Bigger, Greener: Skyland Files Another Zoning Amendment

Skyland - the very name implies the ever distant horizon - is back for another zoning review to fully entitle the project, this time to fit Walmart into the equation.

The most recent change regarding the large ‘town center’ complex is a PUD amendment that was submitted late last week by the development team behind the project. The original PUD was approved by the Office of Zoning in September 2010, but that was before Walmart signed on as the development’s anchor store last fall. The inclusion of the mega-retailer necessitated a number of changes to the plan—though nothing particularly substantive, according to the application. “The proposed PUD modification application is NOT proposing significant changes to the approved PUD project,” reads the document.

That means the development will continue to include 450-500 residential units, some of which will be townhomes and/or affordable housing, and retail space will increase only slightly, from 311,000 s.f. to 342,000 total s.f.

The most serious change appears to be a decrease in the number of parking spaces needed. The total number will be down by about 300 “which meets one of the Office of Planning’s goals,” Matt Ritz, a vice president at William C. Smith &. Company, pointed out.  Smith is one of the members of the development team, along with The Rappaport Companies, Harrison Malone Development, the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, and the Washington East Foundation.

Other changes include lowering the height of parts of the building Walmart will occupy, slightly reducing the number of townhouses, and topping a section of the project with solar panels and a green roof, rather than with a final layer of parking as originally planned.

The revamped development should include slightly more green space, and the application hints at more ‘green’ elements to come: “Walmart has several sustainable goals for this project which will be achieved by the following features: use of water efficient faucets and toilets; implementation of an energy management system; high-efficiency HVAC design; LED lighting; sun shading devices on the roof; and a construction waste stream management program."

Ritz is hoping the project will get a hearing with the Zoning Commission before the end of the year and a public hearing sometime around March 2013. But it’s all up in the air. “The dates are with a grain of salt,” he said. “It’s all contingent on the Zoning Commission.” And the company is still a very long way from soliciting construction bids.

Still, as slowly as it’s going, there is definitely movement occurring at Skyland. In September, the city celebrated the start of a demolition process of some of the buildings in the existing shopping center. And of seven legal cases that were pending in early 2011 - all linked to the city's use of eminent domain on the project--only one is still unresolved.

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Today in Pictures - Canal Park

Work on southeast DC's Canal Park is nearing the final stage, District of Columbia residents will soon be enjoying a new park near the Anacostia waterfront.  The project got underway in February of 2011, shepherded by the Canal Park Development Association. 

The 3 acres of landscaping take up 3 city blocks just north of the ballpark, and will offer "a stunning urban park on the site of the historic Washington Canal" with a large pavilion/restaurant (LEED certified) designed by Studios Architecture and two smaller pavilions, 2 large fountains, wintertime ice skating rink, rain garden, multiple lawn spaces, an electric car charging station, and bicycle racks.  Philadelphia-based OLIN is the landscape architect.

The federal government owns the land in arrangement that gives control to the District, which in turn has a 20-year agreement with the Canal Park Development Association to develop and manage the land.

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District Issues New Development Rights Near Stadium, Buzzard Point

The DC government today issued a request for proposals for up to 300,000 s.f. of development rights near the ballpark and Buzzard Point, inviting developers to bid on land within the "Capitol Gateway" overlay areas of southwest and southeast DC.

The District of Columbia, through the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), is putting development rights up for bid in the form of Combined Lot Development rights - additional square footage for landholders within the overlay.  The areas are designated for mixed use development, under the current regime developers are able to combine two lots and transfer density between them.  The initiative unveiled today adds an additional 300,000 s.f. of development rights within the zone, increasing the density within the high-growth corridor that lines the Anacostia waterfront.

The Request for Expressions of Interest was issued in an 8-page publication - a more streamlined version than past requests, reducing the technical compliance burden on developers. Responses to the request are due August 31st.

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Lumber Shed Construction at the Yards Begins this Week

Construction begins this week on the Lumber Shed, an adaptive reuse component that will become the retail centerpiece of the Yards, a Forest City project. The Shed is set to be completed in the third quarter of 2013, according to a press release.

The Yards, which is one of the largest projects in Southeast D.C., has been named the best new public space by City Paper. Seven restaurants and a Harris Teeter were announced this past year in the boilermaker shops, and recently, the Alatmarea Restaurant Group of New York City announced a new Osteria Morini restaurant to open in The Yards in summer 2013.

The area was formerly the Navy Yard Annex then the Naval Gun Factory. Forest City Washington received the chance to redevelop the 42-acre riverfront property site in 2004, and construction began on several parcels within the yards in 2007.

When finished, the Yards will be a 5.5 million s.f. development, completed during three phases during the next 10 to 20 years.

