Another Offer of Millions For Poor DC Residents by Lori Montgomery With a deadline looming, word of the latest proposal spread fast through Sursum Corda, a warren of concrete townhouses north of the U.S. Capitol. A group of developers was offering to pay Sursum's poor families more than $100,000 apiece -- double the deal in hand -- to redevelop their land.
On the sidewalk outside the shabby community center, retirees and single mothers who populate the low-income housing complex picked up a sheaf of papers late Monday that offered more details. Many were stunned and perplexed to learn that their property might be worth more than the $25 million they agreed last month to accept from a different developer. The new group says their land is worth $40 million or $50 million. At least. Maybe more.
What began last winter as a desperate attempt to save their homes from foreclosure is suddenly a high-stakes bidding war over one of the few subsidized housing developments in the nation owned and managed by its residents. Handled wisely, the battle between developers could bring Sursum's 169 families more money than most have ever seen.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101102042.html
Political Upheaval Presents Challenge to DC Council by Eric M. Weiss In their drive to become the District's next mayor, both DC Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp and council member Adrian M. Fenty have made fixing the city's dilapidated school buildings a top priority. But the consensus ends there.
Fenty's bill proposes to spend $1 billion on schools by tapping into DC Lottery revenue. Cropp (D) scoffed at the plan last week during her birthday party fundraiser, calling it "poof! imaginary money."
Education funding will be the first test of how District leaders handle controversial legislation in a rapidly shifting political landscape. With Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) not seeking a third term and with seven council members running for mayor or contemplating a run for council chairman, city politics has taken on a new edge.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801191.html
Evans, Cropp Differ On Trip by Serge F. Kovaleski A political action committee controlled by DC Council member Jack Evans reimbursed him $6,772.72 for his trip to Asia last year even though the council had already covered the costs of the official mission, according to records and interviews.
Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) said yesterday that the council's budget paid for round-trip airfare and some hotel expenses for Evans (D-Ward 2) and four other council members who went on the trip with Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) in October 2004. She said that the purchase of the plane tickets and other expenditures were handled by the office of the secretary to the council.
But the financial reports Evans's PAC filed with the DC Office of Campaign Finance show that the PAC reimbursed him the $6,772.72 on Dec. 16 "for expenses incurred during China delegation trip."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202225.html
City May Gain Power to Act Against Nuisance Properties
by Henri E. Cauvin Under a proposed change to the city's nuisance abatement laws, the office of the DC attorney general would have a bigger and better-funded role in going after properties that are havens for drug dealing.
Most drug-related nuisance actions have been handled by the U.S. attorney's office, but DC Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has criticized those efforts, saying too little has been done to clean up troublesome properties.
"The law," Graham said this week, "is not being used, and I want to make sure it's being used, because it's a major weapon in our arsenal."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101200891.html
Brown Adviser Wants Paycheck
by Yolanda Woodlee and Lori Montgomery DC mayoral candidate Michael A. Brown has some financial loose ends to tie up from his political exploratory committee, says one of his veteran campaign organizers. Joe Ruffin , former political director for Brown's committee, said Brown owes him $23,000.
Brown, son of the late Ronald H. Brown, a former U.S. commerce secretary, said Ruffin is wrong. "The exploratory committee has no debt at all," Brown said. "Joe Ruffin doesn't know what he's talking about."
Ruffin said he was paid a total of $15,000 for work he did over eight months. "I charge from $8,000 to $15,000 a month," Ruffin said. "People have paid me that."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101200852.html
Council Seeks to Revisit Stadium Deal
by Eric M. Weiss and David Nakamura The DC Council reopened debate yesterday over the financing and location of a baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals, prompting fears from some city officials that the timetable could be set back on the high-stakes project.
Council members sparred at their monthly legislative meeting after Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) proposed a resolution asking Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) to allow the council to review an agreement with Deutsche Bank, which would provide some private financing for the stadium.
Under that deal, which has not been finalized, the city would receive a payment of $246 million from the bank in return for revenue generated from the new ballpark along the Anacostia River.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101677.html
DC Short on Baseball Revenue by David Nakamura and Thomas Heath The District government appears likely to fall short of its goal of earning $10.5 million in tax revenue from sales at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for Washington Nationals games, even as the team is on pace to earn larger profits than estimated just four months ago.
The city's potential tax shortfall from revenue generated by sales of tickets, parking, concessions and merchandise could be more than $500,000, according to financial officials, who expect to have final numbers at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, the Nationals, still owned by Major League Baseball, exceeded expectations by selling 2.7 million tickets in their inaugural season and will earn a $25 million profit, about $5 million more than the team projected at midseason, team officials said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801263.html
Akridge Closes $150M Investment Fund
by Barbra Murray (To read more on the debt and equity markets, click here.)
