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Phase II of The Wharf in Washington, D.C. will deliver office, multifamily,
retail and restaurant space, in addition to a park and two underground garages.

Press Release

April 1, 2019

PN Hoffman, Madison Marquette Break Ground on Phase II of $2.5B Mixed-Use Project in Washington, D.C

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Locally based developers PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette have broken ground on Phase II of The Wharf, a $2.5 billion, mixed-use project fronting the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.

At full build-out, Phase II will feature 625,000 square feet of Class A office space, 255 apartments, 96 condominium units, 131 hotel rooms and a 109,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. Phase II will also include a 1.5-acre park, two underground parking garages with more than 1,000 spaces, and additional dockage totaling 223 slips at The Wharf Marina.

Phase I of The Wharf, which spans a mile and is the largest private development in the city, opened in October 2017. Phase I included three hotels, two multifamily and condominium buildings, and 210,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space.

The design team behind Phase II includes more than a dozen architects. Cianbro is the general contractor for construction of the marina component, and Balfour Beatty is handling construction of the office buildings and below-grade parking garages. Other project partners include ER Bacon Development, City Partners, Paramount Development and Triden Development.

Madison Marquette, which is owned by international investment firm Capital Guidance and merged with PMRG last summer, houses its global headquarters at The Wharf. Law rm Williams & Connolly has also committed to be the anchor tenant of the new office space under construction.

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Press Release

December 17, 2018

Mayor Bowser Delivers More Senior Affordable Housing and Retail to Southwest at Kickoff of Phase II Construction on 555 E Street

(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Mayor Bowser kicked off the second phase of construction at 555 E Street, SW, delivering additional senior affordable housing, a hotel, and retail space near the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood in Ward 6. In 2015, the Mayor cut the ribbon on the first phase of the project just one block away at 400 E Street, SW, another mixed-used development that included Engine Company 13 and the Hyatt Place hotel.

We are proud to be a city that as we grow and prosper, we’re also staying very focused on how we look out for our seniors and ensure they have access to high-quality, affordable housing options,” said Mayor Bowser. “Going into the next four years, we will continue working to ensure neighborhoods across all eight wards of the District have access to the types of housing, amenities, and jobs that make Washington, DC such an attractive place to live and work.”

The new mixed-use development, which will consist of two towers atop 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and underground parking, is considered the District’s first mixed-age and mixed-income building. The first tower will have 194 residential apartments, including 136 market rate multifamily rental units and 58 units of deeply affordable housing for seniors ages 62 and older. In the second tower will be the city’s first citizenM hotel, a European boutique hotel brand known for offering luxury experiences at affordable prices.

“They say cranes in the sky are a sign of a fruitful city, and we have many!” said Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner. “This project is special because we are adding a housing component to a predominantly commercial area of the District.”

This innovative mixed-income/mixed-age approach ensures that of the 58 affordable units, 43 will be available for seniors making up to 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), seven will be Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units for vulnerable seniors earning up to 30 percent of the AMI, and the remaining eight units will be non-PSH voucher units for seniors earning up to 30 percent of the AMI. The PSH units will be served by local nonprofit Community Connections of DC, which will ensure that the PSH tenants have all the tools and skills necessary to live safely in an independent setting.

The development team, E Street Development Group, LLC, is a joint venture led by CityPartners and Potomac Investment Properties that also includes DC Strategy Group, Paramount Development, and Adams Investment. All five partners are DC businesses led by DC residents.


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Jon Banister,Bisnow Washington, D.C

October 26, 2018

The opening of The Wharf, Audi Field and other amenities in Southwest D.C. are turning the neighborhood into one of the most sought-after destinations for visitors and residents, a trend developers say is unprecedented in the city's history.

