Kettler Readies for m.flats Brand Debut

McLEAN, VA-The Metropolitan at Lorton Station. The Metropolitan at Reston Town Center. The Gramercy at Metropolitan Park. Without a doubt, locally-based real estate developer Kettler knows how to establish and promote a multifamily brand.  Now the company is launching a new building type this summer, targeting—as so many apartment builders are these days—a different type of dweller.

This summer it plans to open m.flats Mount Vernon Triangle, at 450 K St. N.W. Kettler calls the project a milestone, aimed at attracting residents who want to live in transit-oriented amenity-rich communities. The m.flats brand will have studios, one and two-bedroom units, as well as common areas.

These residents could range from millennials to married couples to empty nesters. Their one common denominator is that they want city-living and all the perks that go with an apartment in a work-live-play submarket.

To be sure, Kettler is not abandoning its Metropolitan brand.

This past summer, Kettler received approval from Arlington County Board for phases four and five of the Metropolitan Park project, which includes the redevelopment of an existing warehouse site into the single largest residential and retail high-rise in Pentagon City. The developer, Vornado, is planning to combine the two phases of the project into one 22-story building with 699 residential units, and 40,413 square feet of retail space—most of which will be occupied by a full-service grocery store.

What will be particularly telling, though, is which concept Kettler decides to pursue at its latest acquisition at 1711 Florida Ave. N.W, which it announced last week.

Given its Adams Morgan location, it is likely that Kettler is primed for another m.flats project, but the company isn't saying.

"Adams Morgan is a unique neighborhood and we look forward to working with the District of Columbia and the surrounding community to deliver an attractive development that meets the needs of the market," Asheel Shah, senior vice president of Real Estate Investments for Kettler, says in a prepared statement.