DC Gets its First Dog Park

Thanks to the 14th & You blog:

The City’s first off-leash dog park opens today at 11th Street and Rhode Island Avenue, NW. After the “leash cutting” ceremony this afternoon, you and your pooch can roam freely in the 15,000 square foot park, using the separate fenced in areas for pups under 25 pounds and for larger dogs. This freedom is, however, temporary. When the construction of the new Shaw School begins in June 2010, the park will close. For more information, consult the DC Department of Parks and Recreation press release here.

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Google Streets - Coming to a District Near you

Its finally here! Google Street View is now available in DC! In case you dont know what Google Street View is, the definition I found online of Google Street View is a feature of Google Maps and Google Earth that provides 360° panoramic street-level views and allows users to view parts of selected cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas at ground level. When it was launched on May 25, 2007, only five American cities were included. It has since expanded to thousands of locations in the United States…[including Washington, D.C.]”

Its an amazing program on maps.google.com, then click “street view” in the map area and view your street as if you are standing in front. I thought I would give it a try so I searched the address of the Ventura Condominiums and guess what I saw, the former Facade of our newest release. It doesn’t look anything like the photo (we had to keep the Facade for Historic purposes) but it does tell me that Google drove down 12th Street over a year ago.

First time buyers? Take the “Ready, set….GO!” quiz

I love working with first-time buyers–or property virgins, as they are called. Take this quiz to find out what kind of position you are in to take advantage of the market.

1. Are you renting? (3pt)

2. Are you on a month to month lease? (2pts)

3. Do you have a credit score at or above 700? (4pts)

4. Do you have a credit score at or above 650? (2pts)

5. Do you have access to $10,000 cash? (4pts)

6. Do you have access to $20,000 cash? (8pts)

7. Do you own a home now you bought before 2003? (10pts)

8. Do you own a home purchased after 2003 that you could sell for at or above the price you paid? (10pts)

 

Scoring: Add up the points for the questions you answered “yes” to.

Now use the score to find your place on this chart:

Points               Action

23                  What are you waiting for? Get an agent and get going!

18-22             Your are more ready than you realize. Check out FHA loans!

15-17            Great shape to buy distressed property or get closing cost help.

13-14              Talk to lender/agent. Strategy+sacrifice= great opportunity now!

9-10               You are close! Look at questions. Earn back at least 3 points.

8 or below        Major item may make it a tough time to invest. Talk to an agent.

 

Top 10 rules for Developers

1-Say YES to FHA approval.
This means you Magdaline Condominiums in Columbia Heights! The Magdaline was the first building I have seen in DC to really push their financing, and they are one of the few buildings around to allow FHA approved buyers - I learned the hard way how important FHA is in today’s market in another project.

Considering FHA approval? Talk to Phil Sutcliffe with Project Approvals at phil@projectapprovals.com. He is worth every penny!


2-Say NO to plastic shower pan’s.
I can not express to you readers out there how disappointing it is to walk into a wonderful, luxurious & spacious condominium in DC, loving every detail only to walk into the master bathroom and find that the developer used a plastic shower pan instead of something more closely resembling the material on the walls. Its horrific and I have seen people walk away from projects solely due to the reflection of material used when they see plastic shower pans. To all of you developers out there, STEER CLEAR (this means you N St.).



3-Say YES to ceiling mounted HVAC’s.
What can I say? All too often developers have not taken the time to do the research to find a company that manufactures ceiling-mountable HVAC systems. Most use one that is installed in a closet but its far too unreasonable given the size restrictions they have to work with in today’s new condo developments. Had they found a company like First Company, who manufactures the ceiling mounted HVAC system, their buyers would have an extra closet. How difficult is that?

Great job to the GC of the Ventura Condominiums, Millennium Homes in Potomac, for suggesting the ceiling-mounted HVAC systems in two of the units! It turned out wonderfully.


