The combination of forces should lead to a more cohesive feel for the districts while speeding up the development timeline!
Maren is a 264-unit apartment complex in Washington, D.C., completed by MRP Realty and FRP Holdings in 2020. (CoStar)
By Katherine Hamilton CoStar News
November 9, 2022 | 4:29 P.M.
Three companies have signed an agreement to develop up to 10 mixed-use projects along the waterfront in Washington, D.C.'s Buzzard Point and Navy Yard areas.
D.C.-based MRP Realty, Maryland-based Steuart Investment Co., and Florida-based FRP Holdings signed the deal, which was announced Tuesday. The three companies own various properties and land parcels in the area where they now plan to develop.
MRP and FRP have already begun mixed-use projects in the neighborhoods, but they are pulling in Steuart for an even more ambitious plan. The two companies collaborated to build Dock 79, Maren, and Verge, three apartment complexes totaling more than 900 units and completed between 2016 and 2022.
Steuart owns four parcels of land next to the existing developments between the bank of the Anacostia River and Half Street in Buzzard Point, where the group plans to develop more properties, according to a statement.
The plans call for adding more than 2.1 million square feet to the existing 871,000 square feet of mixed-use developments, resulting in more than 3,000 units and 150,000 square feet of retail across the site.
View from Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge. SIC I, II, III and IIII in Buzzard Point are the land parcels owned by Steuart Investment Co. (FRP Holdings)
Per the agreement, Steuart will purchase a 20% share of the tenancy in the existing Dock 79 and Maren waterfront properties for $65.3 million. Those properties are located in Navy Yard across from Nationals Park, home of MLB's Washington Nationals.
The company also has the right to acquire between 10% and 20% of Verge near Audi Field, home of MLS' D.C. United, in Buzzard Point.
Dock 79 and Maren were developed as part of FRP’s Riverfront on the Anacostia project. Phases three and four call for the construction of two more buildings, which Steuart could now acquire a stake in under the terms of the new agreement.
It can also now buy a stake in Square 664E, a 2-acre site in Buzzard Point currently used as a concrete plant by Vulcan Materials.
“This is a unique opportunity to expand upon our existing footprint in one of the best markets in the world,”
John Baker II, CEO and chairman of FRP, said in the statement.
“When the dust settles on these projects, this partnership will control nearly every asset visible to the naked eye as you drive into our nation’s Capital from the south.”
D.C.’s Southwest-Navy Yard area, which includes such neighborhoods as The Wharf, Capitol Riverfront, Buzzard Point and Navy Yard, has been a favorite among developers amid the arrival of Nats Park in 2008 and The Wharf, the $3.6 billion waterfront project that after 16 years was completed in October. Just south of The Wharf is Buzzard Point, which could be the next frontier for developers interested in the region.
Audi Field opened in 2018 and stands at the center of many of the surrounding mixed-use projects in the neighborhood. The Wharf developer Hoffman & Associates recently gained approval for Parcel B, a $200 million mixed-use development that is scheduled to break ground in 2023 next to the soccer stadium. Upon completion in 2026, the more than 500,000-square-foot project is slated to include 455 apartments, 49,000 square feet of street-level retail, office space and an acre of public space.
Additionally, a development team broke ground in October on the massive The Stacks project that is set to bring more than 2 million square feet of residential, commercial and hotel space to a 6-acre site just south of Audi Field.
Buzzard Point is part of one of D.C.’s largest opportunity zones, a federal designation that allows for tax breaks to encourage development in certain neighborhoods.
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