Sky House Kicks Off in Southwest

As the re-remoderization of Southwest Washington D.C. continues, this time without a Soviet flare, Urban Atlantic Development and JBG have started work on the transformation of Sky House I & II, the concrete layers of the old EPA government building on 1150 4th Street, and across the street at 1151 4th Street. With Wiencek & Associates Architects & Planners on board for the exterior and RD Jones + Associates for the interiors, the project will deliver some 530 units to the Southwest Waterfront area in late 2013 or early 2014.
The development team is keen on delivering an environmentally sustainable, LEED certified, twin building project. This project is another step continued revitalization of housing in the Southwest quadrant. With a mix of studio, one & two bedroom units, with the average unit size only 675 s.f. The two buildings will have different ownership structures, but both will have 20% of the units set aside for affordable housing. With the two tallest buildings in Southwest, developers are touting the unique views ("Sky") available from the rooftop deck and pool. The Sky projects complete the area around Waterfront Station - at least until the surface parking lots are addressed - with the office complex having completed in 2009, Safeway having reopened in the spring of 2010, and Waterfront Towers having converted to condos in 2009.

There will be a "groundbreaking" ceremony with Mayor Vincent Gray in attendance today at 9:30am.
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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...

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