Greater Capital Area Association of REALTORS® - Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Regional Newsclips

By Eric M. Weiss and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 10, 2005; Page DZ02

Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D), a former teacher, reportedly beseeched her class to play better together, be nicer and remember the golden rule. She worried that relationships on the council are fraying.

As many as nine of the 13 members are running or could be running for something, including Cropp, a declared mayoral candidate. Some are running against each other. The personal and political conflicts are becoming so numerous that one needs a scorecard and a bottle of Prozac just to keep up.

Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5), who is running against Cropp for mayor, is suing her in Superior Court after she ruled that one of his committee's planned hearings was not permissible. His colleagues have called the lawsuit a publicity stunt that embarrasses the entire council.

Steering the Future of Walter Reed
With Ownership Still in Question, City to Start Planning

By Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 10, 2005; Page B04

DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said yesterday that the city will create a redevelopment authority to begin studying how to convert the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus into the District's newest neighborhood.

The historic hospital between 16th Street and Georgia Avenue in upper Northwest is to close in 2011 as part of the federal base-closing process.

"We want to see this compound opened up and incorporated back into the fabric of our city," Williams said. "The opportunity to redevelop 113 acres in the heart of the city represents tremendous opportunities and, I think, tremendous challenges."

Patterson Delays Vote on Tax Increases
Infusion for School Repairs Must Be Justified, Business Leaders Say

By V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 8, 2005; Page B01

DC Council member Kathy Patterson has postponed a vote on her measure to raise $1 billion for school renovations through various tax increases, saying she wants to give school officials more time to convince business leaders that the funding is needed and would be spent wisely.

Patterson (D-Ward 3), who chairs the council's education committee, said yesterday that delaying tomorrow's committee vote until Dec. 5 will allow school officials to detail how they would use the revenue as well as get feedback from the business community on the construction program.

Last month, several business groups voiced opposition to Patterson's proposal, which would generate $1 billion over the next decade by increasing the city's hotel, parking and cigarette taxes and delaying a planned income tax reduction. The additional revenue would roughly double the school system's capital budget over that period. Patterson last week suggested that she was prepared to replace the proposed hotel tax increase, the most controversial part of the legislation, with an increase in the commercial real estate tax. But business leaders are unhappy with that idea, too.

Perseus Acquires Medical Office for $33M

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: November 10, 2005 11:32am

WASHINGTON, DC-Perseus Realty LLC has acquired 2440 M St. NW, a 110,000-sf medical office building near George Washington University Hospital, for $32.9 million. The firm took the property off the hands of the JBG Cos., which purchased it from the now-closed Columbia Hospital for Women and implemented changes, including the addition of 12,000 sf of ground-level retail.

A Poll Suggests Duncan Has Work to Do at Home

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 10, 2005; Page GZ02

Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan might need to start campaigning harder on his home turf in his bid to become Maryland's next governor.

Despite being county executive for the past decade, a recent poll in the Baltimore Sun indicates that less than half of the Democrats in the county currently back him in his bid to become governor.

The poll, conducted by Potomac Inc. of Bethesda and released by the newspaper on Sunday, found that 37 percent of Montgomery voters say they support Duncan while his opponent for the Democratic nomination, Baltimore Mayor Martin J. O'Malley , was supported by 20 percent. Forty-one percent of Montgomery voters remain undecided.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/09/AR2005110901340.html

Growth Plan Envisions Seven New Schools
Weast Proposes High School, 6 Elementaries

By Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 10, 2005; Page GZ03

The massive enrollment growth in Montgomery County public schools over the last few years is slowing, but the dilemma of where to put all the students -- and their teachers -- remains very real.

About 17,000 students currently attend classes in portable buildings across Montgomery County. Precious playground space has been sacrificed to make room for what many hope are only temporary quarters.

Now, to make sure schools are built when they're needed, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast has unveiled a plan asking for more money to cover rising construction costs. As part of the six-year capital improvement plan unveiled late last month, Weast is asking for an additional $82.5 million to pay for new buildings and renovations next fiscal year. The requested increase will bring the total fiscal 2007 capital budget to $267.5 million.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/09/AR2005110901360.html

County Finds Planning Disorder
Clarksburg Audit Depicts Agency on 'Autopilot,' Lacking Records

By Tim Craig and Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, November 9, 2005; Page B01

A culture of sloppiness and arrogance pervades the Montgomery County planning process, creating a system in which staff and developers work together out of public view with little supervision, according to a County Council audit released yesterday.

The four-month investigation by the Office of Legislative Oversight into the construction of Clarksburg Town Center does not single out individuals in key posts, such as county Planning Board Chairman Derick Berlage or Charles Loehr, former executive director of the Department of Park and Planning. But it offers biting criticism of the system's performance on their watch and that of their predecessors.

