WASHINGTON, DC NEWS

In Sweep, Fenty Draws On Uniting To Conquer

By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A01

DC mayoral candidate Adrian M. Fenty swept all eight wards and all 142 precincts in Tuesday's Democratic primary, an extraordinary display of organizational might and unification politics that breaks a long tradition of dividing District voters by race.

According to unofficial results released yesterday by the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, Fenty won every ward with at least 52 percent of the vote, pulling the same number of ballots from predominantly white Ward 3 in Northwest Washington as he did across town in predominantly black Ward 5.

The exception was in Ward 4, on the District's northern tip, where Fenty's victory was more overwhelming. The ward is home to much of the city's black political establishment, including Fenty's chief rival, DC council chairman Linda W. Cropp. Fenty, the Ward 4 council member, crushed Cropp and other opponents on his home turf, winning nearly three of every four votes cast.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300695.html

Fresh From Victory, Fenty Sets Top Priorities for Transition

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A01

A day after capturing the DC Democratic mayoral nomination in a landslide, Adrian M. Fenty laid out an ambitious pre-transition agenda yesterday, saying he will examine city agencies and develop programs so that he is ready to take office in January.

Fenty, 35, who defeated DC Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp on Tuesday, stressed that he was not ignoring the Nov. 7 general election. But he acknowledged what is commonly accepted in the majority Democratic city: He and the other primary winners are almost assured of victory.

"If we waited until the inauguration or after the general election, we'd be doing the residents a disservice," Fenty (Ward 4) said in an interview. "Every minute we spend now means we'll hit the ground running that much better."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300667.html

Gray Overcomes Patterson In Race for Powerful Seat

By Nikita Stewart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006; Page A19

DC Council member Vincent C. Gray, who won his first election just two years ago, easily won the Democratic nomination for council chairman in what had looked to be a close race with his more experienced colleague Kathy Patterson.

With 139 of 142 precincts reporting, Gray (D-Ward 7) was leading Patterson (D-Ward 3) 58 to 42 percent in his bid for the second most powerful elected position in Washington government.

Polls showed a tight contest, but Gray's promise to create a more unified city appeared to appeal to a majority of the electorate.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201759.html

Many New Faces Emerging in Ward Primaries

By Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 13, 2006; Page A23

District voters yesterday cast ballots to reshape the DC Council, choosing party nominees to replace the council chairman and three members who are retiring or running for higher office.

Of six seats up for election, only two incumbents -- Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) -- waged campaigns to return for four-year terms to their current positions. Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D), Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) and Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5) sought higher offices, and Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6) retired.

Democratic voters chose nominees for chairman, an at-large member and four ward representatives. The chairman is the only council member not allowed to have outside employment. The chairman's job pays $142,000 a year, and the part-time council positions pay $92,520.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201611.html

Business Groups Fill The Breach
Improvement Districts Springing Up All Over

By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page DZ01

Owners of office buildings and shops around the District are increasingly taxing themselves to pay for street cleaning, security, public transportation and other services that were once strictly the responsibility of city government.

The city has six business improvement districts, or BIDS as they are commonly called, where commercial landowners have agreed to pay a special tax in exchange for the authority to decide how the money -- millions of dollars, in some cases -- is spent. Seven other districts are under consideration.

"It's happening very, very fast," said Steve Moore, president of the Washington, D.C. Economic Partnership, a nonprofit group set up by the city to help attract and retain businesses. "It's like a brushfire of neighborhoods getting a new sense of themselves. . . . All the BIDs want a kind of visibility, guys in uniforms out cleaning, greeting, talking. There's a civility about all of that. It's a calming and humanizing of the streets."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300836.html

DC Superintendent to Propose Closing 19 More Schools

By V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page B01

DC School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey will propose today shuttering an additional 19 underenrolled schools on a staggered basis stretching until 2019. The recommendation is already facing criticism from some Board of Education and DC Council members who were expecting all of those buildings to be closed by 2008.

Launching phase two of a move to pare down the DC school system, Janey wants to close seven schools next summer and four a year later. The remaining eight would be closed over 12 years, beyond the graduation date for today's first-graders. The staggered schedule could mean that the system would have less money to invest in educational programs than school leaders had initially planned.

