March 24, 2006 News Clips
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Williams Submits His Final
Budget By
Lori Montgomery and Eric M.
Weiss In his final budget, DC Mayor Anthony A. Williams offered a $7.5 billion spending plan yesterday that would stabilize local expenses at just under $5 billion, proceed with a planned cut in income taxes and devote significant new funds to public schools, city libraries, housing programs and police pay raises. The budget includes few major innovations, a stark contrast with last year, when Williams (D) unveiled a series of initiatives to rebuild poor neighborhoods, revitalize city thoroughfares and find jobs for DC residents. But the mayor would continue funding for those programs while making small increases elsewhere. For example, he would pay for dental care for the first time for poor adults and expand Medicaid coverage to hundreds of children in working families, a move city officials termed "historic." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032200091.html
Patterson, Mostly Listening, Opens
Chairman Bid By
Elissa
Silverman Saying simply that "there is work to be done," DC Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) officially kicked off her campaign yesterday for the city's No. 2 elected position, chairman of the council. Launching her bid from her new campaign headquarters above a hardware store on Capitol Hill, Patterson, 57, mostly let others speak about her qualifications, which they said included her dogged oversight of city agencies, especially in matters involving public safety and education, her advocacy of sound fiscal management and her dedication to good government practices. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp is running for mayor, leaving the agenda-setting position up for grabs when her term expires at the end of the year. A few of Patterson's colleagues have eyed the job, including Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), who announced last month on a radio program that he will challenge Patterson for the seat. Gray will officially kick off his campaign Saturday. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/18/AR2006031801257.html
Steel 'Monstrosity' In Tenleytown To
Be Dismantled By
Paul
Schwartzman For more than five years, the people of Tenleytown fought the tower. They prodded the District to block it when it was partially built, but for the next half-decade it loomed over the shops and restaurants along Wisconsin Avenue NW -- a 281-foot steel eyesore. Yesterday, the people of Tenleytown won the battle. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/17/AR2006031701908.html
Rent Control Bill
Approved By
Elissa
Silverman The District's decades-old rent control system would be overhauled if legislation approved yesterday by a DC Council committee becomes law. The Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs voted 4 to 1 to do away with a system based on a rental unit's "rent ceiling" and implement one calculated more in relation to comparable market values. Council members who voted for the change said the current system does little to protect renters from inflated prices based on the ceilings -- the maximum amount a landlord can charge according to tabulations made by the city's Rental Housing Commission. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/17/AR2006031700040.html
Analysis Predicts Stadium
Windfall By
David Nakamura and Thomas
Heath The Washington Nationals could generate $203 million in revenue during their first season in a new stadium, according to a District-commissioned report that includes projections that would make the franchise one of the richest in Major League Baseball. Even after the initial excitement over the new stadium wears off, the Nationals can anticipate grossing $190 million from ticket sales, concessions and parking in the 2011 season and seeing that amount grow by 2.8 percent annually from there, said the report prepared by Economics Research Associates for DC Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi. In addition to stadium revenue, the Nationals already are earning $30 million a year from MLB's national television, sponsorship and marketing deals and $21 million from local television rights. The report did not address that revenue. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032202306.html
Shopping Center Will Become
$100M Condo Property (To read more on the multifamily market, click here and for more retail coverage, click GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.) WASHINGTON, DC-The owner of an 18,000-sf Nehemiah Shopping Center has agreed to sell the property, paving the way for a $100-million condominium project. The center on the 2400 block of 14th St. NW will be redeveloped into a property with 225 market-rate residences and ground-level retail space. Level 2 Development will acquire the shopping center in the Columbia Heights area from Horning Brothers for an undisclosed amount. According to District real estate records, the property has a current assessed value of $2.9 million. Level 2 has tapped Shalom Baranes Architects to oversee the design of the project, but those efforts are still in the earliest stages. The property is situated in a spot that links the Columbia Heights area with the 14th & U Street neighborhood. http://www.globest.com/news/499_499/washington/144021-1.html
Chevy Chase Plaza Owner
Secures $35M Financing (To read more on the debt and equity markets, click here.) WASHINGTON, DC-Cornerstone Property Fund has secured $35 million in financing for Chevy Chase Plaza, a 161,500-sf office building. An eight-story structure with a three-level underground parking facility, the plaza sits at 5301 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Friendship Heights. Mike Riccio, Maury Zanoff and Joe Donato of CBRE Melody orchestrated the transaction on behalf of the borrower through Hartford Investment Management. Riccio tells GlobeSt.com that, Cornerstone sought the financing on the previously unleveraged class A asset in order to take advantage of currently low interest rates. http://www.globest.com/news/497_497/washington/143959-1.html
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Existing Home Sales Up 5.2 Percent in Feb. By
MARTIN CRUTSINGER WASHINGTON -- Sales of existing homes had fallen for five straight months before an unexpected increase in February, helped by unusually warm weather. But slack demand in some formally red-hot housing markets produced what one analyst called a "tale of two cities." The National Association of REALTORS® reported Thursday that sales of existing single-family homes rose by 5.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.91 million units. The biggest increase in two years took economists by surprise. They had expected a drop of about 1 percent after five months of declines. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/23/AR2006032300417.html
