Retail Replaced by Residential at Camden South Capitol

It appears that the retail space on the ground floor of Camden South Capitol will instead be used as residential. It was reported in the Washington Business Journal that a permit was granted to convert the 4,382 SF of ground floor retail into five apartments. These will be the only residential units in the building that front South Capitol Street. Camden South Capitol opened at the northwest corner of South Capitol and O streets in 2013. At the time, the developer was hoping to attract a restaurant to the space, located across the street from Nationals Park. On the same block as Camden South Capitol, the planned residential building just to the north of Camden South Capitol plans to include ground floor retail.

South Capitol Street Parcels Sold

Six parcels along South Capitol Street totaling 31,000 SF next to Camden South Capitol apartments recently sold for $11 million to Ronald D. Paul Cos. as reported by the Washington Business Journal. These are the same lots where Altus Realty Partners plans to build 1319 South Capitol, a 230,000 SF rental apartment building across the street from Nationals Park. Altus will JV with Ronald D. Paul Cos. on the $80 million development, which will include inclusionary zoning units and some ground floor retail. 

The developer came before ANC 6D back in March to give an update on the project. At that meeting, it was mentioned that the PGN Architects-designed residential building will be in a “L” shape that wraps around six existing rowhomes on South Capitol Street which are more than 100 years old. Newer renderings have fleshed out how the project will look compared to what was presented back in the March meeting. 

According to Globest.com, the approximately 250-unit building is scheduled to be completed in 2018, which puts its construction start date sometime in 2016. Although the development team plans to build the project by-right, Altus will need to get ANC support for an alley closing and needs approval from the Zoning Commission since 1319 South Capitol is within the Capitol Gateway Overlay.

Renderings courtesy of PGN Architects

Southwest Rental Market Update

In Delta Associates’ recently-released First Quarter 2015 Mid-Atlantic Class A Apartment Report, it shows that rents in the Capitol Hill/Riverfront submarket (which includes Southwest) increased by 3.2% over the past 12 months, while rents in the city as a whole decreased by 1.3% as a slew of new projects entered the market. Stabilized vacancy in the area, which only includes projects that have reached stabilization (or 95% occupied), is at 3.6% - the lowest rate among submarkets in the District. 

Lex at Waterfront Station, which began leasing units in December, was about 20% leased as of March with a lease-up pace of 13 units per month. Sky House East, Lex’s sister building across 4th Street, reached stabilization in a year at a monthly lease-up pace of 18 units. The other newer project in Southwest, Camden South Capitol, reached stabilization 16 months after leasing began, or a 15-unit monthly lease-up pace. 

However, there are several projects under construction and planned for the neighborhood. There are four apartment projects under construction, including three at The Wharf and one at Waterfront Station, totaling 811 units. Two other apartment buildings are planned that may deliver over the next 36 months, including the St. Matthews site at Delaware Avenue and M Street and an addition to Capitol Park Tower at 4th and G streets for a total of 471 units. 

On the Class B apartment front, Delta’s First Quarter 2015 Washington Metropolitan Area Class B Apartment Report indicates that rents in the Southwest submarket are down 3.3% from a year ago, but over the past 5 years, rents have increased on average by 2.8% per year. Similar to the Class A market, vacancy is low – it is 3.5% in Southwest compared to the city-wide average of 4.4%.

Vacant South Capitol Lot to Become an Apartment Building

 

Camden South Capitol may soon get a new neighbor to its north. 1319 South Capitol Altus LLC (Altus Realty Partners) has the vacant lot and some of the adjacent buildings under contract, located across the street from Nationals Park. It was just six months ago when a permit was issued to build a parking lot on this site. Leasing at Camden South Capitol has been averaging about 20 units per month since opening last spring, which is encouraging news to Altus. They are in the initial stages of planning a rental apartment building on the site and are negotiating with the remaining property owners on the block to potentially increase the lot size. The developers came to the ANC on Monday evening to give them an update on their preliminary plans. They are currently planning a 250,000 SF building which is allowable by-right with about 260 to 270 units and some ground floor retail. There will also be an affordable component due to inclusionary zoning requirements.

The lot in question (on left) is adjacent to row homes.

The parcels in blue are currently controlled by Altus.

The developers will need to come back before the ANC once their plans are further along in order to get their support for any zoning approvals needed since the site is within the Capitol Overlay District. If some or all of the rowhomes become part of the development footprint, hopefully they can be incorporated into the design of the new building. A recent example of where this has been done is 7th Flats at Progression Place in Shaw. There are so few older rowhomes in Southwest and their reuse as retail space (a dentist office currently occupies one of the rowhomes) could help bring some unique retailers to the area as the South Capitol Street corridor gets revitalized in the coming years.