"People are realizing how central Southwest is," CityPartners Managing Member Geoffrey Griffis said. "It's kind of the neighborhood that nobody went to, and now people are realizing there are reasons to go there." Griffis, who will speak Nov. 8 at Bisnow's Southwest D.C. and Buzzard Point event, is developing a mixed-use project at 555 E St. SW that will feature a hotel and apartment building. The developer in September 2017 signed European hotel brand CitizenM as the flag for the 252-room hotel. The 196-unit apartment building will consist of 30% senior affordable units, and the project is expected to deliver in Q3 2020. CityPartners also developed the Hyatt Place hotel at 400 E St. SW in 2014. While The Wharf introduced three hotels to the neighborhood, Griffis sees it as a boost for his project rather than competition. "There was some trepidation from other business owners and hotel owners when The Wharf was opening, but I've always held the idea that it's not zero sum," said Griffis, whose company was also a partner on The Wharf development. "The Wharf is driving people into Southwest, but there are other additional reasons to be in Southwest, so it's all growing together. We're creating demand and growing business."

Donohoe Hospitality is leading the development of the Cambria Hotel & Suites at 1535 Half St. SW on Buzzard Point after acquiring the site this summer. The developer has been building hotels in Southwest D.C. since 1980, when it delivered the Holiday Inn at 550 C St. SW, and it also developed a Residence Inn at 333 E St. SW. Donohoe Hospitality President Thomas Penny said employees at the Holiday Inn used to say "welcome to beautiful Southwest," as a way to counteract negative perceptions of the area, but he said it has now changed dramatically. "We used to try to get folks to come to Southwest and it was a challenge," Penny said. "It's gone from the point where it was perceived to be an inferior part of town to now an international destination for entertainment, for lodging, for restaurants, with an activated waterfront experience and sports." The Cambria site is just two blocks from where Audi Field, D.C. United's new soccer stadium, opened in July. Penny said he sees the new stadium as a demand-generator for the hotel, but he said visitors coming to do business with the federal government will still represent a much larger portion of its customers. The growth of D.C.'s waterfront area, from The Wharf to Audi Field, Nationals Park and the Yards, has had a significant impact on hotel performance in Southwest D.C., Penny said. "Historically, Southwest D.C. hotels have gotten inferior rates to Northwest," Penny said. "With the water being activated, with the sports and entertainment, now Southwest is being positioned to either be on par with other parts of the city, and possibly at certain times demand a premium. It's the first time in the city's history that's been possible." Penny thinks last year's opening of The Wharf was a monumental turning point in bringing visitors to the Southwest neighborhood. "The Wharf has been the economic anchor," Penny said. "The Wharf has created local energy and excitement. It has also created excitement for tourists in a way I don't think one development project has generated that level of enthusiasm in 30 years." Developers also see The Wharf as a boost to Southwest D.C.'s apartment market. The Southwest, Capitol Riverfront and Capitol Hill submarket has the fastest-growing apartment supply of any area in the city, according to Delta Associates, but it has been able to dominate the city's absorption and raise rents more than any other neighborhood. "Of course The Wharf is driving demand, which will then drive rental rates," Griffis said. "I think the delivery of units to Southwest are going to be easily absorbed, and even with a tempering of overall District absorption, I think Southwest is still going to command a larger share than the rest of the areas."

Over on South Capitol Street, the dividing line between Southwest and Southeast D.C., Ruben Cos. is constructing a second apartment building after delivering One Hill South last year. The 300-unit project at 950 South Capitol St. SE is expected to deliver in 18 to 20 months, Ruben Cos. CEO Richard Ruben said. Ruben also owns sites across the street at 1100 and 1101 South Capitol St. SW that he plans for future development of either office or multifamily, depending on market conditions. The developer began acquiring the parcels in 2004 as he saw the neighborhood as the next logical extension of the city's growth. He sees anchors such as Nationals Park, Audi Field and The Wharf as demand-drivers for apartments in the neighborhood, but he said they were not the only reason for the area's growth. "The baseball and soccer stadium have clearly helped the neighborhood, but it would have developed even without drivers," Ruben said. "There's only a certain number of places in D.C. where there's enough developable land where you can create a neighborhood. The District is expanding, and this was a logical place to expand to. That's why I bought so much land." He does not see the massive surge of apartment supply as a challenge for developers in the neighborhood, instead he thinks it is helping drive demand by making the waterfront area a more attractive place to live. "In some sense, supply has been our friend, not our enemy, because it brings a critical mass of people and retail," Ruben said. "Without supply and other residents, there's no neighborhood. The continued supply is getting absorbed and will continue to get absorbed. It sort of feeds off itself."