The Lumber Shed - formerly owning up to its name - is located on the edge of the Yards park overlooking the Anacostia River.  The Shed will be a 30,000 s.f., two-level, retail, glass pavilion, which will temporarily house Forest City’s offices on the second floor and include five restaurants.

The inclusion of Osteria Morini and Forest City’s offices means the building is 60 percent leased.

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Stonebridge, District Kick Off Conversion of Washington Star Printing Plant Tomorrow

The District government and developers will commemorate the start of conversion of the old Washington Star printing plant tomorrow, turning the featureless, carton-like exterior in the shadow of the Southwest Express into a more modern structure designed by Hickok Cole. In a redevelopment plan the city inked with StonebridgeCarras in July of last year, the Washington DC government will pay to transform the building then rent it back from the developer for a 20 year period. Tuesday's ceremony will market "the official beginning of redevelopment," according to a press release.
The District government began leasing the property in 2007, but failed to use the building, then purchased the property last year for $85.2m, though it has not occupied the space. Actual construction began on the property last month. The revised building has been designed to earn a LEED Silver certification, incorporate the largest green roof owned by the District of Columbia, and provide space for a public gallery to "showcase the vast art collection of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities."

The city will continue to own the land in a lease-leaseback arrangement with StonebridgeCarras. The city will lease the property to the developer, which will finance construction of the renovation, then lease it back to the city for $8.4m per year to be used as office space for several District agencies. The property will revert to the District at the end of the 20-year agreement. The District government will build a data center and is seeking an occupant for the 50,000 s.f. of available space.

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Canal Park Underway Next Week

Work on southeast DC's grand Canal Park will get underway next week, as general contractors begin the construction of the 3-block urban park that will be a centerpiece for the ballpark (Capitol Riverfront) neighborhood "by February 15th." District of Columbia officials and representatives Canal Park Development Association had anticipated an earlier start date and 2011 completion date, and held a kick-off party last August, but "financing issues" have delayed construction, until now.

The 3 acres of landscaping will offer "a stunning urban park on the site of the historic Washington Canal" with a variety of water features, a large pavilion/restaurant (LEED Gold or Platinum certified) designed by Studios Architecture and two smaller pavilions, 2 large fountains, wintertime ice skating rink, rain garden, multiple lawn spaces, an electric car charging station, and bicycle racks. The park will also collect and recycle its own rainwater and that from the neighborhood and nearby buildings, filtering through its rain garden for use in fountains and ice rink.
Last summer the CPDA selected Davis Construction to build out and Blake Dickson Real Estate to locate a restaurateur for the park's pavilion. Philadelphia-based OLIN is the landscape architect. Chris VanArsdale, Executive Director of CPDA, says the financing and permitting issues of yore have been worked out, allowing CPDA to issue a work order to Davis next week with construction immediately thereafter and completion expected next spring.

The District is ponying up $13.5m of the estimated $28m development tab. William C. Smith & Co., one of the early developers in the area, is providing in-kind support and an undisclosed amount of financial assistance. VanArsdale says that the difficulty in obtaining approval was caused by financing using the new markets tax credits.

The federal government owns the land in arrangement that gives control to the District, which in turn has a 20-year agreement with the Canal Park Development Association to develop and manage the land. The canal that once ran across the site connected the Anacostia to Tiber Creek (now buried under Constitution Avenue), which ran to the C&O canal.

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Library From the Future Set to Land in Southeast

At first look, it's fair to wonder if the ghost of an argyle-sweater-totting Payne Stewart or a checker-clad circus clown helped design the soon-to-be-built Francis Gregory Library at 3660 Alabama Avenue SE. But like the progressively designed Washington Highlands Library, London-based David Adjaye is responsible for the ultramodern architecture that is slowly giving a hip new face to the District's libraries. Construction for the two-story, 22,500 s.f. building is set to get under way within the next two weeks, becoming Adjaye's second attempt to pass a glass box off as public library, after his "Idea Store" in Whitechapel, England put his atypical architectural acumen on the style map.

When designing the Washington Highlands Library, the size of the plot gave architects ample room to play with. Houses in the surrounding neighborhoods and on-site land elevation changes dictated many of the design decisions, but in the case of the Gregory Francis Library, architects were still expected to provide space for the same program requirements, and gifted much less area to perform on. This forced planners to push the building to the edges of the lot, leaving little room for landscaping or parking. Fortunately the site is surrounded on three sides by tree-filled parkland, so Adjaye and his design team were inspired to create a pavilion-like structure, blurring the boundary between outside and in. The glass walls are endowed with a checkerboard pattern, alternating squares of translucent glass and mirror to provide the ability to see in and out, while also reflecting the surrounding nature. This theme of open sight lines extends to the interior, as colored, transparent glass boxes help delineate program elements within, such as the children or teen sections of the library. Other interior boxes take on a wood grain finish to evoke the natural setting just steps outside the library walls.