Lot map courtesy of Altus Realty Partners

2013 in Review

Since 2013 has come to a close, let’s take a brief look back at the major events that shaped the year in Southwest and what is in store for 2014. 

The Wharf 

Arguably the largest development project in Southwest took a major step forward in 2013 when the Zoning Commission approved the Stage 2 Planned Unit Development (PUD) application for phase one of the Wharf. While ground breaking was supposed to occur by the end of 2013, the timeline has slipped to 2014 since a financing agreement has not been made public yet. Meanwhile, the houseboats at the Gangplank Marina were moved this fall to make way for construction and businesses along the waterfront were given notice to vacate within five months. 

Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

Apartment Wave Hits Southwest 

Leasing began in April at Camden South Capitol, the first new rental apartment building to open in Southwest in decades. So far, more than half of the units at the 276-unit building have been leased; however, the ground floor retail space at South Capitol and O streets is still vacant. Camden hopes to attract a restaurant to the space, located across the street from Nationals Park. 

In addition, leasing was supposed to begin on December 2 at the East tower of Sky House, the adaptive reuse of the former EPA towers at Waterfront Station, but it was delayed by a month to January 2. There are a total of 266 units at the East tower, located at 1150 4th Street, with 20% set aside as affordable housing for residents earning up to 50% of Area Median Income. A second 264-unit tower will open in spring 2014 at 1151 4th Street. 

Waterfront Station 

Aside from Sky House, other activity is underway at Waterfront Station. The last retailer to open along 4th Street was Z-Burger back in 2012. Since then, it was learned in May that the two vacant storefronts on the northern end of 1101 4th Street have been leased by restaurateur Atul Bhola to open Masala Art, an Indian restaurant. This would be the second Masala Art restaurant – the other restaurant is located in Tenleytown. Building permits are stuck on the windows and visible work on the tenant build-out began in November. It is rumored that the restaurant will open in June 2014. This leaves two vacant retail spaces at Waterfront Station – one each at 1100 and 1101 4th Street. 

Meanwhile, planning is underway for a residential building by Forest City and Vornado on the vacant northwest parcel next to the future Masala Art. A PUD was filed in late 2012 and the project went through the zoning approval process in 2013, with PUD approval received in September. The 360-unit building will have all market-rate units and approximately 5,300 square feet of ground floor retail space. There will be 12 two-level townhouse units with private entrances on Makemie Place and along a private drive to be built to the north of the project. Construction may begin sometime in 2014. 

Rendering courtesy of Waterfront 1001 4th Street, LLC

Town Center East 

In June, HPRB designated both multifamily buildings at Town Center East and the grounds as historic. The buildings, located on 3rd Street between K Street and M Street, were designed by I.M. Pei and built in 1960-61. The owners at Waterfront Tower, along with the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly, applied for historic designation in response to a PUD submitted by The Bernstein Companies to build two large multifamily buildings on the parking lots of the existing Pei buildings and a smaller building on the courtyard separating the two existing buildings. After the HPRB designation, the Bernstein Companies altered their plans and among several things, removed a small building that was to be built along 3rd Street. After reviewing the changes, the ANC reversed their prior disapproval with the PUD and offered conditional support in September.

Rendering courtesy of Maurice Walters Architect, PC

Randall 

 

A contentious proposal to build a charter high school for KIPP DC kept the future of the Randall Recreation Center site at South Capitol and I streets in limbo. Back in the fall of 2012, the District government announced that Randall would be one of 32 playgrounds across the city that it would improve during the 2013 fiscal year. In addition, the plaza area facing I Street would be upgraded with a skate park and fountains. The project was put on hold while the KIPP proposal was being vetted, but ultimately, the city decided against the KIPP proposal. It’s unknown at this point when the playground and plaza area will be improved, but presumably it will happen sometime in 2014. Meanwhile, some limited programming was implemented over the summer at the recreation center, which has been underfunded and underutilized for years. More robust programming is now underway, which started this week. 

