Developer Q&A: Jair Lynch VP Kevin Roberts
Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners VP of development Kevin Roberts chatted with Bisnow to discuss the firm's upcoming $100M addition to H Street, Anthology, and what attracted the firm to the corridor.
The nine-story, mixed-use building holds 307 Class-A apartments and 10k SF of neighborhood-serving retail and brings a fresh new look to the corridor.
Bisnow: What first attracted you to H Street, and why has the corridor flourished in recent years?
Kevin: I first bought there almost 12 years ago. You have great housing stock but the retail and other aspects were underserving the professionals that could live there. It's only one mile from the United States Capitol and the area has such a rich history. An area like this can only be underserved for so long. It was certainly going to change no matter what.
In this case, the government played a big role in getting that change off of the ground. The upgraded street benches, light fixtures and other improvements make the street feel much better than it did 12 years ago. There are more activities too. It's a better place to walk and that helps a lot. It just gives you confidence that when a city puts that kind of money into a neighborhood or corridor, the local businesses will not fail. It's a sign that there's support for what we're doing.
Bisnow: So the corridor was primed for ground-floor investment?
Kevin: Because it was underserved, the rents were very affordable. A climate like that is ripe for pop-up restaurants, bars and stores. There's dynamic nightlife now. It's resurged.
The corridor was a food desert. You would have to travel two miles to get to a supermarket. Now we have Whole Foods opening [next year] and a Giant has already been serving the community.
There were no apartment buildings on H Street at all when we started buying in the area and now there are five. Soon there will be six.
Bisnow: Let's talk about that sixth one, Anthology.
Kevin: Anthology is an urban luxury property we're currently developing at 625 H St. It offers amenities like a pool, a deck and unobstructed views of the Capitol.
The goal when creating this property was to develop something that personifies H Street. H Street NE has such a rich history that includes the unbridled urban character present in the dive bars and music venues. We wanted to build on that. We were inspired by neighborhoods such as Wicker Park in Chicago and Bushwick in Brooklyn.
The building is designed with an unfinished concrete feel that still has the flair of a refined classic finish. We don't currently have a lot of that in DC. Typically what you see here is very safe, milk-and-toast residential construction.
We've taken another approach with our recent projects and I'd say the result is the development of some really cool buildings.
