Anacostia Group Looks Beyond the Ballpark

"It's not us fighting against the Lerners," Washington said. "We can have a great neighborhood that will work for both them and that will work for the city, too.

"People have disagreements," Washington said. "You have people who do not just have big egos but who have successful track records. We've worked to come up with a general road map."

Williams recently created the Office of Baseball to coordinate the many groups involved in the baseball project. Stephen Goldsmith, the former Indianapolis mayor who is chairman of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp., heads the new office. It must deal with the Lerner family; the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, which is overseeing construction of the ballpark; and the waterfront corporation, which is charged with developing the land around the ballpark.

"Someone with a strong hand was needed in the room," Washington said.

New Crystal City Neighbor

Charles E. Smith, the largest landlord in Crystal City, said the Consumer Electronics Association has made a deal to buy 1919 S. Eads St., which will be the headquarters for its 130 employees. The sale price was $38.4 million, or $400 per square foot, resulting in a gain of $17 million, according to Charles E. Smith's corporate parent, Vornado Realty Trust.

The trade association, which is now at 2500 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington, was represented by CB Richard Ellis.

In the past few years, Charles E. Smith has worked to remake Crystal City, an assemblage of high-rise buildings with underground shops built in the 1960s and 1970s. It has lured more private-sector office tenants to fill space that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office vacated when it moved to a new headquarters in Alexandria. The company has added new shops and restaurants at street level to make it a more lively, pedestrian-friendly place. Olsson's Books and Records recently signed a lease for 3,600 square in a building along Crystal Drive. The store will open in August.

3 Finalists for NW Project

The Armed Forces Retirement Home has narrowed the list of developers interested in building on 77 acres of its sprawling campus in Northwest Washington.

The three finalists are Crescent Resources LLC of Charlotte, N.C.; Clark Realty Capital LLC, the investment development arm of Bethesda-based Clark Enterprises; and Chevy Chase-based JBG Cos. Twelve developers applied last fall to get the land.

The home, better known as the Old Soldiers' Home, was established in 1851. It has faced financial difficulties, mainly because it was poorly managed, said Chris Black, a consultant to the home. Over the past nine years, its trust fund had declined significantly.

The home, where about 1,400 retired military personnel live, has cut back on personnel and outsourced tasks such as payroll, Black said. In the past few years, the home sold property it owns in Mississippi and 22 acres on the Northwest campus. The sale of the 77 acres is needed for "capital improvements that need to be made at the home," Black said.

"Half of the residents there are over 80, and as we look to the future, guys who are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq are going to have special needs," Black said. "We're . . . going to need more facilities for things like Alzheimer's and long-term care."

Officials at the home must win several rounds of approvals, and neighbors will get a chance to comment on plans for the 77 acres, at North Capitol and Irving streets NW near Catholic University and Washington Hospital Center. The three developers must submit detailed versions of their plans later this summer. Developers and leaders at the home have said they'd like to see the 77 acres become a mix of shops, housing and offices for research and development.

"It's a blank slate, and it's exciting to have this opportunity to develop a large block of space like this because you so rarely get that," said Bobby Zeiller, a vice president for development at Crescent Resources. Zeiller said the project comes with challenges, including preserving views.

"We have to handle it delicately to make it a win-win situation for everybody," Zeiller said.

Closings

Federal Capital Partners paid $55 million to MGP Real Estate for Shirlington Gateway, a 207,000-square-foot office building in Arlington. Cassidy & Pinkard represented the seller.

Dana Hedgpeth writes about economic development and commercial real estate. Her e-mail address ishedgpethd@washpost.com.