Morning Real Estate Fix

Should investors buy into housing recovery?  (U.S. News & World Reports)  The backlog of people able to buy their own home is large, making housing stocks a good investment.

Amid positive signs in housing, uncertainty remains (Fannie Mae)  Although the majority of news about the housing sector has lately been positive, substantial risk remains, and the looming fiscal cliff caused by unsustainable debt tilts risk toward the downside.

DC moves from 1st to 8th on list of best places to invest (Urban Land Institute) In a new report on emerging trends in real estate, ULI report shows that DC fell from the top of the list as the "low-gear real estate recovery" lifts some previously slow markets.

Real inflation undermines housing recovery (Realty Biz News) Despite conventional wisdom that inflation benefits homeowners, the cost of living is going up while home prices are remaining flat, a fact that government statistics are purposely not showing.

Home price appreciation helps recovery (National Assn. of Home Builders) Rising home prices across the nation show that the recovery is underway.

Community Matters!

Q&A with Susan Stine of Redteam Strategies

By Beth Herman

As owner of interior design and strategic planning firm Redteam Strategies, Susan Stine is a long time resident of D.C. landmark The Westchester, 4000 Cathedral Avenue NW. She has served and continues to serve on many of the building’s committees, including as former chairman of the house committee that oversaw the comprehensive redesign of the building’s public spaces, completed in 2010. DCMud spoke with her about old vs. new and her traditional outlook on what it means to live in the District.

DCMud: In the last five years, D.C. has had this huge push to build new apartment buildings—part of the urban planning concept known as Smart Growth America. It’s building around public transportation - building up urban areas so it’s a work/live/play scenario. There’s now a lot of new product on the market, largely for rent, but what about people who want a different kind of lifestyle and wish to buy?

Stine:Washington has some very significant older apartment or condominium buildings that are beautiful, and The Westchester has the lowest fees and biggest apartments per square foot–and it’s on 11 acres—it’s a real, established community.

DCMud: In what sense?

Stine: People say that you buy here because of the square footage but stay because of the community. We have people at the Westchester who have moved around within the (five building-) campus four and five times. They purchase up or they purchase down. It’s a real community within Washington, D.C., and there’s something to be said about buying into that.

DCMud: In 2010, we reported on a kind of democracy in action major Westchester renovation, where residents were given a voice and got to vote for their favorites.

Stine: Unlike many newer buildings, a few older communities and particularly The Westchester are more likely to involve its member-owners in processes such as major renovation decisions. We embrace transparency because we think that makes the community better and stronger. In 2008 we began a major redesign executed through surveys, workshops and focus groups, with each household getting to vote on key components of the project. You generally don’t find that in newer properties.

DCMud: So there are opportunities for involvement on many levels.

Stine: You’re living in history, you’re living in a community, and you’re getting a lot of square footage—plus you’re still convenient to downtown. When you go into a new apartment building, you’re right smack downtown and your community is outside of your building—it’s on the street. Do you meet your neighbors? You might meet them on the treadmill, but that’s it. People buy into older, established communities like this because of the history, and they become a part of it.

DCMUD: Speaking of history and design, do you have a favorite venue in the District?

Stine: It has to be the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum, which underwent the most beautiful restoration about 10 years ago. Then five years ago, a canopy was created there to join two buildings together. I go all the time to restore myself because it’s filled with art and feeds my soul.

Washington D.C. design news

GW Approves New Foggy Bottom Residence Hall

Moving forward with plans to add density and retail to its growing mixed-use kingdom in Foggy Bottom, George Washington (GW) University today announced plans to build a new, $130 million residence hall. The dorm will be constructed around and between the existing West End, Schenley and Crawford residence halls that front H and Eye Streets between 21st and 22nd Streets.  The structure will include ground-floor retail on Eye Street.  GW has retained Ayers Saint Gross as architect for the project.

2007 Foggy Bottom Campus Plan Development Sites.  Image: GWU

The residence hall adds to the university's growing list of high-dollar, ambitious construction projects, all part of a university plan to add density and retail to the parts of Foggy Bottom and West End neighborhoods the university controls, via the 2007 Foggy Bottom Campus Plan.  The Campus Plan includes 16 projects.

In summer 2011, the university started construction on a $265 million dollar, 400,000 s.f. Science and Engineering Building.  Also last year, the university announced plans to demolish townhouses on Pennsylvania Avenue and part of a large building at 2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, now occupied by Kaiser Permanente, to make room for a new office building.  The university will argue before the DC Zoning Commission in November that it should be granted an exception to a 90-foot height limit on part of the site and be able to build the office tower to its planned 130-foot height.

