Today in Pictures - Rhode Island Row

After years of urban planning-speak about the untapped potential of Rhode Island Avenue, many false starts notwithstanding, its first major project is now coming online. Rhode Island Row, the joint venture between A&R Development and Bethesda-based Urban Atlantic, is on the way to a September completion. The 8.5 acre, $109,000,000 project with 274 new residential units above 70,000 s.f. of retail broke ground in May of 2010, with some District help, and sits along a new and expanding bike trail, just a scoot away from bustling NoMa. Rhode Island Row - formerly Rhode Island Station - was designed by the (now defunct) Lessard Group, but switched to Lessard Design.

Developers completed the first few residential units in December, and have now delivered 2 of 8 phases of the two residential buildings. 59 of the units are now open, and most of those have already been leased, according to Caroline Kenney of Urban Atlantic. "There's a seriously wide mix of people geographically and demographically," she notes, and that despite the Avenue's inglorious past, "this part of the city is finally getting to be on the map." Of course being right on the red line and bike trail is not a bad marketing hook, and the development team has capitalized with "a ton of bike storage". Kenney said she hopes to have a Capital Bikeshare location on site in the future. Retail tenants are also on the way, with CVS the first to sign on. While Kenney won't divulge names of other retailers, she says 60% of the retail is unofficially spoken for. In all, the project will have 531 parking spaces, some of which will be short term retail parking, plus the new 215-space Metro garage.

Once just a theory...

Washington D.C. real estate development news