Retail Near Metro in Hyattsville

135 Townhouses Set for SE

District-based developer Joe Horning, who is best known for redeveloping the Tivoli Theater in Columbia Heights, said he is going to build 135 townhouses -- some of them moderately priced -- on an overgrown lot in Anacostia near Stanton and Morris roads SE.

Horning, who has owned the 10 acres for about 40 years, said he expects to start building the $20 million project in September 2006 and expects it to be completed in the spring of 2007. He said that the land was once owned by freed slaves who built houses on it and that many homeowners lived there until they died. The lots have "spectacular views of the city," he said. The new market-rate houses will start around $200,000.

"The resurgence of the city has reached Southeast and Anacostia," Horning said. "People are finding the pricing is affordable and there's proximity to downtown."

Survey Finds Inequality

An organization for women in commercial real estate said in a recently released study that although the number of women going into the industry is rising, men earn more than women based on comparable levels of experience and age.

The national survey of almost 2,000 real estate professionals, which was done by the organization Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW Network), found that 58 percent of men in the commercial real estate industry had incomes of $150,000 or higher, while only 24 percent of women reported incomes in that range.

The group represents women who work as leasing brokers, architects, engineers, investment sales brokers and financing executives in the industry.

Closings

Brascan Corp., a Toronto-based conglomerate that invests in real estate, bought 77 P St. NE -- a 325,000-square-foot office building that is leased mainly to the District government -- from District developer Douglas Jemal. Cassidy & Pinkard, a real estate services firm in the District, handled the sale for Jemal. Brokers there declined to disclose the purchase price, although the building was assessed last year at $82 million, according to tax records.

The NFL Players Association, the union that represents football players, and Players Inc., the for-profit arm that controls the royalties of NFL items, paid $46 million for 1133 20th St. NW, an 118,000-square-foot building. Summit Commercial Real Estate of the District represented the groups in the purchase. The groups are selling and moving out of a building they owned at 2021 L St. NW.

American Petroleum Institute renewed its lease for about 76,000 square foot at 1220 L St. NW.

Louis Dreyfus, a District developer, bought 801 17th St. NW for $80 million, or $350 a square foot. An executive at Louis Dreyfus said the company may tear down the building and redevelop it with a high-end office building once the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the largest tenant in the building, moves out in June 2006 to a new campus in Arlington.

Elm Street Development of McLean and NV Retail of Tysons Corner said they have broken ground on a development in western Loudoun County, 15 miles north of Leesburg in Lovettsville, that will include 158 single-family homes, a park of almost four acres, 120,000 square feet of retail and 22,000 square feet of office space. The project is expected to be completed at the end of next year.

Dana Hedgpeth writes about commercial real estate and economic development. She can be reached athedgpethd@washpost.com.