Today in Pictures - Washington Harbor

Georgetown's Washington Harbor is coming back to life.  A flood devastated the retail pavilion in March of 2011, when high water in the Potomac filled the parking garage and nearly submerged several restaurants, but restaurants have since been revamping and only one retail bay remains vacant. With several anchor restaurants on the lower level having reopened last month, the harbor is slowly returning to its former glory, or perhaps better, as the fountain - never the best part of the complex - has been reconfigured into a winter ice skating rink.  Owner MRP Realty expects work on the complex to be completed by Thanksgiving.

Tony & Joe's

Tony & Joe's

Intervention as Art

Q and A with Steven Spurlock of Wnuk Spurlock Architects 
by Beth Herman

Fostering a relationship that began more than 30 years ago, Steven Spurlock of Wnuk Spurlock Architects was commissioned to create a new 5,250 s.f. hybrid art studio/woodworking shop/office/gallery/storage space for maverick artist Sam Gilliam, a significant force in the former Washington Color School. Commandeering a small industrial building in the District's Brightwood neighborhood that had seen its share of rather disjointed incursions, Spurlock and project architect Marcy Giannunzio proceeded to transform the ragged space through a series of artful interventions. It went on to receive the AIA's 2012 Award of Excellence in Interior Architecture. DCMud spoke with Spurlock about the process.


DCMud: Describe the site as you found it.

Spurlock: The city square that it sits on is trapezoidal in shape, facing 14th Street with Longfellow as a side street, then Colorado cuts diagonally across the back. There was originally a brick masonry commercial structure of some nature on the southwest corner of the property.  At some point it was converted to a gas station. Later, using the two existing masonry walls on either side, someone built a wall on the backside and one on the front side and put a roof over everything, which essentially created an office area in the front a big warehouse area in the back. There aren't a lot of uses for that kind of space in the city, so it was one of those wonderful finds for Sam.

DCMud: What gave you the idea to employ, in your words, "multiple programmatic freestanding interventions" - essentially to accord each entity (studio; woodworking shop; gallery; office; etc.) its own personality?

Spurlock: The client definitely wanted something that had a rawness or an edginess to it - not to have it look all pretty and new. For instance we took the old masonry structure and made it into storage. As some of his pieces are constructions -- he sometimes will paint on pieces of metal or plywood, and introduce pieces of canvas with that -- the need for a separate woodworking shop was imminent to fabricate the wood pieces. And you cannot have the wood shop and a paint shop in the same places for dust issues.


DCMud: The office space with its bamboo flooring appears to be more of an oasis.

Spurlock: The office intervention is kind of a box in a box. It was meant to be a freestanding element that you dropped into the space. As we stopped to think about it, we realized the whole building should look like a container with little interventions introduced into it so you could read a history of how the space evolved: the tension between the old and new parts. Above the office we put a balcony and glass rail. This was done compositionally to make the office box look more attractive, and the artist also likes to go up and see things from a different perspective as part of the creative process.

DCMud: Describe the artist's studio space.

Spurlock: It was the block wall when we first started, and because he's in there all the time we knew we had to insulate it. We used canvases of white painted drywall to provide a neutral backdrop for the composition and display of art, as Sam likes to hang what he's working on to contemplate it. We cut windows into the drywall to reveal sections of the old masonry in between for contrast. At the party walls, the drywall is partial height and pulled away from the corners so it appears to float in a wall of masonry. At the exterior, it goes full height for improved thermal insulation of the building. All of the walls are built with studs, covered with plywood, and then there's drywall on top of the plywood to allow him to hang heavy items anywhere he wants. It was a nice contrast to the old brick - to create that juxtaposition of the old and new.

DCMud: Artists usually require a prodigious amount of light. How was this addressed?

Spurlock: We grouped 10 skylights in the center to control the natural light - didn't want them washing out the walls at all times. Along the perimeter, where the hanging walls are, we put in a lot of high tech lighting fixtures to illuminate the pieces on individually-controlled dimmers. For evenings or cloudy days, there are color temperature-corrected fluorescent lights that we installed in a playful pattern to make the space less static. Solar voltaic panels on the roof allow the artist to generate his own electricity to satisfy his interest in energy conservation.


DCMud: Was there some, perhaps more personal element of the  design that came as a surprise?

Spurlock: One of Sam Gilliam's early breakthroughs as an artist in the 1960s was a stained canvas that he draped from the ceiling, or over things. In his former studio, he didn't have enough space to do that and he'd not done it in years.When he got into the new space, he realized he could once again do that, which was a really nice benefit for him to be able to go back to his roots if he wanted.

photos courtesy of Anice Hoachlander

City Again Rules to Save Historic Mt. Vernon Triangle Houses

The city has ruled three nineteenth-century row houses in DC's Mount Vernon Square Historic District must be preserved, giving some resolution - at least for now - to a long-running saga that spotlighted tensions surrounding urban church parking and historic preservation.

