U r b a n T r e k k e r

New Urban Neighborhood: Mount Vernon Place

Cross-posted with  New Homes Trekker.

Mount Vernon Place, a transit-oriented and vertical urban communities in the mixed-use Mount Vernon Triangle area in DC. Build by the team of Quadrangle Development and the Wilkes Company. There will be a total of eleven  buildings with a total of more than 2.1 million s.f. of office, residential and retail. The neighborhood is located off Massachusetts Avenue, where you see cranes everywhere.

THE BIG PICTURE: Mount Vernon Triangle [MVT]

According to the Washington Post, here are what's coming to the neighborhood:

• City Vista, a $215 mln project that will feature 115 condominiums and a 58,000 s.f. Safeway supermarket.
• Dumont, Madrigal Lofts, the Sonata.
• Altogether 1,700 apartments and condominiums and and 238,000 square feet of offices under construction.

THE SONATA

The Sonata, is the first luxurious condominium for the neighborhood completed recently.  Features include, 10'-6" ceilings, private roof decks, hardwood flooring. Granite countertops, stainless applliances in the kitchen.I haven't seen the actual units yet -- but, according to the sales rep, the view from here is amazing. It is overlooking the Capitol...

Condo Alert!! Only two (2) remaining residences for sale on the Penthouse level, 11th and 12th floors with stairs to roof deck. Priced from the-$800's.

MADRIGAL LOFTS

Madrigal Lofts, is the second residential building in Mount Vernon Place under construction. This is a 12-story loft style condominium at the corner of Fourth and I Street, N.W. According to the information on the brochure, "this loft project designed by Davis, Carter, Scott Ltd., it has historical roots in the second half of the nineteenth century, when a design revolution took place, giving New York City its Cast Iron District..." Interesting.

The lofts features: 10' ceilings, exposed ductwork and open floor plan. You'll find granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and hardwood flooring in the kitchen. Oversized closets, and bathroom feature ceramic tile, porcelain steel tubs and granite countertops.

There are different floor plans available. These homes priced from $365,900 to low-$400's for the one bedroom. The two bedroom homes starts from mid-$400's. Parking -- is available for purchase. In DC, you pay extra for a parking space. While in the burbs, parking is included. Delivery estimated around Nov/Dec of 2007.

* Mt. Vernon Triangle Edges Upward [Washington Post]
* Mt. Vernon Triangle [website]
* Downtown DC Business Improvement District [website]

Office Conversion: Crystal Plaza 2

In the past four years, you heard condo conversions all the time. It was the buzz word back then. Now the trend shifted. What about office conversion to a mixed-use? Crystal Plaza building 2, is probably the first office building conversion approved in Arlington County for the conversion into residential. I've read this type of conversions been happening in other part of the nation, but it hasn't happened here yet .. until now.

Crystal Plaza building 2, currently is used as an office building in downtown of Crystal City. This was one of the buildings occupied by patent examiners from USPTO, that moved their offices to Carlyle, Alexandria. The county approved the conversion of the office building from 190,320 s.f. of office space and 14,186 s.f. of retail into a mix-use. The approval will add six (6) additional floors with 266 residential units and 29,010 s.f. of retail for Crystal City. No word yet whether the residential will be condominiums or apartments.

Arlington County has started to work on the redevelopment plan for Crystal City if and when BRAC transfers really happening. We're talking about lost of tax revenues here.

The neighborhood as we know today -- hasn't reached its full-scale walkable neighborhood potential yet. There's so much to do to get everything going and transform the place into a hip and dynamic urban neighborhood. For one thing, it is a T-O-D (transit oriented development) with access to transit, i.e. a metro station and VRE. But, the area offers limited night life activities after dark. Then, everything is so centralized around offices and metro station.

And now, Crystal City tries to change its image into an urban neighborhood and stick to the urban motto of "Live. Work. Play."

WaPo: A Thoroughbred of a Price

We reported DC Top 10 residential real estate deals for 2006 a month ago, including the record breaking deal for this area, in Upperville, VA. Washington Post has the full story on the transaction.

Via Washington Post.

Image: Washington Post

The buyers aren't movie stars after all, but the price is still stellar.

Llangollen Farm, a 1,100-acre equestrian estate in western Loudoun County, has sold for a record-breaking $22 million, according to agents representing those involved in the transaction.

The buyer of Llangollen, at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains in Upperville, is Llangollen LLC, a corporation controlled by Donald P. Brennan, a longtime Morgan Stanley executive and entrepreneur, and his wife, Patricia, according to selling agent Mary Ann McGowan of Thomas & Talbot Real Estate in nearby Middleburg. Daughter Maureen Brennan will oversee the property, which has a manor house that dates to the late 1700s and a thriving cattle operation.

So, it's not Tom Cruise after all... The fact that the house is under conservation easement, they can only subdivide the parcel in 100-acre per house. And good thing -- the Brennans said they do not plan to subdivide the parcel.