4-Say NO to Pergo flooring.
NO! NO! NO! Please steer clear at all cost. Take a look at this: If installed properly this can be avoided but why risk it for a few dollars savings on the project. Lets go nuts and say the base line for condominium development today should at least be HARD WOOD FLOORS. Not only does it show better but in my experience buyers can immediately tell that something is wrong with the floors and it tarnishes the overall impression of the unit.



5A-Say NO to Granite!
Thats a biggie! You may want to reference my associate Martin Hosking’s post several months back on DC’s synthetic definition of ‘luxury,’ titled “What is Luxury?” If I ever see another unit in Washington DC with Uba Tuba Granite, stainless steel appliances, Cherry cabinets & Cherry floors it will be too soon. Trying to differentiate yourself from the competition? Its not with this package. For the past two years far to many condominium buildings came on the market calling themselves ‘Luxury’ when in fact their ‘Luxury’ finishes were nothing more than commonplace in a sea of buildings.



5B-Say YES to Silestone, concrete, or Caesarstone.
I have to give credit both to Rod Davis on his Viya Condominiums project in Adams Morgan and Macy Development on their Axis Condominiums on Capitol Hill. Lets use them as examples. The Viya Condominiums are clean, simple, and smooth. His use of Silestone with ultra contemporary cabinets and lighting turned out to be a perfect package. There are several different shades of Silestone including black and gray, and both are a breath of fresh air in the building. On the other hand Macy Development’s Axis condos was nearly perfect. Without getting into too much detail, the package was delivered almost perfectly (I can’t believe I just said that either). I took a client through last week and was overly surprised at the material they chose for their interiors. Most of it I would chosen myself or for a client. The project has very clean finishes using light Silestone counters over dark cabinets was a great touch.
Concrete is found rarely in the city. My favorite place in the city with concrete is 55 Rhode Island Ave NW, by AdvantEdge. Talk about clean lines. Lets get creative and live on the edge!
Caesarstone I haven’t seen in DC yet, or at least not from what I recall. Its a synthetic material that is molded on-site and can be used to once piece counters with sinks or a myriad of other uses.
The Viya

The Axis

55 Rhode Island

6-Say NO to Travertine!
Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t be against Travertine. Its a great product, it looks great, it weathers great and it lasts for a lifetime. Unfortunately I have found recently that today’s buyer just isn’t interested in it anymore. It was a fad of the early 2000’s that has quickly faded. Try using slate or one of Porcelanosa’s trendy new lines of ceramic styles. My friend Walter West (wwest@waterworks.com) at Water Works in Georgetown would be a huge help with this. He has an extensive line of new styles and his taste is impeccable.

7-Say YES to glass tile or ceramic wood.
Back to the Axis Condominiums by Macy Development. They used a 4″ x 8″ blue subway glass back splash in their kitchens. Great job. It looks spectacular and its very modern, easy to maintain and will be trendy for years to come. Glass mosaics are great too and if you have the patience, worth the time to install, especially for the development projects targeting the upper eschelons of society today. People appreciate when a developer stops and takes the time to really focus on the detail work - it shows.
Ceramic wood is awesome. It looks just like real wood but has nearly none of the drawbacks. It installs easily like traditional ceramic tiles but has the effect of looking exactly like wood. Its great for kitchens, basement’s and bathrooms. It has the clean modern wood look, doesn’t age, doesn’t need refinishing, and comes in a ton of colors. One of my clients used wood-grained ceramic tiles in their showers at Woodrow Condominiums in Columbia Heights - through the recommendation of Marcia Decker (AKA my Mother) from Catalfamo & FastFloors.com out of Florida and it turned out to be a masterpiece. We had every unit in the building under contract within 30 days at full price. Hows that for living proof?

The Axis

Mosaic Glass Back Splash

Ceramic Wood (can you tell?)

8-If you are going to build balconies, build ones that can hold 2 chairs!
Wouldn’t it be great to go home after a long day at work on a beautiful afternoon only to enjoy the weather with your significant other relaxing outside on your balcony? Well you can’t. The developer of your unit only built your balcony large enough for one person. Sorry!

