Shaw Development - Upcoming

Reposted from the Shaw Listserve:

Shaw Development Meeting Info
Posted by: "Stephanie Marie" dolci76@yahoo.com dolci76
Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:25 pm (PDT)

Hi All
My neighbor and I attended the Shaw Main Streets Development Forum at the convention center this evening, and I thought I would share with you all the projects happening in our neighborhood.

1- Douglas Development Properties. This company has several projects going on in Shaw. At 641 S Street, the Wonder Bread Building, the development is on hold. They are "victims of the times" and are having a hard time getting leasees. They are not sure when this project's construction will begin. 1234 9th Street is the Longview Gallery which will also have a restaurant on the same block. They have a restaurant group interested. 7th and New York Ave, office space and retail is planned. The buildings will be restored and unboarded soon. 7th and Florida Ave. This was a Popeyes, and they are in the leasing phase now. They are taking their time to get quality leasees. They had turned down offers from places that "need bullet proof glass", sell single malt beverages, cash checks, and serve fast food. There is interest from Nike regarding the property. They will not lease to "undesireable" tenants who have already approached them.
They are holding out for quality tenants and will take their time. At the 9th St strip near convention center, they plan on leasing to restaurants.

2- 1501 9th Street- Inle Development. Now a vacant car lot across from Shiloh Baptist on the corner of 9th and P Sts, the property will be developed into a Burmese restaurant with a few floors for seating and a bar. I believe the developer said the building would be fifty feet tall. Outdoor seating is also planned. The restaurant owner will take up the top of the building as a residence. As everyone else, they ran into financing hiccups, and the banks were hesitant with a non-chain, mom-pop restaurant. However, they plan to breakground in 1-2 quarters, with a grand opening set for the holidays of 2010!!!

3- Addison Square at Kelsey Gardens, 7th and P Sts. The developer has PUD approval from the DC government. There will be 54 affordable apartments, with the rest at market-value. The bank is holding them up, and HUD is doing some underwriting. The developer said that things are moving "slower than slow" due to the economy. They plan to start building next summer, and demolition starting late spring, early summer 2010. As soon as demolitiion is done, they have to be ready to develop immediately because there will be a huge hole there since the current buildings are deep in the ground. The street level of the buildings will have restaurants (one white-tablecloth place, and one more casual, but not fast food), and retail. There will also be a parking garage.

4- Media One Center (formerly Broadcast One Center) and Howard Theatre. The Media One Center will be along 7th St between S and T Sts. There have been economic roadblocks, but they have "weathered the storm". They will get in the ground before the end of 2009. Construction of Media Center One will take 24 months to complete, and will have office, retail and apartments. 25% of the apartments will be afforable. Radio One and TV One make-up Media Center One. Radio One will sign a 15-year lease, and TV One is affiliated with Comcast, so the worries expressed about the financial status of Radio One and TV One should no longer be a concern for people. They have pledged $250,000 in scholarships to the community, and will offer students internships. TV One will have a jumbotron outside showing its broadcasts. Howard Theatre (www.howardtheatre.com) will take 13-14 months to construct, and is located on T St. It will be a soundstage and a
restaurant. There will be community programs to teach local chidren jazz. The 100th anniversary of the theatre is in 2010, so the developer is committed to breaking that ground before the year is over so that come Winter 2011, the theatre will be open for a grand 101-yr celebration. The restauranteur interested in setting up in the theatre is negotiating a 20-yr lease, which is apparently unheard of.

5- City Market at O Street. The developer of City Market at O St is also a member of the Shaw Main Streets Board, and is very vested in the community. In 2008, all of their equity partners disappeared. They have been able to secure a $2.5 million pre-development grant, and the start date is September 3, 2010. On that date, they will begin the first phase, which is the revitalization, restoration and stabilization of the O Street Market. The new Giant will be in the marketplace, taking up 7th St between O and P Sts. There will be a coffee shop on the corner of 7th and O Sts, and a cafe inside the Giant. The Giant will be 54,000 sq ft of selling space. That does not include the prep-space for all of the prepared foods, etc. The closest size supermarket is the new Safeway, which totals 54,000-56,000 sq ft but that includes all of their prep space. There will be murals along the building on 7th and P Sts, done by local artists. The
murals will depict food and Shaw history. The current Giant will close January 15, 2011 and will be back up and running in 24 months (they are planning for 18 mos). Demolition of Giant will start Feb 2011. They plan to reopen 8th St between O and P Sts to limited traffic. There will also be retail, a gym, restaurant (6,000 to 8,000 sq ft), senior housing, 260 market-rate apartments, a hotel, condos and 567 parking spaces. The condos will face 9th St, and the hotel lobby will be at 9th and O Sts. The Giant, apartments, senior housing and hotel will be built first. The apartments and senior housing breakground Feb 2012.

That is the major news, in a nutshell. As a sidenote, we learned that there is a project at 7th and R Sts for 96 rental units, all afforable, but there is a lot of tweaking left. We also learned that Marriott owns land around 9th and L Sts, and will build two smaller hotels along with retail, before the big Marriott Marquee is completed.

We are well on our way to be a destination here in Shaw, and not just somewhere to pass through!
Thanks
Stephanie on Marion