Broadcast Center One Moves Forward, $23 Million Awarded to Development

This week marks a historic period for the Shaw neighborhood as the city council approved a $23 million budget for Radio One’s new headquarters, Broadcast Center One. The former Wonderbread Factory, owned by Douglas Jemal, will soon be transformed into the entertainment district of the city. The approved plans call for 103,000 square feet of office space, 25,000 square feet of retail, 180 rental apartments and 195 underground parking spots. According to the Washington Business Journal ” D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty reached the deal with developers Four Points, Ellis Development Company and the Jarvis Company.”

While the deal seems like nothing but an opportunity for the community, Radio One’s profits for the third quarter of 2007 fell 40%, hardly a monument worth celebrating. So while the recent budget approval is great news, who knows if Radio One will be able to commit once the project is finished.

Douglas Jemal Buys Again

The infamous developer for which I continually write about has just increased his real estate portfolio buy purchasing yet another property. According to the Washington Business Journal, “The American Immigration Lawyers Association has sold 918 F St. NW, a 30,977-square-foot, six-story historic office building in D.C.’s East End, to Douglas Development Corp. for an undisclosed amount.”

The property was completely renovated in 2001 by the Association and conveys with a short-term sale-leaseback transaction. The association is renovating their new office at 1331 G St NW.

The sales was conducted by Jayne Shister, Brian Daly and Chris Woods of Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers.

Update: Harris Teeter at 3rd & M NE

The Bloomingdale (for now) blog added an update regarding the Harris Teeter at 3rd & M Sts NE, upon which I wrote a post. According to IMGoph’s update, cited directly from the comments section of his blog, Alan Kimber, ANC Commissioner, 6C05, posted a response to one of his own posts stating “…My *understanding* is that Harris Teeter has made some level of commitment to locate at 1st & M Street NE. It is not clear how firm the commitment is, and my understanding is that a lease has not yet been signed (these things take a while). I do know for a fact that they pulled out of the (non-binding) “commitment” they had to locate at 3rd & H Street NE.”

Either way, whether it is Harris Teeter or Ellwood Thompsons that may be replacing the lease as Harris Teeter backed out, the neighborhood is in dire need for a full-service grocer other than what is available at H and 6th (?) NE.

As an aside, I have been speaking with the owner of Ellwood Thompsons, Rick Hood, about their expansion into DC. They are working with a local retail broker and are in great hands. As of our last conversation they were looking at three possible areas, Columbia Heights & DC USA, the location at 3rd & M NE, near Douglas Jemals Uline Skate Arena and possibly upper NW DC.

Radio-One Profits Fall 40%

In an article released by the Washington Business Journal, Cathy Hughes, owner of the Radio One empire of 50+ radio stations may have already seen its best days.

The cause? An ever increasingly competitive listening audience may just not be tuning that dial to radio anymore, or as they put it “a challenging radio industry environment.” I for one haven’t listened to the radio in years. Between the music hard drive I have in my car to streaming music from Pandora or Musicovery to my laptop and bluetoothing it to the car, radio may just be a medium of the past.

Who cares!

Well, Cathy Hughes already signed a lease for Broadcast Center One at 7th & S Sts NW, that half-acre former Wonder Bread factory thats about to break ground next year. With profits down nearly 40% in one quarter, who knows what the future may hold for the lease-holder of Douglas Jemals property.

Douglas Jemal’s Upcoming Developments….

Thanks to Jeff Parke of lifein.mountvernonsquare.org, my impression of the future of development of Washington DC is once again reaffirmed. Doug Jemal, of Douglas Development Corportation has been developing in the city for years and has been the front runner for many of the cities most popular areas. From revitalizing Cleveland Park’s historic retail row in the early ’90′s to Historic Row on the 800 block of F St NW to Wonder Plaza at 2301 Georgia Ave NW, also known as the shops at Howard University, Jemal has worked just about everywhere. Now I might be a bit forward in saying this but I predict Jemal’s pinnacle of growth is yet to come. Many of his 279 properties (which have his name on the tax record) are still undeveloped. Included in his portfolio are several six acre sites across the city that have yet to become profitable ventures.