9-Say NO to wood floors in bathrooms.
All there is to say is that there might be the ever so minuscule chance that a guy might miss. I can’t say that I have ever done it but in some far off galaxy occasionally the toilet just isnt wide enough. Wood flooring in the bathroom clearly shows wear and tear, especially from liquids, dramatically faster than ceramic tiling would. While continuing wood floors into the bathrooms is a much cleaner look to the first owner, none of the future owners appreciate the damage, and once its done there is no going back without refinishing the wood floors throughout the home.

10-Say YES to staging.
I took this from Christian Salinas’ site StagingDesignDC.com due to his talent and his vision he created recently at one of our own projects. “Staging creates immediate buyer interest in the property by adding textures, colors and decorations to the house. By establishing a comfortable atmosphere, a vacant house can be transform into a cozy environment. This leads to a faster sale at a higher price.
Home Staging is not interior design, but rather a technique used to highlight the best features of the home to create a strong first impression…Observe the home from the point of view of a potential buyer. Then make the necessary transformations. All it takes is a game plan, some creativity, a jar of elbow grease, and the strong desire to showcase the home in order to sell it quickly for as much money as possible.” Thanks Christian!

Unveiling the plans for new Marriott Marquis Hotel in Mt Vernon Triangle

I went to the meeting a briefing on the Marriott Marquis Convention Center Headquarters Hotel tonight that took place at the Walter E Washington Convention Center.  Carmencita R Kinsey, Chairperson of of the WCCA Advisory Committee, Norman Jenkins of Marriott International, Inc, Bob Neal of Cooper Carry and Claude E Bailey of Venable LLP offered words. We saw some exciting detailed architectural drawings projected large for all to see (attendence was around 45 people–I came with former clients of mine from the Whitman Condos next door)  There were quite a few people from the Whitman Condominiums who are generally happy to see the hotel provide value anchor, and stability to the neighborhood. But also are concerned how the height of the property slated to be constructed on the corner of 9th and Mass. Ave NW.

A few hightlights:

This is to be Marriott’s top-of-the-line 4-star hotel. (One of only three in the world) The goal is a building that will “activate” the street life there.  By this the architect explained they want it to have an accessible appearance from the sidewalk. They wanted to avoid a fortress-style place. The construction of lots of glass mixed with stone and steel will give it a very open appearance. And on the sidwalk level you will have 6 restaurants: a Starbucks-style coffee shop, a specialty restaurant, and upscale sports bar, a 3-meal restaurant (all with outside access and sidewalk dining and couple of others, one of which will be indoors.

Groundbreaking on this 13-story above ground (4 story below) will be between April and June 2009.  It will have 1,167 rooms, wil be connected underground to the Washington Convention Center, will have 400 valet-access parking spots. All ugly loading docks will be underground.  They will add a significant amount of green to the wide sidewalk areas around the building–exceeding the city’s requirements. They will be LEAD silver certified.

They also announce that by the the beginning of 2009 they will begin to study and seek approval for their plans to build 2 more hotels of a category they refer to as “urban select” on the land at 9th and L st—preserving all the historical that is there and integrating that into something like Marriott Courtyard or Residence Inn. They no nothing more yet about those.

I am excited about how this hotel will be such a great addition to the neighborhood.  It will increase activity in “the Triangle” and offer more venues for fun.  It will present progress toward connecting better what, up til now have been, “islands” of development (small groups of new stuff that is not connected to other new stuff).  Great things happen when a critical mass of development happens:  stores like Safeway want to open. I see the hotel(s) as a huge contribution to the critical mass needed to secure good growth. I think they are an especially good contribution to the Whitman Condos, Convention Center, M st, Quincy Court on 10th st and Mass Ave etc.  Its presence really fills in what has been becoming trashy—and it seems to sort of “reach out” accross the street to the Cato Institute, 1010 Mass and say “lets warm up this cute area of Mt Vernon Triangle on both sides!

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