In Southwest D.C.'s The Portals mixed-use complex, Republic Properties is constructing a 373-unit apartment building that will deliver next summer. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects with WDG Architecture as the architect of record, the 14-story building offers views of the National Mall, the Northern Virginia skyline and The Wharf. Republic Properties Vice President Holly Hull said she views The Wharf as a complementary offering to 1331 that will allow residents to take advantage of the new amenities without living on top of the crowded waterfront area. "The proximity to The Wharf and all that brings in terms of programming and retail mix and entertainment and restaurants, it's drawing a lot of people to Southwest that might have otherwise not considered it," Hull said. "It's becoming a vibrant market where people want to be."



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Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington, D.C.

November 9, 2018

Buzzard Point is just beginning to become a destination for D.C. residents, with D.C. United last week finishing its first season at Audi Field, but one development underway in the neighborhood shows that the area has already become a major attraction for restaurateurs.

The team behind the $250M redevelopment of the former Coast Guard headquarters on Buzzard Point is still 18 months away from completing the mixed-use conversion, but its 70K SF of waterfront retail space is already 75% leased. Orr Partners Chairman David Orr, speaking Thursday at Bisnow's Southwest D.C. & Buzzard Point event, said the River Point team has recently landed a James Beard-award winning chef to open a restaurant at the 2100 Second St. SW development. He was not ready to name the chef but said an announcement would be made in the coming weeks. A D.C. chef, The Dabney's Jeremiah Langhorne, won the James Beard Award this year for best Mid-Atlantic chef, and three other local chefs — Centrolina's Amy Brandenwein, Bad Saint's Tom Cunanan and Himitsu's Kevin Tien — were finalists. Jose Andres won the James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award. Bread Furst's Mark Furstenburg, Rose's Luxury's Aaron Silverman and A Rake's Progress' Spike Gjerde have all taken home James Beard awards in recent years as well.

The River Point development team, which consists of Akridge, Orr Partners, Western Development and Redbrick LMD, has at least two additional food and beverage tenants planned. It reached a deal with Greg Casten and Tony Cibel, the owners of Georgetown waterfront restaurants Tony and Joe's and Nick's Riverside Grill, to open a 12K SF restaurant with outdoor seating in the project. The development will also feature a plant-based food market, Orr said. When the team purchased the site in 2014, Buzzard Point was full of vacant sites and little activity other than the gravel spewing from its power plant, Orr said. The neighborhood has now welcomed D.C. United's new stadium, but the waterfront area nearly a half-mile south of Audi Field where River Point is under construction remains an unproven retail market. Orr said what gave the team confidence, and what has helped spur its retail leasing, has been its location at the intersection of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. "What we're doing is activating the water," Orr said. "For us it's all about the water."

Akridge, in addition to partnering on the River Point project, owns a 5-acre site to the north at 100 V St. SW, where it plans 2M SF of development. Akridge Chairman Chip Akridge said the first phase of that development, which will include 1M SF of apartments, hotel, retail and potentially condos, is expected break ground in the first half of 2020. The Buzzard Point neighborhood is sandwiched in between the Capitol Riverfront area to the east, where The Yards and Nationals Park have driven significant growth, and The Wharf to the west, where the massive development has sparked new life on the waterfront. Akridge said Buzzard Point has the potential to connect those two neighborhoods. "Buzzard Point, at this point, is the hole in the doughnut," Akridge said. "The good news is there are only eight private landowners in all of Buzzard Point. We’re all working together to create the community that will be just about the same size as The Wharf, but we have a soccer stadium and a baseball stadium. We think with those things will do pretty well." While its waterfront location offers prime views, one of the challenges Buzzard Point faces is connectivity. The developers said the team is trying to solve that in three ways. First, it will connect the development to the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, a bike and walking trail that runs up the river to Bladensburg. The team is also in talks with other Buzzard Point property owners to develop a circulator shuttle system that could connect to the Metro, Orr said. The nearest stations to the River Point site, Waterfront and Navy Yard, are each about 1 mile away. Finally, the team is in discussions with the District and the Army Corps of Engineers about building a new pier that would connect Buzzard Point to the new water taxi system that has stops at National Harbor, Alexandria and The Wharf. The idea has not yet been approved, Orr said.

