Best: Kenyon Square
1390 Kenyon St. NW
Second-Best: The Residences at Market Square (pictured)
701 and 801 Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Here’s a bit of real estate lingo special to D.C.: “Monument view.” Tour a condo in this city, and the term comes up as often as “recessed lighting” and “half-bath.” But if your eye’s always scanning south toward the Mall, then you might as well be a tourist.

The view from the Kenyon Square Condominiums reminds you that Washington is a city of landmarks in every direction. From the top of this eight-floor Columbia Heights building, you can see everything from the National Cathedral in upper Northwest to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Brookland. Heck, off on the northern horizon, you can even spot…some radio towers in Maryland! Pretty special.

But when it comes to downtown vistas, the Residences at Market Square (which I wrote about for our inauguration issue) offer up something few other buildings in D.C. could this year: A straight-on view of President Barack Obama’s inauguration parade. That means one day every four years, these condo-dwellers own some of the best real estate in the world, depending on their political views

Image by Darrow Montgomery

Today, I called Michele Topel, Vice President of Sales for Urban Pace, which is marketing the building. Well, there were two people working in connection with the campaign that were taking a peek at 2501Pennsylvania Ave, a 16-unit building, with listings ranging from $1.9 to $5 million.

One man, says Topel, has worked as a business adviser (he's from St. Louis) for Obama's campaign. Another man is working on Obama's transition team, and he was merely checking out the condos for other future former out-of-towners that might be heading to D.C. if there's an Obama administration. Topel refused to say names.

"I knew they were coming beforehand," she says. "One of them was because of the networking of the developer [John Mason of Intrepid Real Estate]. He is very politically active. I mean here in D.C. people of a certain level, everyone knows someone political, so you just kind of have to work that network, if you will."

Right, connections are important. But, I think these promotional materials (above) are also targeting future appointees on a subliminal level.