In The Works: Top 3 Developments In Northeast D.C.
Eckington Yards
Developers: JBG Smith, LCOR
Construction is underway at Eckington Yards, a mixed-use development near the intersection of New York Avenue and Florida Avenue NE. The project will include 670 residential units in four buildings connected by walkways, and up to 80K SF of retail space. Its neighbor to the south, the Gale Eckington, is a residential building managed by JBG Smith.
In December 2018, LCOR Inc. replaced The Boundary Cos. as JBG’s partner on the development, purchasing a 50% stake.
Multiple companies have already signed on as tenants, including Union Kitchen Grocery and Brooklyn Boulders, a New York-based rock-climbing gym. With its proximity to the Metropolitan Branch Trail and the proposed NoMa Green, Eckington Yards is promoting its walkability and connections to public space.
The development will also include a “woonerf” — a word borrowed from the Dutch referring to a thoroughfare intended to be shared by pedestrians, bikes and cars alike.
Bryant Street
Developer: MRP Realty
MRP Realty has broken ground on the first phase of its Bryant Street Development, which will reportedly bring over 1,500 housing units to Rhode Island Avenue NE, replacing the former Rhode Island Avenue Shopping Center.
The first phase of the 13-acre development is set to include 487 multifamily units, an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and 35K SF of retail within walking distance of the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro station.
A key source of funding for the first phase of Bryant Street came in the form of opportunity zone financing. FRP Development Corp., an equity partner on the project, used the July 2018 sale of 40 industrial properties to Blackstone to drive $347M in OZ capital into the Bryant Street project. In addition to a $132M loan from Capital One, the development has been the beneficiary of a $24M tax increment financing package from the city.
RIA
Developer: MidCity
MidCity is working to bring a sprawling, 1,700-unit housing development to Brentwood on the site of the Brookland Manor Apartments, a property that the company has owned for over 40 years. The project, dubbed RIA, would include replacements for the 373 existing Section 8 housing units, a public park and 181K SF of retail, likely including a grocery store.
The proposed first phase of the project would include redevelopment along the southern edge of the site, a few blocks west of the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station, and would consist of a 200-unit affordable housing building dedicated to seniors, as well as another 131-unit apartment building, Bisnow previously reported.
The project has been in limbo since May 2018, following an appeal from the Brookland Manor Brentwood Village Residents Association; these delays have become endemic to D.C.’s new housing developments. But despite the indefinite holdup, MidCity acquired a new piece of land adjacent to its current holdings, paying $5.85M to the Historic Berean Baptist Church for its parcel.