School system officials said they will need to keep more underenrolled schools open longer to accommodate students from more than 100 other schools who need to be relocated while their buildings are renovated.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091302159.html

KSI Gets $4M to Finish $25M Rental Project 

WASHINGTON, DC-KSI Services, Inc., one of the city's largest developers, is expected to begin work on the second of two buildings at the end of the year. The company, which is involved in projects that range from high-end, class A multifamily to mixed-use development to affordable housing, has received a $4-million loan to complete the $25-million redevelopment in Columbia Heights.

KSI, which took over the project in 2001 for $12 million, got the financing came from the Department of Housing & Community Development. The first building, Fairmont 1 at 1400 Fairmont St. NW, was completed in June 2005. The 100 units are now fully occupied by many of the original residents, a KSI spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com. Fairmont 2, located at 1401 Fairmont St, is mostly two-bedroom units, but will be getting six three-bedroom apartments with the retooling. Fairmont 1, also predominately two-bedroom units, had seven larger units added to its mix.

The buildings are getting upgraded electrical and mechanical systems, controlled access entry and fire sprinklers, new flooring in the kitchens and baths. The Columbia Heights project was developed at least 30 years ago.

http://www.globest.com/news/712_712/washington/148938-1.html

NAR: Real Estate Allocations Climb Higher

WASHINGTON, DC-Institutional investors continue to increase real estate allocations in their portfolios after many firms sold holdings in 2002-03 to take advantage of high valuations, according to the latest Commercial Real Estate Outlook of the National Association of Realtors. The office and industrial sectors--with sale-leaseback transactions specifically targeted--appear to be in particular favor among institutional investors.

"This is telling for the commercial real estate markets because institutional investors are risk adverse," Scott MacIntosh, senior economist with NAR tells GlobeSt.com. According to NAR, institutional investors spent $27 billion on commercial real estate by midyear. In comparison, they spent $19.5 billion by midyear 2005 and $8.5 billion in the first six months of 2004.

http://www.globest.com/news/714_714/washington/148982-1.html

JPI Readies $220M Project for DC Market

WASHINGTON, DC-JPI, a national developer based in Irving, TX, has a robust pipeline of multifamily and, increasingly, mixed-use projects under way in the Washington, DC-area.

The company broke ground this month on 70 Eye St., a 448-unit, two-building project being situated on a two-acre parcel. The second building with 246 units, 100 Eye St., is scheduled to break ground in October. Projected development costs for 70 Eye St. is $140 million and $80 million for 100 Eye St., Greg Lamb, senior vice president and regional managing partner of JPI in McLean, Va., tells GlobeSt.com.

Both buildings are scheduled for a summer 2008 delivery. GE Capital is JPI's partner in this project, as well as many others in the DC area and nationwide, Lamb says. Amenities at 70 Eye St. will include three levels of below-grade parking, a fitness center, community movie theater, business center, conference room, billiards and pub room, rooftop pool and patio.

http://www.globest.com/news/717_717/washington/149033-1.html

REGIONAL NEWS

A Humbling Lesson for Realtors' President

By Sandra Fleishman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 9, 2006; Page F01

He, of all people, should have known better.

The president of the National Association of Realtors, Thomas M. Stevens of Vienna, admits he didn't follow his agents' advice when the real estate market started to cool. That, he says, is why his old house in Great Falls has now been on the market for a year at the price of $1.45 million.

"What I should have done," confessed the senior vice president of NRT Inc., parent of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, "was listened to my agent and cut the price by $50,000 to $100,000 early on, and the property would have sold last October."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090800760.html

From Nearly Homeless To New Homeowners
Alexandria Group Trains Immigrants to Make the Jump

By Leef Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page VA14

The real estate agent's sign is still planted in the lawn outside the gray, two-story duplex on Riverview Terrace where the window boxes brim with summer flowers and the paint looks fresh.

Mario Urbina, 23, and his wife, Reina Bermudez, 29, moved in last week, hauling their few possessions -- mostly toys for their year-old daughter, Jasmine -- from a one-bedroom apartment in Arlandria to this house near the Huntington Metro station in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County.

