By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 26, 2006
Bulldozers are moving dirt and pile drivers are slamming into the ground on the site of the new baseball stadium at South Capitol and N streets SE. And the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. is finally pulling together its plans for the land around the ballpark.
Under those plans, about 9 million square feet of residential and commercial buildings and parking garages will be built over the next decade on 50 acres around the stadium, said officials with the Anacostia Waterfront group. They estimate that the new development -- on land that is now mostly auto repair shops, nightclubs and empty lots -- will be worth about $4.5 billion.
Adrian G. Washington, president and chief executive of the development organization, last week offered a preview of a draft master plan. Washington said the plan still needs to show where specific types of buildings would go. He said he expects to unveil the plan later this summer at community meetings to get feedback from residents, business owners and other community members. The point, he emphasized, is to look beyond the ballpark.
"We keep talking about baseball, baseball, baseball, but it only happens 81 days a year," Washington said, as he clicked through a PowerPoint presentation. "We want to design a district that works on game days and on non-game days. If it doesn't, you'll have it great for the 81 days of baseball and then dead the rest of the time."
Since February, Washington's group, four "master developers" that Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) selected and the New York-based architectural firm Cooper, Robertson & Partners have worked on ideas for the area around the stadium.
The plans were paid for by the developers -- Monument Realty LLC and Western Development, both of the District; Baltimore-based Cordish Co.; and Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland.
Washington showed renderings of people walking from the Navy Yard Metro station just north of the baseball stadium into a plaza near First and N streets SE. Shops and restaurants would line First and Half streets SE. Using an electronic pointer to highlight a slide, Washington said to imagine a retail district along the lines of Bethesda Row in downtown Bethesda, M Street in Georgetown or 7th Street NW near the Verizon Center.
Some drawings showed high-rise residential units that would be built above retail shops and back up to the stadium. Another image showed a river walk and parks along the Anacostia River to draw visitors to the area. Washington declined to release any sketches for publication, saying they were not final.
Over the last few weeks, the Nationals new owner -- the Lerner family -- and city officials have disagreed about whether parking for the stadium should be above-ground or below. Last week, Williams said the city will build a mix of underground and above-ground parking surrounded by shops, restaurants, 660 condos and a hotel as the hub of an entertainment district. The Lerners countered that above-ground garages should remain as a backup plan because of their concern that the parking won't be ready in time for the ballpark's promised completion in April 2008. A hearing on the parking issue is scheduled for today before the D.C. Zoning Commission.
The city has acquired roughly 20 acres through eminent domain where it is building the stadium and parking. The Anacostia group also has awarded two parcels, of seven and 10 acres, to the four developers to build on. They are in negotiations on how to structure those deals.
In the last year, additional land around the new stadium has been gobbled up by large developers such as Monument, which has spent about $50 million to buy properties where it plans to build offices, stores and housing. Each of these companies and the Lerner family, which made its money developing suburban shopping malls, has ideas about how the area should look. Some want an eclectic mix of small and mid-size uses, while others have pushed for more big-box retailers such as Bed, Bath & Beyond and Barnes & Noble. The Anacostia group has tried to incorporate all of the ideas.
Some city planners and developers who own land around the stadium say the Lerners seem to be more interested in getting the stadium built on time than they are in seeing how the area around it develops, a suggestion the Lerners have denied.
"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 NeighborCharles 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 ProjectThe 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.
ClosingsFederal 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.
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