Karen A. Orlansky, director of the office, told council members during a meeting yesterday that the planning system lacks "policies, procedures and guidelines" and often runs on "autopilot." Documents that would be crucial to determining who might be at fault for construction irregularities, Orlansky said, are missing or incomplete.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/08/AR2005110801992.html

Developer's Contributions Exceed Md. Limits

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 5, 2005; Page B01

The Chevy Chase Land Co., one of Montgomery County's oldest and best-known development companies, is in violation of state campaign finance regulations limiting contributions, state election records show.

Under Maryland law, individuals and companies cannot donate a total of more than $10,000 to candidates for state or local office or to political action committees during a four-year election cycle. According to the state board of elections, the company already has contributed $11,200 in the current cycle, which began in 2003 and runs through 2006.

Most of the money went to Montgomery County Council members and to the county executive and gubernatorial candidate, Douglas M. Duncan (D). Both Duncan and the council have enormous influence over zoning and other land-use decisions.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/04/AR2005110402038.html

It's the question every homeowner and prospective homebuyer has: Is this the right time to act?

June Fletcher, based in the heart of the housing bubble in Northern Virginia, writes the Wall Street Journal's "Home Front" feature. Her new book, "House Poor: Pumped-Up Prices, Rising Rates and Mortgages on Steroids," offers evidence that the bubble may be ready to burst, as well as advice on how to survive when it does.

Toll Brothers Cuts 2006 Sales Forecast
Report Cited as Sign of Weaker Market

By Kirstin Downey and Sandra Fleishman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, November 9, 2005; Page D01

Toll Brothers Inc., the nation's largest builder of luxury homes, yesterday lowered its forecast for 2006 home sales, partially because of softening demand, the latest sign that a shift may be underway in the nation's home-sales market.

The company's shares plunged 14 percent, to $33.91, on the news, and the overall stock market sagged. Booming sales of new homes have been a mainstay of the growing economy in the past four years.

"What people are afraid of is any softening . . . in what has been such a strong housing pattern, that this could be the beginning of a major retrenchment," said Robert P. Curran, senior director and homebuilding analyst at Fitch Ratings. Instead, he said, this is a "little bit of a backing off."

By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 7, 2005; Page D03

Two local developers are competing for the rights to develop a key site in Herndon's sleepy downtown into something more vibrant.

The land, about seven acres, is mostly owned by the town and is home to a variety of things, including a car dealership, a small office building, empty lots and an abandoned electrical substation.

A team that includes Norton Scott LLC of Great Falls and Centex Homes of Dallas wants to build a project called Herndon Station there. The project would include a 141-room hotel, 120 condominiums, a three-story office building, and 50,000 square feet of retail space.

Housing Surge and Resurgence
New Homeowners Changing Southeast Neighborhoods

By Robert E. Pierre and Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 7, 2005; Page A01

The 65 new brick townhouses of a development called the Townes at Hillsdale sit high on a hill and offer their residents expansive views of Washington's monuments and the river beyond. The manicured lawns and cul-de-sacs would not be out of place in Montgomery or Fairfax counties.

But this development is in the District -- not in Northwest, but east of the Anacostia River, in a vast expanse stretching from south of the 11th Street Bridge to Bolling Air Force Base that has been known mostly for its negative attributes: crime, poor schools and unemployment.

In recent years, however, a steady stream of couples and thirtysomethings has left the Maryland and Virginia suburbs to settle in homes like these, which were built on the site of a 1960s-era apartment complex where drug dealers once ruled and stray bullets regularly disturbed the peace.

ANNAPOLIS -- The widespread speculation here that Democrat Wayne K. Curry might cross party lines to become Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s running mate is not sitting well with some in the Republican Party.

With Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) announcing he will run for the U.S. Senate, attention has shifted to Ehrlich (R) and his re-election campaign.

The capital has been buzzing for weeks that Curry, a former Prince George's county executive with keen political instincts and statewide connections, might help Ehrlich make inroads in African-American communities, especially in Prince George's and Baltimore.

Some Democrats are saying that Montgomery County Council President Thomas E. Perez (D) could be a contender to join Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's ticket.

Others say former Baltimore mayor Kurt L. Schmoke (D) may be Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan's choice for a running mate.

Perez, who is also exploring a run for attorney general, has yet to endorse anyone in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, but is known to have a friendly relationship with the Baltimore mayor.

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 8, 2005; Page B07

Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele spent a warm fall evening last week knocking on doors in an Annapolis townhouse community, lending support to one of the few other African American Republicans seeking higher office in Maryland, mayoral candidate George O. Kelley.

Together, the two slapped backs, shook hands and passed out a flier that not only promoted Kelley's campaign but in many respects also captured the essence of Steele's fledgling bid for U.S. Senate, as well. It urged: "VOTE for the MAN, NOT the PARTY."

