|
Revitalization keeps growing in the District
by Michele Lerner
Published 3/8/2002
Revitalization of the city's neighborhoods has been an ongoing
process since the 1930s, when Georgetown's venerable structures
needed revamping.
Mount Pleasant, Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle and
neighboring Logan Circle all have undergone revitalization in
the past few decades, a process that continues in many of these
areas today.
While Columbia Heights is attracting the most attention at the
moment from some builders who see this neighborhood as ripe for
revitalization, other areas in the city attracting residential
development include streets near the District's new convention
center, Capitol Hill, Southeast and Shaw.
"The entire city is pretty hot. No part of the city is being
overlooked for potential housing, and the obvious places such
as Logan Circle continue to be redeveloped," says lawyer
Jeffrey Gelman, chairman of the Housing Committee of the District
of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA).
"I don't think the demand for quality housing in the city
will ever seriously ebb," he says. "Even during the
recession, people wanted to live here, and the attractions of
the city are evident: There are jobs here, restaurants, museums
and theaters. While there's no shortage of demand, there's a shortage
of supply of quality housing."
According to Gerry Widdicombe, director of development for the
Center City Partnership, the District "has a lot of vitality
right now, and the environment is better for retail development,
which is the next component for revitalizing downtown. Housing
development will be happening everywhere in the next few years,
and there are plenty of people wanting to move into the city.
"There are empty nesters who want to experience the urban
lifestyle, and young professionals who don't want to commute,"
he says. "With D.C. tax rates coming down a bit and the traffic
woes around here, even more people will want to move back. As
long as people perceive that the city is safe and clean, and that
there's lots to do downtown, people will keep coming."
Many small and medium-size builders are developing new housing
in the city, but some larger builders have chosen to stay away
from the District.
"Many national developers have given up on trying to develop
projects in D.C., because it's a small market and heavily regulated,"
Mr. Gelman says. "The economies of scale just aren't here
for the larger builders who are looking for bigger mixed-use type
of projects."
Revitalization efforts are being made instead by smaller companies
that channel energy and financial resources into 10 to 20 projects
a year, such as NDC Builders, which focuses on small to medium-size
buildings that can be renovated into condominiums as part of a
neighborhood revitalization project.
"We look for neighborhoods that are still kind of funky,
with mixed incomes and mixed ethnic groups but with historic character,"
says Adrian Washington, chief executive officer of NDC Builders.
"We look for buildings with high ceilings, large windows
which can let in lots of light and great views, and then we try
to combine the old with the new, preserving the character of a
building.
"Most of our buyers are first-time home buyers in the city,
so we want our base product to be affordable," he says. "More
affluent buyers can add things like granite counters and cherry
cabinets if they want to. While our products vary from building
to building, most are priced from $100,000 to $200,000 for one
or two bedrooms."
Current NDC projects in Northwest include 1020 Fairmont St.,
where the one-bedroom and two-bedroom condominiums are priced
from $115,000 to $169,000, and 1030 Fairmont St., a project of
11 new one-bedroom and two-bedroom condominiums. Next summer,
one-bedroom-with-a-den and two-bedroom condominiums will be available
in the historic building at 1427 Chapin St.
"We like to work sort of on the fringes of a so-called hot
neighborhood, so we buy buildings one or two blocks away to renovate,"
Mr. Washington says. "For instance, our building at 310 M
St., the Verona, backs onto New York Avenue and is near the new
convention center/NOMA [north of Massachusetts Avenue] neighborhood.
We've renovated six condominiums in this building, and then we
took the roof off and extended it to create a unique loft unit
with 14-foot-high cathedral ceilings and spectacular views of
the city. The condos here will start at $119,000. This small pocket
neighborhood has lots of row houses which are being renovated,
too."
According to NDC Builders, Columbia Heights fits the criteria
for a neighborhood ready for revitalization because of its proximity
to downtown's employment centers, three Metro stops, and neighborhoods
that have already been revitalized or are known for their long-term
affluence: Logan Circle, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Crestwood
and Kalorama. Victorian-era buildings provide distinctive streetscapes
comparable to Georgetown and Capitol Hill.
