Over at GPLiving they seem to be upset that a planned building at 704 3rd St. NW will feature commercial space only, but no retail, no condos, no apartments.

Considering for how many decades downtown went with virtually only commercial development and considering how much residential it has experienced (along with neighboring hood) of late, DC Bubble has to now respectfully say maybe we have struck a good balance.

Mixing commerical and residential development produces an 18 hour neighborhood. Retail can cater to officeworkers and residents from 7 am until 1 am. Coffee and bagels, lunch and soft goods, dinner and a movie and drinks afterward.

Now please don't construe this post as a criticism GPliving (because we love you to death!!), but we think a mix is better than too much of a good thing like residential development.

Thanks GP for the photo and the effort you put in to get it.

Movin' On Up

DC continues to experience an upswing with property gaining in value as the city rebounds.

Case in point the recent purchase by Hines of 2100 M St NW for $152.5 million at $497.29/square foot. The acquisition of the Farragut North property was done out of their value-add office investment program, said Globest.com.


One way Hines might add value to the project would be to add an additional 100,000 sf to the building, according Hines Vice President John Harned.

Harned may be thinking he can add a floor or two, which seems to be a trend of late. Ideally, he could add another 20, rather than just two, but alas that would mean we live in Arlington and not the nation's capitol.

NAACP In DC: Definitely Maybe Not

Last year the NCAACP announced plans to move from Baltimore to DC, but the WashExam reported that the deal is off.

In fact, the developers of the Anacostia Gateway, a 63,000-square-foot mixed-use project the NAACP was supposed to move into, have put the building back on the market. The goal of the project was is to help revitalize that part of town and capture more jobs and retail.

The deal seemed to make sense for the NAACP too. Closer to the Capitol. In the heart of the DC, African American community. Nope. Among other things, the deal to sell the NAACP headquaters in Baltimore collapsed, according to the WashExam.

As for the Anacostia Gateway, the owners expect to have the building under contract to sell by the end of this month. Things seem like they are slowly percolating in DC's final frontier.