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.

Douglas Jemal: More Places Than You Think

This afternoon while driving from my office located just around the corner from Logan Circle to one of my clients developments I happen to pass a building at the corner of Florida and Georgia Ave NW. To my surprise was the recent addition of ‘for lease’ signs in every window and right below was the infamous name Douglas Development. Thats right, DC’s very own Trump owns this too and he’s looking for a new tenant.

As an aside, the man is absolutely intelligent. History shows us his ability to choose wisely but upon closer consideration, most of his properties are either corner lots, 1+ acre parcels/assemblages or prevent someone else from having an assemblage. Keep his strategy in mind during your next investment….

Douglas Jemal: Going and Going and Going….

“…becoming Richmond’s very own Trump,” quoted yesterday from a posting in Urbanplanet.com regarding Douglas Jemal’s recent purchases in Richmond, VA. This past week it seems as though the famed Jemal won the highest bid for, increasing his property ownership in Richmond, VA to 26 units. That may not seem like a lot so I thought I would run a tax record search for all properties owned by the local MEGA-MILLIONAIRE. According to the public records, his commercial ownership totals over 1.25 million square feet PLUS an estimated 1.9 million square feet more (the size of the buildings was not listed on the public record but the property description, zoning code and lot size are listed). Upon further research, it seems as though one of this assets may be the Chamber of Commerce building, the United Way building, as well as a 3.3 acre industrial site that seems to have been a bakery that burned down in 2002 (pending confirmation).

It looks like his reign is shall continue on…

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.

Broadcast Center One Begins

This past week DC approved the application for Broadcast Center One , located at the intersection of 7th & S streets NW, just around the corner from the historic Howard Theater.

Douglas Jemal, the famed developer known for transforming this city, is the owner of the site for Broadcast Center One. The site, which was purchased for over $21 Million several years ago, is currently the vacant Wonderbread Factory and an eye soar.

The lot itself is just larger than half an acre but the development will be going through a Planned Unit Development (PUD) process to allow for increased density and possibly height than the current zoning allows.

According to the National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC) the new development will have 21,000 square feet of retail space with 202 residential units, over 76,000 square feet of commercial space, and 250 underground parking spaces. In addition, the city is requiring a portion of the retail and residential to be affordable.

As per the NCRC, the development must have 10 percent affordable retail and 25 percent affordable housing. This housing must be five percent lower than the recently imposed 30 percent requirement imposed by DC Mayor Fenty several months ago.

The proposed expected completion was 2010 based on breaking ground earlier this year so I would expect the closeout closer to 2011. Radio One, under the guidance of founder Cathy Hughes, has already signed a letter of intent to occupy the new development. Hughes was noted for mentioning her long awaited return to the roots of her company in DC and Broadcast Center One should provide the perfect place for her to do so.

With the revitalization of Shaw and the development at the McMillan Reservoir, the area will be a completely different neighborhood within three years. It’s going to be absolutely amazing.

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!

Whats one of the most important developments in Adams Morgan right now?

As if there wasn’t enough development in Adams Morgan already, Douglas Jemal is developing a site in Adams Morgan to be the new Harris Teeter Grocery Store. But thisa is not any grocery store but the only grocery store for blocks. In fact the new Harris Teeter is the only grocery store for 6 blocks. Not that far you say? Maybe its just me but I dont really want to carry groceries much further than that, especially in one of the areas of the highest rate of population increases in the city. This coming year there are in the range of 6-12 new developments in the area, 2 of which I’m representing in the upcoming year.

Their new site, at the intersection of 17th St NW and Kalorama Rd NW should provide the perfect opportunity between the areas, whats more is the gap that Harris Teeter bridges between two traditional grocery stores and the environmental friendly store of tomorrow. The current proposed plan includes 39,000 sq ft of retail space on what used to be a roller rink. The next question you may ask is ‘Who is the brains behind the operation?’ Nobody less than the infamous Douglas Jemal a.k.a. Douglas Development, a company known for nothing less than their front running ideas contributing to the redevelopment of nearly the entire city.

In addition to the 39,000 sq ft of retail space is a proposed 120,000 sq ft of office space at the modest projected cost of $15,000,000. Despite a projected opening date of Fall ’06, the newly anticipated date is Feb, ’08. We’ll see how that goes.

My apologies to KP for getting this blog out so late in the day.

Our newest campaign, MetroFlyering, debuts today!!!

As I may have mentioned in the past, we have unveiled several proprietary marketing campaigns to help our listings sell faster, receive more exposure and allow us to create quantifiable predictions for ROI on investment in guerrilla marketing tactics. We will be the first to implement the new campaign anywhere in the city but our results are what presents the actual value. Our newest campaign print run can be seen below. The schedule of the campaign is to pass out flyers at the metro entrance most close to our project, this week its my listings at 1815-1819 Irving St NE in Woodridge. They consist of three brand new homes, all of which are priced in the low $500′s and are nearly 4000 sq ft. Talk about value! They are priced very aggressively as per the request of the developer and I don’t see them staying on the market for long. Ill have much more in depth updates as the week continues but our real results will come from the open house this following Sunday. If you have a chance, stop by! By the way…I’m very optimistic about the weather.

Calling all investors & speculators, STRONG BUY IN BROOKLAND NE, DC