Steele said he knew from the outset that he would encounter ambivalence from many African Americans who are suspicious of the Republican Party. But that has not deterred him from fashioning a campaign for 2006 that will attempt to cut deeply into the Democratic Party's most reliable constituency.

By Michael D. Shear and Carol Morello
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 10, 2005; Page A01

Gov.-elect Timothy M. Kaine (D) said yesterday that he will immediately begin a series of town hall meetings across Virginia to rally public support for a legislative battle next year over fixing the state's transportation problems.

A day after his victory over Republican Jerry W. Kilgore, Kaine savored the latest Democratic win in a state known for its fidelity to the GOP in recent years. At a morning news conference in Richmond, he declared that voters had rejected the Kilgore campaign's attacks on his record.

"The negative ads backfired," he said. "If there's anything about this win that makes me feel the best, it's that Virginians rejected the harsh negatives that were often factual mistakes. They're smarter than high-paid consultants, and they know the difference between truth and fiction."

Homeland Security Chief Backs Va. Site for Crisis Post
Williams, Ehrlich, Chertoff Discuss Regional Security

By Serge F. Kovaleski and Eric M. Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 10, 2005; Page A06

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff suggested yesterday that Washington area jurisdictions designate a site for a joint emergency command center where government representatives would convene in the event of a catastrophic incident.

Chertoff put forward the idea during a closed half-hour meeting with DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) and Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R). The officials met at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington to discuss regional issues, including the coordination of information and analysis coming from federal sources.

Chertoff recommended locating the joint command facility at the Transportation Security Operations Center in Herndon. The center was activated in 2003 by the Transportation Security Administration to serve as a single point of contact during crises in aviation or ground transportation, among other functions. It shares space with the National Capital Region Coordination Center, which runs the region's air defense system.

Situated on Route 7 between the shopping center meccas of Tysons Corner and Baileys Crossroads, Falls Church has remained mostly an island of mom-and-pops, with locally owned stores and restaurants populating its commercial corridor.

Falls Church residents will find out how likely that is at a meeting on Tuesday, when the city's economic development team and a consultant from the DC firm Retail Compass present findings about the incorporated city's retail viability. Wedged between Arlington and Fairfax counties, Falls Church has been contemplating an extreme makeover of its downtown core, in the form of a town center development similar to those in Clarendon and Reston.

Town Council Approves $500M Mixed-Use Project

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: November 10, 2005 06:36am

LEESBURG, VA-The Leesburg Town Council has just given its approval for the mixed-use Village at Leesburg. The $500-million project is being developed by KSI Services Inc. which has conceived a plan for office, retail, hotel and residential offerings on a 150-acre site off Route 7 near KSI's Goose Creek Golf Course.

As it stands now, plans for the Shook Kelley Inc.-designed project include 565,000 sf of class A office space, 440,000 sf of retail space, 635 multifamily units and a hotel segment. The hotel could take the form of one multiple-use property and a second full-service lodging establishment. An anchor for the retail segment, the leasing of which is being handled by KLNB, has already been secured with the 140,000-sf commitment from food market chain Wegmans. As for the multifamily portion of the development, 300 units will be dedicated active adult residences, while the remaining 335 residences will be condominiums and rentals. Real estate services firm CB Richard Ellis is overseeing leasing of the office space.

Silver Commercial Plans $300M Office Park

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: November 9, 2005 01:52pm

STAFFORD, VA-Fredericksburg-based Silver Commercial is developing Quantico Corporate Center, a one-million-sf office complex on an 85-acre parcel of land near Quantico Marine Base. The development carries an estimated $300-million price tag. The park will be designed to appeal to defense industry businesses, as well as medical, educational and R&D concerns.

$207M Financing Will Go Toward Capital Improvements, Debt Repayment

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: November 9, 2005 08:50am

TYSONS CORNER, VA-A partnership operating under the authority of McLean-headquartered West Group Properties has secured a $207-million financing deal for a 14-building office portfolio here. The borrower plans to use $51 million of the loan for capital upgrades to the properties, as well as for funding costs associated with leasing. The remainder will be used to pay off existing loans on the buildings. Additionally, the terms of the loan provide the partnership with the option to sell or refinance any of the office facilities as individual properties in the future.

$15M Financing Deal Closes for Redwood Complex

By Barbra Murray
Last updated: November 7, 2005 11:23am

FAIRFAX, VA-A financing deal in the amount of $15 million has closed for Redwood Plaza I & II, two office structures featuring an aggregate 165,000 sf of class A space. SMII Fairfax LLC secured the permanent interest-only loan. The borrower plans to use the funds to develop a new 43,000-sf office structure on the two-building property.