Tuesday, February 11, 2014

A Look at What's Coming to 501 H Street

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A reader write in with some information (slightly edited) on the new development that will replace the H Street Community Development Corporation's  (HSCDC) headquarters at 501 H Street.

Went to the ANC meeting last night. Douglas Development was there to discuss their plans. 3 floors of retail (1 of which would be underground). Apartments/condos on top. 32 Total units? No parking. Possibly a zipcar spot. Studios - 2 bedrooms. Earliest they would break ground would be February 2016, but this is not likely they said. Will be later. 



9730 sq ft of retail on the largest floor.

This is the old HSDC building btw. The building will have a stone facade.

The Washington Business Journal covered the impending sale of the property to Douglas Development (by developer Jair Lynch) nearly a year ago. You may also recall this Urban Turf piece from last September in which the site reported that a Douglas rep said the company would like to attract an anchor retailer like Crate & Barrel, or Forever 21.

BTW, if you haven't seen this hilarious Second City YouTube video that mentions Crate & Barrel, you really should watch it.

14 comments:

Patton Oswalt said...

omagahhh no parking sound the alaarrrmms!

Anonymous said...

Total lol at that video. Definitely sounds familiar. I guess DC's not alone!

Anonymous said...

Looks good. Hope they break ground soon.

Any streetcar updates? It's February. I hear 3rd Street is re-opening. Does that mean they're finished with whatever they were doing on the Hopscotch Bridge?

Anonymous said...

This is great! Wish it was breaking ground earlier. The west side of H has a lot of big development slated. Very exciting.

That 2nd City video is hilarious. They were awesome at Woolly Mammoth last year.

Anonymous said...

someone explain to me why there are more apts being built when every other building still has vacancies. 3rd and h, senate square, ava, atlas flats, not to mention by the navy yard, chinatown. nobody is moving in there at those rates.

Anonymous said...

developers can't solidify financing on condos. Apartments give them instant cash flow. on the flip side they can close on condos until they sell at least 50% of the units. Thus, they run the risk no $ for a long long time on larger buildings. It's a pure financial decision. Hence, condo prices sky rocketing due to high demand and continuous low inventory for years to come.

Anonymous said...

"Developers can't solidify financing on condos. Apartments give them instant cash flow. Nn the flip side, they can't close on condos until they sell at least 50% of the units. Thus, they run the risk no $ for a long long time on larger buildings"

This is spot on. Developers can also stretch delivery dates, skimp on materials, and turn over buildings to property management companies upon delivery. Apartments are also easier and cheaper to market. Condos make these things a bit more complicated.

"Hence, condo prices sky rocketing due to high demand and continuous low inventory for years to come"

I don't think DC has a condo shortage.

Anonymous said...

"someone explain to me why there are more apts being built when every other building still has vacancies. 3rd and h, senate square, ava, atlas flats, not to mention by the navy yard, chinatown. nobody is moving in there at those rates. "

People are most definitely moving into buildings, though I suspect agreed-upon rates differ from advertised rates.

Also note that a building does not need to be fully occupied to recoup development costs. If a 200-unit building is 50% occupied at $2000/unit per month, that's $2.4M year in rent...even if their operating margin is 75% (which would be high for a building in its first five years of life), they are still grossing $600k...

Developers aren't putting up buildings to lose money, this I assure you.

Derek said...

Here is an interesting article about the needed replacement of the Hopscotch Bridge.

http://wamu.org/news/14/02/11/despite_the_streetcar_dc_plans_to_replace_h_street_bridge

Anonymous said...

"Here is an interesting article about the needed replacement of the Hopscotch Bridge. "

I don't really know the point. The money would be better suited for the Akridge project, which will ultimately force the traffic under the tracks...

Anonymous said...

The "Mango Republic" sign on that mock-up frightens me. We don't need high-end chain retail on H Street. That's for Georgetown and Tyson's Corner.

Derek said...

The repair and replacement of the bridge goes along with the Union Terminal development. Basically, either side of the bridge will be developed and built up.

The point of me posting the link tot the article was to further the discussion of the development of the West Side of H.

Yeah...that guy said...

"they are still grossing $600k..."

Ahh...and next on our tour of the 'Proforma' is a little area of town known as "below-the-line". Here, the 'numbers' submit themselves on a reoccurring basis to what often termed "Annual Debt Service" and "Pref Return" as an offering to their "cost of capital" overlords.

Its a dicey world down there I tell ya. Many a number has ventured to that side of town, only to never be heard from again...

:-(

Alan Page said...

"The "Mango Republic" sign on that mock-up frightens me. We don't need high-end chain retail on H Street"

^ I disagree. Please bring on the high end retail. I'm biased towards locally owned businesses, but the more, the merrier. I'm satisfied with a mix of both.