Renderings for 400 K Street NW

The new Mount Vernon Place Master Plan outlines more specific details on the proposed office buildings along K Street.

Rendering of 400 K Street; Click to enlarge.

The specifications for 400 K Street conform closely with those of 300 K Street. The building will have 11'6" ceiling heights slab to slab with floor to ceiling glass.

First floor plate for 400 K Street; Click to enlarge.

A notable difference is that the building is dual core and can be built in two phases of approximately 210,839 rentable SF each. Separate lobby entrances and service facilities will exist for each section. Spanning the entire project, approximately 23,165 rentable SF ground floor will be available for retail space.

Renderings courtesy of www.mountvernonplace.com

Renderings for 300 K Street NW

The new Mount Vernon Place Master Plan outlines more specific details on the proposed office buildings along K Street. The most drastic shift in the new master plan is the facade change for the 300 K Street from a office building. Originally depicted with masonry that complemented the styles of the adjacent condominiums of the new plans show a floor-to-ceiling glass look.

New rendering of 300 K Street; Click to enlarge.

Original rendering of 300 K Street; Click to enlarge.

The building will have approximately 10,141 SF of ground floor retail space with 11'6" ceiling heights slab to slab.

First floor plate for 300 K Street; Click to enlarge.

As you can see from the drawing above a lobby entrance is planned at the center of the K Street frontage with retail space on either side flowing back along the 3rd and 4th street frontages.

Up Next: A closer look at 400 K Street

Renderings courtesy of www.mountvernonplace.com

Mount Vernon Place rendering update

News regarding future phases of Mount Vernon Place, a master planned mixed-use development totaling over two million square feet within the Triangle, has been few and far between. Construction on the project has ceased since the Mitchell Mayer building and the Sonata and Madrigal Lofts condominiums delivered over 2 years ago.

This past August, according to the Washington Business Journal, Mount Vernon Place developer Sandy Wilkes tested the waters in the sweepstakes for a proposed MSG theatre. Such a concept was a long shot for this site. Given the creation of a September 2009 update of the Mount Vernon Place Master Plan focus appears to have been restored to building 12 story LEED certified Class A office space along K Street.

New Mount Vernon Place masterplan rendering; Click to enlarge.

In the above rendering the color blue represents office space while the creamsicle/tan color represents residential buildings.

Interesting is that the U-Shaped blue massing below 300 K Street (#1) was not labeled with a number nor assigned a name in this new masterplan. This suggests that the developer still has not decided the future for this parcel which was also the case in the original master plan published years ago. The rendering does continue to indicate a plan to build over the edges of the alley that will run from 3rd Street to 4th Street. If that is the intention then the rear frontage of 300 K office building would have ghastly blank walls much like the west edge of the Mitchell Mayer building.

Up Next: A closer look at 300 K Street

Renderings courtesy of www.mountvernonplace.com

Picking off the (S)CAAB

The skin/scab has come off the old Chester A. Arthur building (CAAB). The office building is being renovated and rebranded from the CAAB to 425 Eye. The renovation will transform the building from Class B office space contained in a bland white box to Class A office space with a glass facade and 28,000sf of new retail space.


Renovations are forecasted to be completed by the Summer of 2010. Presently there is no news about potential office or retail tenants.

Bisnow on 425 Eye Street

Commercial Real Estate news site Bisnow reports on the transformation underway at 425 Eye Street. From a content perspective Bisnow repeats much of the basic details and renderings this blog outlayed on May 6th. New information includes placing faces on the key players responsible for the project and suggesting an ETA of July 2010.


Hat Tip: KR

WaPo: Office-Space Market Stuck in Downdraft

In today's Washington Post Dana Hedgpeth presents an account of the grim outlook for the office market in the D.C. area. She reports that, in a slump likely to continue into next year, vacancy rates are increasing, rents are in decline and few new buildings have started construction.

As of yesterday, the vacancy rate for the District and the close-in suburbs was up to 12.5 percent from 11.1 percent at the end of the second quarter last year, according to CoStar Group, a real estate research firm. Rents were down to $33.47 a square foot from $34.55. Few new buildings have broken ground, as credit markets remain extremely tight.

