MRP, WC Smith Off and Running in NoMa
The skies may have been gloomy yesterday, but the mood was anything but at WC Smith's brand-new 314-unit 2M apartment complex at North Capitol and M Streets in NoMa. The firm officially unveiled the property yesterday, and along with the folks from the NoMa BID, we hopped upstairs to check out the views 2M offers of North Cap—with the NPR HQ to the bottom left, Gonzaga High to the right, and that crusty domed-shaped building under renovations in the distance. 2M joins MRP Realty's Elevation at Washington Gateway on New York Ave as the latest high-end apartments to deliver in NoMa, as an influx of residents finally begins to follow the wave of employers that have made the neighborhood home.
We made the quick walk over to Elevation, which delivered this summer and has already welcomed residents even though some of the building's upper floors aren't finished. Katie Gaines, who oversees management of the 400-unit complex, tells us 50 apartments were leased in the first month alone. On the ground floor (if you squint) you can make out the space that farm-to-table/craft bar restaurant concept Union Social will eventually occupy—likely early next year, Katie says. Union Social was brought to the building by local restaurateur Reese Gardner, the man behind soon-to-be-renamed Mighty Pint and Wilson Tavern, among other concepts.
A look at one of Elevation's two-bedroom units. Those windows aren't just nifty-looking—they're also soundproof, as MRP installed double-paned glass to block the noise of New York Avenue. MRP also has an undeveloped lot right next to Elevation, which the firm hopes to eventually build office on. For now, though, the firm is creating a temporary public space on the site, part of the BID's efforts to bring more open and public areas to the neighborhood.
On our way out on First Street, we snapped First Potomac/Perseus Realty's Storey Park site, where, once anchor tenants are secured, 350k SF of office will eventually be built, along with 60k SF of retail and 300 apartment units. The NoMa BID folks also updated us on the org's underpass competition, which obtained 248 design submissions from artists nationally and internationally to dress up the neighborhood's four underpasses—a winner should be announced by the end of the year.
