The X2

The Big Idea : Why Hotel, Kitchen Cray, Chase Bank, and CorePower Yoga area coming to H Street NE. The Lucille and 501 H, two new-ish residential buildings, are getting their first retail tenants. The Lucille is a 9-unit condominium building located at 1301 H Street NE. Vinyl signage just went up on the first floor signaling the arrival of Kitchen Cray , a Maryland-based restaurant and catering outfit. It's known for being run by chef JR Robinson of Hell's Kitchen fame. The website describes the menu as "prepared ... for every taste." Main courses include chicken & waffles, catfish & grits, and lobster mac. Signage up for Kitchen Cray. A few blocks west is 501H, a 28-unit apartment building located at, well, 501 H Street NE. Douglas Development recently released the list of retail tenants for the space: CorePower Yoga , Why Hotel, and Chase Bank. CorePower Yoga is the only business of the three that has signage up at the moment. Why Hotel ...

501 H Street NE is a new 6 storey apartment building nearing completion with 28 rental units. The building includes three levels of retail. And yes, retail is the real focus here, with a whopping 22,000 sq ft of it, including a two-level open atrium near the entrance. Hopefully the brokers get creative; I could see a whole host of diverse tenants working in that space. And not just bars & restaurants.  The retail space isn't *quite* ready for its close-up, but the apartment units are already leasing. I still can't accept the reality of apartment prices in DC, as the units here range from $1,991 per month for a 575 sq ft studio to a $3,344 per month 1,123 sq ft 2 BR unit. It's all very disappointing, but expected nowadays. How has the inventory crept up with no corresponding let down of rates for new buildings. I don't know. But the units appear to be nice and the location is great.  315 H Stree t just topped out at eight floors and the builders are movi...

Walking by 501 H Street NE, I always peek into the construction pit to check on the progress -- and wonder why it's so deep. The plans from the developer, Douglas Development, call for 28 residential units, including studios, one BRs, one BRs + den, and two BRs. But, why so deep for a building with just 28 units?  Parking? Nope. There will only be 5-6 on-site parking spaces for the building, all of which will be on the ground floor. Subterranean apartment rental units? Hopefully not. Storage? Not this time.  The real reason: retail. There will be three floors of retail in the building, totaling 22,000+ square feet, impressive for a lot that is just 9,800 square feet. Almost a third of that retail square footage will below grade. The below-grade level of retail will have 15 foot ceilings, hence the deep dig. The first floor will have 16 foot ceilings, and second floor will have 15'6" ceilings, still plenty tall. Floors 3-6 will be comprised of residential units....