Call me weird but on the wall of my office I have a map of DC which marks every property that Jemal has or will have his hand in over the next few years.

This afternoon I ran a search of the 279 properties just mentioned and calculated the total amount of land that have Jemal’s golden touch. His total ownership in DC alone equates to just over 38 acres of land even after his previous developments. Someone correct me if I am wrong but that would make him the single largest shareholder of land in our city outside of government agencies. Is that control or what? Between Maryland, DC and Virginia, Jemal owns over 215 acres of prime retail space just waiting for revitalization.

Whats next on his list?
Hotel, Office and Residential Buildings along New York between 6th & 7th St NW
Harris Teeter Grocery in Adams Morgan at 17th & Kalorama NW
Uline Arena at 3rd & M NE
Broadcast Center One in Shaw at 7th St NW & S St NW

Shaw: The New Entertainment Hub for DC?

Broadcast Center One

In a publication released by Express Newspaper, word has it that the Shaw area, right near the Howard Theater, may be in talks to be the cities newest entertainment area, complete with window front news broadcasting, radio broadcasting and theatrical performances. So where does all this land needed come from…who else but Douglas Jemal, owner of the vacant Wonderbread Factory at the intersection of 7th & S St NW. According to the Washington Post writer, Dana Hedgpath, a renowned local developer, Chip Ellis, wants to revitalize an area know for “black culture and commerce.”

The Facts:
Purchase Price of Building…….$21,400,000
Development Cost………………..$100,000,000
Office Space………………………….100,000 sq ft
Retail Space………………………….23,000 sq ft
Condominiums……………………..182 units
Lot Size (Just Factory)…………(.51) acres
Current Total Tax Bill……………$73,098
Estimated Completion Date….Late 2010

Dana’s Article can be found here.
The Express Article can be found here.

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Douglas Jemal Does it Again!

This morning a good friend of mine (and my financial advisor) Mario Gabalda with Ferris, Baker, Watts, sent me an article from the Washington Business Journal relating to Douglas Jemal’s newest adventure at the former Uline Ice Skating Rink.

According to a Washington Business Journal staff reporter, Prabha Natarajan, Douglas bought the Ice arena for $6 million back in 2004 from Miguel Uline who operated the facility as an ice rink since 1941. Jemal now owns both the arena and the lot next door.

His plans now include turning the former ice arena sight into DC’s newest entertainment district complete with retail, residential, office and night clubs. What makes this project so unique is not just that his proposed plans include 1.3 MILLION square feet of potential develop-able space, but the new venture also includes the newest partnership of DC, with Wilkes Company.

Why Wilkes Co? If you look at the map, you’ll see that they just happen to own the building across M St NE and were en route to breaking ground when they scrapped their plans to partner with Jemal. WHO WOULDN’T?

Jemal and Wilkes hired Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners LLP from none other than New York to head the planning and development for the site. Their history includes several projects similar to this including the Watchcase Factory Redevelopment in Sag Harbor, NY and a complete architectural study of our Capitol, including lighting, mechanics and aesthetics.

(CLICK THE IMAGE)

What makes this area so unique is the proposed redevelopment of the New York Ave, Florida ave intersection just in front of the new ATF building where Wendy’s restaurant is being torn down to install a traffic circle as well as the recent closure of the Sunoco Station for proposed condo development. In addition, Marriott’s just broke ground at their hotel site next to Florida and Union Station. Its going to be a mad house over the next few years!!!!!

Jemal is known for revitalizing many others areas of the city including Cleveland Park, 7th St NW @ the convention center, the upcoming Brookland project and more than several Class-A buildings downtown. I only blog on him every other day!