Development News

Construction of a five-story condo building is underway at 1350 Maryland Avenue NE. The longtime project from Valor Development LLC and PGN Architects will go on sale by this summer, says Matt Dewey, sales manager at Urban Pace.

"This is basically an anchor building for the neighborhood," says Dewey. "It’s going to bring a bunch of new people to the area and fill it in a bit more."

The Maia, also called the Maryland, will be an 84-unit, one- and two- bedroom upscale condominium building, built from the ground up. The property will also include nine affordable housing units, according to a letter drafted in February from the Advisory Neighborhood Committee 6A to the Zoning Commission. The Maia replaces the Faith Bible Church that stood vacant at this intersection of 14th Street and Maryland Avenue NE for a number of years.

The project started nearly two years ago when Valor bought the land for $1.975 million and quickly obtained a construction permit. Surprisingly the Historic Preservation Review Board did not grant a landmark status to the church, because it was in major disrepair, says ANC6A chairman David Holmes.

"I went through [the HPRB] to see if we could save it, but no. It was actually falling down. The walls were crumbling and the roof was collapsing," he says. "So its loss is actually was a good thing. The neighborhood will look a lot better."

The Maia started as a much smaller project. At first the building was set to contain only 44 units. Now at 84 units, the building will spread halfway up 14th Street and halfway through Maryland Ave toward G Street, Holmes explains. The expansion, along with a special exception for the size of the building—which towers over 6,000 feet—and a partially-buried underground parking lot that is still four feet above ground in one area, all put a tiny delay on the project’s groundbreaking.

From the renderings it appears that there are balconies throughout the building, but Dewey cannot confirm any of the details regarding the outdoor space nor the amenities.

"It’s still pretty early on,” he says. Pricing will reach about $500,000 for the two-bedroom units.

The project stands out against a backdrop of mostly rowhouses in the area. The building will target young urban professionals looking to be close to the H Street corridor— which is piping with businesses, restaurants and retailers who have opened their doors in the last few years.

Completion for this project is set for some time in early 2014.

Some of the other projects Valor has been involved with are the former Italian Embassy conversion into a luxury condominium called the Flats at Il Palazzo, the 66-condo-unit project at 7th and P Street NW and the recently completed Aston, a 31-unit condo building on 14th Street selling units for up to $1.1 million.