According to a GW press release, the planned residence hall will house mainly second and third-year students and have accommodations for short-term staff and faculty. Units will be two-bedroom apartments, studio apartments, or units in a concept called "affinity housing."  The affinity housing concept, according to the university press release, will "provide space for groups of students to create their own living communities." Michelle Sherrard, GW's director of media relations, further detailed the concept in an email to DCMud. "Students in clubs, organizations or athletics teams can create their own living community around their interests," she explained.  She said the housing units would feature large common kitchen and living areas and beds for 16 to 20 students.

With 270,000 s.f. of above-grade space, plans also call for 64,000 s.f. of underground space for student activities.  The University will preserve the West End, Schenley and Crawford halls, which were constructed in the mid 1920's. GW acquired the buildings between 1960 and 1997.  According to officials, construction on the new residence hall will begin in mid 2013.  It could be completed in time for fall semester, 2016.

The Ground Floor

Mie n Yu, the Asian fusion restaurant located at 3125 M St, NW, has closed after 10 years of business.

Mulberry, the iconic English handbag company, has opened it's newest US location at Tysons Galleria.  The 1,882 square foot store will offer men's and women's accessories plus women's shoes and clothing.

Want a sneak peek of the new Matchbox restaurant coming to the corner of 14th and T St, NW?  Click here.  (Eater)

Which Wich sandwich chain is opening a new location in Ballston.  It will take over the former Daily Grind space at 4300 Wilson Blvd.  (Arlington Now.)

A Jewel Box for Literary Gems

Q&A with Michael Wiencek

By Beth Herman

Opening in June, the 22,500 s.f. Francis A. Gregory Library, 2100 36^th Place SE, was the result of a collaborative effort between London- and New York-based Adjaye Associates, charged with the design, and architect of record Wiencek & Associates. DCMud talked with Principal Michael Wiencek about influences and site challenges the LEED Silver building posed.

DCMud: You are known to specialize in what some have called transformative multifamily housing. How did this inform your work on the Francis A. Gregory Library?

Wiencek:  We knew that Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for D.C., was interested in making libraries iconic, even though they may be neighborhood or branch libraries. She has the same passion about changing people’s lives through her libraries as we have about changing them through our multifamily housing. Ginnie wants people, and kids in particular, to start to view the library as an asset. Just like our housing—when we’re designing something in a disadvantaged neighborhood, we’re always trying to do something that raises the level of design quality people are used to. It gives them a boost of self-esteem. In the library’s case, it draws you to it so you’re utilizing something you may not have.

DCMud: So children factor into the space in a very special way.

Wiencek: The formative years really make a big difference in your life, so you’re experiencing good architecture and by virtue of that you’re pulled into this building.

DCMud: What did you find at ground zero, and what was the genesis of the design?

Wiencek: In both this library and the William O. Lockridge/ Bellevue Neighborhood Library’s case, we replaced two 1950s brick boxes with no character, ambience or design whatsoever. David Adjaye’s inspiration for this building was a fabric jewel box, which appears to be how he does a lot of his designs. He works from an object.

DCMud: Simplistically, the building has been compared to a large, beveled mirror. What can you tell us about the process?

Wiencek: The curtain wall (glazing) systems that we used on the two libraries did not exist before they were built. We worked with the manufacturer to design two new systems. In a normal building, the curtain wall is an aluminum frame that hangs off the building and carries the glass. In this case it is laminated wood—of course renewable— that carries the glass. Also, there are varying diamond shapes. They may look very uniform when you first see them, but each one is different: The angle of the curtain wall is changing at each facet. There are only one or two pieces of glass that are actually the same size in that building. Adjaye also didn’t want to have columns sitting out there as support systems. So we made the curtain wall become the structure at the perimeter. And the grillage canopy which floats above the roof has a similar faceting design to it.

DCMud: Describe the site and any site challenges.

Wiencek: The library abuts National Park Service land at the rear with lots of trees. It’s the jewel box sitting on the street, playing against nature. In fact if you go at the right time of day, the building almost disappears because the glass has some reflectivity to it and reflects the trees from across the street and in front and in back. What everybody sees as this very structured, rigid frame design sort of disappears.

Parking was a challenge, as it went on the old site and there was none. But it is near main transit lines, and these libraries are meant to be within walking distance of the surrounding community.

To make our building work we had to keep a wall from the original library there, or we’d have had to encroach on the Park Service land. We wanted to use a small portion of their land as access, but that was not allowed as it is a national park. If you stand in the library and look back into the park land, it slopes down and away. If we could have cleared some of the undergrowth and made a lawn below the trees, it could have been an even more amazing space. Looking down at that park would have made it an experience like being at an art gallery—the trees like sculpture sitting out on the landscape.

DCMud: What about your own landscape? How did you come to your specialty in the area of affordable housing?