"Besides Columbia Heights, which has been the neighborhood
for 10 of our 12 projects in the past four years, we're looking
at Shaw and Capitol Hill as the other two neighborhoods ready
for revitalization projects," Mr. Washington says.
James Abdo, founder of Abdo Development and a leader in residential
revitalization projects in the city, is also speculating on Columbia
Heights' potential, and expects to see some momentum there in
the next 12 to 24 months.
"I'm big on taking risks, and I want to be ahead of the
curve when it comes to finding areas in transition," he says.
"I try to look for the potential for an area to ignite, and
I like to create an impact on a whole area. So I look for assemblages
of lots or buildings together which can have an impact on a whole
block. This creates momentum and the potential to be able to make
a bigger change for a neighborhood, not just one row house on
one street.
"I like to make a long-term investment in phases, and right
now investing in housing in the District is great almost no matter
what the location," Mr. Abdo says.
Steve Earle, vice president of acquisitions and development for
PN Hoffman, the largest developer of condominiums in the District,
says: "There's no real formula for choosing an area in which
to develop housing. We just look for a place where there's a vacant
parcel of land which would permit new construction, or an existing
building which is in a condition comfortable for retrofitting
it for residential use."
PN Hoffman started in 1993 in the Dupont Circle neighborhood
and was among the first builders to move into 16th Street and
beyond, which had once been considered a barrier to upscale development.
Now it is looking into downtown and the 14th Street corridor,
along with working on projects in Bethesda and upper Northwest.
"While Columbia Heights has a great deal of attractive architecture
and is close to Metro, we aren't ready to pursue projects in that
neighborhood yet," Mr. Earle says. "At some point we
will turn to Columbia Heights, but we tend to market our products
to higher-income buyers and almost always tend to favor a slightly
more solidified neighborhood."
One new PN Hoffman project, the Mather at Ninth and G streets
NW, is a renovation of a historic building that had been boarded
up for years.
"Finally, the District put out an RFP [request for proposals]
for this property, and we were selected last fall," Mr. Earle
says. "We're restoring the historic terra-cotta facade, and
there'll be about 50 condominiums in the building. G Street used
to be closed to traffic and remains sort of a sleepy street, but
within 11⁄2 blocks in either direction there are Metro stations,
and MCI Center is only 11⁄2 blocks to the east.
"The arrangement with the government is that we will offer
12 units as affordable housing for people with incomes at 50 [percent]
to 80 percent of the median for D.C.," he says. "We're
creating units which would be appropriate for artists to use as
live-and-work spaces. We're also leasing first-floor space for
arts-type use and will lease it to an arts group as a studio or
gallery for 10 years at a below-market rate."
Other current PN Hoffman projects include the Lofts at Adams
Morgan, which is a contemporary, loft-style condominium building
with a retro-warehouse design, and a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom
and three-bedroom residences at varying prices.
Saxon Court, a unique condominium project at 1440 Church St.
NW, includes an industrial-style facade incorporating the existing
Church Street garage building, distressed brickwork and walls
of glass. Homes here will range from $250,000 to $700,000, with
the average two-bedroom home costing between $400,000 and $500,000.
Abdo Development has concentrated much of its work along P Street
and the Logan Circle neighborhood.
"We're still connected to the 14th Street corridor and the
neighboring enclaves, which I see as a sleeping giant just starting
to wake up," Mr. Abdo says. "I'm interested in not only
residential development, but also retail development, which is
necessary to keep the momentum of revitalization going. Services
need to be available and keep pace with the residential growth
of a neighborhood. We're still excited about Logan Circle and
Dupont Circle, and we still have projects in those areas we're
working on, but these neighborhoods aren't considered transitional
anymore."
Abdo Development was instrumental in transforming P Street between
Dupont Circle and Logan Circle, which now includes a Fresh Fields
grocery store and the Studio Theatre, which add to the momentum
of a changing neighborhood.