"Unless they're already in the ground, they're not starting," said Steven A. Levin, managing director at Spaulding & Slye. "Any development project needing a loan over $25 million requires multiple lenders, and the guarantees are onerous. The amount of money you can borrow is also reduced."

Rendering of proposed Mt Vernon Place offices on 400 block of K Street

This does not bode well for planned office projects for K Street within the Triangle such as Mount Vernon Place, Square 483 from Steuart Investment and Douglas Development's plans for Squares 450 & 451.

Hat tip: Twitter Feed from JDland

425 Eye Street renovations

Last December the GSA relocated ICE headquarters from their 30 year home at the Chester A. Arthur building (425 Eye Street NW) to Southwest DC. The Paramount Group, which purchased the CAAB building in 2005 for 135.5 million dollars, plans to upgrade the seven-story 384,520 s.f. class B office building to class A office space.

Renovation work has recently begun at the building which begs the question what level of transformation does Paramount have planned? I've come across an old brochure for the property which may not reflect the latest details but should be reasonably accurate. (ed note: notice the reflections of the DuMont in the windows of the rendering)

brochure excerpt:

425 Eye Street’s transformation was inspired and designed by the innovative thinkers at SmithGroup Architects. Attention to detail, commitment to sustainability, and world class design have earned SmithGroup awards around the globe. Their cornerstones of design are reflected in the material throughout 425 Eye Street.

The brochure states that the building will aspire to a LEED Silver rating. The renderings suggest that the structure will remain at the current seven story height. The biggest transformation to the exterior would be the reskinning of the building with new windows and a sleek grey finish. The west wing of the building is pictured with a glass curtain wall.


The renderings depict the ground level as being at grade with the sidewalk. This is clearly not the case as sunken terraces occupy the Eye and Fourth street frontage. It should be interesting to watch how these renovations unfold.

ICE melting away

The Immigration and Custom Enforcements (ICE) agency is moving out of the Chester A. Arthur Building (425 I Street NW) to Southwest DC. The move has been ongoing for weeks and will be completed by year end.


The seven-story 384,520 s.f. class B office building has served as the headquarter for ICE (formerly INS) for 30 years. The agency is moving to JBG's Potomac Center North at 500 12th Street SW.

The Australian based Paramount Group purchased 425 I Street in 2005 for 135.5 million dollars, or about $352 per square foot. Given the high cost per square foot razing the building would not seem to be an option. Paramount will transform the building into Class A office space and is considering adding two stories, an atrium and/or re-skinning the building. The face lift will likely take 12 months while they search for a new tenant.

With the next tenant not likely to be GSA the concrete planters along Eye and 4th Streets that I detest so much should be removed. While the building is vacant, lack of eyes on the street could become an issue. One of my neighbors at Madrigal suggested to me that the early morning activity in the parking lots from the ICE workers each morning allows the walk to Results Gym to be less sketchy.

Mount Vernon Place office building update

As I reported a little over a week ago, the recent demolitions on 3rd Street do not signify movement on the Mount Vernon Place project. The vacant buildings were razed because they were attracting vagrants and prostitutes.

However after attending the PQNA Breakfast meeting I have learned more detail about Mount Vernon Place from the presentations from Sandy Wilkes and David Mayhood. Wilkes presentation began by listing his architectual partners and unveiling an overview of Mount Vernon Place master plan complete with renderings. This information is readily available on www.MountVernonPlace.com.

Rendering of 300 K Street

After that introduction Wilkes painted a deeper picture of what we can expect with the Mount Vernon Place office buildings on K Street.

• They don't plan to build any of the K Street office buildings until a lead tenant is identified
  
• They believe the location will attract non-profits and associations rather than law firms or GSA government
  
• Considering target tenants are non-profits they believe the buildings will have some of the highest LEED green building standards in the city
  
• They are committed to significant retail on all their K Street offices and integration of public art

Rendering of offices on 400 block of K Street

It was interesting to hear that Non-Profits and Associations are considered to be the target tenant. Recent news items show that non-profits like NPR and the Sierra Club planning to move to NoMA for lower costs. Does targeting non-profits mean we can infer that price/sqft lease rates at Mount Vernon Place will be a little closer to NoMA than the Downtown BID? I was encouraged to hear that GSA was not considered a probable client. With GSA buildings comes sidewalk barricades and armed guards.