* A Thoroughbred of a Price [Washington Post]
* DC Metro: Top 10 Deals in 2006 [Urban Trekker]
 

Great Location, Higher Prices

Location, location, location. That's the mantra of real estate. National Associations of Home Builders (NAHB) have just released their price estimator model (excel-based) -- that shows how various features in the house determine why one property costs more than another property in the same locality, using data from American Housing Survey. To get the estimate, you have to plug-in several features you find in your house.
You can download the price estimator model from this site, NAHB.

Via NAHB. Two important findings:

• Waterfront properties can help drive up home values in a couple of locality, i.e. being on the waterfront raises the value of a standard home by 43% in a Midwestern state.
• Living close to an abandon buildings, drives down the value in a Midwestern suburb from an estimated $212,137 to $188,805.

Valuing a property can be tricky, even appraisals now have to fight with high-tech way of valuing a property that goes without seeing the actual property -- which can be misleading, because still have to factor in the ROI for remodeling projects.

For a quick and dirty estimates online, to name a few sites: Trulia, PropertyShark, and Zillow. Zillow got dinged for providing wrong valuations. So take estimates with a grain of salt. There's also HousingTracker.net if you want to see more data on housing inventory and prices across the nation including our own backyard.

Or, you can get neighborhood sales information from a county's website. Once property owners sold their home, the information becomes public.

To be Built: Most Expensive Home in Montana

Montana, fast becoming the playground for the rich and famous... because it has more land than people living there. A long list of celebrities own vacation homes here. I don't blame them -- Montana is pristine beauty. I spent a couple of years, traveling to the state. According to Reuters, the most expensive home is to be built there.

Via Reuters.

Forbes.com, the online site of Forbes magazine, on Thursday said timber and real estate baron Tim Blixseth has just upped the ante in the price of the world's most expensive home, planning to build and sell a home for $155 million.

The 53,000-square-foot stone and wood mansion will be built at the Yellowstone Club, a members-only, residential ski and golf resort near Bozeman, Montana developed by Blixseth.

I wonder if it costs him that much to build the place, how much will the resale be? See more pictures here.

* U.S. Home to Set Record at $155 mln [Reuters]
* The Word's Most Expensive Home [Forbes.com]

Image: Forbes.com

Action Alert: NO to Dominion Power -- Powerline Plan

UPDATE: Dominion Virginia has inflated power needs, according to some experts.

I received a one-page letter from Dominion Power (DOM) about their proposal and they ask me for help to support their bill pending before Virginia Assembly.  Hell, no...! They won't get support from me. Though, I don't live in the hood where it would be affected, I feel the pain...

Dominion Power wants to build a 240-mile high voltage transmission line that passes through Loudoun, Fauquier, Warren to Prince William counties. What they don't tell residents is  -- "the proposed power line cuts through sensitive areas," according to ABC/News 7.

Dear Northern Virginia Resident:

The explosive growth in demand from electricity in Northern Virginia over the last decade and projected to continue in the future has placed Dominion Virginia Power's ability to provide electricity increasingly at risk.

Dominion needs to add to its capability to bring more electricity into Northern Virginia. The current pathways are congested much like the region's highways. Without additional paths, industries, businesses, hospitals, schools and homes will not have the electricity they need and expect 24 hours a day.

To think of it another way, imagine what life would be like on a hot August afternoon when the thermometer reads 100 degrees and traffic lights, office elevators and air conditioners stop working. [...]

Furthermore the letter reads, "that the company considered all alternatives. The only answer is to build this line." I don't buy this. Building high-voltage power line is a Band-Aid or temporary solutions.  We need to find "real solutions" not only for 5 years from now but for many many years from now! Whether that be wind power, landfill gas, etc. Look for energy alternatives. What happens five years from now, Dominion can always come back and say the same thing "we need to build more power line...." Then what do we do? Go back to square one?

Because their power plan decision got so much resistance from all front: environmentalists, preservationists, landowners, property owners, etc. DOM strategy on their playbook is -- to court votes from Northern Virginia residents who, 1/ don't live in the neighborhoods where power line passes, 2/ don't know anything about it or 3/ don't care attitude -- to support the pending bill! Yuck.

I am almost certain that.. high-voltage transmission power line is not the only answer to meet the demand power hungry Northern Virginian homes and offices. There are alternatives. Because you can buy green power in Virginia. PEPCO sells the product. The energy comes from wind power or landfill gas. If Dominion really wants to invest into alternatives, they can. If PEPCO can do it, Dominion can, too... if they're willing.

It's election year in Virginia for the house and senate. Yep, we have election every year here. Make sure your legislator/s hear you. Don't know your legislator is, click here. You can also email your legislator from that site. Or, you call House of Delegates 804/698-1500 or Senate 804/698-7410 and ask to speak to them.

Links:
* Piedmont Environmental Council
* Energy Bills to Watch
* Prince William Conservation Alliance
* Southern Environmental Law Center
* Transmission Line Western Loudoun
* The Green Power Network
* Map Meadowbrook - Loudoun 500kv Powerline Study Area
* I-66 Alternative Routes

On The Record

UPDATE: More from today's news around the Internet on real estate.

