Jemal's Woodies Bid Has Right Tenor
by Mike Cleary

The Washington Opera decided yesterday to sell the flagship Woodward & Lothrop building at 12th and F streets NW to a developer with plans to create a combination of stores, restaurants and apartments.

Opera officials agreed to accept Doug Jemal's offer of $28.2 million, pleasing not only the Rockville-based businessman with a long track record of downtown redevelopment, but also downtown officials who have called for more stores and housing to help revive downtown.

Of the 11 bids that the opera received, Douglas Development Corp.'s was the highest and least conditional offer, said Robert H. Craft Jr., president of the opera's board of trustees. The sale could close within 30 days, he said.

The opera's decision was a blow to the Smithsonian Institution, which said it wanted to buy the 13,000-square-foot building and convert it to an art center with stores and restaurants. Georgetown developer Herb Miller also bid on the project, real estate officials said.

"It's great news for downtown and the city as a whole," said Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, who has called for housing on the site. "He's going to make it a retail center as it should be. Along with bringing in residents this will make it a hub of activity."

Reached in California yesterday, Mr Jemal said, "We're elated. We're absolutely excited to have the right to work with this property.

While plans weren't final, he said he plans to meet soon with Mayor Anthony A. Williains and housing advocates Charles Docter and Mr. Lynch.

Opera officials weighed calls for downtown retail and housing, the city's desire to keep the property on the tax rolls and price when making the decision, said Jeff Arnold, a principal with Concord Partners, a District-based real estate firm advising the opera.

The city would have stopped receiving property tax revenues from the building if the Smithsonian, a government-funded, non-profit, had won the bid.

Using donated funds, the opera paid $18 million in Apri1 1996 to turn the building into its new home, outbidding Mr. Jemal and others. But after spending about $4 million on studying and fixing up the building, opera officials learned it would cost more than $200 million to renovate it. They gave up on the idea and put the building back on the market in September.

The opera will use the sale proceeds to endow a fund that will support operatic productions. Because the property is zoned for only retail and arts uses, the opera refused to accept conditions about Changes to zoning -which would have ruled out housing. But in December, the. D.C. Council Voted to recommend housing as a permitted use when they updated the District's comprehensive plan.

Mr. Jemal may need some help from the city, one downtown official said.

"It behooves us to rally around the project," said Richard Bradley, director of the Downtown Business Improvement District, which promotes and serves businesses in that neighborhood. The project may depend on finding the right tenants, particularly large users that are "destinations" that draw tourists and residents, he said. Those don't come without being encouraged, he said.

"The area's in transition," he said, and the District should use the tools it can to help bring retail "pioneers" to help the area along.