New Apartment Building Under Construction (Ashton Judiciary Square – 750 3rd St NW)

nice!

Something that isn’t made entirely out of brick. Finally.

I guess it was only a matter of time before Judiciary Square turned into Minas Morgul. Anyone know if they’re offering a Nazgul discount?

I think it is telling that this building will be built as rentals and not condos. think of it as a leading indicator for multi-family housing for the time it takes to get this building up and running (maybe 18 months?).

this would have been a good opportunity for Abdo to put a cool property in his project portfolio as the sightlines of the Capitol building from the upper elevations of this site might be pretty fantastic unobstructed views. we don’t know the math and opportunity cost behind the sale of the lot but Abdo is an astute businessman so we’re sure it made sense for him dollarwise.

the nice upside is that the ‘hood gets a piece of vacant infill real estate filled in with RESIDENTS who will add to the living vitality of the PQ. that area has little activity because there’s nothing there but office buildings or dead real estate.

Sigh…another building without ground floor retail. Apparently developers have decided on our behalf that the retail section of Penn Quarter ends at 6th street. Everything east of 6th is just condos and offices.

Chris: Good point. In their defense, the lot size is not that large. But, it would probably be large enough to squeeze in another Dunkin D’s!

That area might never be sufficiently dense for real retail–the highway on one side and government buildings on two others makes it a little barren.

The retail at Mass Court has been empty for 4 years now . . . if you build it will they come?

Even if the market won’t support retail in that area presently, allocating space for retail means there’s space for it later when it is viable. I really think DC should mandate this. There’s really no down side to this that I can think of. Do we really need these grand oversized lobbies that only get used by building residents?

I am thinking that once the dumont and other condos are completed, the empty retail space at the corner of mass ave will finally get occupied.

I agree with Chris. It’s ridiculous that the entire ground level of all of these buildings is not retail. Sure, now the area is simply not dense enough but thats why the developers have the option of making it office space and then converting it to retail. I believe it’s even worse to have just a tiny little corner of a building be retail (i.e dumont, meridian, mass court maybe) because there if there is no continuity of a retail presence on the street then it’s much more difficult to attract pedestrians from areas that are already brimming with people like 7th street in chinatown.

These developers clearly aren’t thinking about the future or what their duty to the neighborhood/city/society is. This mentality needs to change even if there needs to be laws to make people start thinking this way!

Mass Court wants some amazingly rich rents for their space and won’t budge, that is primarily why they are empty. You can get prime 7th and H St or prime Dupont Circle real estate for similar or less.

Chris – I like buildings with large lobbies. My current building has one and it is great to meet friends down there, wait for a cab and the like. For instance, I don’t like the lobby of 777 7th St, its tiny.

Loofa, we don’t need one. We have awesome socials to get together. Strong friendships have been formed. We meet in our gorgeous party room, our conference room, our business center, our gym, our fabulous terrace and even bump into each at Dunkin D’s, etc. We don’t waste space in our bldg. and there is always our email list. You want good neighobrs move to Gallery Place.

Haha–#12, what a homer. I was friendly with a few people on the terrace but that was it. And, I lived on the 3rd floor.

777 is a nice building, but to play it up like a secret PQ social club is just a little bit extreme.

If you like a small intimate building with few ammenities, then there are certainly buildings for that type. Personally, I like larger lobbys, courtyards, rooftop pools, and expansive gyms with many options.

# 13 you send like a renter that never hooked into the buidling.I hope you are enjoying your your new rental building. PS we have another outdoor space on the 7th floor, which you probalby were never even aware of.

Anon 13, sorry that you did not take advantage of our Wine tour with luxury Van pick-up at our door and the happy hours they were and are great places to get to know your neighbors. All you need in this bulding is a smile and a nod and you are welcomed.

Ed Note: Please keep comments on topic. We will not accept anymore comments in this thread regarding 777.

I used to live at Mass Court. It is nice to see this lot finally being developed since it sat empty for a while.

Does anyone know about the vacant row homes at 3rd and G? These were often people sleeping on the steps and in the alley nearby. I’d be very hesitant having to walk past these at night to get to my residence at the new building.

I agree on the no retail at the 750 3rd St building. I’m not sure that specific location could support any, that section of 3rd Street is more of a freeway on ramp, so people would speed right by. I’m not sure of anyone else walking past there that could patronize those stores.

Chris: The row homes that you are referring to is actually a defunct apartment building called The Harrison (and Canterbury).

Very shortly, the old apt building will be redevloped as part of an office building complex. Click here for renderings of the 704 3rd St NW project.