It was a moment of triumph for Urbina, a bricklayer who emigrated from El Salvador in 2003. The following year, his new bride joined him in Alexandria. Together, the two of them had just enough money to rent a single room in a crowded house. They were barely making ends meet when Bermudez became seriously ill and stopped working as a babysitter. Urbina stayed home to care for his wife, and their meager income plummeted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300666.html 

A New Day for Democrats
DC Suburbs Assert Themselves in Party Primaries

By Robert Barnes and John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A01

Maryland voters on Tuesday endorsed a generational change of political leaders, setting up the most competitive statewide campaigns in decades and defining a new role for the Washington suburbs in the state's politics.

Maryland Democrats for the first time nominated two Montgomery County politicians for statewide office -- State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler for attorney general and Del. Peter Franchot for comptroller. No one from Montgomery has been elected on his own to statewide office since 1919.

On a day when 84-year-old Comptroller William Donald Schaefer acknowledged his exit from the public stage, the Democrats' new team assembled in Baltimore. Franchot and Gansler held a "unity" rally with Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, the party's nominee for governor; O'Malley's running mate, Del. Anthony G. Brown of Prince George's; and U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin of Baltimore County, who won the U.S. Senate nomination over former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300439.html

Decades of Service May End With Primary
Incumbent Schaefer's Loss Attributed to His Candor

By Steve Vogel and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A23

In the end, the very characteristics that made William Donald Schaefer one of the dominant figures in Maryland political history were the same that brought about his downfall in Tuesday's election.

Schaefer conceded defeat yesterday to Del. Peter Franchot (D-Montgomery) in the tight three-way race for the Democratic nomination to be Maryland comptroller. The contest focused on remarks by Schaefer that were typically blunt, eccentric and unfiltered.

With 96 percent of the vote tallied, Franchot had received more than 36 percent, edging out Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens, who had close to 34 percent. Schaefer finished third, with 30 percent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300440.html

Ehrlich, O'Malley ramping up

Friday, Sept. 15, 2006

BALTIMORE -- There were two games going on in Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.

On the field, the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox played a meaningless game -- both are out of the pennant race-- in front of a small crowd filled with Red Sox fans.

High above the field of play, however, was the more interesting political game.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/091506/polia%20s201718_31967.shtml

Slew of new faces heading to Annapolis

Friday, Sept. 15, 2006

It's already clear that plenty of new faces will roam the State House complex when lawmakers return to Annapolis in January.

Two incumbent senators and 10 incumbent delegates were unseated in Tuesday's primary -- all but one, Del. Joanne S. Parrott (R-Dist. 35A) of Fallston, are Democrats -- and the departure of at least 20 other legislators to retirement or failed bids for other offices guarantees substantial turnover.

In the wake of Tuesday's primary results, at least 10 new faces will be in the Senate and at least 27 in the House. Ten senators have either retired or were defeated. Twenty-two delegates either didn't make it through their primaries, lost their bids to move to the Senate or are stepping down. Del. Anthony G. Brown is running as Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley's gubernatorial running mate and Del. Peter V.R. Franchot (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park won the Democratic comptroller nomination.

http://www.gazette.net/stories/091506/polia%20s201719_31969.shtml

After Delays, Johnson Is Reelected; Wynn Appears to Lead in House Race

By Rosalind S. Helderman and Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A01

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) was elected to a second term Tuesday, a result only clear yesterday afternoon as county workers were stymied by technological problems with voting machines and did not count nearly half of the ballots until midday yesterday.

Johnson, 57, fended off a tough challenge from former state delegate Rushern L. Baker III, who called Johnson just after 3 p.m. to concede. With all but two precincts reporting, Johnson led by 52 to 48 percent.

"The message that was sent was that the majority of citizens are very proud of my record, despite negativity that was put out," he said in an interview before addressing supporters at a late-afternoon victory party at his Largo headquarters. "People know me, and they know the type of person that I am."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091300460.html

School Board Voters Opt For Shake-Up
Incumbents Mickens-Murray And Stone Do Not Fare Well

By Avis Thomas-Lester
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; Page A29

Prince George's County voters sent a resounding message to incumbent members of the school board in Tuesday's primary: They are looking for change.

