Development

Whole Foods Possibly Coming to Navy Yard with Tax Breaks

By Prince Of Petworth


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This is timely since the topic of tax breaks came up in the Park Road Facade Improvement project post below. This is the big news this morning from the Washington Post:

“Whole Foods Market and a D.C. real estate firm are interested in building a new store in Southeast Washington near Nationals Park, but the developer says that luring the grocer would require $8 million in tax breaks. William C. Smith and Co. is proposing a 39,000-square-foot Whole Foods for 800 New Jersey Ave. SE as part of a building that would include 375 apartments.”

Though another section from the article which I also found interesting said:

“In a recent study of economic development assistance provided by the city, the D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer found that Ward 6 had received by far the most aid in fiscal 2010: $129 million, followed by Ward 2’s $59 million.”

Dear PoP – La Casa Shelter Demolition Pics

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Thought you would appreciate a couple over head shots of the La Casa Shelter (on Irving between 14th and 16th St, NW) demolition that started this week.

As I’m pretty sure you are aware, the plan is for the next phase of the Highland Park building to go on this site. There is also supposed to be a new SRO facility for the homeless.

Residents of Highland Park were told that demolition was expected to take 3 weeks; I assume construction / development may start not too long after demo is completed.”

Dear PoP – Big Development Coming to Georgia Ave

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

There’s going to be another set of new condos going up on the corner of Georgia and Newton Place! I think it’s 3512 Georgia Avenue, NW across the street from the new senior community center. The company is Hamel Builders. My husband and I stopped and spoke to the new owner one morning. He told us they’re going to knock down the old Newton Variety Mart and the dilapidated Car Wash. The new building will take up that entire lot. It will be between 8 and 10 stories with ground floor retail. They’re just waiting on permits to start. His estimate was it would be done in about 2 years.

What was really cool was the new owner is allowing the guy who’s using the car wash lot to continue his business there until they break ground. And he said he’s offered him a job working for him once the project begins! Based on that and other parts of our conversation, I got the sense that he had Georgia Avenue’s best interests at heart.

Awesome, no?”

Great to finally see some movement here.

After the jump a wider angle plus a very sad reminder of a serious crime that still need to be solved that was posted to the variety mart building. (more…)

ARRA Greening Initiative Comes to Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Just walked by this long vacant place on Irving between 13th and 14th and noticed they’re spending some stimulus money on it. I’ve long wondered what the city had planned for it, but this doesn’t offer much insight.”

I also was pretty excited to see this sign at 1334 Irving St, NW. Anyone see these signs in front of any other dilapidated houses around town? Anyone know more about the plans for 1334 Irving?

Urban Investment Partners (UIP) Buys 1349 Kenyon St, NW in Columbia Heights

By Prince Of Petworth

Wow UIP is on a roll. Right before the new year they announced that the apartments at 811 Quincy St, NW were purchased for $8.2 Million with a $4 million renovation set to begin. On Wed. afternoon I received the following press release about 1349 Kenyon St, NW:

Urban Investment Partners (UIP) of Washington, D.C., in partnership with Infinity Real Estate (IRE) of New York, NY has acquired the a 40-unit apartment building at 1349 Kenyon Street, N.W. in Washington, a half block from the Columbia Heights Metro station, for $4.5 million.

Under the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), the 1349 Kenyon Tenants’ Association and UIP reached an agreement that will preserve, improve, and protect the property as part of the District’s dwindling rental housing stock.

UIP will begin a $2 million renovation that will add five to seven apartments to the building’s terrace level. UIP will preserve the building’s 1925 facade while renovating, upgrading, repairing and restoring the building’s common areas, building systems, and individual apartments. UIP General Contracting, Inc., a subsidiary of UIP, will begin the work in the first quarter of 2011 and complete it by the end of the third quarter of the year.