Next door to the pool and recreation center, Telesis/Rubell have been advancing their plans for the Randall Junior High School site. According to the revised PUD, a non-profit contemporary art museum from the collection of the Rubell family will be located in the original 1906 center building - the first floor of the museum will be used as a community cultural space that is open to the public, with an art gallery featuring local artists, 100-seat auditorium, library, bookstore, café, and meeting space. The upper two levels will house the museum exhibits. Other arts-related uses will be located in the west wing – perhaps a culinary incubator. A destination restaurant with outdoor seating will be in the east wing (both wings were built in 1927). Behind the center building, a new three-story addition will house additional exhibition space for the art museum. Two 12-story towers with 550 residential units will wrap behind the historic buildings and courtyard. The courtyard will be open to the public and six commercial spaces may be created on the ground level facing the courtyard containing artist studios. Twenty percent of the residential units will be set aside as affordable to households earning up to 80% of AMI. The ANC gave qualified support for the PUD and the Historic Preservation Review Board approved the project in November, while the Zoning Commission generally showed support for the project at the hearing in December. The PUD is likely to receive approval during the first half of 2014 with construction on the first phase (including the historic buildings and at least one of the residential buildings) either in late 2014 or 2015. 

Rendering courtesy of  Bing Thom Architects

BID Turf War

It was reported in the Washington Business Journal last week that Vornado, which owns four parcels at the northwest corner of M and South Capitol streets would prefer to be a part of the Capitol Riverfront BID instead of the budding SW BID. This news was revealed at a DC Council hearing on the legislation that would create the SW BID. The current western boundary of the Capitol Riverfront BID is the east side of South Capitol Street, but according to the article:

For the purposes of marketing, corridor planning, trash removal, security and installation of banners, it makes sense for one BID to oversee both sides of South Capitol Street, Vornado’s vice president of development, Gordon Fraley, told the council in a letter submitted for the record. It’s why Vornado is asking its M Street parcels to be annexed by the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District.

A Vornado parcel before it was demolished & replaced with a parking lot.

 More from the article:

“With major development poised to continue at Waterfront Station and begin at The Wharf, the Southwest BID needs to focus on these locations and not be distracted by development at its periphery along South Capitol Street,” Fraley said.

Although the same thing could be said about the Capitol Riverfront BID, which has major development at The Yards, the DC United stadium in Buzzard Point, Capper Carrollsburg's Hope VI project, and other parcels.  When the Capitol Riverfront BID was originally formed, was it not anticipated that there would be development eventually on the Southwest side of South Capitol Street?  Would the Randall Recreation Center, Captiol Skyline Hotel, and the Ruben Companies parcels also be annexed by the Capitol Riverfront BID? What about the area of South Capitol Street south of M Street? Is Half Street a better boundary for the BIDs than South Capitol Street?

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is part of The Portals complex.

In addition, the owners of The Portals project at 12th Street and Maryland Avenue do not want to be part of the SW BID, since the owners already maintain the streets and plaza within the development, along with landscaping, street cleaning, and other services that a BID normally performs. We'll see how this all gets resolved...

Another Parking Lot for South Capitol Street

I'm starting to play catch up on items I missed while on vacation in Costa Rica. The Washington Business Journal reports that a permit has been issued for Warring Sons Inc. to create a 42-space parking lot at 1323 South Capitol Street.  The site is located to the north of Camden South Capitol and was most recently used as a staging area while the apartment building was under construction. On the other side of the lot are row homes. A for-sale sign has been posted on the lot for at least a couple of years.  Representatives from Camden Property Trust have indicated that they will not be building a second phase to Camden South Capitol on the site. Perhaps that site will one day be developed as something besides a parking lot.  In somewhat related news, a demolition permit was issued for the Grayton Plumbing building adjacent to Camden South Capitol on O Street. Camden purchased the building and will demolish it to provide a dog park and an additional point of egress for their residents. 

Grayton Plumbing building on O Street.

Happy 5th Anniversary!

 

Today marks the fifth anniversary of Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could. Five years ago today, I wrote my first post, which talked about the disposition of two parcels owned by the District government - one at the corner of 4th & E streets and the other at the site of Engine 13 at 6th and E streets. The District wants the chosen development team to build a new firehouse at the 4th & E streets parcel with commercial development above it. 

Five years and 783 posts later, a lot of development has occurred in the neighborhood, including a new Safeway, CVS, restaurants, and commercial development along a reopened 4th Street at Waterfront Station; the expansion of Arena Stage; new and refurbished office buildings near and at L'Enfant Plaza; a new Consolidated Forensic Laboratory; a new first district police station; a refurbished Amidon-Bowen Elementary School; a temporary stadium for the Washington Kastles; Camden South Capitol apartments across the street from Nationals Park; Sky House apartments at Waterfront Station; and condo conversions at Potomac Place Tower and Waterfront Tower. 

