Showing posts with label CPDC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPDC. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Green Public Housing Opens in Southeast

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The Community Preservation & Development Corporation (CPDC) will lead a grand opening ceremony today for Wheeler Terrace, a public housing project in southeast DC renovated to hit green new green levels. Once a crime-plagued and filthy tenement, the seven-building project reopens today with expectations to redefine public housing standards.

Wiencek + Associates redesigned the buildings to achieve both LEED and Enterprise Green Communities certification, the first DC public housing project to do so. The 116 affordable housing units at 1217 Valley Avenue, SE will feature clean-air systems, white reflective vinyl roofs, a green roof demonstration project, and heat supplied by a geothermal pump: 100 wells 350-450 feet deep, utilizing a glycol anti-freeze that brings up water at a constant 55 degrees.

Plans to redevelop the blighted project date back to 2006, when the residents of Wheeler Terrace exercised their right to purchase the land under the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). The Wheeler Terrace Tenant Association then selected CPDC as developer shortly thereafter. Turner Construction lead the renovation efforts at the 133,000 square foot site. Tenants of the project were relocated during construction and are now being repatriated to the updated complex. Time will tell if the green label keeps the crime at bay.

The celebration will be held today at 10am.

Washington DC real estate development news

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Christmas Architects

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Yes, Virginia, Maryland and D.C., there is a Santa Claus. Though they may not see themselves that way, to the residents of Ward 8’s embattled Wheeler Terrace, 1217 Valley Ave. SE, Old St. Nick came in the guise of Wiencek & Associates, a 30-member Maryland and D.C.-based architecture firm whose primary focus is community building, one crime scene at a time.

“I can’t say it was the worst of the buildings we’d seen in D.C.,” firm President Michael Wiencek said of the initial 113 units spread among seven structures (during renovation, three more units were added), “but it was not a place you’d choose to live if you had other choices. It had lots and lots of problems: a lot of moisture in the building; falling ceilings and damaged floors; the sewage backed up into the basement. People were robbed at gunpoint regularly in that area. It was one of the District’s top 14 crime hotspots.”

Point of Sale

When Wheeler Terrace’s former owners decided to sell, under TOPA (D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) residents were given the option to purchase the property and formed the Wheeler Terrace Tenant Association. The group eventually chose the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) as developer for the 133,000 s.f. site, with 25-year affordable housing renovation veterans Wiencek & Associates in tow.

With housing projects such as Edgewood Terrace, Southern Ridge and Overlook at Oxon Run in their fight book, Wiencek explained that when they approach a project such as this, the goal is as much a social renovation as it is a physical one. There are matters of crime and conscience to be considered, with aesthetics often impacting the end result.

With a slogan that says “Let us welcome you home,” Wiencek said he wants people to have a sense of place. “I always talk about the kid who never really wanted to bring their friends to their house because it wasn’t a place you wanted to show. But then when you get done, you can say, ‘That’s my home. Come on over.’”

Point of View
In the case of Wheeler Terrace, as with many affordable housing projects, he admits budgetary constraints warranted trade-offs with exterior plans and finishes that would have included green roofs, green screens and trellises, which yielded to critical interior components such as bathrooms, insulation and ventilation. Built in the 1940s as housing for WWII veterans (Richard Nixon reportedly lived nearby as a junior senator), the garden-style units were saddled with antiquated, inoperative and even dangerous mechanical systems, leaky steel casement single glaze windows and moldy finishes, among other things.

Though champions of dozens of public and general multifamily housing renovations, in the last decade with green building still a nascent yet burgeoning trend Wiencek & Associates typically fought a losing battle for sustainable solutions in its public housing designs due to economics. Where Wheeler Terrace was concerned (and though Wiencek’s initial 2006 funding submission was not green) the D.C. Green Building Act, which mandates various levels of LEED compliance, went into effect during the design process so that construction became less about standard practices and more about best practices. “In the past, you were sort of laughed at if you tried to push people,” Wiencek said. “But now, three years later, we’d be laughed at if we didn’t make it green – absolutely green.” The firm goes the extra step in achieving this by integrating green charrettes into the planning process: intensive workshops where the project’s decision-makers collectively address sustainable issues.