1232, 1234, and 1236 New Jersey Avenue, NW. Image: HPO

On Thursday, the city released its most recent ruling that the Third Street Church of God, located in DC's Mount Vernon Square Historic District, must continue to preserve three nineteenth century row houses it owns at 1232, 1234, and 1236 New Jersey Avenue NW.  Last year the Church petitioned the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) for permission to totally demolish the structures, built in the 1860's, to make way for parking.  It argued saving the buildings would constitute an "economic hardship."  The HPO rejected the permit, so the Church requested that the office of the Mayor's Agent hear the case.

The Church first announced plans to totally the demolish the structures last year, but the HPO recommended only partial demolition, as it stated in a staff report that parts of the houses still had structural integrity to justify saving.  The Church changed its plans to comply with the HPO's recommendation, and the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), the HPO's decision-making body, approved that permit.  The church went forward with the demolition, but then decided to make the case for a full demolition permit again.  It was that permit that the city again rejected on Thursday.

Mayor's Agent hearing officer J. Peter Byrne wrote in the ruling released Thursday that historic preservation trumped the Church's economic hardship argument.  Byrne wrote that the church's plans to use its property to serve its programming deserved "great respect," but that the Church "must pursue its facility goals within the constraints of the Historic Landmark and Historic District Protection Act, which benefits both the surrounding neighborhood and entire District of Columbia."

According to public record, the Church bought the row houses over 20 years ago for $98,400, but their 2011 assessed tax value was more than $500,000 - almost the exact same amount as the church's annual revenues.  In any case, the city ruled, the church's economic hardship argument doesn't stand, as securing the buildings for the Church's original estimated cost of $77,420  "does not seem prohibitive in light of the Church's revenues and assets."  The best option, the city suggested, might be for the church to avoid any expense to itself at all and just sell the row houses.

10 Questions with Yolanda Cole

10 Questions is a weekly feature in which we interview some of the leading District figures in real estate, architecture, development, and planning. This week's subject ... Yolanda Cole, principal of Hickock Cole Architects.

Through over 25 years of experience in building and interior design, Cole has had a hand in many award-winning buildings (senior designer for Australia's Chifley Tower and New York's Capital Cities/ABC headquarters, to name just two), and been consistently recognized as a leading figure in the business community.  Originally a partner at leading woman-owned interior design firm LyrixDesign, Cole is now a senior principal and co-owner at Hickock Cole Architects, widely acknowledged as one of the leading architectural firms in the area, having designed the new NPR headquarters, the CSIS building on Rhode Island Ave., the DC AIA architecture center, among others.

1.  What's a typical day for you?

Go to the gym, get to work, check email, and attend any combination of meetings on:  projects, RFPs, proposals and interviews; marketing and business development; corporate issues like budgets, employee reviews and staffing; and meetings and presentations for industry organizations. And then there’s more email. It's go, go, go!

2.  What or who is your biggest influence?

The "what" would be that I am internally driven to make things happen, so I am my own engine. The "who" would be my inner circle:  my mother, my daughter, my business partner, and my significant other.

3.  What neighborhood do you live in?

The 14th Street corridor, and I love it!


4.  What is your biggest DC pet peeve?

Taxation without representation and Congress meddling in DC affairs.

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

I'm a shuffler, so no one song gets greater play. I go with the flow by my moods and my playlists.


6.  Favorite DC haunt?

Muleh for clothes, Rasika for dinner and Bohemian Caverns for music. I also enjoy just being at home.

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

Play my flute, write, or do a little bit of nothing. I'm not very good at the latter.

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

Italy. I would love to learn to speak Italian. The food is pretty awesome, too.



9. If you couldn't be an architect, what would you be?

An astro-physicist. I am amazed by the wonders of the cosmos.

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

I'm an introvert!

Morning Real Estate Fix

Apartment dynamics look strong for next 2 years (Costar) Picking up for the 7th quarter in a row, as rents continue to rise and tenancy is still ascendant.

Congress requests study on building heights in DC (Washington Post)  Congressman Darrell Issa has requested review of the Districts's building heights law.  Over the next year, NCPC will study - just study - building heights.

Ribbon cutting for Penrose Park on Columbia Pike (Arlnow) The Arlington park, at 2503 Columbia Pike, held a ribbon cutting on Thursday.

Toll Brothers buy southeast DC lot from Cohen for development (JDland)  The lot, on the same block as Velocity condos, has been purchased by Toll Brothers for $14m, adding to their real estate holdings on that block.

