Region's Builders Rein In Visions

Bob and Carolyn Stockton had hoped a revitalization project would attract business to their Springfield barbershop. (By Dayna Smith For The Washington Post)

In southern Fairfax County, Bob Stockton has a clear view from his barbershop of the parcel he has been waiting to become Midtown Springfield, the kind of urban-style concoction that has transformed Silver Spring. The new apartments and offices, he hoped, would mean more customers trekking to his shop for $18 cuts.

But the developer, Kettler, citing rising construction costs and an uncertain market, canceled the project in July. "If we still had a hot condo market, we would've been rocking and rolling," Stockton said. "They would have been moving dirt out there by now."

Some developers are forging ahead even as they change their strategy.

As 2006 ended, PN Hoffman announced it would build 140 condos in downtown Washington, at 10th and G streets NW, over a sanctuary it would rebuild for First Congregational United Church of Christ. The plan drew attention because the church said it would keep its meals program for the homeless in the building, which was to include a fitness center, swimming pool and $1 million apartments.

A year later, a chain-link construction fence surrounded the church, no work had begun, and the developer rolled out a new plan: Instead of condos, it is planning a high-end office building. "It's a great place for condos, but you don't want to build and sell condos unless you have a robust market," said Steve Earle, PN Hoffman's president.

On the Web site for Manassas Park, city officials tout their community as Virginia's "newest city," though its downtown is defined by auto repair shops, warehouses and towing firms.

In 2005, Manassas Park officials and Clark Realty joined forces to change the city's image. The centerpiece of their vision was 30 acres of industrial terrain they hoped to turn into townhouses, condos, retail and office buildings, all of it across from a train station. A new city hall would anchor the site, which planners promised would draw pedestrians and commuters to work, shop and play.

By last May, the housing slump forced the developer to redraw the plan. Instead of condos, there would be 274 apartments. Instead of stand-alone commercial buildings, the offices and retail would sit beneath the apartments.

City officials and the developer say they remain committed to the development, though they said it will now take at least two years longer. "We're deferring it because the market is not there," said Jay Sotos, Clark's managing director.

The Washington region has endured downturns in the past, including the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash and the dot-com bust of the 1990s. But the real estate industry is far healthier these days, said Robert Peck, former president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. One reason, he said, is that banks require commercial developers to pre-lease a large percentage of their offices before issuing construction loans.

"We won't see developers leaping off the cranes because the fundamentals have been better than they were in the 1980's," said Peck, now a senior vice president with the Staubach Co., a real estate firm.

Yet he also said that edges of the metropolitan area -- towns and counties that were depending on a gush of development to remake their communities -- likely will have to wait longer.