The project is a joint venture between Faison, a Charlotte, NC-based developer and Canyon Johnson Urban Funds, a Los Angeles-based venture between Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Magic Johnson. This is Canyon's first investment in the Washington, DC market. Construction financing is being provided by Citibank Community Development. According to earlier announcements, the senior construction loan for the project is $74 million. According to an earlier comment to GlobeSt.com by Philip W. Norwood, president and CEO of Faison, this project is valued at about $100 million.

Faison senior managing director Donald Deutsch tells GlobeSt.com that Faison has close to 700 units under construction in the DC area, spread across four active projects including Onyx. These include projects at 1010 Massachusetts Ave.; the Whitman; located at Ninth and M, and Ventana, an asset at Ninth and F.

Earlier this summer--around the same time it closed on the land for Onyx on First--Faison also closed on property for a retail project in La Plata, MD. At the time Norwood told GlobeSt.com that this $75-million project would include 37 acres of outparcels for Lowes as well as 115,000 sf of retail space that Faison will develop. Deutsche says the company has several projects in the pipeline, declining to elaborate further.

The project is expected to deliver in 2008 when many other projects in the so-called Baseball District will also be coming online. Onyx on First is part of a master planned development that will include a 13-story office building next to the project. The office component will be separately developed by Opus.

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.