New Safeway at Waterfront Station.

Other development is imminent. The Wharf, the largest development project coming to Southwest, is expected to start construction later this year once an equity partner is lined up and building permits are obtained. A new playground at the park next to the Southwest Library will be built this summer along with a dog park and community garden at Lansburgh Park. A Southwest BID may be formed as soon as this fall. Construction may begin next year on a new apartment building and a rebuilt St. Matthew's Church on M Street. Planned Unit Developments are active for residential buildings at Town Center and Waterfront Station. In addition, a deal is expected potentially within the next year for a new stadium for DC United at Buzzard Point.

SmithGroup JJR rendering of Parcel 5 at The Wharf.

Several plans and studies have been conducted for the area over the years. Those include the Southwest Ecodistrict Initiative; the M Street Transportation Plan; the Planning Assistant Team plan for Buzzard Point; the Maryland Avenue Small Area Plan; and the SW Small Area Plan is getting underway.

Office of Planning map of boundaries of the SW Small Area Plan.

Meanwhile, those two parcels that were the subject of my very first post remain unbuilt. E Street Development won the bid to develop the two parcels back in 2009, but construction has yet to begin. It was reported earlier this year that plans for phase one changed from an office building to a hotel and construction would start this spring. That start date has since been pushed back again by a few months. An announcement of which hotel brand is coming to the project should be forthcoming soon.

WDG design of the planned hotel with Engine 13 firehouse.

Needless to say it's been a busy five years in the Little Quadrant That Could...stay tuned!

Camden South Capitol Ribbon-Cutting

 

This afternoon was the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Camden South Capitol, the first new apartment community built in Southwest in decades. Camden South Capitol is located at 1345 South Capitol Street, across the street from Nationals Park. Representatives from Camden Property Trust and the other firms involved with the project were on hand for the ceremony. The property has a total of 276 units and was designed by WDG Architecture. Donohoe Construction was the contractor. Unit sizes range from a 491 square-foot studio to an 1,197 square-foot 2BR unit. Check here for a list of amenities and features from the sneak peek I got a few weeks ago. One new thing I learned today is the building adjacent to the property that housed a plumbing company has been purchased by Camden and will be demolished. A dog park will be created for tenants in that space. The leasing office will be open starting tomorrow for tours and move-ins begin May 1st on the lower floors. The full building will be completed by mid-May. Below are a few more photos from today:

A view of the dining area and kitchen in the model 1BR unit.

Bedroom in the model unit.

Part of the outdoor courtyard.

The Camden mascot seemed appropriate, given the building's location across from Nationals Park.

Update: Below is a photo taken last evening of Camden South Capitol from Nationals Park.  Before photos can be found over at JDLand, who used to track this project before the "demilitarized zone" of South Capitol Street's median was established as the dividing line between her blog's coverage and mine.

Camden South Capitol at dusk.

Sneak Peek Inside Camden South Capitol

I recently took a tour of Camden South Capitol, which is rapidly coming together on South Capitol & O streets. There will be a total of 276 rental apartment units (12 of the units are set aside as affordable dwelling units, or ADUs, for households earning up to 80% of Area Median Income). The grand opening is set for April 11 and prospective tenants of both the market-rate and ADUs can start submitting applications on Camden's website two weeks prior to the grand opening. The leasing staff says that they have a list of over 300 people who have already expressed interest in leasing in the building - several people who work around the Navy Yard as well as residents of Southwest. Units on the first through fourth floors will be available first, then the upper floors will be released in phases through May as the rest of the building is completed.

The front of the building will be illuminated at night with lights that can change colors.

All apartments will have the same features, including oversized energy efficient double-paned windows with solar shades, wood-style plank flooring in kitchen and living areas, Blanco Norte Silestone countertops with ceramic tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, double sink vanities, Moen extra-wide kitchen sinks with spray faucet extensions, ARIA built-in surround sound speakers with docking station, USB-enabled wall outlets, and full-size washer & dryers. Ground level units have the option of installing security systems. Rents for market-rate units will range from $1,300 for studios up to $4,000 for 2BR units per month. Below are a couple photos of the typical kitchen and bathroom in a 1BR unit:

The units on the ground level have 10' ceilings while the other floors have 9' ceilings.

Bathroom.

Project amenities include 24-hour concierge service, underground parking, Verizon Fios (cable and Internet), rooftop pool deck with barbecue grills & fire pit, cyber café, fitness center with cardio & free weights, pet grooming room, online rent payment & service request, and a smoke-free environment. Below are photos of some of the public areas:

Some units on the ground level have terraces with views toward the courtyard.

