Gay developers David Franco (left) and Jeff Blum in front of the site that will eventually be home to their 180-unit condo complex, View 14. (Photo by Adam Cuthbert)
|
KATHERINE VOLIN
Friday, August 04, 2006
After months of discussions, years of waiting and $10.2 million spent, local gay developers David Franco and Jeff Blum of Level 2 Development began demolition of Petrovich Auto Repair Garage on July 25 to prepare for the fall construction of their condominium complex, View 14.
The complex, at the intersection of 14th Street and Florida Avenue, NW, will include a 20,000 square-foot gym and 16,000 square feet of retail space. It joins several other new large condo buildings in the area.
The influx of luxury condos reflects the changing landscape of 14th Street north of U Street since 2003, when Blum first examined the location.
“I remember at the time standing in front, looking around at the neighborhood and kind of scratching my chin and saying, ‘Hmm,’” Blum says.
Level 2 Development plans to build another condo and retail complex across the street from View 14. By the time View 14 is complete in the summer of 2008, there will be 1,200 condos within a three-block radius, Franco says.
“In the last several years, we’ve seen an amazing number of rehabilitations and new constructions on the hill going up 14th Street,” Blum says.
Franco, who has lived on 15th Street across from Malcolm X Park for four years, says he has seen an increasing number of gay men and lesbians moving into the area.
“I’ve seen an incredible transition there,” Franco says. “There’s a notable difference in the gay and lesbian people that are migrating north of U Street.”
Increasing housing prices in Logan Circle may have inspired the migration, Franco says.
“People are becoming priced out of that particular market,” he says.
AS D.C.’S HOUSING market slows down, however, there is some concern among experts about whether the market can sustain an influx of luxury condos, like the 1,200 new units within a three-block radius of View 14.
“The cooling market absolutely applies to condos,” says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic & Policy Research. “This was the most overheated segment of the market and this is the segment likely to see the sharpest decline. At the moment there is a glut of unsold condos nationwide and in the D.C. area.”
Blum and Franco say that although they are aware of the cooling market, they think the U Street area is a strong enough retail area to sustain it.
“Good development says you build higher density around Metro stations,” says Scott Pomeroy, development officer for MidCity Business Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting business in the neighborhood. “The 14th and U Street area has high-density, 24/7 development. It was built to be able to support that type of environment.”
The area has wide lanes, multiple bus lines and alleys, all of which support increased commercial traffic, Pomeroy says. Any concerns about new developments displacing longtime residents can be alleviated in this case because the new condo complexes are replacing empty lots, warehouses and condemned buildings, Pomeroy says.
The inevitable rise in property taxes associated with appreciating property values remains an issue for many longtime residents, however.
The new condo complexes in the area will bring a total of nearly 90,000 square feet of new retail space, Franco says.
BAKER SAYS THAT a flooded market, even if not in the 14th and U Street area specifically, will nonetheless affect the area.
“The decline is likely to hit both D.C. and the suburbs,” Baker says. “There is a huge oversupply of high-end condos in both places, and these markets are linked. It is ridiculous to imagine that the condos in the suburbs can drop 25 to 30 percent, but somehow condos in D.C. won’t be affected. People may prefer to live in D.C., but if they can get a nicer condo for $200,000 less, they will move to the suburbs.”
Blum, however, says D.C. suffers from a housing shortage, not surplus, and the 65,000 jobs D.C. adds each year requires more and more housing.
The D.C. market, Blum says, is returning to normal after the real estate madness of the past few years, so he’s not concerned about the building’s ability to sell the condos when they become available for purchase this September.
|
