to solving the underwater mortgage problem.

Fannie Mae tightening standards for some loan types (Businessweek) FNMA, the largest provider of capital for home loans, said it will reduce loan to value ratios for some types of home purchases and refinances, from 97% to 90%.  The average credit score requirement will go from 620 to 640.

Existing home sales rise despite tightening inventories (Mortgage News Daily)  Sales of existing homes increased in July across the nation, to 4.47 million annually, a slight increase over June but a bigger increase over July of 2011.

Rabu, 22 Agustus 2012

Unbuilt DC: Public Murals Dot DC's Underdeveloped Landscape

Map of BicycleSpace & MuralsDC bike tour
While DC is rife with cranes and construction projects, for some sites the time has not yet come - at least not for condos. In a whirlwind, art-chasing bike journey that led through the northwest DC neighborhoods of Shaw, Columbia Heights, Kalorama, and the U Street Corridor, MuralsDC hosted a mural bike tour this weekend chasing down 18 of the city's (officially sanctioned) murals.  

MuralsDC and bike purveyor BicycleSpace, located on 7th Street NW between the Shaw and Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhoods, organized the mural tour.  The (official) murals are publicly-funded through the MuralsDC program, an organization established in 2007 with the goal of deterring graffiti on historically "frequently-tagged" walls.

Eric B. Ricks (right) in front of his mural at 8th and S Streets NW
Through the program, building owners can apply for their building to be considered for a mural.  The city - through the DC Department of Public Works (DPW) and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and the Humanities (DCCAH) - works in collaboration with the group Words Beats & Life Inc to settle on the artists and designs.  In DC, at least 35 murals have been painted through the MuralsDC program and seven more are being created this summer.  Four of those, according to MuralsDC tour guides, were due to be completed yesterday.

Albus Cavus's "Blended", 2030 8th St NW
During a stop at one of the newest MuralsDC works - due for completion this summer - mural artist Eric B. Ricks, whose art appears at S and 8th Streets NW,  said his hummingbird piece reflects the ideas of work and productivity, and is also a symbol that could be a harbinger of joy for the neighborhood.  "The humming bird is one of the hardest-working animals," Eric B. told us.  "As a totem animal, it always carries joy and brings joy wherever he goes."

From Albus Cavus's "Blended"
Other graffiti art groups create non-publicly funded murals, such as the D.C. collaborative public art and art education group Albus Cavus.  One of the group's murals - "Blended" - appears at 2030 8th St. NW, a building due for demolition in October.  Albus Cavus artists painted the building's walls during an art performance party and fundraising event - organized by Albus Cavus and AIGA Washington - at the site in June.  The event raised money to support Albus Cavus's programming. JBG Companies donated the site for the event.  The building is also currently home to the pop-up gallery The Randall Scott Projects.

MuralsDC mural at Walter Pierce Park
The MuralsDC program also aims to engage youth in the neighborhoods where the murals are painted; one mural was painted by an artist who worked with neighborhood children, giving paint to passersby for contribution.

A public art mapping platform by the ArtAround project has created an open-source inventory of DC public art, including murals.  Users can search by type of art, funding source, and location.

"Every Day I See Something New," by Cita Sadeli, Champlain Street NW








"Let's Meet at the Corner", artist Alicia Cosnahan, 13th St. and Park Rd. NW


"My DC" - Corner of 14th and Randolph Streets NW

Morning Real Estate Review

Construction confidence wanes across the country (American Surveyor)  The Construction Confidence Index (CCI) combines three indexes for non-residential construction, all of which declined during the second quarter.

Near Southeast neighborhood revitalization came along before Nationals (GreaterGreater Washington) Development in near southeast DC was in bloom well before the Nationals Stadium came along, thanks to its proximity to Metro.

What happens to homeowners seeking help (New York Times)  Graph:  the likelihood of homeowners who request modification in getting permanent help.

FHA weighs in against eminent domain by municipalities (HousingWire)  The Obama administration comes out against proposals by some cities and counties to "seize" underwater mortgages and replace them with government-backed loans for troubled homeowners.

Selasa, 21 Agustus 2012

Your Next Place


This penthouse is everything a penthouse is supposed to be; huge, open, full of light, and expensive enough so that when you casually mention the price at a party, a hushed silence falls over everyone.  (If you don't have a multimillion-dollar penthouse, the same effect can be achieved by announcing the exact opposite:  "I made nine thousand dollars last year!"  If I'd known when I was young that poverty was such a social advantage, I never would have majored in English with a minor in Painting.  Oh wait, yes I would have.)

This luxury gem boasts interiors by Zaptaka Interiors, and it shows.  Everything, from the faucets to the windowframes, to the basins and cupboards, exhibits a sort of unifying aesthetic, which I would describe as "really nice."  (What, I'm not a designer, I don't know the lingo.)  The main area is wide open, loft-style, with separate dining and living areas, as well as a large, well-appointed kitchen.  There are three bedrooms, all of them large and boasting floor-to-ceiling windows.  The master bath is massive and has sweet twin basins facing a frosted glass window, and a futuristic walk-in closet that's literally bigger than some studio apartments.




The unit comes with two garage parking spaces, as well as multiple outdoor terraces with stunning views of the city.  You could use one just for pensive gazing at the horizon, and the other just for throwing pots of spoiled food down into the yard.  That's what I do with my outdoor deck.  (True, possibly related, story: the guy who lives below the aforementioned deck stepped out to have a cigarette the other night and was attacked by a opossum.  Oops.)

2818 Connecticut Avenue NW #PH4
3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Baths
$1,750,000



Washington D.C. real estate news