Allow Me to Introduce You to Petworth’s New Safeway

By Prince Of Petworth


Petworth’s Proposed Safeway at Georgia Ave (3830 Georgia Ave, NW)

Back in May ’10 I wrote a post titled Battle of the Safeways: Haves Vs. Have Nots comparing the new Georgetown/Glover Park Safeway to Petworth’s Safeway on Georgia Ave (3830 Georgia Ave, NW). I am happy to say that, soon, this argument will no longer apply. Petworth is slated to be home to the city’s newest and largest Safeway at 60,000 square feet. While I’m trying not to exaggerate I believe this is the biggest news to hit Petworth/Georgia Ave since the metro station opened. This news is so huge that I have passed out twice since starting to write this and I’m only on the first paragraph. This is, in the parlance of our times, a true gamechanger.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Marc Dubick, the same guy who brought Mt. Vernon Square the hugely successful City Vista project, who is president of Duball LLC or in plain English the guy who’s gonna develop this project. He has already been talking to neighborhood groups and I’ve received about half a dozen emails from folks who are more excited than I am. And I can understand why. Petworth has been promised redevelopment of this (the Stinky Safeway) Safeway for so many years that to some the prospect has become a fairy tale. However, Dubick made it quite clear to me – the fairy tale has now become a reality. But what was even cooler was the detail in which Dubick explained the project to me and the lengths that have been made to address earlier concerns:

There will be two underground floors of parking removing the current parking lot and curb cuts on Georgia Ave. will be no more. There will be 85 spaces on one floor for shoppers and 135 parking spots on a separate floor for residents. The ground floor will be 60,000 square feet including a full deli, Starbucks and a state of the art pharmacy and will look a lot like the City Vista/ Sexy Safeway and the new ultra modern Safeway in SW-Waterfront. On top of the Safeway there will be 5 floors of market rate apartments that will not exceed the height of the existing apartment building on Randolph (it is looking like rentals though condo is still a possibility).

Other steps that have been taken to address earlier concerns are:

*Placing all parking, loading, and trash inside a completely enclosed two-story building to be built in the location where the back parking lot is now;
*Placing a green roof on the enclosed two-story parking structure to provide an attractive view out the rear of neighboring houses;
*Stopping the parking structure short of the end of the parking lot to provide some buffer space;
*Stepping down the housing portion of the structure as it approaches the existing apartment building in the 900 block of Randolph, so there is a smoother flow between the buildings;
* Placing all the housing toward the front of the property, so it doesn’t conflict with the residential housing;
* using the grade of the property to reduce the impact on neighboring properties;
* Using a “quiet” technique to drive the piles for the new building.

Additionally, the Safeway will increase from 40-50 employees to 150-160.

The entire process should take about 2 and 1/2 – 3 years.

After all the permits are collected construction will likely begin in 6-8 months.

When completed Petworth will finally be home to the type of Safeway it deserves. And we’ll soon have to think up a new nickname!


Petworth’s Safeway on Georgia Ave (3830 Georgia Ave, NW)

Update on 14th and Belmont/Chapin St, NW (Old Nehemiah Strip Mall) Demo and Construction

By Prince Of Petworth

From a Council Member Jim Graham email:

Dear Friends, I want to share with you an update from UDR, the developer of the new project at 14th and Belmont. This is an another very important step in the revitalization of 14th Street in Ward 1.

We have now also opened the new Recreation Center at 14th and Clifton. It is now owned by the DC gov and will be operated by the Latin American Youth Center. This culminates a long effort by many of us, including our new Mayor, Vince Gray, to secure this property for better community use.

Bests Councilmember Jim Graham

HERE IS THE UPDATE FROM UDR:

DEVELOPMENT DESCRIPTION

2400 14th Street, NW will be developed with a nine-story high-rise building of concrete and steel construction on 0.92 acres and will consist of 255 residential homes, ground floor retail, two-level underground parking structure, and associated amenities. The community will offer a variety of floor plans with custom home features including premium grade trim, molding, flooring and countertops as well as private patios (select units) with views of the District. Residents will also be well served by the property’s community amenities including a rooftop terrace with pool and outdoor kitchen, business center with computer stations, media room, fitness center, gourmet demonstration kitchen, private serenity courtyard, and controlled access to the building and residential parking. A portion of the residential homes and retail space will be offered at affordable rents.

Continues after the jump. (more…)

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