Dear PoP – What’s the Construction at the Corner of Georgia and Quincy, NW?

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by Prince Of Petworth November 29, 2010 at 11:00 am 21 Comments

“Dear PoP,

Do you have any info about the construction at Georgia Ave and Quincy St.?”

This is going to be a 49 unit condo project by Donatelli Development. Units will include 1 bedrooms, 1bed + den, and 2 bedrooms (with prices ranging from roughly $300s – $400s. It will be a six story building. There was a groundbreaking ceremony back in March ’10.

I’ll be updating with a “judging new buildings” post as construction progresses.

Cactus Jack

Any word on if there will be ground-floor retail? It’s one of the things that Donatelli does particularly well.
- Prince Of Petworth
  
  There is no retail for this property.
  
  Note that there is still vacancy in the ground floor retail across the street. (Also a Donatelli property)
  - David Tumblin
    
    Donatelli also has responsibility for some of the other vacant buildings and lots in the 3800 block north of this construction. They report good progress on a restaurant (at this point local and respected), and they continue to work on getting other vendors for the locations nearby.
    - Prince Of Petworth
      
      http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2010/01/fenty-administration-celebrates-historic-georgia-ave-restaurant-you-know-the-new-marvin-spot/
      - David Tumblin
        
        I also want to get the apartment with the open, exposed wall featuring that nifty mural on the building next door. PoP, think you can get them to keep that wall open for somebody?
PetworthRes

Nice actually to see this will be a condo project since Park Place became a rental…a sign the real estate market is turning around some.

Are there going to be any units sold for below market price? I’m curious because it seems most other housing developments in the neighbhorhood include this.
- James
  
  Good question. This is another example of the District’s messed up priorities. What the neighborhood needs is affordable rentals – not new condos for the nouveau riche. I wonder what kind of corporate welfare the city gave Donatelli for the right to get rich on these properties.
  
  Here are a couple news stories worth checking out. Sunday’s Wash Post on affordable housing in the district:
  
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/27/AR2010112703988.html
  
  And Gentrification in Anacostia via Al Jazeera:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzsOl5zVw-8
  - RD
    
    you clearly know nothing about the neighborhood you are talking about. where are all these new condos for the rich you talk about? just about every single multi-unit building within a couple blocks is apartments filled with lower income residents. market rate housing in the $300-400k range is exactly what is needed. You get people that aren’t rich enough to afford half million dollar renovated rowhouses, but have enough money to contribute to the local economy.
  - Geezer
    
    It’s a special type of clueless that would describe people moving into Petworh as “nouveau riche”.
  - PetworthRes
    
    Within about 1.5 blocks of this building are two brand-new buildings providing affordable rentals (all of the units are or will be below market rate) – the building over the Yes Organic Market and the new building next door to the Wendy’s on Georgia by Randolph. Quite a lot of the new development in Petworth is set aside below market rate. There are also several large rental apartment buildings near here that are older and lower-priced. I was happy to see that this new building is going to be sold as condos because it’s a positive sign for the real estate market. And since 80% of the rowhouses of Petworth are owner-occupied, it’s good news for the neighborhood.
  - caballero
    
    I watched the Al Jazeera piece. I liked some of it, but on the whole, I thought the analysis was flimsy. Cities change. Nothing is static. Back when whites were fleeing the city, I’m sure there were people complaining about that. Now that whites are returning, the same people are complaining for different reasons.
    
    Remember the farm foreclosure crisis of the 1980s? Well, as much as people wanted to stay on the family farm, economics had the final say. The same goes for cities today. Yes, some renters may be priced out of their neighborhoods (although you won’t find many homeowners being pushed out), but paying rent doesn’t entitle you stay there forever. It only entitles you to stay until the next month.
    
    People need to stop believing that their past entitles them to live outside the present.
Anonymous

New condos for the nouveau riche are exactly what the neighborhood needs. It will be great to add some diversity. Its been, what, 42 years?
- caballero
  
  Agreed.
- Anon
  
  +1
ET

Thankfully I own by 2 BR, one bath house because on my salary I couldn’t afford a $300,000-$400,000 condo.

Only someone making over $100,000 can really afford this. Anyone making less than this buying one of those has way too much of their income going to living expenses (mortgage and fees) than analysts think is comfortable. While I think there are a lot $100,000+ earners who would buy a unit for that price, I would say that most people earn less. Guess this got me thinking after the WaPo article on this topic.
- Anon
  
  I don’t think that’s true. I make $70k and can afford a $300-400k property, and I’ve know people who could do it on far less. But the rest of my living expensives are relatively low; I don’t have student loans, or car loans, and I keep the food and other purchases low.
Anonymous

To keep rents low, you need supply, and lots of it. Or total blight. Either of those. The worst situation from a rent standpoint is a convenient neighborhood, close to jobs, with limited supply (i.e Dupont) due to zoning or historic preservation.

The city should be working to expand / meet the demand for the housing pool by thousands per year. If we weren’t facing a financial crisis, I’d eliminate taxes on new residential development and ease density hurdles and entitlement costs (ie costly PUDs). The scarcer the land and number of units can fit on the land, the more expensive it will be, and the more expensive the housing will be. New development will always be relatively more expensive than existing, but the people who “upgrade” by moving from worse to better housing will ease rents on the lesser housing. This is what happened in many major US cities over the recession… tens of thousands of new units came online without justified demand, and now those units are occupied (albeit at lower prices than imagined and possibly post-foreclosure) but the older housing stock has taken a tremendous hit in terms of pricing and rent potential. Here in DC, development only outstripped demand for about a 1 year period, and we’ll be running a major supply deficit until some of the larger apartment projects break ground and come online in 2 years or so. And those are dependent on bank financing.
Anon

I’m with Anon on this. I bought a 350k condo on a salary of $72k. The rest of my living expenses were also low (no car loan or student loans). Sure I had used furniture for the first 2 years, but it was well worth it. It can be done if you save your money and spend it wisely.
jenny

I am so happy this is not affordable housing. Any more “affordable housing” and this neighborhood will go down the toilet. We need some middle class housing, and the 300-400K price range is JUST RIGHT for people buying their first place in a good neighborhood.
- Anon
  
  That still doesn’t change the fact DC is gonna be like 75% white in like 5-10 years………….
  - Clarissa
    
    Is that “fact” a good or bad thing to you, Anon?

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