Across the street from a Metro station in D.C.’s Ward 7, developer Peter Farrell has a shovel-ready site where he hopes to build over 200 workforce housing units.
His firm, City Interests, has obtained the necessary approvals and lined up its equity investors for the next phase of the Parkside development on Minnesota Avenue Northeast, but it has fallen victim to the hostile economic environment that has dramatically slowed construction of much-needed housing and other projects in D.C. over the last two years.
City Interests’ Peter Farrell said he sees a “dark cloud” hanging over D.C.’s development business.
“I still can’t get construction pricing where it needs to be or loan rates that make the deal work,” Farrell, who is managing partner at City Interests, told Bisnow.
Parkside is just one of 19 commercial projects that received zoning extensions in 2023, a notable increase from the four years prior, according to a Bisnow analysis of public zoning filings. Twelve commercial project extension requests were filed in 2022 — all of which came in the second half of the year, after interest rates began to rise. Nine were filed in 2021, 10 in 2020 and 12 in 2019, according to the D.C. Office of Zoning dashboard.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Emily Wishingrad over at Bisnow
