RSS FeedAshton Judiciary Square Turns On The Lights
In this period of commercial construction financing interrupted, the opening of a brand new residential apartment building in our neighborhood is a welcome sight. In this case, we’re talking about the Ashton Judiciary Square apartment building at 750 3rd Street, NW which is now open for leasing and has its initial batch of tenants moved in. We had the opportunity to take a tour of Ashton Judiciary Square and can honestly say that our neighborhood now has a new and more elevated standard of luxury apartments to figure into the rental real estate equation.
The edifice hosts 49 apartments on 12 levels with a two level dedicated parking garage for cars and bicycles. Unit types include one, two and three bedroom layouts, many with unobstructed views to the east and/or the south and some with balconies. A couple of characteristics stood out to us:
1) Unit sizes are larger than average…the one bedroom and dens, the smallest, are approximately 1200 square feet. In many PQ buildings, that’s the size of a two bedroom unit. Two bedroom units are between 1520 and 1826 square feet. Three bedroom units are in the 2600 square foot range.
2) The finishing details such as stone frames around the elevator doors, wood and stone paneled doorway frames and built-ins like bookshelves, desk nooks and walk-in laundry rooms in varied apartments demonstrate attention to detail. Travertine and/or hardwood can be found in each apartment.
3) Large bathrooms, spacious closets and kitchens designed for entertaining complement nice apartment layouts and construction quality. Amenities available for residents include a modern conference room, a handsome entertaining room with gourmet kitchen, and a guest apartment suite.
Ashton Judiciary Square is The Hanover Company’s first entrant into the DC real estate market. Factors contributing to this Houston company opening a property in this neighborhood include robust business fundamentals in the DC market compared to other markets, a Penn Quarter location on a less trafficked street and the proximity of the building to the Judiciary Square Metro. One additional benefit we saw is that the owner of the neighboring historic apartment building at 3rd and G Streets, NW, cleaned up their premises making it look as presentable as a building awaiting redevelopment can possibly look.
PQ Living has followed this part of the neighborhood since it was owned by Abdo Development and a level lot. The translation from fallow land to productive use is another piece of the neighborhood’s development puzzle snapping into place. What do we like best of all? More residents will be moving downtown.
Ashton Judiciary Square
750 3rd Street, NW
866-980-0268
www.ashtonjs.com
Rents: Starting at $4332 (no incentive) or $3971 (with incentive for leases beginning October 1) monthly
Lease Terms: 3 months to 13 months – furnished or unfurnished
Photos courtesy of The Hanover Company
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Comments
I took a tour of this building about two months ago and was amazed at the size of the apartments – not to mention the prices. We got a tour of the 3 bedroom unit that rents for roughly $12,000 per month. (yes, I said twelve thousand!) Don’t worry, you only need to make 400K to qualify.
The 3 bedroom unit had a front door and a back door. I called the back door the affair door because it’s suspiciously close to the master bedroom. There are views of both the Washington Monument and the Capitol from the living room, kitchen and all three bedrooms. The bathroom has a massive soaking tub in the middle, duel showers behind that and his and her toilet rooms. Seriously, you can decorate your thrown room however you wish and never have to, um, smell, um… well you get the point.
It’s a beautiful building. Take a tour. At least I can say I’ve seen what a 12,000 per month apartment looks like.
So, they build a crazy expensive apartment complex in an overbuilt area of the city where empty condos and apartments abound, and condo owners are in bidding wars with each other to attract the few tenants available? As well, 50%+ of the residents in the eastern Mass Ave area are GT Law students using student loans or their parents money.
Not to mention, this is right next to the 3rd and G ghetto!
Good luck guys, you are REALLY going to need it.
Whose taking bets on when this place starts having to cut amenities due to the lack of rents?
I agree that these prices are really high, even for PQ. I think they will struggle to find renters willing to spend that kind of coin.
They will lease the units — if they are offering short-term leases, then their market is very different than someone opting to move here for the long-term. They will get corporate leasers who need a place for visiting execs, theaters for artist housing (big talent, obviously), etc. Yes, $12K a month is a but of change for most of us — but the building is not intended for us anyway.
I understand the gut reaction to see a rent listed in the $4,000 to $12,000 range, but this is a fantastic opportunity for our neighborhood. Do you want all of the people who can spend that kind of money on rent to stay in Cleveland Park at the Kennedy-Warren?
We should celebrate that our neighborhood is considered this desirable.
in every major US city, there is a market both for luxury and for what @Jon describes. if you poke your head in Tiffany’s or Neiman Marcus or Jimmy Choo in Chevy Chase, you still see people shopping. there may not be as many people shopping as you saw before but they haven’t disappeared entirely either. there is a dollar cost associated with consuming luxury but there is a population out there that can afford it. to its credit, of the rental apartment buildings I’ve been in within DC’s city limits, this is the only building this nice I’ve seen in the eastern part of the city. apartment buildings can last 50 years or longer, so you need to think a decade or two forward when it comes to this kind of real estate. (I am cheerleading a bit in this comment because I live in the neighborhood!)
If you are considering renting one of these apartments – you should buy. You can afford to buy a place, renovate it with high-end finishes, get the mortgage interest deduction, etc.
I won’t comment on the prices because thats too far out of my strata to offer any insight into. However several of you have basically said “just buy”. If a prospective resident of one of these units only plans to be in DC for a couple years why should they buy? Buying is a longer term play and this is a very transient city.
As a consultant who often travels to the same destination week after week for months at a time, staying in hotels for around $150 per night, I have had people in bars tell me how stupid that is, and how if I bought, it would obviously make more sense. However it doesn’t since I don’t never know when something will happen that causes me to have to change engagements, locations, etc. (Plus I live here, and work in those locations temporarily). I have been sent to places like San Fran and stayed at a hotel downtown in excess of 30 days straight. That is a far smaller and less luxurious room, which for a month, cost significantly more than the 1 Br/Den place at the Ashton.
Although my company would never put me up at a place like the Ashton, I believe there are probably foreign governments, incredibly rich foreign parents (UAE?) sending their kids to grad school, well off lobbying associations, World Bank and IMF groups, etc. that may flip the bill. In those cases the person living in the unit is usually not wondering if they should buy or not. They want an impressive pad that that they don’t have to take care of. I am not saying the Ashton won’t lower rents at some point to try to decrease the amount of vacancies they have, but there are definitely groups who will pay for their people to stay there.
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OVER $4K FOR A ONE BEDROOM!?!? YOU CAN AFFORD A $750K+ MORTGAGE FOR THAT AMOUNT!