The club room has several TVs set up for viewing and one available for gaming (ignore the ladder).

The gaming TV is located to the left of this photo on the black wall.

Hallway leading to the mail room and elevators.

 Panoramic views of the city are available from the rooftop, a sampling of which is below:

The Southwest skyline with Sky House apartments under construction and the Washington Monument in the distance.

The Capitol dome is also visible from the rooftop.

A view toward Fort McNair and Buzzard Point, which could one day have a new stadium for DC United.

Construction Update Part II - Camden South Capitol

This week marks the point where Camden South Capitol will "top off", which means construction of the 276-unit apartment building has reached its full height a year after construction began. It took about six months to dig the foundation and reach ground level and another six months to reach its full height. In about a year, leasing will begin at Camden South Capitol, which is located across the street from Nationals Park.

Local architecture firm WDG has designed the apartment building, which will have a rooftop pool with BBQ grills and outdoor fire pit, cyber cafe, and a resident gaming lounge with kitchen. In-unit features will include: Energy Star stainless steel appliances, electric oven ranges with ceramic glass cook tops, solar shades, 42" upper cabinets, double vanities in select units, garden soaking tubs, and stand-up showers in select units.

Space for ground-floor retail will be located at the corner of South Capitol and O Streets.

 Rendering courtesy of WDG

WaPo Piece on Ballpark Neighborhood Development

This past weekend, there was a front page article in The Washington Post (online version here) about the impact Nationals Park has played in the development of (primarily) Near SE since the ballpark opened in 2008.  There's some mention of Southwest, although that focus was not on development, but on neighbor reaction to the ballpark (since the nearest residential units in SE are a few blocks away from Nationals Park).  From the article:

Despite the new construction east of the ballpark, the area across [South] Capitol Street in Southwest remains home to low-income housing projects where many residents were worried that baseball would price or push them out of the area.

One block west of the stadium, in front of the Friendly Food Market corner store on Half Street SW, three dealers at an open-air drug market sell marijuana and crack. With four teenagers stationed along the block as lookouts, dealers exchange plastic bags for cash in swift, well-practiced handshakes.

Despite the illegal sales in broad daylight, residents along this Half Street say baseball has been surprisingly good for them. “It made it look presentable around here,” said London Smith, 42, who found work at a stadium concession stand. “I just hope it doesn’t make it more expensive.”

Lovely. It's a bit more difficult to bulldoze all of the low-income housing projects in Southwest than it was to replace Capper Carrollsburg in Near SE, which was already pretty much gone by the time the stadium opened.  For one, funding for HUD's Hope VI program that was used to replace Capper is dried up. The District's version of Hope VI (New Communities Initiative) has been slow to get underway at places such as Barry Farm in SE and Northwest One. Also, there is still some bad blood from the last time wholesale neighborhood demolition took place in Southwest during urban renewal.

Rendering of Camden South Capitol at South Capitol & O Street.

While the focus of the article was in Near SE since that is where the stadium is located, there are a few things happening on the west side of South Capitol Street too. For instance, there was no mention in the article about Camden South Capitol, the new apartment building under construction across the street from Nationals Park (although it appears in the photo gallery). In addition, there was no mention of the velodrome coming to Buzzard Point this spring and the new stadium in the works for DC United, which would form a stadium district between Nationals Park and the proposed soccer stadium. Oh well.

Rendering courtesy of WDG Architects

Construction Reaches Street Level at Camden South Capitol

Construction activity at the Camden South Capitol apartment building has reached street level.  The last photo update from October showed a deep hole in the ground to make way for the foundation and parking garage. Camden Property Trust is developing the apartment building, which will have 276 units and is located at the northwest corner of South Capitol and O Streets at 1435 South Captiol Street. WDG is designing the project, with amenities including a rooftop pool and deck, as well as ground floor retail. Twelve of the units will be set aside as affordable housing for households up to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). As a part of the approved PUD application, residents of the townhomes along the unit block of O Street will have the opportunity to lease a parking space in the apartment building at 50% of the market rate for a 20-year period. After the building has reached stabilization (defined as 94% occupied), the remaining parking spaces will be available for lease by the rest of the community at market rate.  In addition, residents of ANC 6D are supposed to be given preference when Camden reviews tenant applications. Leasing should begin around the middle of 2013. 

The back of 1345 South Capitol will have a series of courtyards to help step back the building towards the townhomes to the west.

Rendering courtesy of Camden Property Trust