This Week's D.C. Deal Sheet
D.C. has selected the team that will guide it through securing control of Poplar Point to pave the way for the development of the 110-acre site on the Anacostia River.
HR&A Advisors will be the owner’s representative for the city, D.C.’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development announced Thursday. DMPED put out a request for applications in May 2023.
“Poplar Point is our opportunity to fully realize the potential of the Anacostia Waterfront and transform this site into a mixed-use development, world-class park, and entertainment destination that will deliver jobs, business opportunities and housing to Ward 8,” Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert said in a release.
New York City-based HR&A will lead the charge on planning and design in preparation for the redevelopment of Poplar Point, including managing the land transfer from the federal government. The National Park Service and U.S. Park Police have facilities on the site that will need to be relocated before the transfer, and one of HR&A's first tasks will be designing new facilities for them.
With the announcement, DMPED also put out a request for expressions of interest for a “destination anchor” for Poplar Point that would take up to 15 of the site's 40 developable acres. The other 70 of the site’s acres are set to remain parkland. Responses to the RFEI are due Sept. 30.
LEASES
KIPP DC is relocating its office from Foggy Bottom to Union Market. The public school system is taking 16K SF on the ninth floor of the Signal House building, landlord Carr Properties announced this week. The 10-story, 228K SF office building at 1255 Union St. NE is now 80% leased, Carr said. It delivered in 2021. KIPP is expected to move next fall. Transwestern’s Kamis O’Farrell Lawrence and Michael Goldman represented KIPP, and Avison Young’s Jonathan Wellborn and Eli Barnes represented Carr Properties.
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Fuddruckers is bringing back its Silver Spring and Gallery Place-Chinatown locations, it announced this week. In Silver Spring, the burger joint is taking back its old digs at Peterson Cos.’ 819 Ellsworth Drive, which it vacated in December 2019, The MoCo Show first reported. In Chinatown, it is taking 781 Seventh St. NW, Eat DC reported on social media platform X. The 6,500 SF space was occupied by Tom's Watch Bar until it vacated in September 2023 after being open for less than a year. Fuddruckers was previously in a space across the street, now occupied by Capital One Cafe. It closed there in 2017.
MILESTONES
A 70-unit affordable apartment building in Fort Totten broke ground this week. Developed by Wesley Housing, One Hawaii replaces a 34-unit apartment building at 1 Hawaii Ave. NE. The residents of the former property used their Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act rights to select Wesley as a partner to acquire the property, a deal that closed in March 2018. One Hawaii is set to include one-, two- and three-bedroom units for residents making between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Completion is expected in early 2026.
The project cost is $61.1M financed from a variety of sources, including low-income housing tax credits purchased by Truist Bank, a loan from the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development’s Housing Production Trust Fund, and tax-exempt bonds issued by the D.C. Housing Finance Agency.
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Clark Construction was awarded a $524M contract to be the general contractor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s new headquarters at the St. Elizabeths West campus. The award includes $115.9M from the Inflation Reduction Act, the GSA announced Monday. The headquarters is set to total 630K SF, designed by ZGF Architects and Olin Studio, the master architects of St. Elizabeths West.
SALES
Brookfield Properties sold a 352-unit apartment building at Halley Rise in Reston to Harbor Group International. The Edmund, which houses an 80K SF Wegmans on the ground floor, sold for $133M. Brookfield delivered the property in 2021, the first residential component of the $1.4B Halley Rise development. Berkadia’s Brian Crivella, Bill Gribbin and Yalda Ghamarian brokered the sale.