According to James “Jay” Wilson, Wheeler Terrace project manager for Wiencek & Associates and task force member of the D.C. Green Building Act, pursuing grants from the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) helped facilitate the kind of “healthy construction” the firm desired. With asthma and other respiratory illnesses pervasive among residents - largely children - of public housing due to moisture, mold, filthy ductwork and high voc (volatile organic compound) issues, Wiencek & Associates moved to install hard surface flooring in place of carpeting in each unit’s common areas, reducing particulates. Thicker filters were installed on all the HVAC equipment, as well as using low-voc paint and other finishes, and urea/formaldehyde-free cabinets. Tantamount to that, where the average unit wasn’t required to have outside air produced in the building prior to the Green Building Act (Wiencek said if you turn on a bathroom fan in most city apartments, there’s nothing replacing the air, and often nothing is even pulled out), at Wheeler Terrace fans are on a constant circuit - meaning they are always on - so units are continuously ventilated; there’s always a fresh air exchange. In fact, per the parameters of the NCHH grant, resident health will be followed over the next 10 years to see if healthy construction has made a difference.

Hot Point

“Usually in the winter time, you have to heat air that’s 30 degrees up to 70 degrees to heat the unit,” Wilson said, referencing the ground source heat pump mechanical system – or geothermal heating – installed at the site. One hundred wells go down 350-450 feet, utilizing a glycol mixture which prevents freezing, among other things. “Now you’re heating a water mixture, which comes in through a heating chamber in the building, always at a constant 55 degrees, so it ends up being 35 percent more efficient than a typical system,” Wilson explained.

Speaking to “CPDC’s altruism,” Wiencek indicated the mechanical system cost the developer a lot of money. “Most developers would never elect to do this because they’d say ‘I’m not going to get payback,’” Wiencek said, noting the $7-10,000 per unit overage vs. a standard system. The thinking behind this is that in affordable housing, you’re trying to get the resident to pay for utilities because then they respect them and are more likely to use them efficiently, according to Wiencek. “The residents will have lower utility costs, but it did cost more in the first place.”

Point Well Taken

In proud pursuit of LEED Gold, Wilson noted the documentation process is nearly finished and if achieved, Wheeler Terrace may be the first Section 8 affordable housing development in the U.S. to garner it.

“It’s great advertising for the city, the developer,” Wiencek said. “One of the neat things about the kind of housing we do is that we get a lot of joy out of helping people - changing people’s lives,” he added, noting residents respect that they’ve been given this great opportunity and crime is significantly down since the renovation. “You really raise the bar on living in that neighborhood.” The grand opening will occur this Thursday, July 29.

Photography by Eric Taylor, EricTaylorPhoto.com

Monday, April 26, 2010

Takoma Overlook: Conversions Continue

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Not every condo developer is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the market to improve. Even in the suburbs, some are betting that the lack of competition means that condo conversions are still viable. To that end, DC-based Tenacity Group is still converting units in their Takoma Overlook project from rental apartments to market-rate condos. The team purchased the Hampshire Towers apartments in mid 2006 for $15.3 million and rechristened them Takoma Overlook; the 1960s high-rise at 7333 and 7401 New Hampshire Avenue is just outside DC in Takoma Park neighborhood of Maryland. In 2007, the team's general contractor, Monarc Construction, began gutting the rental units and converting them to for-sale condos ranging in size from efficiencies to three-bedroom units.

The team at Monarc construction completed renovations on the first phase, covering the 94 units of the north wing, in December 2009, now 50% sold, according to the sales office. Now the team is working on both the South and West Wings (not of Jed Bartlet fame) to convert yet more units. The work in the West Wing's 44 units is now underway, with 8 units sold; the development team expects the first units to be ready by June. Work has even begun on the 94 units of the South Wing, which should begin delivering by the end of this year. The team is largely delivering one-bedrooms first because of demand; three-bedrooms will come last. Greg Coupe, Project Manager at Monarc Construction, said the project could finish as early as December.

The building is FHA approved, with one bedrooms from $124,500 and "huge" two-bedrooms from $229,500. Sales began in October of 2007.

Takoma, Maryland real estate development news

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Mayfair Mansions: Condos No More

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Despite the economic climate, government financed low-income housing projects have largely marched forward, but the condo bust is now hitting home in the subsidized low-income market, too. In November 2007, development partners Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization (MHCDO) broke ground on the planned renovation of Mayfair Mansions - almost 600 units of affordable housing. Of the 17 buildings, 12 rental buildings were slated for interior renovation, and 5 buildings were to be renovated and converted to condos. Today the 12 rental buildings are fully renovated and occupied, but the planned 160-unit condo element of the Mayfair Mansions has now been pigeonholed permanently.

In 2005 the Mayfair Mansions Tenant Association organized a purchase of the property, selecting CPDC and MHCDO to assist with the acquisition, rehabilitate the buildings and maintain the Mansions as affordable housing - affordable mansions, technically.

