Open House will be back on January 2 with more real estate gossip and news. In the meantime, if you have any home-related tips or suggestions feel free to send them my way: mfleury AT washingtonian DOT com.

Thanks for reading. And, happy holidays! 

If you thought downtown Bethesda couldn't handle any more development, think again.

A new complex of stores, restaurants, and apartments built around a pedestrian walkway is scheduled to open at the end of next year. Called "Festival Street," it will extend the popular Bethesda Row collection of restaurants and shops and anchor the corner of Arlington Road and Bethesda Avenue. Restaurants and stores will include The Market, a wine bar from the owners of Sonoma on Capitol Hill; the area's fifth Lebanese Taverna; and a Blue Mercury cosmetics boutique. Above the retail level will be 180 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments—the leasing office is expected to open next summer.

Rockville Town Square is also getting a makeover. Eleven new retailers, all expected to open this spring, are moving into Rockille's downtown. Anchored by brewing chain Gordon Biersch at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Middle Lane, the new development will include restaurants Austin Grill, Stonefish Grill, and Red Parrot as well as a drycleaner, toy store, and nail salon. The accompanying Rockville Town Square condominiums, which are already about 50 percent sold, will have 660 one-, two-, and three- bedroom units. Prices start at $400,000 and top off at about $1 million.    

Federal Realty Investment Trust, whose portfolio includes The Village at Shirlington and Pentagon Row, is developing the projects.

Thankfully, both will include parking.

With the holidays coming up this weekend, there aren't as many open houses as usual. But here are a few that look good—plus three listings that you'll have to make an appointment to see. Since many Washingtonians will be spending Saturday and Sunday doing last-minute shopping and with family, this weekend could be a good one to visit houses.

In DC:

Townhouse in Logan Circle
2 BR, 3 BA
$809,900
Open House: Saturday 1-4

Condo in Columbia Heights
2 BR, 1 BA
$379,000
Open House: Saturday 1-4

Condo on Southwest Waterfront
1 BR, 1 BA
$285,000
Appointment-only

In Virginia:

Townhouse in Burke
3 BR, 4 BA
$380,000
Open House: Saturday 12-4

Townhouse in Alexandria
3 BR, 4 BA
$535,000
Appointment-only

Condo in Reston
2 BR, 3 BA
$449,900
Appointment-only

Condo in Chevy Chase
1 BR, 1 BA
$309,999
Open House: Saturday 10-2

Cape Cod in Rockville
4 BR, 2 BA
$415,000
Open House: Saturday and Sunday 1-4

After posting A Taste of Las Vegas in Arlington earlier this week, I got an email from Nancy Itteilag, a Long & Foster real-estate agent selling condos in Turnberry Tower.  She said the final sentence of this paragraph was misleading:

“Is Washington’s cooling condo market affecting sales? The Turnberry Tower sales office says the building is almost 40 percent sold. However, a December 2 Washington Post article reported that Turnberry is offering a Bahamas vacation to real-estate agents who sell units in the building, an indication that sales may be slower than expected.”

Here's an excerpt about Turnberry Tower's offer in "Condo Developers Sweeten The Bait," the December 2 article from the Washington Post:

"'At one point the builders wouldn't even let us bring the clients we were representing,' said Charlene Lois Schaper, an agent at Long & Foster in Old Town Alexandria. 'Now they're offering us bonuses, paying us commissions and serving us lunch.'

Schaper now has a sheaf of fliers she's received from developers... [one] firm dangled a 'fantastic getaway for two adults' at the One&Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas for those who sell units at the Turnberry Tower in Arlington. 'The more homes you sell, the more lavish and exciting your One&Only Ocean Club vacation becomes,' according to the brochure." 

Conventional wisdom says that developers, builders, and owners offer incentives when sales are down. (Here's a piece about incentives from December Capital Comment) When the market was really hot a few years ago, real-estate agents and buyers saw few incentives; the Post article pointed out that "many companies saw no need to compensate agents because buyers were lining up outside their doors on their own." But as the market has cooled, the number of incentives has steadily increased. 

Itteilag, who says that Turnberry's sales are "very steady," says the trip to the Bahamas "was offered only to Long & Foster agents who brought buyers to our Long & Foster Turnberry listing. It is not something that is offered to all agents." And she adds that it "was brought about because more Long & Foster agents brought buyers to our building than any other company and two agents in particular had multiple clients buy. Our program was to reward them and keep that momentum going.”