Freddie Mac CFO
Resigns (To read more on the debt and equity markets, click here.) MCLEAN, VA-Freddie Mac has just lost one of its leaders with the resignation--effective immediately--of executive vice president of finance and chief financial officer Martin F. Baumann. The news of his departure comes almost exactly three years after his arrival at Freddie Mac. It comes on the heels of an announcement less than two weeks ago that the company will not release its quarterly and full-year 2005 financial results until May, after having previously announced that it would divulge those numbers in March. While the hunt for Baumann's replacement is on, company president and chief operating officer Eugene McQuade will take on duties falling under the head of CFO. Baumann joined Freddie Mac in March 2003 as executive vice president-finance, coming from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and he was appointed chief financial officer just three months later. His arrival coincided with the period when Freddie Mac was reeling from the beginning of its $5-billion earnings restatement and accounting scandal. http://www.globest.com/news/500_500/washington/144095-1.html
KSI Aims to Cut Traffic With
New Commercial Projects (To read more on the multifamily market, click here.) VIENNA, VA-With the idea of decreasing traffic by taking Washington, DC area commuters out of their cars, KSI Services Inc. plans to develop eight new residential and mixed-use communities near Metro stations and bus routes. The properties will be located in the Northern Virginia and Suburban Maryland areas, and are sited to make the trip to and from the District and other major employment destinations less taxing, less time consuming and less expensive, company officials say. Among the KSI transit-centric properties in Northern Virginia are the 369-unit Midtown Alexandria Station, a high-rise condominium development in Alexandria that will welcome its first tenants next year; Arlington's West Village of Shirlington, which is a condominium conversion endeavor that will yield 527 new units. Other projects include the Residences of Lorton Station with its 32 townhomes atop Lorton Station Town Center in Fairfax County and Midtown Reston Town Center in Reston, which consists of two 21-story towers containing over 370 condos and lofts. http://www.globest.com/news/498_498/washington/144006-1.html
$26 Million 'Transition' Deal Aims to Stabilize Hospital By
Ovetta Wiggins and Ann E.
Marimow Maryland and Prince George's County leaders yesterday announced a one-year "transition" plan designed to pump $26 million into Prince George's Hospital Center while officials seek new management for the financially strapped facility. Sitting side by side in the governor's reception room in the State House, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) and County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) called the deal a step toward the long-term stability of the hospital. "A few months ago, people were questioning us on whether the hospital will continue. Well, we answered that today, and it will continue," Johnson said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101617.html
Multimedia Blitz Launched on Transportation Funding Debate By
Michael D. Shear and Rosalind S.
Helderman RICHMOND March 22 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) launched a multimedia barrage Wednesday aimed at boosting support for transportation tax increases and hammering House delegates who oppose them. Meanwhile, anti-tax activists have begun a second wave of radio ads criticizing Kaine for pushing tax increases when the state government has record surpluses. In a radio ad running across the state, Kaine urges the public to tell their delegates that they support plans offered by Kaine and the state Senate to raise taxes and fees for transportation. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032201327.html
Loudoun Reopens Door to
Growth By
Amy
Gardner Loudoun County's still-bucolic west could be opened to the development of thousands of new homes after a Planning Commission decision to relax new rules intended to limit growth. The commission voted 6 to 3 Monday night to permit virtually anyone starting a home-building project this spring in the western two-thirds of the county to be protected under older, less-restrictive rules that allow roughly one house for every three acres. Although it is up to the Board of Supervisors to make a final decision, the vote imperils the county's attempt to reduce the number of homes allowed in western Loudoun. Booming growth around Dulles International Airport in eastern Loudoun has made the county one of the fastest-growing jurisdictions in the nation for several years. But the spread would have been even faster if local officials had allowed more building in the west. Just last week, new census figures showed that Washington's sprawl has reached as far south as King George and Caroline counties -- in part because development restrictions in closer-in communities such as Loudoun have pushed it there. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032102063.html
Dulles Rail Project Faces Cuts as
Costs Swell By
Alec
MacGillis The contractors on the project to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport are proposing to slash several key features -- including the number of rail cars and pedestrian bridges for those boarding in Tysons Corner -- to rein in a new spike in costs, a project director said yesterday. The contractors' latest estimate for the first phase of the extension, through Tysons Corner to Reston, has risen from $1.8 billion to $2 billion. That is the absolute maximum the project's managers believe it can cost and still win approval from the federal government, which is footing half of the bill. To keep within that ceiling, contractors have cut from their estimate several features that had been deemed untouchable, said Sam Carnaggio, the project director for the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation. Carnaggio said it is possible that a second estimate to be obtained next month from an independent engineer could come in slightly lower and that a case could yet be made for reinstating one or more of the cuts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032202397.html
$106M Condo Project Tops
