The Inside Scoop on 14W

• November 29th 2010

by UrbanTurf Staff

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Just before people hopped in their cars for the Thanksgiving break, the Washington Business Journal dropped some big residential development news for the District: a 231-apartment mixed-use development would break ground on the corner of 14th and W Streets NW in a joint partnership between Perseus Realty and Jefferson Apartment Group.

In addition to 231 apartments, the 300,000 square-foot project will have a new 44,000 square-foot YMCA facility, and over 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. The development, named 14W, will blend new construction on what is now a vacant lot with the adjoining five row houses along 14th Street. Demolition is expected in early December with the first apartments and YMCA to deliver in the summer of 2012. Remaining apartments will deliver that fall.

“We have a very desirable project,” Perseus president Robert Cohen told UrbanTurf. “The YMCA is a great amenity. We’re going to have an Olympic-size pool, a gym, and even a day care center. There’s also a charter school around the corner on Florida Avenue, so theoretically, we could attract younger people with new families.”

Cohen said that the average apartment will be a little over 800 square feet, and that monthly rents will range from roughly $2,300 to $2,600. Of the 231 apartments, 19 will be set aside as affordable for tenants earning 60 percent or less of area median income.

As for the retail that will occupy the ground floor, it’s too early to say. At 10,000 square feet, the space is too small for a grocery store, so Cohen is hoping for something like a restaurant or clothing store that will serve as an additional amenity for the neighborhood. Because much of the retail space will be contained in the row houses, the final effect could be similar to what Douglas Jemal did with the restored row houses along 7th Street in Chinatown.

“We’re going to be very selective with what type of tenants we choose for the location,” said Cohen.

The ground breaking of 14W is yet another sign of an increasingly active pipeline in the DC Metro area. Perseus originally announced the project back in 2007, but the economic downtown stalled development. Three years later, and not only is 14W finally moving ahead, but Cohen indicated that Perseus is working on a couple other projects as well.

“We’re back in the market again,” he said.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/the_inside_scoop_on_14W/2712.