The 100 million dollar question is: When will they break ground on these buildings? Considering a lead tenant has not been identified and the credit markets are locked up I don't think *anyone* can answer this question. I can speculate that unless a lead tenant is identified in the next 3-4 months that 2009 may be unlikely.

Renderings courtesy of www.mountvernonplace.com

Office Development in the Triangle

This week I hope to drill down deeper on some of the issues we recently chatted with MVT CID Bill McLeod about earlier this month. McLeod is limited in comments he can make about land use. Our readership is not bound by such requirements.

We asked McLeod about the prospects for office development in the Triangle. Office development is needed to come closer to realizing the vision of a vibrant mixed use community that has active streetscapes 18 hours a day. Yet we have yet to have any of the planned office developments from Wilkes' Mount Vernon Place or Steuart Investment's Square 483 breakground. Elsewhere around the city in NoMa and the Capitol Riverfront continue to move forward with office projects and land major tenants even in the market slowdown.

Capitol Plaza I office building in NoMA. Host of Artomatic;
image from Mr. T in DC

The Triangle clearly has locational advantages over other emerging office markets including proximity to all 5 metro lines and I-395. What are people's theories on the complete absence of progress? Do Steuart and Wilkes lack the same access to equity as developers (Akridge, Lerner, J Street, etc) in the other emerging office markets? Are MVT developers waiting for the residential projects to bear the burden of boosting the safety and vibrancy of the neighborhood? Is tenant demand simply higher in the other emerging markets because they will charge $15/sf less for Class A office space than the Downtown BID and MVT developers hope to charge downtown rents.

If Mount Vernon Triangle office developments will charge the same premium rents as downtown what kinds of tenants can we expect? Does that limit the playing field to law firms, finance and the like? Will the General Services Administration continue to steer government agencies like ATF, DOJ and DOT away from downtown?

MVT CID: Bill McLeod on the Mount Vernon Triangle

Recently The Triangle had the opportunity to interview through the email format the Executive Director of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District. We chatted with Bill McLeod about issues ranging from basic daily functions of the CID to the future plans for this community. In the process we gained a greater understanding of what the CID has influence in and what solutions are steered by the market (developers) or D.C. government agencies.

What does the CID do?

The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District operates programs that promote a cleaner and safer neighborhood. MVTCID also raises public awareness about the Triangle through its website, broadcast emails, quarterly newsletters, press releases, and neighborhood events.

<The Triangle’s Clean Team works seven hours a day, seven days a week, between 7:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. They keep the neighborhood looking great by picking up hundreds of pound of trash each day. And, they provide an added benefit through outreach to those in need from the community.

In August 2007, MVTCID started safety services by hiring a Metropolitan Police Department officer (through Reimbursable Detail) Friday and Saturday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. In the spring, we were awarded a grant to double the police on Friday and Saturday nights – to two officers.

We recently launched three committees: Property Managers Committee, Jobs Committee, and Marketing Committee. The Property Managers Committee focuses on several issues, such as building construction, streetscape timelines, homelessness, safety, security, and other matters of interest to our property managers, business owners, and building owners.

The Jobs Committee organized two job-training fairs for residents in the immediate community looking for employment training, and we hope to host another job-training fair in the autumn. And, the committee works closely with life-skills training organizations, such as Strive DC, to assist people with resume building and interview skills.

The Marketing Committee was formed to implement strategies to promote the neighborhood, including updating the website, branding the neighborhood, and planning community activities. This year, the website was restructured, adding pages that tell the story of the neighborhood, and we updated the development map to include retail listings. Two park clean-up events were organized in partnership with the National Park Service and two walking tours were given through Walking Town DC. In June, we organized a bike ride with police officers, and this August, we will have a dog walk with MPD.


Tell us about your background. How did your past experience as Executive Director of Barracks Row Main Street prepare you for this job? Are the challenges of the job similar or mostly different?