Out (To read more on the multifamily market, click here.) ALEXANDRIA, VA-More condos are on the way to address Northern Virginia's appetite for the multifamily properties now that the 368-unit Midtown Alexandria Station has topped out. KSI Services Inc. is developing the 16-story property, with Bovis Lend Lease on board providing general contracting services. The project will cost approximately $106 million to complete. Located across from the Huntington Metro Station on a 3.5-acre parcel at 2451 Midtown Ave., Midtown Alexandria sits less than two miles from Reagan Washington National Airport and about six miles from Downtown Washington, DC. Designed by the architectural firm of Dorsky, Hodgson & Partners, the 600,000-sf structure also features six floors of above-grade parking. http://www.globest.com/news/501_501/washington/144104-1.html
Republic Trust Acquires Wildwood I
& II for $66M FAIRFAX, VA-Republic Property Trust has committed to buying the fee simple interest in Willowwood I and II for $66 million. The twin 18-year-old office structures account for approximately 250,000 sf of leasable class A office space. The REIT signed a binding agreement with seller SMII Fairfax LLC in a transaction that is on target to close in 60 days. Ownership of the two buildings last changed hands in 2000. Willowwood I and II are part of the four-building Willowwood Plaza complex. The two remaining buildings are already part of Republic's portfolio; the company acquired Willowwood III and IV, which feature a combined 280,000 sf, in 2003. Prominent tenants in the buildings include the Federal Technology Service, Qwest and Tetra Tech Inc. http://www.globest.com/news/501_501/washington/144133-1.html [ Back to Top ]
Duncan Raises Profile At O'Malley's Expense By
John
Wagner After settling into a Baltimore area radio studio last week and slipping on some headphones, Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan offered a candid admission about his bid for governor: Too many people in that region still know him only as "the other guy in the race." "I think it's the biggest disadvantage I have," Duncan told listeners more familiar with the other Democratic candidate, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. "But that's changing." To the extent that Duncan is right, his growing visibility has come not so much from what he is telling voters about himself as from what he is saying about the issues of the day in Baltimore. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/20/AR2006032001525.html
Silver Spring's Plans For Transit
Center Move to Final Stages By
Christian
Davenport Downtown Silver Spring, which has recently undergone a swift and dramatic revitalization, could in a few years get a transportation hub to match. Plans for the $75 million Silver Spring Transit Center are in final form, and despite some political squabbling between Montgomery County and the state, construction should begin this fall, officials said. The center is expected to be complete by spring or summer 2009. The project would transform the bus depot on Colesville Road -- an unsightly swath of concrete -- into a glimmering, multilevel center on 5.7 acres that would also feature two condominium towers, a hotel, street-level shops and a public promenade. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032201172.html
A Shake-Up Attempt Roils Democrats' Inner Circle By
Tim
Craig Some Montgomery County legislators in Annapolis are locked in a nasty power struggle with Democratic activists over the composition of the local Democratic Central Committee. The debate over whether the committee's current makeup should be scrapped in favor of a district-based system highlights growing tension within the party in the run-up to this year's Democratic primary. Last week, the delegation held a hearing on a proposal to eliminate at-large seats on the central committee so all members are elected from districts. If the proposal is approved, the committee would have 24 voting members, three from each of the county's eight legislative districts. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032200967.html
Highway Expected to Get Green Light By
Steven
Ginsberg The public comment period for the intercounty connector ends today, despite objections from the highway's opponents, moving the decades-old project a step closer to a 2006 construction start, Maryland officials said yesterday. In the final step before the state starts buying land and building the road, the Federal Highway Administration will review comments submitted by residents and interest groups and will render a final decision on the project. State officials said they expect a favorable decision this spring and plan to begin construction as soon as this summer. "We've worked very closely with [the Federal Highway Administration]; we've done our homework and don't expect any surprises," Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan said. "We will be turning earth this year." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032202130.html
Knapp: Move Planning Board to
Rockville Friday, March 24, 2006 Montgomery County Councilman Michael J. Knapp -- whose constituents uncovered planning debacle in the Clarksburg Town Center development -- is calling for moving the headquarters of Park and Planning from its current location in Silver Spring to a more central location in Rockville. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said his proposal was based on accessibility for most county residents and stemmed from discussions in council committee on use of county office space, master plan implementation and future development. Three council members support studying Knapp's proposal. Four others, including Council President George L. Leventhal and Thomas E. Perez, who represents the area, are opposed. http://www.gazette.net/stories/032406/polia%20s195533_31953.shtml
ICC backers 'suspicious' of poll showing support waning for the road Friday, March 24, 2006 Intercounty Connector supporters are discounting a new poll touted by opponents as showing that backing for the Gaithersburg-to-Laurel toll road is dropping off. "To be quite candid, we are quite suspicious of the findings of the poll," said John B. Townsend II, public and government affairs manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic. "None of the previous polling conducted by us -- or any other recognized public service group -- shows such an abrupt sea change in public opinion on the ICC." Past surveys of the ICC showed wide support for the highway statewide, Townsend said. http://www.gazette.net/stories/032406/polia%20s193752_31943.shtml [ Back to Top
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