Newseum Apartments Help Drive Up Penn Quarter Rents?

I’m guessing not – GP/Chinatown already has a glut of condos on the market, and new buidings are already in mid-development (Dumont, Vista, 1010 Mass, to list a few).

Prices have already stabilized and I understanding many completed condo buildings are having trouble filling units.

Newseum units might be listed that high initially, but I’m guessing if you wait a year, you’ll save a load of cash.

devil is in the details…how big are the apartments? for 1 BRs, $2.40 to $2.75 per square foot per month is a current metric for rents in our area.

That’s right. You have to look at the square footage. In fact these rents seem reasonable for living in the center of one of the world’s major capital cities. It will also help increase values for owners considering renting out their units. This is a good thing and exciting news!

seems to me that Newseum will have some awesome views of the National Mall and museums, as opposed to, say, the FBI Building.

Dave: Most of the units have a northern exposure. So they will be facing the back of the DC Court building and overlook C Street.

But there are a few units on the western side of the museum who will be able to get a peek at the National Gallery of Art.

The roofdeck should be nice and it narrowly beats out 601 Penn Ave Condos for the title of “closest residence to the national mall.”

I talked to one of the leasing agents; if what I got from him is correct, there are only *two* one-bedrooms in the whole building that are going for $2500/m or less. So it sounds like they are going to be very aggressive in positioning the apartment’s unique location as worth a significant premium over apartments only 3-5 blocks away.

Tom: thanks for the excellent info!

i’m sure they’ll have great finishes but i don’t feel like paying “premium” to overlook the back of some court building…now the terrace may be really something else…

There was a similar conversation on this blog last month that seems pertinant to this conversation; What are your priorities? A view of Penn Ave or the Mall? A bright corner unit? A location on a specific street? A well placed a/c compressor?

I too spoke to a leasing agent. He said the units will face the courthouse with a few on the corner with a view of the National Gallery. Those are priced at $6500 a month!

Yikes. Buying is looking like a better decision every day!

what is happening in dc doesn’t seem to be “gentrification” (renovate and improve (esp. a house or district) so that it conforms to middle-class taste.)

what is being built is beyond the ability of the middle-class. seems like dc is going to have a lot of empty new-shiny condos. maybe i’m just jealous…

It entirely depends on whether they find people to fill the apartments. (obviously).

Right now, based on my experience in Adams Morgan, the rental market seems pretty weak.

Anon: Regarding your two comments about “gentrification” and “serfdom” are basically flame-bait.

Gentrification doesn’t apply because no one lived in our neighborhood in recent times. I wouldn’t call the displacement of a parking lot “gentrification.”

Serfdom? Have you looked up the definition of the word recently? No one is being forced to be a teacher or firefighter.

That is right, GP Living. And, that is why the word “gentrification” got replaced with “revitilization” in Penn Quarter’s Wikipedia entry many months ago. Developing parking lots and redeveloping abandoned historic buildings is not displacement. And, I am adding that most of the new condo units added in Penn Quarter from year 2000 to 2006 have indeed been sold.

Good luck to the Newseum Residences. What an awesome building!

555 mass: Prices have not stabilized yet for downtown, nor will they while buildings are having trouble filling units.

This should not be a reason for people not to buy downtown, however, because waiting for the market to bottom out is pure guesswork. The best reason for buying downtown is the pleasure of living here. Prices will go down more since more inventory will be coming on the market, but unless someone needs to sell soon after buying that’s only paper value.

The smoke will settle here within a couple of years and people who bought here will be happy they did.

To the original point of the post, it looks like they can justify higher rents based on location, views, and the fact it is a “destination” building with Wolfgang and the Newseum. And I can’t see how that would hurt PQ rents in general.

I understand the excess capacity argument 555 makes. But while there are lots of condos still going up, bear in mind there are still lots of retail going up, too. The extra retail (even if its House of Blues or M. Toussard’s) will enhance our “destination” status, which should sustain higher rents for the area.