That is a loaded question. In college I studies Social Sciences with a concentration in Sociology. I worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street Center for seven years before moving to Barracks Row Main Street, where I works for 4.5 years. In December 2006, I switched jobs and came to Mount Vernon Triangle CID because I knew the neighborhood well since I lived at 5th and R in 1991-2. The development of the neighborhood has been amazing.

My experience with Barracks Row Main Street totally prepared me for this job. But there are two major differences: as a BID, funding is secure, so I don’t spend nearly as much time fundraising, and we have very few volunteers since the neighborhood is not very well populated yet. I still do grant writing here and volunteer recruitment, but I’ll be ramping that up in the next year.

The challenges are similar in Mount Vernon Triangle as Barracks Row. Mount Vernon Triangle had few buildings, and Barracks Row had lots of old buildings but most of them we empty or occupied by marginal businesses.


The area is facing a potentially massive influx of new residents in the coming year. How do you see these residents fitting into the community? What are some of the most important ways for new residents to become involved in the community? And conversely, is the community doing anything to welcome or attract new residents? What concerns do you have about this influx of new residents?

I love density! New residents mean more active streets, better-used parks, more eyes on the street, and more dollars to support retail. It is a win-win all the way around – more people using facilities creating a cleaner and safer neighborhood.

There are several ways a resident can get involved. MVTCID has committees where volunteers can direct their energy: Marketing Committee, and Jobs Committee. And it time, we will add more. Plus we have neighborhood clean-ups and safety events throughout the year. And, for those really involved in the CID, we are always looking for stalwart board members.

We don’t “attract new residents” directly. I think that is best left to the developers and sales teams from the condos. But, I like to think we are marketing indirectly through our website, articles in the paper, and events like WalkingTown DC.


Papa John's, 5th Street Ace Hardware and the Results Gym Sales office have recently opened. Is there any word of unofficial ETAs for the Safeway, Busboy and Poets or Ledo's? After these businesses deliver what is next horizon? [Ed note: This question was asked prior to Safeway hanging up their banner]

Yes, Safeway is planning to open September 12, and Busboys & Poets and Results are hoping to open around that time too. Having worked with retailers for a number of years now, I know that opening dates seem to slide, especially when DCRA inspections are required. Ledo’s has not been working on its building for a while, which makes me worried. Don’t know what is going on since the owner has not been in contact with me for six months. Once the retail in City Vista opens, there will be a few retail spaces left, and we hope we can identify some local businesses to fill those slots.

455 Mass has a restaurant space, and they were talking to Lawry’s Steak House, but that deal fell through. But another restaurant is in the works. Also, I heard a UPS store is going into 455 Mass, but the sign has come down for some reason.


Have there been any recent updates on development that has yet to break ground such as Mount Vernon/Carmel Place, Steuart Investment's parcels or Bozzuto's 460 New York Ave? Has the recent softening of the real estate market changed development plans for the area or simply shifted out the time horizon?

Developers keep their business very close to the vest, so I am not privy-ed to that information. But, I suspect the softening of the housing market and now the mortgage crisis has contributed to the delay of some groundbreakings. As far as I understand it, no deals have fallen through – just longer timelines.


The Best & Final Offer date for the 5th and Eye RFP has been pushed back a couple times and is presently August 18th. What has been the CID's involvement on this process to-date? What future involvement would take place after the city awards the site?

As a BID, we are precluded from commenting on land use. I’ve gone to several meetings about the site but kept silent. Whatever developer is selected, I’m sure it will be great because it will add density to the neighborhood, and I liked all of the top four choices. We would like to see public art included in whatever is built since it is a gateway site into Mount Vernon Triangle. And, we want all buildings to be good neighbors – whether commercial or residential. So whatever developer is selected, I want them to understand that Mount Vernon Triangle will be primarily a residential neighborhood – so no loud music, build with double paned windows, etc.


The Mount Vernon Triangle Action Agenda outlined a vision for a vibrant mixed use community. A solid foundation of residential buildings has delivered in the last year. But the office component, especially on K Street, is needed to realize the goal of being an 18-hour community. One can't help but notice that the NoMA and Capitol Riverfront BIDs are poised to add a combined 25 million s.f. of office space to the city and have landed major tenants like the ATF, DOJ, DOT and NPR. How does the MVT CID meet the goal to add offices/tenants to our community in this competitive market?

