Parkside Development In A Hurry To Break Ground

A pivotal development in northeast DC may get underway within a few months, say developers of a project that is expected to house a new senior center, health clinic, community college and townhouse development. Just this July, the Zoning Commission denied Parkside Residential's (aka Lano Parcel 12, LLC) "premature" request for an extension of their first stage zoning application, despite a bid by the developer to push back the timeframe, giving developers a little more than a year to start the project or lose approval. Now the development team is hard at work trying to push through the second stage zoning applications for the remaining few blocks of the original 10-block, 15.5-acre master plan for the land located just off the Anacostia Freeway. Earlier this week the Zoning Commission set down a public meeting to hear the applicant's contested request for changes to their original PUD, as well as approval of the second stage specifics for the newly hatched community college plans.

Developers have confirmed that they are in the last stages of editing closing documents on the Victory Housing senior living development set for block A. Final agreements will be sent to HUD for their signature within the next several days and construction is expected to begin in early October. The project will consist of a 98-unit, four-story senior living facility offered at 60 percent of AMI (area median income). Also approved (2nd stage PUD) are the development team's plans for 112 townhouses on blocks B and C, 42 of which would be made available at 80 to 120 percent of AMI. Developers claim that contractual negotiations with financiers should conclude by the end of the week, paving the way for land development, and eventually being turned over for construction early next year.

The centerpiece of the new second stage plan is the flagship campus of the Community College of the District of Columbia (CCDC). The college, initially planned as an apartment building set to range in height from 54 to just 90 feet, would rise to 110 feet along Kenilworth Avenue. The building would stand a modest 21 feet (one-story) along Kenilworth Terrace to better transition the roof-line into the adjacent neighborhood. The first floor would reserve a small portion of its space for retail, potentially including a place for caffeine-deprived students to jump-start their mornings, and a book store where students can fall deeper into debt at the hands of textbook publishers. And like all well designed colleges, the C-shaped design allows room for an open, green courtyard for suntanning and Frisbee.

Not only will the applicant request an increased height allowance for their now 1.1 million s.f. office project, but also for Zoning's permission to bump their residential buildings' height another thirty feet in order to make up for the residential square footage displaced by the alterations. Representing the wishes of Lano Parcel 12, LLC before the Commission, DC Office of Zoning official Joel Lawson argued that increased daytime population use as a result of the proposed changes would make commercial opportunities in the area more viable. This and the increased educational benefit to the community were justification enough, he contended, to accept the extensive changes and reduced residential offerings. The 1.1 million s.f. of office space also makes the project eligible to entertain GSA solicitations for the leasing of office space to the federal government, with a potential suitor being the Department of Homeland Security.

Also on the table for Parkside Residential is the second-stage and modification application for another part of Block I. These augmentations would also ditch the previously suggested high-rise residential building in favor of a "much needed" three-story health clinic. This application was not set down by the Commission at its public meeting of July 12, 2010, but developers are moving forward and hope to get the project scheduled for discussion soon. The proposed 430,000 s.f. clinic is intended to be a primary care clinic open to the entire public regardless of insurance coverage; it would be operated by Unity Health and sponsored by the District of Columbia Primary Care Association (DCPCA)

The Zoning Commission did not entirely reject the proposed changes, but said these plans as currently submitted were rather hasty and "woefully inadequate," barring further evaluation until a traffic study is produced and submitted. Zoning also requested a status update on the pedestrian bridge intended to connect the development with the Minnesota Avenue metro. The bridge has been designed by Boston-based transportation architects Rosales and Partners, but funding questions remained.

Chris LoPiano, Director of Development at City Interests, explained that the Commission doesn't normally entertain extension requests until less than a year remains on the timer. "We're very confident that as plans further materialize and second stage approval comes together for the community college and health clinic, Zoning will be more than happy with our progress...[T]his is why we originally partitioned the development plan into distinct parcels, so we could approach it project by project. We anticipated this being a five to seven year process." LoPiano stressed that the developers expect approval on these latest changes in autumn; at that point a request for a PUD extension would likely be resubmitted to a zoning commission that has been lenient in granting extensions to projects slowed by the recession.

The development team is a partnership between Bank of America Community Development Corporation, Lano International, City Interests, and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development

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Parkside Development On The Skids

For those who've grown weary of all the Benning Road plans for development, with little action to follow, the worst fears may have been confirmed on Monday evening at the Zoning Commission hearing. The mammoth Ward 7 redevelopment project that Parkside Residential, LLC representatives told the Zoning Commission in 2006 was a "landmark Planned Unit Development," has all but lost its early momentum. Whether it's the recent rains, some runaway Gulf oil slicks, or the economic downturn, much of the initial proposal has lost traction. The Commission recently denied the request of Lano Parcel 12, LLC for a two year extension of their first Parkside PUD, which took effect April 13, 2007 and expires October of next year.

The entire 15-acre Parkside project, located between Kenilworth Park and the Anacostia Freeway, was expected to become a massive mixed use development, bringing over 1,500 units of both affordable and market rate housing, 500,000 s.f. of office space, and at least 30,000 s.f. of neighborhood-serving retail. The Kenilworth Parkside area has been targeted by the District and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development as a site in desperate need of improvement. Given its proximity to the waterfront, the Benning Metro Station, and three of the Great Streets Programs, the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), among other entities and initiatives, are in strong support of the proposed transformation.

In 2008, the Zoning Commission approved the first Second Stage PUD for three of the ten building blocks. Affordable senior living housing is planned and approved for Block A, B, and C. Being that the Second Stage PUD was granted for an area less than the original First Stage approval, Parkside Residential was accorded three years to submit the rest of their Second Stage PUD applications for review by Zoning. Applications for two more blocks are currently pending, and the submission of Second Stage plans for a third block are said to be in the works and should be filed soon. This would amount to Second Stage plans for a total of six blocks out of the original ten. But that's four blocks too few. The venture's representative pleaded in a recent document that this was "significant progress given the size of the project and the recent economic conditions." The Zoning Commission was apparently unmoved, and the deadline for all Second Stage applications remains October 3, 2011. This still leaves over a year left for the parties involved to shore up resources and finalize plans for the remaining four blocks. But given the the already requested extension, and characterization of meeting such a deadline as "not possible" despite their "every effort," that seems unlikely to happen.

The Lano Parcel 12 LLC and the Parkside Residential LLC are both multiparty ventures between Bank of America Community Development Corporation, Lano International, City Interest, and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization. The majority of design plans are being shouldered by Urban Design Associates in Pittsburgh.

Washington DC real estate development news

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