The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District is holding its first house tour this weekend. “Private residential condos will be primarily featured on the House Tour, which will include units in 555 Mass, The Sonata, Madrigal Lofts, The L, and The K,” according to the press release. There have surely been ample opportunities to enter many of these buildings and see condos—for free—before.  But model units have a curious way of feeling totally uninhabitable—like being on the TV set of some terrible, short-lived  sitcom about hip, urban twenty-somethings.

So at least this tour might give you a sense of what it would be like to actually live in these spaces. Read More “Mount Vernon Triangle Home Tour This Weekend” »

The following are shots taken on Massachusetts Avenue, mostly between 4th and 5th Streets. If there’s any other block in D.C. proper with more visible empty space, please fill me in.* Perhaps NoMa could compete? I’m doubtful. I don’t know the occupancy rates for all these buildings. But they sure don’t look jam-packed.

City Vista
1045 5th Street NW

Meridian at Gallery Place
450 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

455 Massachusetts Avenue (Western View)

Madrigal Lofts
811 4th Street, NW

455 Massachusetts Avenue (Front View)

455 Massachusetts Avenue (Front View)

Read More “Glut City: Mount Vernon Triangle” »

For my story this week, I briefly chatted with William Rich, Vice President of real estate research firm Delta Associates, based in Alexandria. We discussed the price-per-square-foot of condos in some of the District’s hottest neighborhoods. Since most of the information didn’t make it in the piece, I thought I’d share here*:

City Average:$510
Adams Morgan/U Street area:$500
Penn Quarter/Thomas Circle area:$635
Mount Vernon Triangle/Mount Vernon Square:$530
Georgetown/West End/Dupont area:$750 to $850

Read More “How Much Does a Square Foot Cost in Adams Morgan, Penn Quarter, Etc.?” »

According to the photographer, this shot was taken in 455 Massachusetts Avenue.

Today, the Washington Post takes a look at The Dumont, one of the many new condo buildings on Massachusetts Avenue in Mount Vernon Triangle.

And who can keep track of them really? The entire row of colossal glassy high-rises looks like a 21st century ghost town. In fact, one wonders what will be the enduring image of this era once it is over. Luckily, we’re not (yet) looking at any Dorothea Lange-esque shots of destitute children.

But perhaps there will be images of collections of cranes pointlessly looming. And stretches of road with half-empty and half-completed condo buildings one right after another. Read More “WaPo Looks at Mount Vernon Triangle’s ‘Doom’ont” »