The rental renovations began in 2007 and completed this past September. But, according to Paul Brown at CPDC, the condominium project, originally scheduled to deliver first quarter of 2010, is not "going to deliver this year. It probably is not ever going to deliver as a condo." Brown said the conversion to condo never happened and the building, sans renovation, still serves tenants. Brown said CPDC is working closely with MHCDO to figure out how to finish the renovations.

The partners did complete the a new LEED-eligible community center, which delivered just in time this past summer for the community to enjoy a new pool facility, computer labs, an assembly room and classrooms for services such as literacy programs.

The non-profit developers purchased the property with a $24.2 million loan provided by the District's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Additional funds for the residential renovations and the construction of a new community center came from the DHCD Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF), Federal Historic Tax Credits, as well as Tax Exempt Bond financing and Low Income Housing Tax Credit allocations provided by DC Housing Finance Agency (HFA). Of the funds, $23 million went towards successfully revitalizing the 410 rental units. The $6.9 million set aside for undelivered condos, however, equates to lots of public money for development, which never happened. Kind of like Lehman Brothers.

Mayfair received a Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit because of its historic status; the Mayfair Mansions were originally constructed in the 1940s specifically for the African-American community in a time when racially restrictive covenants had a stranglehold on housing practices. The community was designed by Albert Cassell, a renowned African American architect who designed numerous milestone structures for Howard University.

Wiencek + Associates and McDonald Williams Banks Architects served as the design team. Gilford Construction Corporation and Hamel Builders Inc. served as general contractors in a joint venture.

Washington DC real estate development news

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Wheeler Terrace Goes Green in Southeast

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The Community Preservation & Development Corporation (CPDC) today led a groundbreaking ceremony for the all-green renovations currently underway at Wheeler Terrace public housing project. Once stigmatized as a "crime hotspot," the newly refurbished, seven-building development is being touted not only as being beneficial to the environment, but as a (healthy) shot in the arm for Southeast as well.

"You saw this big, beautiful tent and thought you were in Georgetown, but you're not. You're in the new Ward 8," said councilman and former mayor Marion Barry during his remarks at the event. "Southeast Washington has had a negative image for a long time. We're going to turn that around."

CPDC and the architects behind the project, Wiencek + Associates, are seeking to lead by example by outfitting Wheeler Terrace with a cadre of green features usually unheard of in public housing. The 116 affordable housing units – located at 1217 Valley Avenue SE - will feature energy efficient insulation and appliances, clean-air systems, white reflective vinyl roofs, a green roof demonstration project, and – in a first for District public housing – heat supplied by a geothermal pump. Upon completion, it will be the only such project in the city to merit a LEED gold certification – another point of pride for the developers and tenants alike.

“[The current tenants] are absolutely thrilled. The fact that they have the opportunity to go green is a big deal for them,” said the CPDC’s press contact for the project, Michelle Darden Lee. “It saves on utility costs and one of the things that this project shows is that going green isn’t just for upper income projects.”

Funds for the $33 million project were drawn from a variety of sources – primarily a $4 million loan from the Enterprise Community Partners (ECP) and City First Bank, and another $1.9 million loan from the Housing Partnership Fund. ECP also made two further contributions to the project: a $50,000 grant for “green design and planning expenses” and a $25,000 grant for “organization development.” Other financial partners on the project include the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development, the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency, PNC Bank and Union Bank of California.

According to Mark James, CPDC’s Project Manager for the development, Wheeler Terrace’s troubled past didn’t preclude the developer from having any shortage of investors:

One of the reasons we selected ECP and the bank is that they were not only aware of who we were as developers, but also very committed to doing green building. They felt as though CPDC has done a number of projects in areas that had experienced blight and significant reinvestment over the years. When we put the idea of being green along with our experience as affordable housing developers, they felt extremely comfortable.

Plans for redeveloping the blighted housing project stretch back to 2006, when the residents of Wheeler Terrace exercised their right to purchase the land under the District’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). The new owners, the Wheeler Terrace Tenant Association, selected CPDC as developer shortly thereafter. Turner Construction is currently spearheading the renovation efforts at the 133,000 square foot site. Construction is expected to be completed in July of 2009.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Parkside Terrace Apartment Renovation to Begin

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The Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC), Washington DC's largest affordable housing developer, will announce on Monday the beginning of the reconstruction of the failed Parkside Terrace housing project. The renovation marks what District officials hope will be a watershed in the provision of affordable housing, many of which began amid utopian dreams of lifting up the working poor into self-sustaining communities, and ended as crime-ridden enclaves in dilapidated buildings. Officials expect to ready the building for occupancy by the summer of next year.


