Wrong Way to Run A Railroad

Or sell a condo in this market.

The Story:
--- Price it high, and then slowly drop the price as the days and weeks go by as the listing gets older and older.


Take note of this unit at 2020 Lofts. True the condo is sleek and handsome. "Corner unit with huge outside terrace from 2nd floor den with views of capitol." Granite and stainless kitchen. Yada Yada. Parking. A couple of blocks to the Metro. Up and coming neighborhood. Sign me up.

Asking price: $799k. Whoa. And that's after three price drops. It started at $889k in February.

View from the Bubble:
--- It's almost been on the market six months. What's the point? The listing is so old and buried in the MLS the only people who will see it are ones trolling for price drops. I bet if the agent started at $750k in March it would have been bid up to close to their ask by April Fool's Day.
--- Remember the mantra: In a slowing market you must price it right to succeed.

DC Schools Should Be Reading from the YMCA's Grammer Book

In exchange for a portion of its land, Perseus Realty will rebuild the YMCA's Anthony Bowen facility at 1325 W St. NW and help the institution upgrade its facilities. "We are going to grow from a little tiny Y to a big facility with a huge swimming pool," said Pam Curran, vice president of operations of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington in the WashExam.

Perseus will own the 200 apartments and retail portions of the development (12,000 sf) and the YMCA will own its 45,000-square-foot facility. The apartments will be market-rate housing for the most part, with a percentage set aside as affordable units under D.C.'s inclusionary zoning law.

Message to other institutions in the city: To stay relevant sometimes you must make a deal because there are no white knights out there to write you a check. Grow, change or die.

Along the same lines, the Tenleytown libray is looking to do a parntership revitalize itself, and and various public schools have been exporing thier options as well.

U Street Futurama!!!

If DC condo buyers replaced the industrial fixtures in their loft condos with mission inspired lighting to go with their arts and crafts inspired furniture, what will the dwellers of the Lacey condo to make it look "traditional." I got it!!! Drape the exposed walkways in mauve velvet!! Put Campari prints over the glass!!

You have to admire Imar Hutchins for breaking the mold. The website brags: "Concrete walls, a solid steel framework, and transparent glass panels combine to create an intriguing 24,000 square foot, 4-story structure complete with an interior atrium. " Feels like Brasilia, circa 1963.

Located at 1100 Florida Ave. NW, next to the Florida Ave. Grill (in fact this used be the grill's parking lot), you have to think that only in an emerging area like the U St. corridor could someone develop something as avant-garde as this 24 unit building. Boldness aside, the building sure does create a bit of a hodgepodge on the street.

Hope they can sell 'em.

Time To Move the Reeves Center

The opening of the Reeves Center at 14th and U Sts. NW helped revive the U Street corridor. But much of the upscaling of U St. seems to have skipped that corner, which is dingy even by U St. standards.

Now the D .C. Office of Property Management has scheduled a June 5 public meeting to hear ideas on the future of the atrium and lobby of the building, reported the WashExam. The idea is to freshen the retail mix, which now includes a convenience store, cobbler etc.

Simply rethinking the first floor is “shortsighted,” said Dee Hunter, U Street advisory neighborhood commissioner. The entire building “should be in play,” he said, because its deteriorating condition is “hampering the revitalization of the neighborhood.”

Maybe the whole building should be shipped off to Anacostia to help revive that part of the city. Or at least more retail could be constructed on the plaza that faces the corner.

Let's think big Mr. Fenty.

Cool Moderno Condo Breaks Ground on U Street

Ground has been broken on the Moderno on U St. Like the other buildings developed by Robertson Development and Lakritz Adler, this condo is very stylish and breaks the mold of DC residential development. This is the kind of high-end residential building that DC was lacking for so long.

Flats. Duplexes and Triplexes with very fancy-shmancy finishes.




Presumably there is no extra charge for the purple prose on the Moderna website. Would the following make you feel better about buying here? "The spare sophistication of the modern furniture displayed at MoMa. The newest styles on the runways of Paris and New York. Even the simple clean lines of a wine glass." Not me.

Caution Flag On Yellow Line Extension

The Metro planning committee will continue discussion on extending the Yellow line to the U Street, Columbia Heights and Petworth stations. DC propsoed to pay for the extension and is ready to launch a $2.5 million, six-month pilot program that would begin in January 2007. Councilman Jim Graham says the Washington Post got it wrong when it said the panel held off on a vote because the discussion was only for information purposes.

Suburban jurisdictions want to know if the Yellow line can be extended into Maryland as well. On an average weekday, 53,400 people ride the Green Line from the Shaw/Howard U. Station, the stop after Mount Vernon, to Fort Totten.

Other Metro board members used the Yellow line extension to raise other issues, such as extending all Red line trains to Shady Grove and ways to speed service on the Blue line.