Extending the East End: The Activity in Shaw and Mt. Vernon Triangle
Mt. Vernon Triangle and Shaw are DC’s latest sizzling hot real estate markets. Just ask the young professionals flocking into the new condos and rental units to be close to jazzy night spots and eateries (as recently profiled by the New York Times). Or come to Bisnow's Shaw and Mt. Vernon Triangle event on Dec. 15 at the Howard Theatre, part of the United Bank neighborhood series.
Berkeley Shervin, president of Wilkes Co and one of our panelists, says he expects Wilkes to be involved in as many as 10 new Mt. Vernon Triangle buildings. Four have been completed—the 75-unit luxury condo Sonata, the 259-unit Madrigal Lofts condos, the new 90k SF AIPAC HQ, and the Lyric (above), at 440 K St NW, a 14-story, 234-unit luxury apartment building with 9,500 SF of ground-floor retail space. Rents hover right around the $2,500 a month range for a one-bedroom unit, Berkeley says.
Claire Schaefer Oleksiak, president of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District and our panel moderator, tells us about 75% of the CID’s potential redevelopment has already been completed, with new retail, residential and office tenants in place; others, including the DC Bar’s new HQ, will take occupancy in the next year or two.
In October, the legal eagles signed up for their new aerie at 901 4th St NW, a 100k SF building developed by Wilkes Co and Quadrangle Development Corp. When completed in the 2017-18 time frame, the building will cost the lawyers between $67.5M and $70.5M, we reported when they signed the deal. It’s part of Mount Vernon Place that will, when complete, include nine buildings with 2.1M SF of residential, office and retail uses.
Shaw’s residential character sets the tone for the design of new buildings there, says Robert Sponseller, a principal at Shalom Baranes Associates and another of our panelists, citing his firm’s 500k SF City Market at O between 7th and 9th streets, incorporating the historic O Street Market. City Market at O houses a hotel and two residential buildings, one of them affordable senior housing. Each will have its own entrance and common areas, Robert says, to avoid what he calls “erecting a mega-project” in the midst of small-scale Shaw.
The year-old Oslo building at 1734 6th St NW might be the ideal model of a year-round summer rental shared by friends if it were in Ocean City instead of in Shaw. With only nine units, Ditto Residential president/CEO Martin Ditto says the Oslo was designed for sharing by young, single professionals who want to live in a cool neighborhood with trendy bars and cafés. The apartments (currently fully leased) are either three- of four-bedroom en suite units. The three smaller units are approximately 965 SF, and the six four-bedroom units measure about 1,430 SF. Rents run from $1,350 to $1,500 per bedroom. For those who won’t get to Rehoboth or Bethany Beach next summer, Oslo’s neat roof deck might make a good substitute. Better make friends with one of its current residents.
The prize—if there were one—for the oddest-named project goes to The JBG Cos and its residential and retail Atlantic Plumbing buildings. Completed in October, the two-building complex sits at 8th and V streets NW, along the U Street Corridor. It includes 708 upscale apartments and condos, 19k SF of retail space, seven artist studios, a 10k SF Landmark theater, plus rooftop terrace and pool, outdoor kitchens and private gardening plots.
Fellow panelist James Nozar, JBG’s SVP for development (on the left, snapped with colleague Fred Greene), says Atlantic Plumbing is attracting younger, affluent tenants. Perhaps they’re intrigued by the lobby, which contains a portion of the original brick wall with the name of the former plumbing supply company, the long-gone previous occupant of the site, still painted on it. So, if you want to know why everyone is so jazzed up about the MVT and Shaw, join us Dec. 15 for a breakfast and listen to the people remaking these two neighborhoods in DC. Sign up here!
