2108 10th St NW- Taking Shape

We are making incredible progress on all three of our current developments.  At The Thompson, the big push for last week and the one upcoming is to get the exterior work finished.  We are nearly done framing out the roof and finishing the brick work in the front and back.  Our roofer returns from a trip back to El Salvador on February 1st, and we'll have him get to work the next day on the front and rear metal details.

While the plumber is able to work before the building is completely water tight, both the electrician and HVAC contractors can not start until the building is 100% sealed up.  They should begin at the end of this week or the beginning of next.

In the front, the masons worked this week to install the front brick wall.  The brick is from the same factory as The Thompson Flats next door and looks nearly identical.

Here's the view from across the street.

In the rear, we worked this week to install the doors and windows so the masons could work.

New Website for Lock 7 Development!

We are extremely excited to announce the launch of a new website for our company at Lock7Development.com.  The new website has a ton of awesome info about all of our previous, current and future developments.  It also links seamlessly with all of our social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and this blog.

The homepage is clean and well-organized.

Another new feature is the ability to check availability, view floorplans and get building details without having to go to an external website.

We also were able to incorporate the Walk Score app into each project page.  On that note, our lowest Walk Score of any project is 86, which happens to be one block from Columbia Heights.  

Another useful feature is a well-organized portfolio, which is sorted into various categories (like kitchens, baths, etc.)

The Thompson- Windows

Over the last few days, we've begun to install the windows at The Thompson at 2108 10th St NW.  The front windows come in one piece and weigh several hundred pounds.  It took 4 guys and a system of ropes and pulleys to get them up and in place.  The new building finally is beginning to look like the twin building next door.  Very exciting!

The doors are scheduled to arrive on Friday of this week.

Pretty cool, right?

Harvard Row- Excavation

With all of our addition permits fully issued, we started off the new year with an army of excavation  machines at 1449 Harvard St NW.  The addition in the back will extend 25 feet, so we needed to remove almost 25 loads of dirt in order to lay the new foundation.  The new concrete footers and foundation walls will take about two weeks to complete.

The little machine can maneuver in small spaces and removes the dirt close to the building.  The bigger machine then scoops it up and puts it into a waiting dump truck.

1120 Rhode Island Ave- New Name, Rendering and Logo

With the new year upon us, we're excited to have three large condo projects underway in downtown DC.  One project that has moved forward with great speed over the last month is our 8-unit building at 1120 Rhode Island Ave NW.  We're pleased to announce that this building will be called "The Newport Tower Condominiums."  The name is a reference to an iconic stone tower in Newport, Rhode Island (story below).  We also finalized the color scheme and the logo.

The color scheme includes a gray for the building and blue shades for the window trim.  It looks clean and historic without being boring.

Our logo uses a font popular in the late 1800's when this building was originally constructed.  We picked an angle for the drawing that really emphasizes the grand scale of the tower.

We spent hours and hours going over potential names for our project.  A good building name is memorable, unique, and provides a groundwork for the marketing materials.  Our intention at this project was to stress the tower (the most stunning architectural feature on the building), the location (on Rhode Island Ave) and provide some historic reference (because the building is so historic).  We brainstormed and discovered the Newport Tower, which is one of the oldest standing structures on the east coast.  It's located in Newport, Rhode Island, and most historians date it to the 1700's, although there are some who think the building might be several centuries older.  It was used in several ways- as a lookout tower, windmill and munitions base.  We loved the fact that the shape is so similar to the tower on the building at 1120 Rhode Island Ave.

Here's a picture of the Newport Tower structure in Rhode Island.