A Blossoming Bloomingdale

Bloomingdale, DC’s funky, off-the-beaten-track Northwest neighborhood, is on the verge of exploding with new dining and nightlife options. When the dust clears in six to nine months, the neighborhood could have up to eight new drinking and dining establishments, potentially turning it into a genuine destination.

Sprawling west from the intersection of Florida Avenue and North Capitol Street, the architecturally rich neighborhood has offered few amenities to the swarm of newcomers, until now.  The area only gained its first table-service restaurant, Rustik in 2010; a second, Boundary Stone, took another year to open.  Now, it seems, restaurateurs and other entrepreneurs have discovered the area.  On First Street, a short commercial block will soon hold three new restaurants.

Aroi Fine Thai and Japanese Cuisine opened several weeks ago.  Directly across the street at 1837 1st Street will be Costa Brava, a Spanish tapas restaurant that could open in the next few months. According to a placard in the building’s window, the restaurant hopes to stay open until 3am on weekends, though the owner and neighbors (who oppose the hours) met for a mediation process last week, and ANC Commissioner Hugh Youngblood says the owner will probably be held to the same hours as Rustik next door, closing around midnight on weekdays and 1am on weekends.

An empty space at the corner of 1st and Seaton Place is scheduled to become the Red Hen, an Italian-influenced restaurant that Youngblood predicts will become a city-wide destination restaurant. According to the Washington Post, the owners are DC restaurant veterans Sebastian Zutant and Mike Friedman, and the interior architect—Zutant’s wife, Lauren Winter—is responsible for some of the city’s hipper eateries, like Rogue 24 and Chez Billy. There’s no word on an opening date.

Around the corner on Rhode Island Avenue, Grassroots Gourmet, a bakery serving cakes, cookies and coffee with a progressive twist, hopes to open at 104 Rhode Island Avenue in two weeks. At this point, the shop won’t have seating for patrons, but co-owner Jamilyah Smith-Kanz says the market will help determine the store. “We’ll see what happens: the neighborhood is shaping it as much as we are.”  

Next door, Demers Real Estate, which is leasing the building, says the company is negotiating a lease with the owner of Petworth’s Domku restaurant. The new establishment would supposedly be a vegetarian one, but Domku owners are not talking publicly.

Across the street at 113 Rhode Island Avenue, in a former barbershop, a window placard announces the Showtime Lounge, a coffeeshop by day, beer/wine/spirits hangout by night. There’s no word on when the establishment will open. “I think they’re taking their time on it,” said Youngblood.

Even North Capitol Street, not known for its high end retail, will sport several new establishments. Teri Janine Quinn, ANC representative-elect (who just won Youngblood’s seat) is opening a wine bar - Lot 1644 - at 1644 North Capitol Street. The bar will also serve food, and Quinn hopes to eventually add a cheese shop to the front of the building, though the latter may not come for a while. “I’m concerned about rolling that out immediately, because North Capitol doesn’t have foot traffic,” explained Quinn. She could not give a date for the bar’s opening.

A building two doors south of Quinn’s, at 1626, has been a neighborhood sore spot for years. Engine Company 12 Firehouse was taken over by local developer Brian Brown years ago, who promised to establish a hopping three-story restaurant, each floor with its own theme. The project was supposed to be completed by spring 2011, but construction simply languished.

Finally, last week, amid negotiations with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Brown sold the building to Abbas Fathi, who also owns Shaw’s Tavern. “We promised the city to have the entire project done in nine months,” said Steve May, who’s handling renovations. The final product will be a full service restaurant featuring American/southern cooking: po boy sandwiches, burgers, and hush puppies. But both Fathi and May were already involved in the project prior to the sale, and neighborhood observers are skeptical.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Morning Real Estate Fix

Election should have little impact on real estate market (Washington Post)  Tempting as it may be to assume a big push on real estate transaction due to a changing personnel, elections don't have that much impact on local real estate, especially with an incumbent.

16th Street Greek Orthodox Church sells  Saints Constantine and Helen church sells church building and school at 4115 16th Street, NW, to Iglesia Ni Christo for $9.2m.  Greek Orthodox community to move to Silver Spring.

Met Life mulls purchase of Constitution Center (Wall Street Journal) The insurance giant is close to purchasing the newly built building designed for federal government security in southwest DC.  The purchase price is reportedly $750m.  That would be a record for a single office building, though below initial expectations.

Washington D.C. shows no signs of an apartment construction slowdown (Property Management Insider)  DC is under its highest multi-family construction boom ever, and the highest rate in the country.  Despite delivery of recent projects, occupancy remains very high, though rent inflation seems to be slowing.

Fannie Mae expects first annual profit since 2006 (Fannie Mae)  The mortgage giant reports a $1.8 billion profit for 3Q 2012, and expects to report a net profit for the first time in 6 years.