The DC office market is still strong, and Mount Vernon Triangle is situated very well – on the east end of downtown. Location, location, location – are our three advantages over SW, NoMa, or the Capitol Riverfront. New office space will open on K Street and it will be great! Think of K Street on the west side of Mount Vernon Square as our vision for what will be built on the east side – only better with more retailers and cafes and fewer offices on the first floor.


The final report for the Mount Vernon Triangle Transportation and Public Realm Design Project included several recommendations for improving transportation in the Triangle. These included bike racks, bicycle lanes, redesigning New Jersey Ave, L Street and a segment of 4th Street as two-way streets before 2010. L Street has undergone its transformation. Any word on the other plans? Bike racks at City Vista would seem appropriate.

Streetscaping is a big-ticket item, and we have been working behind the scenes with DDOT, Councilmember Tommy Wells, and Councilmember Jack Evans to fund the streets and sidewalks plan in the Public Realm Study (rendering). L Street is basically done, and 4th Street will return to two-way traffic in DC’s FY09 budget. Next up will be to return NJ Avenue back to two way traffic and then new streets and sidewalks for all of K Street. Bike racks are easy in comparison and should be going in at City Vista shortly.


Economic development in the Triangle is geared around new high-rise construction, which requires a long development cycle to build. Unlike 14th Street NW or H Street NE our streets lack a stock of vacant commercial spaces to tap into on a shorter cycle via renovation. With no construction currently underway nor any new construction slated to break ground until 2009 our growth may pause after the retail at City Vista delivers. How can we work around this limitation? What tools are at our disposal?

Sadly, you are correct. There are very few old buildings remaining in Mount Vernon Triangle – partly because of the MLK riots, partly because of the urban renewal plan for Lower Shaw, and partly because of demolition by neglect and the construction of the 395 Freeway in 1962. Nevertheless, both the lack of vacant buildings and the lack of construction sites does affect the economic potential in the short term. To work around this limitation, some people have suggested adding street vendors, which I’m not convinced is ideal because of the state of street vending in DC. Others have suggested a weekly market – like the Georgetown Antiques Market. Sadly, they are not willing to move from their current home in Clarendon. Personally, I am banking on the success of Safeway to spur further development as the neighborhood is transformed by new residents, office workers, and visitors from all parts of the city.

A big thanks to Bill for participating in this chat with us. We hope to have more in the future.

Inspiration for this post was from DCMud's interview with Michael Stevens.

Office Building Development in the Triangle

As MBG wrote a couple months ago, developers had grand initiative when communicating there master plans for the Triangle in 2005. There has been little in the way of communication of late.

A good deal of the planned residential development has been completed (555 Mass, Madrigal Lofts, The Sonata, Yale Steam) or will deliver in 2008 (City Vista, The Dumont). On the office side the Penzance Building at 455 Mass and 251 Mass have completed while the other office buildings have not even broken ground. The image below is from the CID.


Walking by the Penzance Building I saw a big "Office Space for Lease" sign across the 8th floor windows.

I became curious about the lack of tenant. Typically when I've read DC Mud articles about office development near the stadium or in NoMA an anchor tenant is specified. So I googled the address for in hopes of finding more information on 455 Mass. I came across one from WaPo entitled "Mt Vernon Triangle Edges upwards". The April 2006 article focuses on the Penzance Building and the strip club Louis Rogue. Penzance was looking to lineup a tenant then and still is today.

How often does an office building get built downtown before an anchor tenant is in place? Is it a common practice? Did this practice get employed in Penn Quarter? How successful was it?

For the Triangle to become the true bustling 24/7 community it has the potential to be the area needs these office buildings with first floor retail to be built. When will the row of commercial building along K Street in the Mount Vernon Place master plan break ground? Will the Wilkes/Quadrangle team wait until they have anchor tenants for each building before beginning these projects? Have other projects become higher priority for them? Do you think they are just waiting to go through settlement on more of the Madrigal Lofts before bringing in dump trucks and cranes back into the neighborhood. Thoughts?