The twelve-story high-rise at 3700 9th St., SE, vacant since 2005, will be converted into 316 units of "affordable" rental housing, with seven floors of housing for low-income seniors with rental assistance by the DC Housing Authority. The remaining five floors will become "workforce housing" targeting small families, in all a $73 million project financed entirely by the city through the DC Housing Finance Agency through a bond program.

CPDC's own press release called Parkside Terrace Apartments, built in the late 1960's as a Section 8 housing provider, "a major source of blight" in Ward 8, despite early visions of a new era for occupants. Monday's ceremony will mark the beginning of a complete gut of the building by Harkins Builders, with hopes of a new start for working families, and of improving the general community. Let's hope the plan works out better this time.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Northwest One Unfolds

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On Monday, DC finally began work on the Northwest One site, the ambitious but still conceptual site located across the street from NoMa, on the northwest side of North Capitol Street. DC Mayor Adrian Fenty initiated the first groundbreaking of Northwest One by commencing demolition of Terrell Junior High School, at 1000 1st St. NW, making space for a new $47 million mixed use facility including a new school, library, and recreation center. The Northwest One site is bounded on the east by North Capitol, on the west by New Jersey Ave., and on the south by K Street. The District, through Forrester Construction, will replace the junior high and the distressed Sursum Corda and Temple Courts housing projects, which haven't been doing much to bring up property values in the neighborhood.

The next stage of development will be to demolish Temple Court, which the District bought last summer and has begun relocating tenants in anticipation of tearing down the building this summer; both housing projects remain mostly occupied at this point. Ordinarily, the District would build replacement housing before evacuation of existing subsidized housing, but according to Sean Madigan of DC's Office of Planning, the condition of the projects is "so bad" that the Fenty administration decided to purge and demolish immediately.

The District currently owns most of the entire development site, part of which was acquired when it took control of and disbanded NCRC last year; the remainder is owned by the DC Housing Authority.
Late last year, the District selected One Vision Development Partners, a joint venture between William C. Smith, Jair Lynch, Banneker Ventures, and CPDC, as its development partner for the entire project. Details of the project - both the scope of development and compensation to the development team - have yet to be finalized, but the team has proposed the construction of more than 1,600 new apartments, condos and townhouses priced for mixed-income buyers and renters, as well as a 21,000-s.f. clinic, about 40,000 s.f. of retail and 220,000 s.f. of office space. According to Madigan, an increase in density and the "right mix" will be crucial to the success of the project. Once the administration comes to an agreement with the developer, the project will be placed on the lap of the city Council for approval.

Immediately replacing Terrell Junior High will be the Walker Jones school, library, recreation center and athletic fields, a project that Mayor Fenty described as being "a first-class facility from top to bottom." "If we are to expect excellence from our students we've got to provide great facilities that promote an integrated environment for learning," Fenty added Monday during his on-site speech. According to the Office of Planning and Economic Development, Walker Jones will be one of the first new schools constructed during Fenty's reign, and it will be ready, says he, in time for the kick-off of the 2009 school year. The new Walker Jones will house 100,000 s.f. of classroom, a 20,000-s.f. community recreation center and a 5,000-s.f. library along with some new playgrounds and sports fields. The entire project is expected to meet the District's green building standards.

The complete project is said to be in the ballpark of $700 million in new development. After production of the new school and its amenities, the District will then focus on the new housing, of which a third will be market rate, a third will be affordable, and a third will serve as workforce, some of which will serve as replacement housing for current residents. Madigan referenced NPR's recent decision to build its new facilities across the street from the site as "a huge vote of confidence for Northwest One."


Friday, June 02, 2006

New Residential Project Announced for Takoma Park

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7333 New hampshire avenue, Takoma Park real estate
Monarc Construction, DC commercial real estateTakoma Park is about to see one of its big circa-1960’s bland box projects
undergo a transformation into the 21st century. The Hampshire Towers, located at 7333 New Hampshire Avenue, has recently been purchased by DC-based Tenacity Group and the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) for $15.3 million. Initial plans call for the larger of the two towers to be converted into 232 condo units (sales by Tenacity), while the second building will house 218 rental units reserved for low-income tenants (management will be run by the development corporation). This preservation of one tower for rental units is a nod toward Takoma Park’s demographics and history as a rent-controlled renter refuge – while 23 percent of Montgomery County residents are renters, this number jumps to 55 percent in Takoma Park. Monarc Construction has been hired as the main contractor for this work, which is expected to begin early 2007, and will be conducted on a rolling basis.
 

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