2023 Winter Issue - 65

Historic preservation helped create community
acceptance and clear the way for developers to build
a $715 million mixed-use development in Washington,
D.C. So did a big hole in the ground.
That hole-an excavation below a historic building-was
key to preserving the structure while configuring
space for an anchor grocery tenant, Wegmans,
at City Ridge, a 1.8 million-square-foot (167,000 sq m)
redevelopment of a 10-acre (4 ha) site in the capital's
affluent Northwest quarter, about four miles (6.4 km)
from downtown. For its efforts, City Ridge won the
2022 District of Columbia Award for Excellence in Historic
Preservation for Design and Construction.
Construction at City Ridge began in late 2018,
meaning much of the work took place during the
height of the COVID-19 pandemic. So in addition to
the expected challenges of such a large infill project-
such as financing, neighborhood concerns, and site
surprises-the development team faced supply chain
and marketing complications.
The site previously was the headquarters of mortgage
giant Fannie Mae, which occupied a Colonial
Williamsburg-inspired main building constructed
beginning in 1956 for Equitable Life Insurance Co.
That building, now on the National Register of Historic
Places, sits behind a deep lawn that separates it from
busy Wisconsin Avenue. The surrounding neighborhood
includes upscale multifamily buildings, main
campuses for American University and the University
of the District of Columbia, parks, and block after
leafy block of single-family houses selling for well
over $1 million.
" Get Wegmans "
The Wegmans made it easier to attract other tenants,
says developer Richard Lake, founding principal of
D.C.-based real estate firm Roadside Development.
The three ingredients essential to making the project
work: " Get Wegmans, get community support, and
get enough real estate to justify the rest of the project, "
he said during a recent tour of the property.
Roadside, with capital partner North America
Sekisui House LLC (NASH), a subsidiary of a Japanese
homebuilder, developed the project; Whiting-Turner is
the general contractor; and Shalom Baranes Associates
is the project architect.
At buildout, City Ridge will include 160,000
square feet (14,800 sq m) of office space; 154,000
square feet (14,300 sq m) of retail and restaurant
space, including Wegmans; and 690 rental apartments,
including 56 affordable units. All buildings are
designed to be LEED Gold, and the project as a whole
is certified Gold under the LEED v4 for Neighborhood
Development program. The largest office tenant, the
International Baccalaureate (IB) Global Centre for
the Americas, eventually will fill 100,000 square feet
(9,300 sq m). IB began its move from the D.C. suburbs
to City Ridge in late 2022.
Fannie Mae, which has been under federal conservatorship
since the 2008 financial crisis, put the
site on the market in 2015 as part of a cost-saving
consolidation of its office space. In addition to the
centerpiece 225,000-square-foot (20,900 sq m) redbrick
office building, the secure corporate campus
had a three-story, 500-space open-air parking deck, a
loading dock, and some smaller structures.
Lake says his firm turned to past collaborators
to make its bid. " Our first call when the property
became available was to Wegmans, " which was familiar
to Roadside from its previous work with grocery
chains. " Having them at the table is so important;
they know their business. "
Striking the Deal
Capital came from NASH, the other development partner,
which had worked with Roadside on an earlier
project. " Tom McKay [NASH's chief development officer]
called me back in a day, " Lake says. " So, the two
lead partners were at the table when we bid. " Deeppocketed
national firms also were eyeing the site.
Having capital from NASH, rather than a financing
structure reliant on debt, put Roadside on competitive
footing with those out-of-town firms, according to
the Washington Business Journal. The Journal named
the purchase its 2016 real estate deal of the year.
The team closed on the site in 2016, paying $86
million, and leased it back to Fannie Mae for two
years while that company waited to move to its new
downtown office space.
" The next step was pricing out our thesis: how
do you justify that price tag? " Lake says. How do you
organize 10 acres in the city, with a grocery tenant
WINTER 2023
URBAN LAND
63
2023 Winter Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Winter Issue
