New DC Condos at City Center - Floorplans and Pricing

*Buyers take note: CityCenter sales representatives take a hard stance on unrepresented buyers. We've been contacted by a number of buyers who, after touring the sales center, seeing a sample of the developer's contract and hearing the sale representative's recitation of terms, suddenly decided they needed agent representation. But because they had checked that little box on the required registration form at the very beginning of their first visit, when they just wanted to see the product and before learning what was involved in the process, they have been told the developer will not honor their agent.

This is not the case with many other area developers, in our experience.

Certainly you can pay your buyer agent's commission yourself, but do you really want to? And why should a few hours make a difference in whether or not a seller covers agent commission for a buyer agent when as is standard in our tri-state area? Especially when portion of that process is the least significant of the whole?

Selection of a unit is the simplest part of any new construction purchase. Regardless of whether price is negotiable at any given development, contract terms are almost always negotiable in some key respects. Also, new construction sales reps tend to gloss over aspects of contracts that should bear careful scrutiny by buyers, who benefit from their agents' less biased explanation. The construction process is also difficult to manage without training and experience. Buyers who purchase new construction without representation sometimes say "things went fine," but that is likely because they don't know what questions to ask, what could have been negotiated and what is still to come. More often, represented buyers say they dodged a bullet by deciding to work with an agent.

At CityCenter, there is no price negotiation, so partnering with an agent who knows the ropes costs nothing and can save you quite a lot. 

Be smart and don't give in to the impulse to visit development sales centers without an agent experienced and trained in new home construction. Enjpoy the advantages and protection that brings.

Details on DC Condos at City Center, currently under construction at 9th and H streets.

City Center encompasses10-acres in the heart of the District, CityCenterDC will be a 2.5 million square foot development with a combination of condominiums, apartments, offices, public spaces, hotel, restaurants and shops. Phases 1 & 2 include: Retail: 295,000 sq ft Apartments: 458 units Condominiums originally planned: 216 units Office: 515,000 SF Hotel: 350 rooms Parking: 1,885 spaces Public Spaces: 1.5-acres CityCenterDC’s boundaries are New York Avenue NW, 9th Street NW H Street NW and 11th Street NW.

According to developers, the masterplan "reintroduces 10th and I Streets into the city grid as part of a network of public open spaces designed to knit the site into the larger urban scape and capitalize on the burgeoning vibrancy of the area."

A central plaza provides communal social space.

Leading into the Central Plaza is a network of shopping-oriented pedestrian alleys developers are using to subdivide the site and give the project a neighborhood feel.

Residences at City Center DC

216 condominium units in two separate towers located in the 10-acre CityCenterDC neighborhood. The Residences at CityCenter, designed by Foster + Partners, will feature custom European kitchens, European appliances and built-in European wardrobes according to developers, and all will offer access to a balcony or Juliet balcony and some will include private terraces. Each residence features floor-to-ceiling windows.

Developers plan 325 SF of ground level retail and public spaces with seasonal programming.

Design

From the design team of Foster + Partners: "The idea was to create an urban living room, with a central plaza for gathering and an intimate park. We began by thinking of how we could break the urban scale down. We realized that, historically, Washington was crisscrossed with alleys and side streets and we wanted to capture these to create truly pedestrian places off the main streets for people to go to -- bringing it closer to what we thought would be a more friendly, walkable part of DC."

"The first consideration was to ensure that people who live, walk and work at CityCenterDC would have streets that have sunlight. As a result, the first thing we built was not the buildings, but structures that had to do with the streetscapes and providing a good place to be. It also was important for CityCenterDC to blend into the surrounding neighborhood, so we chose specific trees and lighting styles that are familiar to the area.

It was only then that we went into designing the buildings themselves, keeping in mind that all buildings have four sides and each reacts differently, so there's more exposure to sun on the south, less on the north. We made sure every apartment had a large amount of light coming into The Residences at CityCenter.

Additionally, building materials and systems were chosen very carefully -- making sure everything was of quality. All of this was achieved within the framework of sustainability, and the master plan has been pre-certified to achieve LEED Neighborhood Development, the first certification of its kind in the United States."

Floorplans

Examples of floorplans:

For more information contact Susan Isaacs Realtor susanisaacsrealtor @ gmail.com

Gustafson Guthrie Nichol's landscape design sculpts the rooftops of The Residences into an intimate "outdoor living room." A firepit, outdoor barbecues, multiple kitchens, and varied styles of private seating and lounge areas are also planned for what developers are calling a "roof park."

Pricing

Prices originally started in the 400s for 1 BR units and 700s for 2 BR units. Pricing was not initially released for 3 BR units, but they ran from the 800s upwards of $1M.

Updates

Aug 30 2012: Exteriors being completed and windows going in on interior sides

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