The water taxi system that debuted with the grand opening of The Wharf has created a new mode of transportation that other Southwest D.C. developers see as valuable for the area. The Water Taxi had 32,000 riders in the month of October, according to the Southwest Business Improvement District. "I think [the water taxi] has a huge effect," said CityPartners Managing Member Geoffrey Griffis, who is developing a mixed-use project at 555 E St. SW. "If you look at other cities that have water frontage, people take it as commonplace. I think we're now introducing that to D.C. and I think it's going to relieve car traffic and evening traffic. I think people are going to start commuting on that and using it to get to events."

The Wharf has also introduced a new system of ground transportation that the Buzzard Point developers are looking to emulate. The Wharf's development team of PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, in partnership with the District, provides a free shuttle bus that runs in a circle from the National Mall to L'Enfant Plaza to The Wharf. The shuttle bus was used by 39,000 riders last month, according to the Southwest BID. Southwest BID President Steve Moore attributes the strong volume in part to the entertainment offerings The Wharf provides that have drawn visitors from throughout the region. "The Wharf itself, separate from how well the restaurants are doing and everything, has disrupted the entertainment business here," Moore said. "They can put 20,000 people on those piers any time they want ... it's a place to be that's entirely distinct from what your experience would be at CityCenter or National Harbor."

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Jon Banister, Bisnow Washington, D.C.

December 1, 2017

October's grand opening of The Wharf has created new activity on the Southwest Waterfront, but PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette's project is also boosting development away from the water's edge in other parts of the city's smallest quadrant.

L'Enfant Plaza, the station where five lines intersect near The Wharf, has a full pipeline of new development, courtesy of JBG Smith. In June 2016, the developer finalized a deal with the International Spy Museum to move into a newly constructed 140K SF building in L'Enfant Plaza that will be significantly larger than its current East End home. JBG Smith Executive Vice President Britt Snider said The Wharf has been "the big tide that has floated all of our boats." "What we were trying to do was create a better connection from the National Mall to The Wharf. Given the position of L'Enfant Plaza, that’s really where we felt like we could make an impact," said Snider, speaking Thursday at Bisnow's Future of Southwest D.C. and The Wharf event. "We felt there was an opportunity there, so we said 'what can we do?' The office market wasn't great, so we said 'how can we change what's going on here and create a cultural node?'" Following the museum deal, the developer in January landed a 121K SF lease with the Urban Institute, allowing it to kick off construction at 500 L'Enfant Plaza. JBG Smith has two remaining development sites at L'Enfant Plaza, for 300K SF behind the spy museum and a 200K SF site on the northeast parcel of the complex. There is a chance one of those sites could be another museum. Snider said several potential museum users have approached JBG Smith about the site because of the proximity to the Metro and the National Mall. He said the developer has viewed those as office sites, but would not break ground before landing an anchor tenant. He considers the Capitol Riverfront the biggest competition L'Enfant Plaza has for office tenants. "It was a tougher conversation before when we didn't have The Wharf here as an amenity and when Southeast had the ballpark," Snider said. "Now, we're going to be much more competitive."

Southwest D.C. has not only competed with the area around Nationals Park, it also often been lumped in with it. But CityPartners Managing Member Geoffrey Griffis said that is changing. "For so long, really up until a couple weeks ago, you couldn’t talk about Southwest without people asking, ‘how do you like developing around the ballpark?’" Griffis said, to laughter from the 250-person audience at The Wharf's InterContinental Hotel. "It goes to [the] whole point of what’s happening and what we’re all seeing firsthand, that there’s a real identity coming here in Southwest." CityPartners, in partnership with Potomac Investment Properties, is working on a mixed-use development at 555 E St. SW, where it recently signed European boutique brand CitizenM as the flag for its 252-room hotel. The hotel will be built alongside a 196-unit apartment building. The first phase of the project, which delivered in 2014 across the street, consisted of a 214-room Hyatt Place Hotel above a new fire station. For the multifamily portion, CityPartners is setting aside 30% of the units for senior affordable housing. The District awarded the developer the rights to build on the site back in 2009, before Mayor Muriel Bowser's new affordable housing requirements were implemented. But Griffis said the team decided to meet the standards anyway, and he said they wanted to make them senior affordable units to create more diversity of age. "We made it into the paper and we've already gotten calls into the office that people want to lease," Griffis said. "We told them it's still a couple years out, but it's an indication that there is a lot of excitement and interest in this area."