New Home Sales Strong in December, But Post 17.3% Drop for 2006 [USA Today]
Annual Existing-Home Sales Fall Most in 17 Years [Washington Post]

------

30-Year Mortgage Rates Up to 6.25% [Washington Post]
"Rates on 30-year mortgages edged up to the highest level since early November as the economy continued to show surprising signs of strength."

Southeast is the Heart and Soul of Washington [Washington Post]
"Sometimes, it amazes me how many people proudly tell me that they have never been to Southeast Washington. They seem to discount that the D.C. Armory, RFK Stadium and Capitol Hill are all in Southeast. It seems that a lot of people who live in the Washington area think that Southeast is all carjackings, drug-infested streets and drug deals gone wrong."

1,001 Development Sails Through Board [Examiner]
"The 1,001-dwelling Dulles Discovery easily passed the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors this week, green-lighting the age-restricted development for construction in the western end of the county."

Job Growth to Give a Kick to Area Housing [WHG]
"Forecasting by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) predicts a 35 percent increase in households in this region along with job growth of 39 percent between 2005 and 2030."

A Booming Debate in Virginia Run [Centre View]
"Sylvia Ehinger and her husband Phil Cookson of Virginia Run are furious that Williams/Transco, a natural gas and electric company, are planning to build an above-ground, 13,000-square-foot natural gas pipeline facility in their backyard."

Montgomery Leaders Ease Strategy on Growth [Washington Post]
"Elected leaders in Montgomery County have backed away from a politically charged proposal to temporarily freeze dozens of development projects but said yesterday that they remain committed to tightening controls on growth that has led to crowded roads and schools."

Another Victory for Land Preservation [McLean Connection]
"Katie Timblin's decision to place her 5-acre wooded-homestead property in McLean under a conservation easement was based on one simple reason."

Stainless Steel A Magnet?

Is stainless steel still trendy? When I google "stainless steel appliances," there are 2.57 million entries on the words. My observations from going to new homes visits, many of the new homes offer stainless steel as a standard feature. On the lower price spectrum housing market, the standard appliances maybe black on black. And stainless is always available for upgrade.

Riverton condo

Buyers like it. Homes selling faster when kitchen appliances are stainless steel. For some reasons, the product gives a buyer this feeling when walking in to a property and see that its kitchen equips with stainless. Not all stainless have the same price range. Generally, stainless costs more than the regular white or black appliances. Some brands pricier than others. That's because, according to Kitchens.com,"models of major appliances tend to differentiate based on three factors. Professional versus standard, built-in, panel, freestanding, or their individual features." The more customized the products, the higher the retail cost will be.

 

Cameron Station townhouse & Tysons Chase (custom house)

Some brands seen in all kinds of homes (condos, townhouses, single family): GE Profile, Jenn Air, LG, Bosch, Frigidaire, Viking, and Sub-Zero. Stainless steel might look nice, but it requires some maintenance to keep your appliances spotless.

Before you remodel your kitchen and replace the appliances, it's a good idea to check and see what's trendy out there.

Tysons Urban Plan Moves Forward

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the urbanization plan of Tysons Corner Center that will start next year and will take 10 years or more to complete.

From Washington Post.

Fairfax County's evolution into a more urban suburb advanced last night as the Board of Supervisors approved plans to overhaul Tysons Corner Center by surrounding the mall with a ring of eight towers containing offices, more than 1,000 apartments and at least one hotel.

The vision for the transformation according to Tysons Future, includes four office buildings for a total of 1.4 million s.f., 1385 new homes (124 of which is affordable units), a-300 room hotel, under 200,000 s.f. service oriented retail, street-level restaurants, parks and rec center. The development -- and Dulles metrorail with four metro stops for Tysons... will be so welcome for this burb!

Rendering of the future of urban Tysons.

Looking at the master plan, urban Tysons redevelopment will be divided into four phases. The first phase looks like will be around Tysons 1 Lord & Taylor with office, hotel, residential and retail (close to the parking garage). The second phase is to develop the area that connect Tysons 123 station to the mall with retail, office and residential. Phase three is to develop near the parking garage over at Bloomingdale's side with offices. The last phase, phase four -- to build office towers around where Macy's is along with residential.

Rental Property Manager 2.0

If you've been looking to replace your pen and paper way of managing your rental properties, try Intuit's Quicken Rental Property Manager 2.0. Easy to use software for managing your rental properties. It gives you the same experience much like using their other tax software/ products. Very user-friendly.

There are two buttons to start entering data: Expense & rent. From here, you can easily add/ delete properties, track expenses for each of the property you have or do shared expense between your properties, enter tenant information. The best features: Reports and rent center. The reports feature provide you with two report version: Income vs. expense, and tax report. The income vs. expense features give you a snapshot of your biz. The tax report provide you a summary option or detail. You can also export your reports to Turbo tax software. The rent center, shows you a simple report everything you'd like to know about your tenants. For example, who's been paying on time and flag tenants who have the habit of paying rent late, etc.

I would say, this is a cool software for anyone (novice vs. advanced) to use and save time in managing their rentals, especially at tax time. Though, they have a blog -- their blog is hardly updated.