WASHINGTON, DC-Private real estate developer Akridge has finalized the first closing of the Akridge Office Fund, a $150-million investment fund that will assist in the company's acquisition and development endeavors throughout the Metropolitan Washington, DC region. Real Estate Alternatives Portfolio 3, a fund of Aegon USA Realty Advisors' Capital Markets Group, is the lead investor.
Akridge has already begun to make use of the fund's capital. In conjunction with the closing, Akridge completed the first acquisition with the purchase of Falls Church Gateway, a 60,000-sf office complex in Falls Church, from Falls Church Gateway Plaza LLC. The three-structure property, carrying the addresses of 500, 510 and 520 N. Washington St., cost the fund $12 million. Transwestern represented the fund in the transaction, while CB Richard Ellis stood in for the seller.
"With the highest job growth and carrying one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country, Washington continues to be one of the strongest real estate markets in the world," Akridge president Matthew Klein says. "We understand the Washington market and we know how to find attractive opportunities."
http://www.globest.com/news/391_391/washington/139180-1.html
Multifamily Groups Laud Katrina Housing Act
by Barbra Murray (To read more on the multifamily market, click here.)
WASHINGTON, DC-Leading multifamily housing organizations--the National Multi Housing Council, National Apartment Association and National Leased Housing Association--celebrate the US House of Representatives' passage of the Hurricane Katrina Emergency Housing Act. The legislation, HR 3894, was designed to cut through the red tape for low-income housing property owners' attainment of regulatory waivers from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. This would also allow them to quickly make more subsidized residential units available for those left without homes due to Hurricane Katrina.
"The apartment industry stands ready to aid the effort to house those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, with many firms donating low- and no-cost apartments and short-term leases," says Jim Arbury, senior vice president of government affairs for NMNC/NAA. He notes that thousands of vacant apartments cannot be used to help Katrina's victims because they receive federal subsidy through the Section 8 program and are subject to federal regulations limiting who may occupy them.
http://www.globest.com/news/389_389/washington/139088-1.html
Cardin Leads Fundraising Race in Md.
by John Wagner Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin continues to outpace his Democratic rivals in fundraising for next year's Senate race in Maryland, according to quarterly estimates released yesterday by several candidates.
Cardin said he raised almost $900,000 during the quarter that ended Sept. 30 -- about nine times what his best-known Democratic rival, Kweisi Mfume, the former congressman and NAACP leader, raised during the same period, according to an Mfume adviser.
Cardin's campaign said it has raised more than $2 million since he entered the race in late April. Mfume has raised about $230,000 since entering the race in March, according to his campaign.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202298.html
Montgomery Panel Lowers Home Heights
by Miranda S. Spivack A Montgomery County Council committee approved a plan yesterday to cap the height of new houses in older neighborhoods at 32 feet -- more or less.
The council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large), approved changes in the law that has allowed some builders to exceed legal limits of 35 feet and 2 1/2 stories, giving rise to complaints about "mansionization."
The panel agreed that a house or renovation should be measured from where it meets the ground -- rather than from the middle of the street, as existing law provides -- to the midpoint of the roof, allowing buildings to be taller than 32 feet. It also decided to throw in another foot so that houses could be raised to improve drainage, potentially increasing the maximum height to 33 feet.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202014.html
Quiet, Quirky Takoma Shaken by a Looming Boom
by Phuong Ly Local myth has it that opening a chain store is against the law in Takoma Park. Development skipped over the downtown of this quirky enclave for so long that many residents had accepted the myth as fact.
Now, more restaurants and shops are planned not only for the downtown but also for the adjoining commercial area of the Takoma neighborhood in the District. The construction boom in the historically connected communities is sparking a debate over growth and its impact on the area's character.
Nearly 540 condo units and townhouses and thousands of square feet of retail space -- including a chain grocery store -- are on the drawing board within a two-mile radius of the Takoma Metro station. In the past year, two retail and residential developments with a total of 100 apartments and condos have opened.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101200895.html
Affordable Housing Shortage Addressed by Nancy Trejos The Montgomery County Council will consider a proposal today to require that 10 percent of homes built in new developments near Metro stations be set aside for middle-class families being priced out of the county's soaring real estate market.
