WASHINGTON, DC-Abdo Development and the Bozzuto Group will be co-developing a mixed-used project in Catholic University of America’s South Campus. A $200-million project when all the phases are complete, it will be the first project funded under the $75-million fund that Bozzuto, helmed by CEO Tom Bozzuto, and Pritzker Realty Group announced earlier this summer.

That fund, levered, will have more than $300 million in purchasing power, Toby Bozzuto tells GlobeSt.com. Hence the company’s active pipeline: currently it is the process of negotiating "more than a handful of transactions" that it will pitch to its equity partner to see if the fund can finance those as well. "The spirit of the fund we established with Pritzker is to develop urban in-fill, transit-oriented multifamily projects,” he says. “That is what we are looking at now in the Mid-Atlantic region and that is what the project at Catholic is.” 

The multi-phase development will be located on five city blocks in the Brookland neighborhood, next to the Brookland Metro station. The community will ultimately consist of 720 residential units, 45 townhomes, 83,000 square feet of street-level retail, 15,000 square feet of artist studio space, a 3,000-square-foot community arts center and 850 parking spaces.

Approved plans also include streetscape and hardscape improvements. Bozzuto says the company will seek out construction financing when the design phase is further along. He is confident the company will be able to secure it despite the still-tight lending environment. “The project is a solid one and we have remained in close touch with our finance sources,” he tells GlobeSt.com.

The development is scheduled to break ground by the end of next year. The company hopes to have other projects lined up for the fund to follow in quick succession after that ground breaking, Bozzuto says. "Our hope is that over the next 12 months we will have identified all the projects for this fund and start breaking ground on some of them next year."