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| Parcel 42 [click image to enlarge] |
Parcel 42 is a large, long-vacant, District-owned parcel at the northeast corner of 7th Street and R Streets, NW, diagonally across from the Shaw Library. The District issued a request for proposals for the redevelopment of the property in April of this year. According to the schedule included with the request for proposals, the District expects to select a developer for the site in late fall of 2012.
The Washington Business Journal reported that the seven proposals were submitted by the following developers:
- Warrenton Group and Four Points LLC
- Thoron Development LLC
- Pounds Properties and Jubilee Housing
- United House of Prayer for All People
- Neighborhood Development Corporation
- Tensquare LLC and Chapman Development Group LLC
- Baywood Hotels and Dantes Partners
According to the article, deatils on the proposals have not yet been released by the District government. However, information regarding some of the developers is as follows:
- Four Points LLC is a co-developer of the Howard Theatre and Progression Place, the new mixed-use project being constructed at the corner of 7th and S Streets, NW, adjacent to the northern entrance to the Shaw-Howard University Metrorail station
- United House of Prayer for All People owns the property to the north of Parcel 42 and has developed several other projects in the Shaw neighborhood, including the newly constructed apartment building at 625 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
- Jubilee Housing's mission is to "provide quality affordable housing and expanded life options for people with low-incomes". All of Jubilee's current properties are located in Adams Morgan.
- Neighborhood Development Corporation is a District-based developer with major projects on Georgia Avenue (including 4100 Georgia Avenue and the under-construction Heights on Georgia Avenue, both of which are mixed-use affordable housing projects each with approximately 70 units of housing) and two smaller projects in Shaw (902 T Street, NW, and 1915 6th Street, NW), among other projects.
- Chaprman Development Group is another District-based developer; Chapman's projects include the Warder Mansion redevelopment, a 38-unit market-rate project on the 2600 block of 16th Street, NW, and the recently-completed Grays on Pennsylvania, a mixed-use project with over 100 affordable housing units, on the 2300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
- Baywood Hotels is a Greenbelt-based hotel management and development company with over $500 million in assets. Baywood's portfolio includes mainstream brands such as Courtyard by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, and Holiday Inn Express, as well as independent hotels. It has over 10 Maryland properties and one property in the District (the Comfort Inn at 1201 13th Street, NW).
Additional details on the site, and the District's request for proposals, are below. (The following information appeared in an earlier post on this site.)
Site
Parcel 42 consists of two lots — the main development lot is an approximately 15,000 square foot vacant lot at the northeast corner of 7th and R Streets, NW (sometimes also referred to as 7th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NW). The second lot, which is also vacant, sits across the alley to the east of the main parcel and consists of approximately 1,700 square feet. The image below shows the size and location of the parcels.
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| Parcel 42 consists of the two lots outlined in red |
The solicitation provides developers with broad discretion in crafting the details of their development proposals, but it states that the District is seeking mixed-use development proposals with ground-floor retail and mixed-income residential units. (The solicitation indicates that developers should "maximize" the number of housing units affordable to households at or below 80% of the area median income for the Washington metropolitan area, but no specific number or percentage of affordable units is required.) The District is encouraging developers to submit development proposals that maximize development density through a planned unit development.
The solicitation also states that District is seeking "high quality architecture" for the project and proposals "are expected to have a signature design, which complements the neighborhood character, and creates a pedestrian friendly environment."
Timeline
- Responses to the solicitation are due by July 26, 2012
- A short list of developers (selected from the proposals that are submitted) will be announced in the summer of 2012
- A community presentation by the short-listed developers will be held in the fall of 2012
- A development team will be selected for the site in the late fall of 2012
Solicitation Document
The complete solicitation document is available after the jump.
Parcel 42 Solicitation
The solicitation for the development of Parcel may be viewed below or by clicking here.
Parcel 42 -- RFP
One of the responders to the Parcel 42 RFP is Thoron Development. Residents over in the Truxton Circle/Bates area are familiar with Thoron: http://batesareacivicassociation.org/2012/08/16/thoron-developments-bids-on-shaw-parcel-42/ . Thoron started developing a set of lots on North Capitol Street NW, but the "Dunbar Place" project stalled -- and the lots have been sitting there undeveloped for years now. Many residents are not happy.
ReplyDeleteA neighbors chimes in about Thoron's undeveloped properties on the unit block of O Street NW:
ReplyDeleteCharles RichterThursday, August 16, 2012 2:41:00 PM
http://bloomingdaleneighborhood.blogspot.com/2012/08/thoron-development-of-1322-1330-north.html?showComment=1345142514037#c898480826274119034
Thoron has TWO projects in North Cap and O vicinity that have stalled. The lot at 1322-1330 North Cap has been vacant for three years now, with a ramshackle fence surrounding overgrown weeds and trash. I had to call the fire department twice in the week after the 4th because kids were setting off explosives there and setting the dry brush on fire. The fence regularly gets covered in tags
The other stalled project is on the unit block of O Street, where they have several townhouses that have steadily deteriorated. The siding is falling off in the alley and along the back of the units, and windows are broken and boarded up. 14 O Street has been broken into more times than I can count, and is regularly used for drug trafficking and squatting.
So no, I don't really have much faith in them picking up a new project while they can't or won't take care of the parcels they have. If they get this bid, I don't imagine that the existing projects will ever get any attention.
I think it's time we demand that the City require these developers to deliver the properties they already have in their portfolios -- like this Thoron Development on North Capitol Street as well as Brian Brown, who has the Fire station development, also on North Capitol. Both of these developers have failed to deliver the properties, after years of anguished waiting by the community. And the City has failed to make them put up or shut up. Certainly, we, as a community, at the least should protest the Thoron Development Proposal as a matter of community pride. And Brian Brown, well, that's another story that must be discussed.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see what clawback provisions exist for sweetheart deals certain developers got on district properties. I'd love to see Brown's firehouse end up in competent hands.
ReplyDeletePlease, anyone but UHOP. They already own half the neighborhood.
ReplyDelete