Council member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) said the "workforce" housing initiative he is proposing would help people who earn 80 to 120 percent of the area's median income -- $89,000 for a family of four, or $71,000 for a family of two. That would essentially include families with incomes of about $50,000 to $100,000, he said.
Such a program would be geared toward county employees -- including teachers, firefighters, police officers and nurses who make too much to qualify for Montgomery's affordable-housing program but not enough to buy a house or condominium at market rate, Silverman said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/10/AR2005101001585.html
Officials Question Montgomery Planners' Hearings on Clarksburg
by Tim Craig The Montgomery County Planning Board, whose staff is at the center of a dispute over alleged building violations in Clarksburg, may be ill suited to fairly investigate the case, some current and former county officials say.
The five-member board, which sets land-use policy, must decide whether Clarksburg Town Center developer Newland Communities violated legally binding commitments outlining how the development would be built.
At a hearing Thursday, the board found that San Diego-based Newland failed to build promised recreational amenities on time. It deferred a decision on whether moderately priced homes required by the county were properly located. In July, the board ruled that hundreds of homes in the community were built too high or too close to the street.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801116.html
Lawton nominated to replace Hurson
by Douglas Tallman Jane E. Lawton, who oversees cable franchises for Montgomery County government, has been nominated to succeed John A. Hurson as a delegate for District 18.
The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee will forward her name to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), who by law must make the appointment from the names submitted by the committee.
Lawton's selection was something of a surprise. The District 18 Democratic Caucus had earlier nominated Samuel L. Statland, secretary of the county's Board of Elections, for the position.
http://www.gazette.net/stories/101405/polia%20s205556_31907.shtml
'Whatever Happened to Tivoli?' by Mary Otto Columbia Archives manager Barbara Kellner works at a large Danish modern desk that belonged to Columbia's creator, the late James W. Rouse. His eyeglasses rest in the top drawer. His early vision for Columbia surrounds her in the office near Lake Kittamaqundi.
Here, Kellner is free to ponder the sketches and architectural drawings, many of them more than 40 years old. They describe dreamers' visions of Columbia's Town Center -- a place of fresh air and fountains, market stalls and sunlit walkways. Some notes from the time suggest a place evocative of Tivoli, the famed pleasure gardens at the heart of Copenhagen.
But nowhere in the archives can Kellner find anything to explain what became of that place, that vibrant, even magical, town center.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201083.html
Steele Factor Looms In Md. by Matthew Mosk and John Wagner As parishioners swayed and clapped, women in festive red blouses huddled under the imposing front archway of St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, waiting for Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.
Many Republican politicians would have seemed entirely out of place at last Sunday's Mass honoring the parish's 125th anniversary -- the mostly black church sits in West Baltimore, one of the state's most lopsided Democratic districts. But not Steele, who arrived flanked by aides and security guards and was swept up in embraces by ushers and churchgoers.
"He's made a very favorable impression," said Emma Hawkins-Johnson, 61, an employment coordinator and longtime Democrat.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202261.html
A True-Blue Region Turns a Shade of Red by Ann E. Marimow When J. Frank Raley Jr. first ran for the state legislature from St. Mary's County, he encountered two types of voters -- liberal Democrat and conservative Democrat.
Republicans were scarce throughout Southern Maryland, and there was little need to worry about facing a Republican opponent. "When you did," Raley said, "you didn't even care, because they didn't have a chance."
He represented St. Mary's in the State House in the 1950s and '60s, but the Democratic domination continued well into the past decade.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202251.html
Pr. George's Move Clears Way For a Wal-Mart Inside Beltway
by Ovetta Wiggins The Prince George's County Council approved legislation yesterday that opens the way for Wal-Mart to build what would be the chain's first store inside the Capital Beltway.
The measure also clears the way for another Wal-Mart in the county, outside the Beltway near Upper Marlboro, but places restrictions on other projects that the discount retailer might want in Prince George's.
Wal-Mart had threatened to pull its plans to build at the Capital Plaza Mall in Landover Hills if it was unable to sell food at the store. Originally, the council had considered legislation to bar any big-box store larger than 125,000 square feet from selling food.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/11/AR2005101101583.html
National Harbor's Housing Boon by Ovetta Wiggins Residents of Oxon Hill, worried last year about their prospective new neighbor, posted the handmade signs in their yards for months: "What is National Harbor?"
The $2 billion development on the Prince George's County banks of the Potomac River, scheduled to open its first phase in 2008, was described by proponents as a "waterfront entertainment venue." State legislators mentioned it as a possible site for slot machines. Residents feared Disney-on-the-Potomac or Atlantic City II.