"In a couple of years, I think the city will look to the
P Street area as an example of the perfect restoration project
of a neighborhood, with its mix of retail and residential properties
creating a true community," Mr. Earle says. "Our Saxon
Court project will create another anchor for the neighborhood
on the corner of 14th Street."
For the first time, Abdo Development is starting a project in
Southeast, where the company is in the process of buying a historic
school building that will be converted to condominiums.
"These will be true luxury loft homes with spectacular views
of the Washington Monument and the Capitol building," Mr.
Abdo says. "Another developer is building town houses on
the adjacent land, and we're allowed to put in as many as 30 condominiums,
but my style is 'less is more.' We want to keep these as big and
dramatic and open as possible."
Other areas in which Abdo Development expects to create housing
in the next few years include projects east of 14th Street into
Shaw and areas near the new convention center.
"Right now, we're working on the Willison, which was a 72-unit
condominium building from the 1920s on Rhode Island Avenue between
14th and 15th streets," Mr. Abdo says. "We're putting
just one or two units on each floor, so there will be just 22
units in the building."
Gary Lofaso, president of Georgetown Restoration Inc., began
his company with small restoration projects in Georgetown and
on Capitol Hill, and then started buying foreclosures along 13th
Street and transforming them into rental apartments.
"All of our larger projects have been in the Logan Circle
area because we always saw the opportunity there," Mr. Lofaso
says. "Especially when we saw the blight along 14th Street,
we wanted to restore the period architecture. There's a restoration
component in nearly everything we do. Now we're expanding beyond
Logan Circle, looking north into Columbia Heights."
Georgetown Restoration is working on the Haley, a six-unit condominium
at Ninth and M streets near the new convention center in Northwest.
The Haley will have split-level loft designs with flights of stairs
leading from one part of each unit to the next and light from
lots of different directions.
"We had the existing side yard incorporated into the design
to get a courtyard and light from more sides, which makes the
condominiums seem more like town homes than apartments,"
Mr. Lofaso says. "We put in granite counters, hardwood floors,
fireplaces and crown moldings to give it all an upscale feel."
Georgetown Restorations is also building a new loft-style condominium
building at 3039 16th St. NW near Harvard Street, with 16-foot-high
ceilings with glass curtain walls and only two units per floor.
"We're always looking for areas on the edge," Mr. Lofaso
says. "Logan Circle was on the edge of Dupont Circle, and
now we're moving east of Logan Circle a bit, but the new convention
center creates sort of a boundary, so now I think revitalization
will be moving north."
Most builders credit the current D.C. leadership with encouraging
residential development and providing a positive environment for
the city. While direct government aid hasn't been part of the
process for these builders, they cite the $5,000 tax credit for
first-time buyers in the District with helping them to attract
buyers.
"There are tax-incentive programs for developers to help
them finance rental properties," Mr. Earle says, "but
not a lot out there for for-sale properties. The government is
trying to create a balance between a strong, high-income tax base
and affordable housing."
According to Mr. Lofaso, "The District government is definitely
more builder-friendly and has created the NCRC [National Capitalization
Revitalization Corp.] to deal with the hundreds of blighted properties
that are in the government inventory. The D.C. government is definitely
making an effort, but there's so much growth happening right now
that the infrastructure has to be worked on."
NCRC, a public-private partnership, received $25 million in funding
from the federal government and $75 million from Fannie Mae investments
to manage major development projects in the District.
"The city has been like a leveraged buyout with unused assets
for a long time," Mr. Widdicombe says. "Now the NCRC
has completely changed the way business is done. Now properties
are actually being sold, plus the requirements are much tighter
on things like builders getting their projects going on time.
The vitality of the city is great and the retail component will
be the next phase of redevelopment. The final nut to crack will
be the school system, because until that gets fixed we won't see
many families coming to live in the city."
Developers working in Logan Circle, Columbia Heights, Southeast
and elsewhere in the city are optimistic about the future of the
District and confident about the role their work can play in the
continuing success of the city.
"The builders who are working in the city want to do good
and to be proud of what they're doing," Mr. Gelman says.
"The people who persevere in this want to make a living,
of course, but they also want to do good things for the city."
- - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
