Monday, December 19, 2011

CityMarket at O Construction on Schedule



The pinging that you will hear beginning later this week is the noise of progress at the CityMarket at O construction site.  The pinging will be coming from pile drivers that will be driving piles around the four edges of the project site on O, 7th, 9th and P Streets. (From Wikipedia,  pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures.)


The historic market facade has now been stabilized and secured to withstand the excavation and WILL NOT be disturbed.


Construction hours on the site are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and pile driving is anticipated to last through January 2012.


We apologize in advance for the noise and appreciate your patience. 
Just remember, pinging = progress in Shaw in 2012.





Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Giant Progress


For those who haven't been at 9th and O, Drew Porterfield snapped this photo this week.  The Giant is now demolished.  Work continues in preparation for excavation

To keep up with work, click on http://oxblue.com/pro/open/clarkconstruction/citymarket

Thursday, November 17, 2011

CityMarket at O is ON!

It's official..CityMarket at O is going full steam ahead.
Join us for the celebration of construction start.

When:  Friday, November 18 at 10 am

Where:  The "Old Giant" Parking Lot, 7th and O

Join Mayor Gray, Congresswoman Norton, Acting FHA Commissioner Carol Galante, Council Chairman Kwame Brown and Councilmember Jack Evans take the first steps to the transformation for Giant.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Construction Kickoff

The transformation begins.  Join us on Friday, November 18 at 10 am under the big tent for the construct kickoff of CityMarket at O.

The District sold almost $40M in city tax increment revenue bonds this week and closing on HUD financing is scheduled for the  week of November 14.

Next step will be the demolition of the Giant and excavation of the entire 2 blocks save the historic market that being braced and readied to withstand the excavation. You can monitor the progress 24 hours a day by going to:  http://oxblue.com/pro/open/clarkconstruction/citymarket.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Construction Update at O

Construction fence is going up today at O.


Roadside will be closing on projec financing and taking control of the Giant site in mid-November. In the meantime, Clark has begun work on the facade support on the market building itself in preparation for full bore demolition of the Giant building and excavation in mid-November.


Stayed tuned news of community celebration of the beginning of the transformation of the site which is being planned for November 15.



Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Friday, September 23, 2011

Hotel Announcement

A Cambria Suites hotel (http://www.cambriasuites.com) with its spectacular entrance at 9th and O is coming to CityMarket at O.   The hotel will offer 182 all-suite guestrooms, an expanded food and beverage area and a rooftop featuring a pool, fitness center and an outdoor patio with views of the U.S. Capitol and the National Monuments. The hotel is a joint venture between Choice Hotels, Concord Hospitality (http://www.concordhotels.com), the operator, and Roadside Development (http://roadsidedevelopment.com), the developer of CityMarket at O.


Designed as a lifestyle hotel brand, Cambria Suites offers more than just a place to sleep at night. It features a larger lobby to give guests a more social atmosphere, all-suite rooms that are larger than standard hotel rooms and include separate living, working and sleeping space, providing business and leisure travelers a haven to relax, socialize and network.


Like all Cambria Suites , the  hotel will feature: Reflect, a casual dining and gathering area serving a dinner menu, liquor, wine, beer, freshly prepared grab-and-go gourmet salads and sandwiches, a barista bar featuring Wolfgang Puck® coffee, Cheesecake Factory® desserts and a hot breakfast buffet; Refresh, a state-of-the-art fitness center with an elegant pool and hot tub/spa area; and Refill, a 24-7 convenience store that offers energy drinks, snacks and sundries.


This will be the first Cambria Suites in Washington, DC, one of Cambria's first urban locations and a wonderful addition to Shaw.  It will great for families, business travelers, conventioneers. 

Friday, September 16, 2011

What's Going on at O?



If you passed by the historic O Street Market this week and wondered what was going on, the prep work to get the market building ready for development has started.  This week workers have been removing asbestos from the caulking around the market building’s windows and disassembling the west wall brick by brick (all of the old bricks will be cleaned and stored for use in the restoration and incorporation of the market building into the new 72,000 square foot Giant grocery Store .   When this work has been completed, workers will begin the façade support around the perimeter of the building to assure that it will withstand the stress of excavation.

Giant has almost finished packing up and moving out.  One of the benefactors of the closing was NCEC’s planned restaurant on New Jersey Avenue that will be managed and staffed by former offenders.  According to Giant District Manager guards will be on the lot 24 hours a day.   The Giant Shuttle now operates on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.  The schedule is posted below for your convenience.