That picture changed dramatically late last month, when the County Council approved a request by the developer, Milton Peterson, to add 2,500 high-end condominiums and townhouses -- with prices as high as a half-million dollars -- to the projected mix of office and convention space, retail and restaurants.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/09/AR2005100901354.html
What the Ads Say
Washington Post Staff Writers Republican gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore has released two ads in which relatives of murder victims criticize Democrat Timothy M. Kaine.
Stanley Rosenbluth Ad
"Tim Kaine voluntarily represented the person who murdered my son," Rosenbluth says. "He stood with murderers in trying to get them off death row. No matter how heinous the crime, he doesn't believe that death is a punishment."
He holds a photo of his son, Richard, and daughter-in-law, Becky, who were killed in 1993 by Mark Sheppard, who was executed five years later. Shots are heard and lights flash during the ad.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202385.html
Seven-Building Office Portfolio Pulls in $97M
by Barbra Murray VIENNA, VA-A partnership involving Reston's Buchanan Street Partners and Access Property Services of San Juan Capistrano, CA has acquired a seven-structure portfolio featuring an aggregate 516,100 sf of class A office space. The purchase price was $96.6 million.
With the assistance of Cushman & Wakefield's Capital Markets Group, Cambridge Northwestern walked away with $187.17 per sf. It was just last year when Cambridge acquired the portfolio from A&A Investments for $80 million. The properties' total current assessed value is approximately $77.9 million, according to Fairfax County records.
The seven buildings involved in the deal carry the addresses of 1835 and 1851 Alexander Bell Dr., 1761 and 1768 Business Center Dr., 1600 and 1604 Spring Hill Rd. and 11242 Waples Mill Rd. Their sizes range from about 60,700 sf to 98,600 sf. Together, the structures have an average 85% occupancy level.
http://www.globest.com/news/390_390/washington/139111-1.html
Data Center To Sell for $53M
by Barbra Murray (To read more on the industrial market, click here.)
ASHBURN, VA-Beaumeade Corporate Park, a 461,700-sf data center complex in Loudoun County, will soon come under new ownership. Network data center and Internet exchange services provider Equinix Inc. has agreed to purchase the six-building campus for $53 million.
The Foster City, CA-based company will acquire the 95%-occupied property from Chicago-headquartered Trizec Properties Inc. Equinix operates its flagship Internet Business Exchange Center from three of the six industrial/warehouse buildings--two completely built-out facilities and another that is expansion-ready--and will put the reaming three structures up for sale.
The Morgan Gick and Associates-designed Beaumeade Park occupies a 32.6-acre parcel on Filigree Court near Route 267, or the Dulles Toll Road, and the 1.4-million-sf Dulles Town Center shopping mall. The single-story structures, developed between 1990 and 2000, range in size from 59,000 sf to 148,000 sf.
http://www.globest.com/news/389_389/washington/139076-1.html
$35M Construction Financing Closes 191,000-SF Office
by Barbra Murray HERNDON, VA-A nearly $35.4-million financing package has closed for Monument Three at Worldgate, a 191,400-sf office building currently under construction. With the completion of Monument III slated for fourth quarter 2006, Monument Realty will have finished its fourth and final office facility in the 100-acre park.
Corus Bank, the banking arm of Chicago's Corus Bankshares Inc., facilitated the loan for the construction of the building, which will cost a rumored amount in the neighborhood of $50 million to complete. The borrower is Monument Three LLC, an affiliate of Washington DC-based Monument Realty LLC.
Carrying the address of 12930 Worldgate Dr., Monument Three occupies a three-acre parcel in the mixed-use business park, which sits off the Dulles Access Road. The class A building will also feature a six-level, 204,300-sf parking facility, as well as conference and administrative facilities within the office portion of the property.
http://www.globest.com/news/388_388/washington/139023-1.html
Sursum Corda Land Deal Could Double
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 12, 2005; Page A01
Issues Such as School Funding Could Get Caught In Crossfire as Members Run for Top 2 City Posts
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Sunday, October 9, 2005; Page C06
Councilman Says PAC Repaid Him; Chair Says City Did
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Nationals' Profits Beat Expectations Despite No-Shows
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Montgomery Initiative Aimed at Middle Class
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As Columbia Shapes Town Center's Fate, It May Look at Past
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Thursday, October 13, 2005; Page HO12
Democrats' Hold On Black Voters Could Be Tested
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Thursday, October 13, 2005; Page A01
GOP Makes Gains in Southern Maryland
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High-End Homes May Bolster County
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