DC's Massive Pipeline Project Being Rethought

Area watersheds.  Image: DC Water

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.

The sea change in the city's 20-year timeline for cleaning up area rivers will happen only if DC Water can renegotiate a 2005 federal decree 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.

A decision on the future flow of the city's $4.6 billion Clean Rivers Project could come in the next week or so, a spokeswoman with the city's water authority, The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, or DC Water, told DCMud this week.

"It might shift to a more green solution, or it might be a hybrid of the two: green and gray," DC Water spokeswoman Pamela Mooring told DCMud.  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.

The water authority is making efforts to re-focus the Clean Rivers Project for an eight-year pilot "Low-Impact Development" 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.

Blue Plains Treatment Plant. Image: DC Water

DC Water says revising the plan could save rate-payers millions of dollars and slash $120 from the monthly water bill increases forecast by the end of the decade.

Old System, Old Problem

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, reducing water oxygen levels and killing wildlife at 53 documented places.

A portion of the pipeline system planned for the Anacostia River is already under construction.  In 2011, DC Water awarded a $330 million contract to a joint proposal from Traylor brothers-Skanska-JayDee (TSJD) 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 from southwest DC, along the Potomac and under the Anacostia 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 George Hawkins 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.

Image: courtesy Mike Bolinder, @AnacostiaRrkper on Twitter

Riparian Repair - "Not a Zero Sum Game"

Although he supports a low-impact development approach, Anacostia Riverkeeper Mike Bolinder 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."

Bolinder said yearly sewage overflow into all three DC watersheds amounts to 2.5 billion gallons.

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."

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Morning Real Estate Fix

Rockville town square to be redeveloped, finally (Greater Greater Washington)  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.

Foreclosures starts lowest since 2006 (Wall Street Journal)  Foreclosure starts in November were 13% below October, for the lowest monthly start in 6 years.

Mortgage rates up after Fed announcement (Mortgage News Daily) A slight shift in the way the FRB approaches monetary policy played out as jittery banks raised rates slightly.

Davis Brody Bond digs in at St. Elizabeths (Architects Newspaper)  The architectural firm, chosen to build the St. Elizabeths pavilion, has created a subtle design for the historic property.

Arlington Adds Affordable Housing to Columbia Pike

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 AHC, Inc.

"We're scheduled to start construction on February 1" said John Welsh, Vice President of the Multifamily Division at AHC, Inc.  "And we plan to have the building done in eighteen months."

The $13 million, six-story building is designed by Cunningham + Quill Architects 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.

The project will be funded, 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).

No word yet on who might occupy the retail space.  "Tiffany's turned us down," said Welsh, when asked about potential tenants.  "Just kidding."

Arlington, Virginia real estate development news

Morning Real Estate Fix

15-unit apartment in Petworth to become condo (Urban Turf)  4226 7th Street to become the latest condo conversion, by owner Goldstar Group.

What's in the zoning update?  Fewer parking minimums (Greater Greater Washington) Changes to the planned zoning update will remove some parking minimums for certain smaller projects and for downtown.

Bethesda residents balk at 7 story apartment project downtown (BethesdaNow.com)  The West Lane project has been criticized by neighbors as too tall for the area, despite being surrounded by taller projects.

70 I Street, SE, sells for $165m (JD Land) The building was one of three originally built by JPI as part of its Capitol Yards project.

National Housing Survey results (Fannie Mae) Things are improving in the housing market - at least as measured by consumer confidence.

Phase One of Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment All but Approved by Zoning Commission

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.

That sets up the $1.5 billion project, technically titled The Wharf 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 PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette will be in the clear to begin applying for permits and seeking construction financing.

This was a very short, perfunctory hearing. On November 14, the commission approved three out of the development’s four parcels for the second stage of the PUD process, which examines public benefits, architecture and design (the first stage, which looks at height, density and zoning issues, was approved late last year).

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.

“This is a significant improvement,” said Commissioner May, who’d expressed concern at last month’s meeting. “I’m pleased with this result.” The commissioners had no other questions.

That means all four parcels, each of which contains one or two buildings, have been approved—“knock on wood,” said Shawn Seaman, 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. 

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 Pike Place Market in Seattle.

Washington, D.C., real estate development news

The Shaw Shine Redemption

Q and A with Suzane Reatig  
by Beth Herman

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 Suzane Reatig Architecture 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. DCMud spoke with Reatig about her latest multifamily project in Shaw.

DCMud: 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.

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: But how did that work in terms of displacing an elderly group of residents - even temporarily?

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: Did this alter the M Street design in any way?

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: What about the site itself, which we understand was a real challenge?

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: Can you explain the absence of wood in this design, and perhaps in some of your other projects.

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: Some may say there's an absence of sustainable elements in the M Street building, but you have other ideas about that.

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: Tell us about the interiors, with your signature focus on light and ventilation.

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: 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?

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: In what ways does your considerable stint as a carpenter in the '70s affect your work today?

Reatig: 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.

DCMud: Speaking of a city that thrives on teamwork, is there a particular D.C. site that appeals to you?

Reatig: 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.

Photos courtesy of Alan Karchmer.

Morning Real Estate Fix

10 ways to make cities more walkable (Atlantic Cities)  There are many steps a city can take to change the way it allocates space - and the inherent preferences given to cars.

Greysteel brokers sale of 1702 16th Street (Greysteel) The boutique building sold for $1.6m for seller Kerner Development.

Why denser cities are smarter and more productive (Atlantic Cities)  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?

November home sales in DC better than expected (Washington Post)  While sales are up, listing of new homes is down, and inventory shrinking, which will likely put pressure on median prices.

Bozzuto announces new projects (Multi Housing News)  Bozzuto Construction announces contracts for the new projects that total more than $100m.

Oxford to join Gould at 900 New York Ave (Canadian Business)  Canadian-based Oxford Properties Group will join Gould as a 50% partner in the planned office building downtown.