Wiencek: At the beginning of my career (1978), I met an architect at the very end of his: Hilyard Robinson. The auditorium at the Howard University School of Architecture is named after him, where he was on the faculty. He was an African American architect who started practicing in the 1930s, and did a lot of the housing near Gallaudet University like Langston Terrace. His buildings were geared toward affordable housing, but the results had a lot of design and respect for the people who were going to live there. He put so much thought into this work, and we had many talks about why he’d done what he’d done.

My father was director of personnel at NIH, and he’d always talked about social justice. He was all about creating jobs for all kinds of people back in the ‘60s when it wasn’t yet part of the culture. Between the two of them, it gave me the desire to make a difference and respect people through architecture. I hope to get the chance to renovate some of Hilyard Robinson’s buildings.

10 Questions with ... Harriet Tregoning

10 Questions is a new weekly feature in which we interview some of the leading District figures in real estate, architecture, development, and planning. This week's subject ... Harriet Tregoning, Director of the Washington DC Office of Planning.

One of the country's leading advocates of "smart growth," Tregoning has spearheaded the District's shift from an undirected, auto-centric hodgepodge to a bikeable, pedestrian-friendly 21st century community.  If you've used a bike lane, walked home with groceries, or commuted to or from work in less than thirty minutes, you probably owe her some thanks.



1.  What's a typical day for you?

Get up and get dressed; walk dogs; check text messages and answer overnight emails; bike to first meeting of the day, maybe somewhere downtown.  Go on to the office and work with staff on a couple of on-going plans and projects.  Head to the Wilson Building for a meeting with colleagues (from other agencies) or meet with Council staff.  Grab a late lunch somewhere, maybe a food truck near L’Enfant Plaza on the way back to the office.  Return calls, send emails, check Twitter, read.  Then I might host one or two more meetings --with residents who have concerns about their neighborhood, a land owner who has a project they want to see if they could build in DC, or a non-profit about what we could do together to solve a particular DC problem, e.g., like producing and retaining affordable housing or helping make fresh and healthy food more available throughout the city.

After leaving the office for the day, I might attend a community meeting, give a talk, or hear a lecture- that’s how I spend a typical evening.  If I am free, I might meet my husband for dinner in our neighborhood or play a quick game of tennis under the lights at Banneker.

2.  What or who is your biggest influence?

I just got back from a gathering I really love – once or twice a year I get together with the Planning Chiefs in the top 30 largest American cities, many of whom are doing amazing things to make their cities more livable, sustainable, economically competitive and diverse.  Their work is really inspiring.


3.  What neighborhood do you live in?

Columbia Heights


4.  What is your biggest DC pet peeve?

I don’t know if this is my BIGGEST DC pet peeve, but the bike/ped/car culture wars have been well covered.

So, TREES, specifically street trees.  They have a very hard and very important job in the city.  They make the city more beautiful – our streets with mature trees and a canopy that arches over the street are some of the most magnificent places in the city.  They provide all kinds of shelter from the elements – protection from rain or snow, shade when it’s too hot and sunny.  Compared to pavement or asphalt, they literally help to cool the city.  They help manage the peak surge of stormwater when there is heavy rainfall; they provide habitat; when mature, they create both a vertical element along the street that provides both a more distinct edge, and a sense of enclosure – to drivers, the street seems more narrow, and their speeds are lower.  For pedestrians, they create a physical buffer from cars and traffic.

We have a goal for the city of 40% tree canopy (we are at about 35% today), but most of our residents and businesses don’t know that THEY are responsible for watering the trees in front of their property and especially helping to establish young trees when they first get planted.  They need about 20-25 gallons of water per week.  So we have a very high mortality rate for our urban trees and we need help from our residents and businesses to get all those benefits that come from mature trees in our city.

5.  What is the #1 most played song on your iPod?

With Arms Outstretched, Rilo Kiley


6.  Favorite DC haunt?

Room 11 Patio and Banneker Tennis Courts – I probably spend the most time there after work and home.


7.  What's your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon?

Long dog walk, and then hang out at Meridian Hill Park


8.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Here!


9.  If you couldn't be an urban planner/smart growth advocate, what would you be?

A book editor or publisher.


10.  Name one thing most people don't know about you.

I play the cello - very, very badly.

Morning Real Estate Fix

Housing starts highest in 4 years (Bloomberg) September's numbers give it a 872,000 annual rate, the fastest since July 2008.  But if fueled in part by historically low interest rates, will it last?

The bad news: the recovery is based on government intervention (HousingWire)  If government intervention in the housing market were to stop, the housing recovery would quickly evaporate, making the industry's recovery tied to subsidization.

What would a housing recovery look like anyway? (Washington Post)  Even in the depression like year of 1981, no quarterly results were as bad as those seen over the past 4 years.  The recovery likely won't be very strong, by historical recovery standards, but it might be just good enough to be optimistic about.

Smaller leases:  DC's new normal (Globe St.) Absent ginormous government leases, landlords are happy to chase after 20,000 s.f. users, making a virtue of necessity.