The Loree Grand: Luxury and Artist Housing as One of NoMa’s First Apartments

• August 10, 2010
• 4 Comments

by Carisa Chappell

What’s in a name? Well that can depend on where you live. Residents of The Loree Grand in NoMa take pride in the fact that their luxury apartment building was named in honor of Loree Harris Murray, a neighborhood activist whose efforts transformed the Northeast community into a safe place to live and work.

Loree Harris Murray would likely be happy with The Loree Grand, as it caters to a wide variety of apartment hunters (more on that below). The 212-unit project is the intial phase of what will make up the Union Place complex, the most substantial mixed-use development project to break ground in the area in the past 20 years. There will be about 700 units total, a child daycare center, and a half acre central plaza for public use.

The Loree Grand

The Loree Grand, which just opened its doors to tenants in June, sits prominently on a corner at 250 K Street NE (map) in NoMa. The neighborhood stretches from the area north of the US Capitol from Union Station to the New York Avenue Metro Station. The shops and restaurants of Union Station are just a short walk away and the District has selected the area for major residential and commercial redevelopment projects. (Watch for our profile of the neighborhood later this week.)

That redevelopment is evident as the drive down K Street near The Loree Grand is a mix of mom-and-pop storefronts alongside state-of-the-art high rise buildings with ‘for lease’ signs. A Harris Teeter is scheduled to open later this year and there’s a nice variety of dining options nearby.

A grand arched entrance welcomes residents

Interior Appeal

There are 212 units at The Loree Grand, comprised of 40 different floor plans including studios, one- and two-bedrooms. For residents in need of more space, some floor plans include a den in addition to the bedroom(s).

The basic studio apartments are all 648 square feet and include a walk-in closet; the basic one-bedroom is 797 square feet with two walk-in closets; and the basic two-bedrooms range from 1,194 to 1,295 square feet and include a separate dining area off the kitchen. A few of the units have entryways with direct street access as either walk-down or walk-up apartments.

While all units have expansive windows, balconies and floor-to-ceiling windows are also available in select apartments and many boast panoramic city views that include the Capitol.

The building offers a nice array of amenities, including a clubroom with kitchen and a fitness center. An iMac-equipped business center will open later in the year. The staff plans social activities for the residents, many of which take place in the landscaped courtyard or rooftop terrace, great spaces for when the weather isn’t too hot or too cold.

The Loree Grand courtyard.

Artists Benefit From Live/Work Housing

One of the special features about this building is that it has set aside 30 units specifically for artists through a partnership with the Cultural Development Corporation (CDC). These live/work apartments are designed with a studio space and are open to artists, including arts administrators and educators. (Applicants must be active in the art community.) The units are priced to be affordable to households earning a maximum of 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). The 2009 AMI for the metro area is $102,000 for a four-person household. They are leased on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Cost of Living Grand

The Loree Grand has an underground parking garage and spaces are available at a cost of $150 per month for the first parking space and $200 per month for the second. Animal lovers will not have to leave their pets behind since the building does also offer a monthly pet rent of $50 per pet.

Current rent promotions include one month free rent on all apartments and two to three months free rent on select apartments. The Loree Grand has also reduced the $500 amenity fee to $125.

More About Loree Grand

• Loree Grand Flickr photo stream
• Loree Grand Facebook page
• Article about the long line to apply for the artist housing (DCmud)
• More about the artist housing from DC’s Cultural Development Corporation
• PDF property brochure from the developer

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/new_loree_grand_apartments_in_noma/2356

4 Comments

1. maria said at 11:37 am on Tuesday August 10, 2010:

   The interior shots are great marketing!

1. wydlerbrothers said at 12:53 pm on Wednesday August 11, 2010:

   This building is a great example of the varied real estate we have available in DC! There is something for everyone in this city.

1. E.Lee said at 2:43 pm on Friday August 27, 2010:

   As a resident of the K Street neighborhood, I see the Loree Grand as nothing more than an attempt to shroud an overwrought, underwhelming living space in a hazy cloud of “mixed use” and “artist-friendly” marketing.  The developers let this land sit for 15 years going to waste and diminishing property values in the area.  Then they built what was promised as “low income” housing and slapped a huge “LUXURY APARTMENTS” sign on the outside.  Adding insult to injury, the “artist friendly” rent is actually higher than what I pay to live in a rowhouse just a few blocks down the street.  Finally, where are the people willing to rent a $3,200 apartment, and if they don’t materialize, what will become of the grand Loree Grand? If its history tells us anything, it’ll become an abandoned warehouse blighting our neighborhood (yet again) in no time.

1. C0408 said at 11:40 am on Sunday October 23, 2011:

   Having lived here for over a year, I initially was lured in with affordable housing program. Unfortunately, there is nothing really affordable about the program that now replaces “artist housing.” It is not based on individual’s income in any way and because the rent is based on AMI, a single person would have to pay $1500 for a one bedroom (which does not include utilities or parking or trash). The $1500 would apply to anyone who qualified for one of the 30 (out of 212) units—regardless of income. Therefore, the management team definitely tries to get a tenant that fits a “certain profile” of income based renter. I have in fact witnessed them cherry pick their affordable dwelling unit tenants by lying to applicants who do not fit the mold telling them there aren’t any available units and then telling others who “fit” that a unit had just opened up. It’s highly unlikely for anyone in this building to ever really be a person who is low income. Some of the affordable dwelling renters pay more than 60% of their income to rent if they do fall in the lower bracket of income based renters. I am pretty sure it will bring in renters but definitely renters who fit a certain profile—-that is until they figure out that the amenities are minimal in comparison to other true “Luxury” apartments.

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