In addition to creating a buzz among office tenants and apartment renters, the delivery of The Wharf's first phase has also boosted Southwest D.C.'s prominence in the minds of top architects, Madison Marquette Senior Vice President Daniel McCahan said. This has allowed Phase 2 and other nearby developments to draw best-in-class designers, he said, further increasing the neighborhood's appeal. "Going back six or 10 years, the area didn't have the same recognition that it has today broadly in the real estate industry," McCahan said. "So when we set out to plan Phase 2, we were able to attract designers and other professionals that wouldn't necessarily have been part of the mix in the first phase." Phase 2's roster of architects, led by Perkins Eastman, includes ShoP Architects, WDG Architecture, ODA and Rafael Vinoly Architects. Additionally, Morris Adjmi Architects will design its first office building in D.C. as part of The Wharf's second phase.

While these architects are designing visually appealing buildings for The Wharf, PN Hoffman CEO Monty Hoffman said he is just as focused on the public spaces. "The challenge with object architecture is we're fawning over the bricks and mortar, but you see object architecture from a distance," Hoffman said. "That's not what we're about. We're about people and we're about the pedestrian experience and urban theater. So co-existing the architecture with the pedestrian and retail experience and the environment is something we're going to be focused on quite heavily over the next 12 months."

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Rebecca Cooper – Senior Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal

Sep 21, 2017

Boutique hotel brand citizenM is coming to D.C. The chain, which has most of its hotels in Europe, will supply the flag for a new hotel planned for 555 E St. SW, according to to the developers of the site.

The project includes a 252-room citizenM and a 194-unit apartment building, according to E Street Development Group LLC, a partnership that includes CityPartners LLC and Potomac Investment Properties Inc.

CitizenM’s hotel will be across the street from another hotel the developer opened next door in 2015, the Hyatt Place National Mall at 400 E St. SW. The two properties were always part of the same development; E Street won the rights to develop the D.C.-owned parcels back in 2009, and began work in earnest on the project in 2013. The first phase included a new fire station for the District’s Engine Co. 13, which was built under the Hyatt Place.

E Street’s original plan called for a 305,000-square-foot office building in the second phase, however. Later, as the Hyatt Place neared opening, City Partners said it was considering a number of options: another hotel, some residential, maybe a couple of floors of office.

When it opens, this will be one of the first citizenM hotels in the U.S. The first one opened in New York in the heart of Times Square in 2014, and others are in the works for Seattle, the Bowery in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The chain, which bills itself as “low-cost luxury,” capitalizes on the trend of shrinking hotel rooms with large, multipurpose lobby spaces where guests spend much more of their time. The rooms are small, but feature free Wi-Fi, on-demand movies, free bottled water and kiosk check-in.

They also come with a big boost in style compared to other budget hospitality options — although that has been changing in recent years. Founder Rattan Chadha, a former fashion industry executive, told Inc. in 2014 that he was aiming for “great style for a price a 25-year-old designer could afford. That concept existed in fashion but not in hotels.”

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Chris Feery, Bisnow National

November 19, 2015

E Street Development Group, a JV led by CityPartners and Potomac Investment Properties, has announced the grand opening of 400 E St SW will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony next week. The state-of-the-art complex includes a new, 214-room Hyatt Place Hotel with an outdoor pool, meeting rooms, a fitness center and a rooftop bar that offers breathtaking views of DC’s iconic monuments. Also on-site will be the new home for Engine Company 13, the first fire station to be built in the District in more than 20 years. Kid Power Inc, a local nonprofit that aids underserved children in the District, has made 400 E St SW the location for its brand new HQ.

