There may be no single block in D.C. undergoing a seismic shift like the 600 block of H Street NE.

What was, ony last year, a block dominated by a self-storage business, a deteriorating grocery store and an unattractive office complex will, within a matter of years, welcome the corridor’s first Whole Foods and nearly 800 luxury apartments.

Now comes details of the project that will round out the 600 block’s transformation.

As we first reported in May and again in June, Rock Creek Property Group and Cornerstone Development Group acquired 646-654 H St. NE from Pilgrim Baptist Church for $4.5 million. On Monday, the development team filed applications with the Board of Zoning Adjustments seeking variances for the project.

While the facade of 654 H (originally constructed in 1906) is to be preserved, the remaining buildings will be demolished to clear the way for a 26- to 32-unit residential project with up to 15,000 square feet of retail. The split between retail and residential will depend on how the second floor is developed, Rock Creek partner Gary Schlager told me Monday. Rock Creek also has not committed to apartments or condos, though for-sale units are more likely.

“I really do believe it’s the best corner on the H Street corridor,” Schlager said, adding he would like to be in the ground “yesterday.” “We’ll be the small, boutique jewel on the corner amongst the larger projects.”

Given that it is basically adjacent to a massive 90-foot-high planned-unit development, the Rock Creek site begs “for a substantial redevelopment project,” according to a statement of justification filed with the Board of Zoning Adjustments.

A tiny storefront (a sushi joint) is all that separates the Rock Creek project from Insight Property Group’s 432-unit, Whole Foods-anchored mixed-use building taking the place of the H Street self-storage and Murry’s grocery store. Across the street, Jair Lynch Development Partners is building a 307-unit, two building complex.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2014/09/the-next-big-thing-on-h-street-ne-rock-creek.html

Rock Creek Property Group announced that it has sold 5185 MacArthur Boulevard, NW in Washington, DC to Lakritz Adler Real Estate Investments for $14,925,000, or roughly $347 per square foot, in a transaction that closed on June 13, 2014.

DC-based Rock Creek owned the three-story, 43,000-square-foot office building with ground-floor retail near the District of Columbia-Maryland border for approximately nine years, according to Gary Schlager, a Partner with the commercial real estate investment company.“We are very happy with the outcome and can say with confidence that the buyer acquired one of the best mixed-use assets in the Uptown submarket, and the best property in the Palisades,” he says. “We congratulate Lakritz Adler on making this purchase.”

Josh Adler, a Principal and Managing Partner with DC-based Lakritz Adler, a real estate investment, development and management company, says that his firm may put some renovations into the fully leased building, whose tenants include Starbucks and UPS.

“We are extremely pleased to have acquired 5185 MacArthur Boulevard, NW,” he says. “This property is a diversified income transaction that had more attractive income characteristics than deals taking place further downtown.”

Rock Creek’s sale of 5185 MacArthur Boulevard, NW comes just two weeks after the firm and its joint venture partner, Cornerstone Development Group, paid $4,525,000 for 646-654 H Street, NE, a prime development site in the District of Columbia consisting of about 7,000 square feet of land and 8,000 square feet of commercial properties in five separate structures.Plans for 646-654 H Street, NE are to develop a first-class, mixed-use, 30-plus-unit residential condominium project with approximately 6,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Other recent and ongoing Rock Creek developments include 1100 16th Street, NW, located just a few blocks from the White House, 810 5th Street, NW in the heart of Gallery Place/Chinatown, the 88-unit Takoma Flats just off Georgia Avenue, NW and The Shelby @ Huntington Metro, a 240-unit, joint venture, ground-up development. Rock Creek currently has more than $100 million of ongoing projects in all stages of the development cycle and acquires properties both directly and through joint ventures with other operators and development partners.

http://dc.citybizlist.com/article/rock-creek-property-group-sells-5185-macarthur-boulevard-nw-washington-dc-lakritz-adler-real