A large overhanging canopy extends above the main glass structure to further conjure the image and feeling of a pavilion, and provide shade and protection from rain, snow, and ice. The roof is equipped with a louver system, enabling staff to adjust fan blades to allow more or less natural sunlight to penetrate through the ceiling, depending on the preferred temperature and time of year, much like the roof of the Verizon Center. Given the incredible amount of precipitation dumped on the Metro area last winter, engineers were forced to tweak the angle of the roof to make sure accumulated snow and ice loads could slide safely off. Thick, insulated, high performance glass forms the main structure of the building, coated with "low e" to reduce soar gain. Impressively, architects say the limited temperature transfer is comparable to a brick building.

Developers had hoped to incorporate walkways and design elements that more directly connect the library with the elementary school to the west and the park to the east, but the design team received little cooperation from either entity. What little room there is between the library walls and the property lines is landscaped to mirror the checkerboard pattern of the building frontage, hexagon cement pavers alternating with grass planters.

Although there was some complaint that these designs had been stealthily rushed through the ANC and community forum process without adequate public announcement, Zoning eventually approved building plans, and the Southeast is now set to receive a truly unique public building, set to open next summer at a cost of $13.5 million. Appreciated or not, Adjaye's postmodernist architectural vision will not end with the conclusion of the District Library's construction and renovation projects, as his firm is one of several firms involved in bringing another unusual design to life with the building of the Smithsonian's new Museum of African American Culture.

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DC Redesigns Empty Printing Plant Near Ballpark

The District has finally come up with a plan for a long-vacant building in southeast DC that once served as the printing plant for the Washington Star, turning a physical and fiscal black-eye into what District officials say will be "a bold move" to improve the neighborhood. The District government began leasing the property in 2007, a controversial arrangement when the city failed to use the building. DC purchased the property outright last year for $85.2m in the hopes of converting its liability into productive space and has now partnered with development giant StonebridgeCarras. The five-story building at 225 Virginia Avenue remains the largest empty building near the Nationals Stadium.


Scotching plans to add on to the five-story building, the city will now renovate the interior and redesign the exterior to add "a lot glass that will allow natural sunlight to filter through the building," according to Jason Yuckenberg of the Department of Real Estate Services for the District. The revamp will also earn a LEED Silver certification, incorporate the largest green roof owned by the District government, and provide space for a public gallery to "showcase the vast art collection of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities."

The city will continue to own the land in a lease-leaseback arrangement with StonebridgeCarras. Details on how the city selected StonebridgeCarras were not immediately available, but according to Yuckenberg, the city "approached a number of people in the community about working with us on this project." StonebridgeCarras principal Doug Firstenberg tells DCMud the city's first RFP for the building went nowhere, after which the developer came up with the current lease plan financed through a private placement bond issue. Ultimately what they wanted was to own the building through creative financing" says Firstenberg.

Under a signed agreement, DC will lease the property to the developer, which will finance construction of the renovations, then lease it back to the city for $8.4m per year to be used as office space for several District agencies. The property will revert to the District at the end of the 20-year agreement. The District intends to build a data center and is seeking an occupant for the 50,000 s.f. of available space, stipulating that the data center tenant, a typically heavy energy consumer, "not adversely affect the LEED certification process" according to Yuckenberg.

The current structure, which has "virtually no windows, and is really drab and dreary," acknowledges Yuckenberg, is surrounded by ongoing improvements to the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, including EYA's Capitol Quarter housing project and adjacent Canal Park, which is expected to break ground within the next few weeks. The street will get its own revamp when CSX scrapes off Virginia Avenue to add capacity to the train line below it. Construction is expected to begin in November; the District has already begun interior demolition to make way for construction. The development team will include architects from DC's Hickok Cole, Davis Construction as a general contractor, and Rand Construction for the interiors. Firstenberg expects full occupancy by June of 2012.

The property was originally intended to be a 1^st District Police substation and evidence warehouse for the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), which has since moved elsewhere. After two years of paying $6.5 million in annual rent (nearly $550,000 a month), the District raised the ante by purchasing the site. Washington DC officials say the move will "save District taxpayers more than $60 million over the previous arrangement."

The District recently issued a Request for Offers (RFO) to sublease the 50,000-s.f. data center, responses to which are due by July 30, 2010; the city will sponsor a site visit for the space tomorrow.

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