This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
Three Upper Northwest apartment communities are receiving affordable housing preservation funds from Amazon.
Amazon’s Housing Equity Fund is providing $27.3M in below-prevailing-rate loans to D.C.-based American Housing’s Upper Northwest D.C. Housing Preservation Project. The initiative aims to modernize and rehabilitate communities in Dupont Circle, Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant.
The properties receiving financing are the Park Regent, Park Meridian and Ravenel communities. The owner plans to use the money to tackle deferred maintenance and replace dated systems, according to an Amazon release. It will also reconfigure interior floor plans to convert 236 naturally affordable housing units to 254 units affordable to residents making between 60% and 80% of the area median income. The affordability is slated to be preserved for 99 years, and rent increases will be capped at 3% annually.
American Housing specializes in workforce, affordable and market-rate transit-oriented development in Northwest D.C. It also owns and operates 400 stabilized rental units under the same development mindset.
“It’s not merely about buildings. It is about building a community where residents who need access to affordable, quality housing can thrive and contribute,” Amazon Housing Equity Fund Managing Principal Senthil Sankaran said in the release. “Our goal is to create more interconnected and inclusive communities.”
The Amazon Housing Equity Fund launched in 2021, and the company says it has provided $1.7B to preserve and create more than 14,000 affordable rental homes in the cities where it has corporate offices, including over $1B for 7,300 homes in the D.C. region.
LEASES
The Department of Defense is moving from Falls Church to Alexandria with a 46K SF lease at the Mark Center corporate park. The agency is moving into PRP’s 4825 Mark Center Drive, the landlord announced in a press release this week. The eight-story building was one of a pair PRP purchased for $40M after they were foreclosed on in 2018. The DOD is moving from Skyline Towers, PRP President Paul Dougherty told Bisnow. Cushman & Wakefield's Scott Johnston brokered the deal.
MILESTONES
LCOR broke ground on a 354-unit apartment building in North Bethesda, the Bethesda-based development company announced this week. The Envoi project is the final piece of The Quad, a four-building community next to the North Bethesda Metro station, on land owned by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. LCOR obtained $92M in construction financing for the development, Bisnow reported in November. Once complete, Envoi will bring The Quad to more than 1,300 units. The 12-story development is slated to open to residents in early summer 2026.
PERSONNEL
Colliers is absorbing McBride Real Estate Services’ brokerage business with six hires from the 22-year-old D.C.-based firm. Colliers is hiring Richard McBride Jr. as vice chair, Joshua Cramer, Marc Shandler and Robert Blumel as executive vice presidents, and Alex Picciano and Wendy Hayes as vice presidents, the global commercial real estate services firm announced this week. Founded in 2002, McBride has represented clients including Bloomberg, Uber and the U.S. Soccer Foundation.
***
The D.C. Building Industry Association named its 2024 board of directors in an announcement this week. Leading the board for the second year in a row will be Roadside Development founding partner Richard Lake. The three newly elected vice presidents are Transwestern Development Co. Regional Partner Toby Millman, Urban Pace President Clint Mann and Hoffman & Associates Chief Operating Officer Maria Thompson.
“The real estate industry is facing a number of challenges, and there is no better organization than DCBIA to work through the challenges that impede development,” Lake said in a release. “I am excited to continue to lead this organization in 2024 and work with this exceptional group of leaders who are aligned to help shape DC's vibrant, resilient future.”
