High design: Kettler Management's new boutique, hotel-like apartment community, The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park, is groundbreaking for its classical architecture and hefty price tag.

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The most pressing question facing prospective residents of Kettler's The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park isn't if they will live at the new high-rise apartment in Pentagon City, Arlington, Va. It is, instead, which of the more than 100 distinctive floor plans will they choose for their future homes.

"People who have already toured know they want to rent with us, but they can't figure out which floor plan they want," said Karen A. Kossow, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Kettler Management, McLean, Va. "There are 25 different loft designs alone."

That's thanks to the ingenuity of award-winning architect and designer Robert A.M. Stern, Founder and Senior Partner of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, and his seasoned team of architects and designers at his New York-based firm. They developed 399 residences, in conjunction with WDG Architects of Washington, D.C., for lease in The Gramercy, groundbreaking for its architecture and amenities usually found in ritzy condominiums and resorts.

"We, as the apartment industry, need to recognize that consumers want high design," said Jamie S. Gorski, Chief Marking Officer at Kettler. "Kettler is taking this first step."

Proportions, scale and symmetry are the most striking elements of The Gramercy, still a work in progress in Metropolitan Park, a 10-building, master-planned residential neighborhood, penned by Stern Architects and minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. Planning, design and zoning for the site started in 2002. Crews broke ground in April 2005.

The Metropolitan Park project is the third in a 10-phase development planned by Kettler on 19.6 acres of Pentagon City land. Established developments in the area include The Metropolitan at Pentagon City, with 325 apartments completed in 2002; and The Metropolitan at Pentagon Row, with 326 apartments completed in 2005.

"In its full evolution, the projects in Pentagon City will be Kettler's most expensive to date for a site of this size," Kettler President Richard Hausler said of the firm's "urban project," a high-density development for a compact, urban site. According to Hausler, "The land alone for the 10-phase development, of which The Gramercy is a part, cost more than $220 million. It will probably end up being a $2.5-billion project."

Hausler said that Kettler's second most expensive urban project is Midtown Reston Town Center, in Reston, Va.

Management expects the first wave of move-ins at The Gramercy to begin later this month, although an end-date for construction is expected in January or February 2008.

TRADEMARK STYLE

As Kettler's latest undertaking in Pentagon City, The Gramercy presents what Gorski calls Stern's trademark design: a traditional architectural approach to the exterior, and a New York boutique hotel-like feel in the interior.

"This is the first time we've had the opportunity to design both the master plan for a new urban neighborhood and the first residential building in that master plan," Stern said. "We are working with Kettler to create a new neighborhood in the great urban tradition of groupings of grand apartment houses that define public parks."

The project is Stern's first partnership with Kettler.

"The Kettler team admired one of our earlier residential buildings--the Chatham in New York--and came to us for the benefit of our experience," Stern said.

The architecture and design firm is currently at work on another Kettler residential building in Reston, which they expect to be under construction soon.

Other notable projects in Stern's firm's diverse portfolio include Disney's Board-Walk and Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resorts at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla.; campus planning at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; the Entertainment and Retail Center at Diagonal Mar in Barcelona, Spain; and the Museum for African Art in New York.

"Stern sometimes identifies his design approach as 'modern classicism,'" Hausler said. "New York roots are apparent in both the classical features of The Gramercy itself and in the orientation of the buildings to urban parks and open space."

The name of the building refers to Gramercy Park, one of New York City's oldest and most famous parks, surrounded by distinguished historic buildings.

Stern put his stamp on the exterior of The Gramercy with techniques traditionally used in classical buildings, such as the division of the structure into a base, shaft and crown for distinct design purposes. Retail space at the base of the building, surrounding a landscaped courtyard, is faced with light-colored brick and a darker water table. Above, outside residence floors, red brick is accented with light brick and cast stone, creating vertical and horizontal motifs meant to break down the scale of the building.

At the crown of the building, rising 18 stories, Stern aims to create a memorable skyline image with more light-colored brick, cast-stone detailing and a terrace shaded by pergolas.