Roadside will have two webcams filming the development site 24-hours a day.  Check it out, day or night:  http://oxblue.com/pro/open/clarkconstruction/citymarket.
If everything continues to go as scheduled, we will begin excavation in November and the Giant will reopen in late 2013.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

HUD Hurdle Cleared Today for CityMarket at O

The CityMarket at O HUD loan deal was approved by the HUD Central Loan Committee today. HUD financing for CityMarket at O is moving forward.  Next step is the long awaited invitation which in the development world is like a term sheet.   There is a lot of work to get done before a CityMarket construction start but this is the beginning of getting construction funding in place.

Friday, April 15, 2011

While we wait for HUD...Check out new renderings of CityMarket + Passenger on April 25

While we wait for our HUD invitation which may REALLY be soon, join Roadside staff at the Passenger on Monday, April 25 from 5 to 8 and check out the newest images of CityMarket below.

The Passenger will donate ten percent of its proceeds to local economic revitalization group Shaw Main Streets (note regarding that link: a new Shaw Main Streets website is coming soon).  It should be a great opportunity to mingle with neighbors and business owners, to enjoy the amazing concoctions The Passenger's mixologists are known for, and to help Shaw Main Streets carry out its mission of improving the neighborhood via the proceeds from your bar tab.  Plus, haven't you been looking for an excuse to drink a lot on a Monday night?

A further attraction will be the live auction for some unique and mouth watering deals! On Tax Day, May 18, check out the Remaking Le Slum Historique blog .

Roadside has been a longtime supporter of Shaw Main Streets and appreciates all the work they have done to make Shaw a better place to do business, work, play and have a great time.  Join us for a great time on the 25th!

Happy Hour Benefiting Shaw Main Streets
April 25, 2011, 5 to 8 pm 
The Passenger, 1021 Seventh Street, NW
For more information, e-mail shawmainstreetsinc@gmail.com or call 202.265.SHAW



CityMarket at O:

 
                                 View from O Street of Market Building and East Rental Building

         West Rental Building Leasing Office from P Street
                                 
                                        CityMarket at O:  West Building Roof Top pool with Capitol Dome in the distance

Monday, March 28, 2011

Raze Permit Application Notice and Other News at O

The raze permit application notice is posted on the front window of Giant. If all goes according to Roadside's schedule, we hope to close our HUD loan in the late summer and then immediately close and raze Giant.

Key words in the above paragraph are "hope" and "HUD". The construction loan is being financed by a very large HUD loan. The application is multi-layered and our application was filed over a year ago. We continue to wait for our next step from HUD which is the Invitation to File a Firm Commitment. HUD has been swamped as they have been the lender of last resort in the financial meltdown. However, we have been told that ours is coming since September and as you may remember hearing at our groundbreaking event from Ron Simms, Deputy Secretary of HUD, HUD is underwriting CityMarket for $104 million. We are grateful for Congresswoman Norton's letter in February to HUD Secretary Donovan reminding them of the importance of our schedule and the need to close the loan by August.

When we get our invitation to file a firm commitment, we are ready to respond immediately with our Firm Commitment Application that the O Street Team has been working on. Also during this period, we have been actively pursuing all of the permits necessary to start construction, including the raze permit application that is on the Giant front window. From conversations with HUD Baltimore officials, we are optimistic that HUD will close our loan this summer and the dirt will at last begin to fly.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

CityMarket Moving Forward

Yes, it's true.  Activity is starting soon on CityMarket at O.  Roadside picked up the permit for the facade support and Clark has ordered the steel and is planning to start the facade support of the O Street Market building at the end of February.  The facade support project is estimated to take up to three months.

In the meantime, Roadside will be finishing its construction drawings for HUD on March 1 and completing the permit process for a project construction start in late summer 2011 if all goes as planned with HUD closing.

For your first peek at CityMarket, scroll down (click each image to see a larger version)..

"The 8th and O Giant"
Swimming in Shaw
Where 1881Meets 2013

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Update on CityMarket at O

2011 is the year for CityMarket at O and we have begun construction. We have been doing exploratory borings and soil studies related to Metro and foundation design. Most of the work so far is being done during off hours so as not to interfere with Giant.

As you may have heard from HUD Deputy Secretary Sims at the groundbreaking, we are using HUD financing for the construction loan. We have received permission from HUD that has allowed us to start with façade support and work to secure the market structure. We will be picking up our permit for this work in late January and starting work shortly thereafter.

We have been working closely with HUD on our 220 financing but the process is taking time and patience. Concurrently, we have significantly advanced our drawings and have begun the District’s permitting process for the project. If HUD processing remains on schedule, we hope to begun excavation as soon as we close our loan this summer.