“400 E St SW is a beautifully designed mixed-use project that is the manifestation of a successful public-private partnership. From day one, our team was committed to developing a project that would truly serve the community,” said CityPartners founder and principal Geoffrey Griffis in a statement. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 11:30am. This project represents the first phase of E Street Development’s transformation of this block of Southwest DC. Phase 2 is slated to begin construction in 2017 at 555 E St, the site of the old Engine Company 13. Plans for Phase 2 call for a 300k SF mixed-use building that will include residential, retail and office space.

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CityPartners advancing $120M Congress Heights Metro project, minus Sanford 

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CityPartners plans to move forward on construction of the development's first phase in May 2019.

 

By Katie Arcieri  –  Reporter, Washington Business Journal

Jan 4, 2018, 2:43pm EST 

 

CityPartners, the group behind a $120 million development adjacent to the Congress Heights Metro Station, said it has removed a controversial equity partner from the project and will move forward with construction of phase one in May 2019.

D.C.-based CityPartners recently took possession of three apartment buildings adjacent to the Metro station — at 1309 Alabama Ave. SE, 1331-1333 Alabama Ave. SE and 3210 13th St. SE — from affiliates of Sanford Capital LLC in a deed in lieu of foreclosure transaction. Those transactions were recorded this week.

"This is the new chapter," said Geoffrey Griffis, founder and managing member of CityPartners, which is funding the development that fronts Alabama Avenue at 13th Street SE. "Moving Sanford frees us up to move forward — there is just no question about it."

Griffis said the existing buildings will be demolished to make way for the walkable development, which, it is hoped, will revitalize this block near the St. Elizabeths East campus with a mix of affordable and market-rate apartments, shops, restaurants, offices and a new plaza at the Metro entrance.

CityPartners will remain the lead developer, Griffis said, and plans to submit for permits for phase one by May and break ground a year later. The initial phase, which could cost between $55 million and $60 million, calls for underground parking, retail space and a 215-unit apartment complex atop the Metro station. That phase is expected to be built out by 2021.

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The two buildings that complete the Congress Heights Metro project from CityPartners. Residential is to the right, and office is to the left.

 

CityPartners could potentially bring in another equity partner, "but we know we can get to a construction start [without one] and that's what we are pushing very quickly to do," Griffis said.

Griffis said he believes the project also has the potential to create hundreds of jobs in retail and professional services at a 280,000-square-foot office building planned for a future phase.

"Who goes in there? People that work," he said. "If we can bring people that are there literally 24 hours a day, we have just changed the security of the Metro station itself. People are much more comfortable walking."

This project has been on the books since 2011, when CityPartners and Sanford struck a $3 million deal with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to acquire three WMATA-owned parcels in Congress Heights totaling nearly an acre. But the project, which included the three WMATA sites and the three apartment buildings and earned D.C. zoning approval years ago, was held up in part by the controversy surrounding Sanford and its care, or alleged lack thereof, of several affordable apartment buildings in the District.

In early 2017, the D.C. government took possession through foreclosure of a key parcel that CityPartners reportedly needed for the Congress Heights project. That property, 3200 13th St. SE, is still owned by the District but does not appear to be slowing CityPartners, at least in its first phase.

“Now that CityPartners has acquired all the other parcels near the Metro, the next step is to create partnerships with the tenants and then reach out to the city to understand their objectives regarding the corner property," Griffis said.

The three apartment buildings CityPartners does control were at risk for foreclosure after Sanford "stopped paying mortgages" on the properties to CityPartners, the lender at the time of the foreclosure transaction, Griffis said.

"They didn't manage their other buildings well, and they ran these like their other portfolio pieces," Griffis said. "We have had the difficulty of broken trust with the tenants of how Sanford Capital dealt with them. There was work that should have been done that was not done. The minute I took possession of this, we had a team out there everyday."

Sanford officials could not immediately be reached for comment. A phone number listed for Sanford is no longer in service.

CityPartners is presenting the 13 remaining tenants in its soon-to-be-demolished buildings with three options:

• Temporarily relocate in the neighborhood and then return to live in the new buildings at their current rental rates. "Whatever they are paying today they will come back and maintain it," Griffis said.

• Move out and receive a negotiated buyout amount now.

• Become limited owners in the project by investing the buyout amount, which would give tenants the potential for returns on their investment. "Once we deliver they could potentially be getting a check every month," he said.