Here's a piece about incentives that appeared in December Capital Comment: 

The days of condo hunters’ scrambling for overpriced housing are gone. An online scan through Craigslist’s “real estate for sale” reveals a very different market. Not only are prices dropping, but sellers are offering interesting toss-ins to attract buyers: a week at a resort in the Cayman Islands, a set of golf clubs, use of a moving truck, a washer and dryer, or a gym membership, to name a few.

William Rich at real-estate research firm Delta Associates estimates that more than half of condo sellers now are offering concessions. While many offer help with closing costs or a period without condo fees, buyers can also find some fun freebies.
The Mica, a development of 150 condos in downtown Silver Spring, offers up to $20,000 toward closing and up to 18 months without condo fees. During certain “weekend specials,” the Mica will throw in extras like a 42-inch plasma television or an upgrade to hardwood floors.

The most eye-catching incentive? A few months ago Legato Corner, a condo complex in Fairfax, offered a free two-year lease on a BMW Z4 Roadster or 325i for buyers of two- or three-bedroom units.

The trend is not limited to condos. During a fall promotion, luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers offered bonuses like a finished basement or an upgraded kitchen—features that typically cost more than $10,000—for $1. The developer will also send a home stager to prep a buyer’s old house for sale by rearranging furniture and removing clutter.

Earle Horton, owner of the development company Blue Sky Housing, says buyers have power in this market: “It’s not only about what sellers are offering. As long as your offer is reasonable, the developer or owner will consider it.” One real-estate agent recalls a sale in which the buyer, a restaurant owner, threw in his own incentive: In exchange for accepting a particularly low bid, he offered the sellers three free dinners at his restaurant. They accepted.

Even those not house hunting can take advantage. At the Lillian Court Condominium in Tysons Corner, dropping by during a recent weekend open house netted a chance to win an iPod from one real-estate agent. And at 555 Mass, a 14-story condo building near DC’s Mount Vernon Square, all prospective buyers who tour the complex leave with a free Starbucks gift card.

Here's our weekly run-down of the ten most expensive home sales in the region, as reported by American City Business Leads. Although Maryland had seven of the ten biggest sales last week, DC is the winner this week with six.

The most expensive sale was for $5 million on Tracy Place, just northwest of Dupont Circle in Kalorama. One of Washington's most prestigious addresses, the street is home to Senator Ted Kennedy, whose house is worth about $6 million, Washington Life publisher Vicki Bagley, and PR bigwigs Roy Pfautch and Michael Petruzzello.

The top ten: 

$5,000,000 - 2412 Tracy Place, NW, Kalorama
$3,625,000 - 627 Innsbruck Ave., Great Falls   
$2,962,000 - 4231 Leland St., Chevy Chase
$2,695,000 - 1731 Hoban Road, NW, Georgetown  
$2,400,000 - 5311 Oakland Road, Bethesda
$2,375,000 - 6115 33rd St., NW., Chevy Chase, DC     
$2,175,000 - 2001 N. 15th St., No. 1508, Arlington
$2,050,000 - 4510 Dexter St., NW, Wesley Heights 
$2,050,000 - 1155 23rd St., NW, No. N8A, West End 
$2,000,000 - 2026 R St., NW, Dupont Circle                       

More fun numbers:

75: Number of sales over $1 million in the region

Of the 123 house that sold for more than $800,000 this week, 30 were in DC, 32 in Maryland, and 61 in Virginia.

Wrecking balls began tearing into the Best Western Hotel in Rosslyn this month to make way for a 25-story luxury condominium called Turnberry Tower.   

When completed in late 2008, the all-glass building will be Rosslyn’s tallest condominium. Turnberry Ltd., the Florida-based development company, has built a host of ultra high-end properties, including the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort and Golf Club in South Florida and Turnberry Place, a $650-million high-rise condominium overlooking the Las Vegas Strip.

Prices for units range from $700,000 to more than $7 million, making the development one of the most expensive in the area. According to Turnberry Tower’s web site, the “ultra-liberal list of amenities definitely favors the wealthy.” The most eye-catching include elevators that open directly into units, private glass balconies, individual garages for cars and motorcycles, Jacuzzi tubs, floor-to-ceiling windows, and smart-home technology.

The 247 units range in size from about 1,300 square feet for a one-bedroom apartment to more than 5,300 square feet for the tower suite, which includes three bedrooms, six bathrooms, a library, and staff suite.

Is Washington’s cooling condo market affecting sales? The Turnberry Tower sales office says the building is almost 40 percent sold. However, a December 2 Washington Post article reported that Turnberry is offering a Bahamas vacation to real-estate agents who sell units in the building, an indication that sales may be slower than expected.