By the Ballpark . . .
A lot more people will soon be living directly across the street from Nationals Park (see rendering above). Developer Jair Lynch is erecting a two-phase project with 312 apartments, 127 condos, and 55,000 square feet of retail.
Phase one, with the apartments, is expected to open in the fall at 1250 Half Street, Southeast. In addition to the typical amenities for a luxury building—such as a pool and fitness center—residents will get to take in Nats games from the rooftop and private terraces. The condo phase, fronting N Street, will open in early 2020, though Lynch says pre-sales will start in the spring. Punch Bowl Social—an entertainment concept with cocktails, food, and games including bocce and bowling—will take over nearly half the retail space.
In Silver Spring . . .
Even as Discovery prepares to move its headquarters out of the Montgomery County suburb, construction continues in downtown Silver Spring. The Ripley District—a pocket just southeast of the Metro that not long ago was dominated by auto shops—will get increasingly residential with the arrival of Solaire 8250 Georgia, an apartment building scheduled to open in April.
The development is the latest project there from Washington Property Company, which built the Ripley District’s first apartment tower in 2012. It will include 338 units on 20 floors; the developer hopes to attract restaurants to its ground level. Nearby, another mixed-use building—Thayer & Spring, from Fairfield Residential—is arriving soon with nearly 400 apartments.
In Shaw . . .
Before JBG Smith was in the news for masterminding Amazon’s HQ2 in “National Landing” (a.k.a. Crystal City), the developer was probably best known for building out the blocks around Ninth and U streets, Northwest—an area it has branded as North End Shaw (though we still prefer just plain Shaw).
The next installment of its work in the neighborhood will arrive at the end of 2019, with a pair of conjoined buildings the developer is calling Atlantic Plumbing C. It’s about two blocks from the original Atlantic Plumbing condos, which opened in 2014. This new phase comes with 256 apartments and 20,000 square feet of retail. Looking further ahead to 2020, Shaw’s long awaited Whole Foods is slated to open next door.
Next to Union Market . . .
Within the first quarter of 2019, the neighborhood around Northeast DC’s Union Market will get 750 more apartments—roughly four times what’s there now. The biggest project, at 1270 Fourth Street, has 432 units atop roughly 20,000 square feet of retail. A block down, a building called the Highline will include 318 units and a 10,000-square-foot ground floor with space for up to six retailers. Both apartment projects are from developer Level 2.
It’s unclear which building will finish first, but both will have a mix of studios and one- and two-bedrooms. Their rooftop pools will be the first in the Union Market district.
On H Street . . .
No part of H Street, Northeast, better encapsulates the corridor’s transformation than the two blocks where the mixed-use mega-development Avec is slated to open in the third quarter of 2019. The site between Eighth and Tenth streets is the former home of H Street Connection, a strip mall built in the 1980s as part of the city’s effort to revitalize the struggling neighborhood. Before the year is out, 419 luxury apartments and 45,000 square feet of retail will occupy the land.
Solidcore has already signed on, and developers WC Smith, Rappaport, and the Lustine family are getting interest from potential restaurant tenants, too. Upstairs, units will average about 720 square feet, and the rooftop will feature a pool and community garden.
In Ballston . . .
Arlington’s tired Ballston Common Mall is officially dead. An enormous new destination—Ballston Quarter, from developer Forest City—began to replace it in late 2018 and will continue to grow in the new year. The mix of shops, restaurants, and residences already includes retailers such as Drybar and Scout & Molly’s. But much more is set to open in the first half of 2019, including Quarter Market food hall, which will arrive in February with eateries such as Turu’s by Timber Pizza Co., Ice Cream Jubilee, and Mi & Yu Noodle Bar.
Origin—Ballston Quarter’s 22-story luxury apartment building—will begin to lease its 406 units in the spring.
This article appears in the January 2019 issue of Washingtonian.
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
