Construction at 610 Newton Place NW is transforming a vacant, two-story building and an empty lot behind it into an up-to-date 12-unit apartment building for the Park View neighborhood. Andrew Rubin, a principal with the owner, Newton Place Partners LLC, and the developer, the Rubin Group, says the new building will be completed by the end of November.
A one-story addition is being added to the old building and a new three-story addition is being built in the rear. The two structures will be attached to each other, and a courtyard is being created in the space between them.
The development is targeted at "young professionals and families who are looking for more space than condos usually provide," says Rubin. "In the past, these buyers would have bought townhouses in the neighborhood, but given the explosive pace of development, they are now looking for a more affordable alternative."
Eleven apartments will have two bedrooms, and nine of these are in the new addition. Two duplex units are in the original building, one with two bedrooms and one with three bedrooms; there is also a two-bedroom unit on the new top floor. The building also will have 11 parking spaces.
The smallest of the units is 1,215 square feet, while the largest, the two-bedroom unit on the top floor of the original building, is 1,500 square feet. According to Rubin, the four third-floor apartments also will have private roof decks of at least 1,000 square feet each.
In Rubin's view, "Park View is just beginning its renaissance. . . . Georgia Avenue has seen the first examples of the advancements planned." With the pending completion of the new Safeway just a few short blocks north of the apartment project, as well as other pending developments, a newly renovated library and schools, and a Metro station, it is hard to think of a neighborhood with better prospects, he says.
Newton Place Partners LLC bought the two pieces of property from the New Commandment Baptist Church for $1,425,000 in November 2012; according to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner 1A08 Kent Boese, the sale of the parcels was "
welcome news" on a block in need of improvement. The owners do not have an online link for the apartment project, but Rubin says that sales will be handled by
Beasley Real Estate.