Neither of the two members of the nine-member board who decided to run fared well in the first school board election in six years. Board member Judy Mickens-Murray (District 3) of Upper Marlboro was expected by many to win election easily. She lost to Pat Fletcher, a former union representative. Howard W. Stone Jr. (At Large) of Mitchellville, who was appointed to the board four years ago after the elected board was disbanded, was running sixth in a field of 17 candidates vying for four at-large seats.

Ken E. Johnson, former chairman of the appointed board who was ousted when the elected board was disbanded, followed Stone among candidates running for an at-large seat. The top 18 vote-getters -- eight at-large and 10 from districts -- will go on to the Nov. 7 general election.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091302252.html 

Dunn Loring Development Would Blend Uses by Metro

By Lisa Rein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 10, 2006; Page C01

Fairfax County's newest effort to concentrate development around public transit would transform a 15-acre parking lot at the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro station into 720 apartments and a parking garage stacked over stores.

If the county board endorses the project this fall, it would follow the massive development of homes, offices and stores the supervisors approved this year at the Vienna Metro station. That project, called MetroWest, initiated a three-year battle among civic activists, business leaders and politicians over how Fairfax should grow now that most of its land is used up and its population keeps growing.

The developer of the Dunn Loring project, Trammell Crow Residential, hopes to create a community of walkers, shoppers and train riders in three towers, one reaching 13 stories and the others six stories, set around trees, trails and a plaza. Some residents would walk to jobs in office buildings across the street from the Metro station, which is on the Orange Line in central Fairfax, just south of Interstate 66.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/09/AR2006090900837.html

'An Uphill Struggle' for N.Va. Plan
House Leaders Expected to Oppose New Fees for Roads, Rail

By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 15, 2006; Page B05

A $417 million plan by Northern Virginia Republicans designed to ease area traffic problems faces the same obstacle during an upcoming special session of the General Assembly that has thwarted similar efforts all year: opposition from House leaders to new taxes or fees.

"It's an uphill struggle," said Del. Thomas Davis Rust (Fairfax), who helped draft the plan. "Obviously, we have a lot of obstacles. We have a lot of folks who don't understand how severe the problem is in Northern Virginia."

Rust and other backers of the regional proposal, which would raise and spend money only in Northern Virginia, have gained the support of some business leaders, local government officials and their counterparts in Hampton Roads, who are crafting a similar measure for that traffic-plagued region.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401558.html

Fully Leased Office Building Nets $33M Plus

RESTON, VA-Boston-based Colony Realty Partners has acquired a class A office building from local developer Irving Interests. The buyer has paid $33.4 million for the 138,450-sf property, which is 100% leased to several tenants including Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems and Source Office Suites of Reston.

The 1800 Alexander Bell Dr. is also home to Irving Interests. The firm's CEO James Irving used to be a partner with Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers in Washington, DC, a spokeswoman for brokerage tells GlobeSt.com. In 2004, he left the firm on amicable terms to pursue development activities, she says.

The spokeswoman says she doesn't know if Irving Interests had structured a sale-leaseback. Irving Interests did not respond before publication time.

http://www.globest.com/news/715_715/washington/148990-1.html

Republic Closes Purchase; Expands Tenant

HERNDON, VA-Just like it said it would do, Washington, DC-based Republic Property Trust has closed on the five-story, class A Dulles Park Technology Center at 13461 Sunrise Valley Dr. Meanwhile, Republic inks an expansion with Honeywell International Inc. in an adjacent building.

The Honeywell deal adds 2,698 sf to its lease in the Campus at Dulles Technology Center at 13655 Dulles Technology Dr. Honeywell now fills 31,561 sf in the structure.

Republic announced last month that it was under contract to buy the 181,000-sf office building from Hartford, CT-based Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors for $48.3 million or $267 per rentable sf. The asset is 30% empty, which was reflected in the initial capitalization rate of 5.23% on the purchase price. Once the property is stabilized, the cap rate is projected to climb above 7%, according to Republic.

http://www.globest.com/news/711_711/washington/149052-1.html