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Boutique hotel brand citizenM is coming to D.C. The chain, which has most of its hotels in Europe, will supply the flag for a new hotel planned for 555 E St. SW, according to to the developers of the site.

The project includes a 252-room citizenM and a 194-unit apartment building, according to E Street Development Group LLC, a partnership that includes CityPartners LLC and Potomac Investment Properties Inc.


See the full article published in the Washington Business Journal here

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"Hoffman-Madison Waterfront (HMW), the developer of The Wharf, a $2 billion, mile-long neighborhood located on DC's Southwest waterfront, today announced the architects and designers selected to design Phase 2 of the site. 

The eleven architects comprise one of the most impressive lineups in the nation to design the ambitious second phase of The Wharf. When complete, Phase 2 of The Wharf will feature an additional 1.2 million square feet of mixed-use development including office, residential, marina, and retail space, as well as parks and public spaces, across an approximate half mile of waterfront. 

Phase 1 is scheduled to open in October 2017. The groundbreaking for Phase 2 will take place in mid-2018, with an expected completion date in 2021. 

“It is extraordinarily exciting to be able to announce the team we have selected to design Phase 2 of The Wharf,” said Shawn Seaman, AIA, Principal and Senior Vice President of Development of PN Hoffman. “We have selected a diverse group of locally, nationally, and internationally renowned designers, knowing they will bring their talent and expertise to The Wharf, building a waterfront neighborhood that is an integral part of the city.” 

"The Wharf is a large-scale waterfront development by Hoffman-Madison Waterfront. The Wharf development team is led by PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette and also includes ER Bacon Development, City Partners, Paramount Development and Triden Development."

H/t: SWBID

Read the full article here.

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By Michael Neibauer

"Between The Wharf and Riverside Baptist Church projects, PN Hoffman has a dominant development presence in Southwest D.C. As of Friday, add another to its plate.

The District announced that the team of PN Hoffman, Paramount Development, ER Bacon Development, CityPartners and AHC Inc. have won the right to develop Waterfront Station II, a 59,000-square-foot lot at 1000 Fourth St. SW. Their winning plan, designed by Torti Gallas, includes 310 market-rate apartments, 133 affordable units (30 percent of the total), a 10,000-square-foot black box theater and roughly 22,500 square feet of neighborhood-serving retail."

H/t Michael Neibauer

Read the full article here.

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CHICAGO—The Hyatt Place Washington D.C./National Mall, owned by Washington, DC-based E Street Development Group, LLC, has officially opened. The hotel is a joint venture led by CityPartners and Potomac Investment Properties, and operated by Arlington, VA-based Interstate Hotels & Resorts.

Blocks away from the National Mall, Hyatt Place Washington D.C./National Mall is within walking distance to national landmarks such as the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials; the World War II and MLK Jr. Memorials; the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum; and the Holocaust Museum. Additionally, Hyatt Place Washington D.C./National Mall is nearby numerous government agencies and businesses, including NASA, Department of Energy (DOE) and Federal Aviation Administration, among others, and is a 10-minute drive from Reagan National Airport.

Read the rest of the article on the Hotel Business site.

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BY CHARNICE A. MILTON

"When Geoffrey Griffis, the managing member for CityPartners, LLC, reminisces about living in the Columbia Heights area, he recalls how close his multiethnic and multigenerational neighbors were. 'Everyone looked out for each other,' he reminisced. 'I go back all the time and talk to my old neighbors.' Recently, CityPartners partnered with Sanford Capital LLC, who owns several apartment buildings in the area, and submitted plans for a transit-oriented  development anchored by Congress Heights Metro station."

...

"Designed by Maurice Walters Architect, PC, the project, which Griffis calls 'Congress Heights Town Center,' aims to anchor the up-and-coming neighborhood. The is separated into two components: an eight-story office building and an over 200-unit residential building with a large courtyard. Both 90 foot tall buildings will feature roof-top terraces, giving residents a chance to enjoy city views. The Metro station entrance would be surrounded by a courtyard flanked by ground level retailers. Other amenities include underground parking, a Capital Bikeshare Station, and larger sidewalks for pedestrians."

H/t Charnice A. Milton

http://www.capitalcommunitynew...

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