Construction Begins On $100M Highline At Union Market
Level 2 Development principal David Franco speaking at the Highline groundbreaking
Mayor Muriel Bowser was on hand Wednesday to mark the groundbreaking of the latest major multifamily project at Union Market.
Level 2 Development, Federal Capital Partners and Clark Enterprises broke ground on The Highline, a 318-unit apartment building with 10k SF of ground-floor retail at 320 Florida Ave. NE. The $100M project is expected to deliver in the first quarter of 2019.
The 12-story building will have a rooftop pool, and the developers plan to build a park next to the building that will give pedestrians easier access between the NoMa and Union Market neighborhoods.
In addition to setting aside 13 units in the building for those making 80% AMI or below, the development team has agreed to build 13 affordable townhouses in Ivy City. The three-bedroom homes on Central Place NE will be set aside for those earning up to 50% of AMI.
Construction financing for the project was provided by United Bank and EB5 Capital. Bowser said her November 2015 trade mission to China, on which Level 2 principal David Franco joined her, led to the EB-5 funding. The program, which has come under intense federal scrutiny, allows foreign nationals to invest in real estate projects in exchange for immigrant visas.
Level 2 is building another Union Market apartment building next door in partnership with Trammell Crow and Edens. That 432-unit building will include a Latin-inspired marketplace on the ground floor. It is expected to deliver toward the end of 2018. Franco is a panelist at Bisnow's Northeast DC Update event on March 23
Those deliveries will come after LCOR and Edens' 187-unit mixed-use building at 1240 4th St. NE, which has signed a Trader Joe's on the ground floor and is expected to open later this year.
