WASHINGTON, DC—LCOR is breaking ground on The Edison at Gateway Market, a development site acquisition it made in the city's Union Market District last summer. In a separate development the company picked up two parcels in the same submarket earlier this month for $14.3 million. It eventually plans to build those out as well, LCOR SVP Harmar Thompson tells GlobeSt.com.

Developable space is scarce in this up-and-coming part of town, he says.

"We were lucky to acquire the sites as most of the land in the Union Market District is spoken for," he says. "That doesn't mean they couldn't be assembled -- but it would be difficult."

Even the parcels on 500 and 530 Morse St. will be unavailable for building for several years, Thompson continued. For starters, there are tenants still on the properties; plus the company has to work with the District to comply with Florida Ave. sector plan for higher density and mixed use. "The process could take us 16 to 24 months before we break ground."

Eventually, LCOR expects to build roughly 200 apartment units on the combined parcels plus between 12,000 square feet to 15,000 square feet of retail.

The Edison, though, is shovel-ready and Edens Realty, which will occupy and manage the 30,000-square feet of retail the building, has been in place since the beginning.

Indeed, the apartment building is being developed for Edens, which along with Choi Corp. won entitlements to develop the nearby Gateway Market Center.

Edens will own and be responsible for the retail component; LCOR will own the 188 residential units.

There is a lot of development underway in this part of the city. Developers are working together to make sure the projects complement one another, Thompson says.