And at the center of the project's layout is a classic urban park.

"We took advantage of the large site to create a new park and implement a finer-grained urbanism than has existed in the surrounding district as it evolves from light industrial to residential use," Stern said. "The park provides a focal point both for our new building and for the surrounding Pentagon City."

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

Stern's interior has a more contemporary and daring feel. Bright hues such as cobalt blue and red glass tiles will accent The Gramercy's lobby, illuminated by custom chandeliers, designed by Stern's team. The lobby opens into the residence courtyard, with planned brick sidewalks and a fountain.

The more than 100 floor plans include studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences, lofts, duplexes and penthouses, offering up to 2,000 square feet of spacious living space, some with soaring ceilings--up to 17 feet--and views of the city through floor-to-ceiling windows.

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Onsite retail space occupies the ground floor of the structure. Much of the 10,960 square feet of rental space has not yet been leased; Kettler has been in negotiations with Wachovia Bank and Cosi restaurant, Gorski said.

Tours and leasing for residences at The Gramercy began the first week of August, but it will take at least 15 more years for the entire project to come to fruition.

"Because of the project's magnitude, it has been many years in development and will take many years to complete," Gorski said.

Rents will range from $1,600 to $6,600 per month.

Pentagon City seemed the obvious location for the new community, Gorski said, because of its proximity to Washington, retail and restaurant areas, two Metrorail stops, the Virginia Railway Express and Ronald Reagan Washington, D.C., National Airport. Also, Gorski noted, occupancy is high in all buildings in this submarket.

That's a good omen for the success of Kettler's latest project. According to Gorski, the second building in the Metropolitan Park community has been designed, and the third is in design development.

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CONSTRUCTION HURDLES

Construction is currently progressing on schedule, but that isn't to say that Kettler hasn't met physical and financial roadblocks along the way.

"We've had some development challenges," Hausler said. "Pentagon gig is an older industrial district, and we're in a quadrant where the warehouses date back to the post-WWII era. As a result, a lot of clean-up was required for us to use this site."

That clean-up came at an ever-increasing price.

"As with any project," Gorski said, "construction costs have increased dramatically during development."

For Stern, the diversity of The Gramercy's surrounding buildings and the rapid evolution of Pentagon City presented design and development difficulties, too.

"We worked to make our building respond intelligently to the scale and character of each of its neighbors," he said. "And our master plan is organized so that Metropolitan Park feels like a complete neighborhood at the completion of each phase of development."

Getting master-plan approvals from Arlington County also presented a challenge--that process was 12 years in the making, Hausler said.

But it was the Pentagon City land purchase that set Kettler back more than $220 million during the construction process. For more than seven years, Kettler had been the ground lessee of the 19.6-acre development area in Pentagon City, which includes the Metropolitan Park site. But in mid-May, the firm closed on 11 acres for $104.3 million, and plans to purchase the remaining acreage over the next year for a total of $220.4 million.

"When you have a ground lease, you're limited as to the kinds of uses for the property and as to future ownership," Hausler said. "If you decide to add or to alter uses during the evolution of the property, you have to ask the landlord."

Kettler was able to finance the land purchase through established relationships with money center banks and institutional investors, Hausler said.

Kettler Founder and Chairman Robert C. Kettler said in a press release that the purchase gives the firm a long-term stake in one of the Washington area's most dynamic urban neighborhoods.

"It deepens our established commitment to Arlington County and to Pentagon City," he said.

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BUILDING BLOCK: THE GRAMERCY

THE NEWS: The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park, a creation of Robert A.M. Stern Architects, is part of a 10-building residential neighborhood organized around a two-and-a-half-acre park.

THE BACKGROUND: Kettler is a 30-year developer of properties across the Washington area. Stern Architects is an award-winning firm in New York.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Gramercy is scheduled to open this month. The next two Kettler buildings in the Metropolitan Park neighborhood are in development.

Kerry A. Sullivan is NAA's Manager of Communications. She can be reached at 703/797-0678 or [e-mail].