Barker and Hedges Real Estate Blog

Okay, I haven’t really had the chance to go to the Minnesota State Fair yet.  I’m guilty of not yet attending the Great Minnesota Get-Together.  So when I wrote the entry last week about the fair, I wasn’t in the know about one of the new additions to the Minnesota State Fair.  It’s an Eco House! 

The 2,000-square-foot flat-roofed home, designed by SALA Architects, showcases green building features such as a solar water-heating system, passive heating and cooling features, rain screen system and energy-efficient fixtures and appliances. The home, furnished by Natural Built Home, will be open for tours from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Sept. 1 as part of the Eco Experience in the Progress Center Building, at the corner of Cosgrove Street and Randall Avenue.

I found a video on the Star Tribune website about the Eco House to be extremely informative.  If you can’t make it down to the Minnesota State Fair, or you’d just like to know what you’re in for before you take a tour, check out their mini-tour of the Eco House. 

“How you live in your home and how you sell your house is two different things.” In staging circles, this sentence is uttered to clients daily. However, it is widely under-appreciated by those who have not experienced staging in their own homes.

While living in your house, function usually precedes form. Translation: even though it may not look pretty, it works for our family. When selling, it just needs to look pretty. Take a look at the example below:

In this photo, the dining room is being used as a storage space.

For the family, this area was not being used on a daily basis, so it was convenient for them to place their unneeded items on the table.

In this condition, buyers could not imagine eating a peaceful meal or entertaining in this room.

Knowing that changes needed to be made, the family had an in-home staging consultation to prioritize the assignments.

After removing the storage items, place settings were added with a floral arrangement for drama.

Now, buyers can imagine entertaining in this room, hosting family holidays, and having a candle light dinner for two.

Instead of showing clutter, the table setting tells a story of elegance while coordinating the color scheme with the rest of the home.

The best part of staging this room was the minimal costs involved. Most items were used from the homeowners’ China cabinet! The biggest investment the homeowners made was with their time and effort.

De-cluttering may be the least glamorous part of home staging, but it proves to be the most effective tool in helping your house sell quickly! The time invested in preparing your house for sale before it is listed will most likely reduce the time your house will remain on the market.

Don’t think of removing your extra stuff as a chore, but instead, think of it as packing early!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in home staging consultations and vacant stagings. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.

The Minnesota State Fair began its annual 12-day run this morning at 6:00 AM and runs through September 1.  Even at that early hour, hundreds of fanatical fairgoers eager to be a part of the “Great Minnesota Get Together” had already lined up outside the gates.  As expected, since that time the turnstiles haven’t stopped spinning. 

Opening day is a good day to attend the Minnesota State Fair, as the crowds tend not to be as heavy as on weekends.  Another good reason to hit the fair today is that it is Thrifty Thursday. The price of admission today is $8 for adults and $5 for ages 5 to 12. Regular admission is $11 usually and $9 for ages 5 to 12.

During the 12 Best Days of Summer, fairgoers can consume a wide variety of foods on a stick, view music concerts and entertainment, exhibits, and more.  During 2007, the Minnesota State Fair was attended by nearly 1.7 million people.  Each year it progressively grows as one of the most widely attended state fairs in the United States.

This year, the fair has a new building.  The International Bazaar is a 14,000-square-foot facility on Judson Avenue, just south of the Agriculture and Horticulture building. It replaces an old wooden structure that was constructed in the early 1970s which was originally intended to be temporary.  35 years later in 2007, it was finally razed and the new International Bazaar was built.  The International Bazaar features more seating, more entertainment space and more room for vendors.

Entertainment at the 2008 Minnesota State Fair includes more than 100 acts at eight free venues, with a lineup of stars that include Toby Keith, the Backstreet Boys, and the Black Crowes.  The Great Minnesota Get-Together also features more than 450 food choices.  Don’t forget the hundreds of agricultural, educational and commercial exhibits and attractions.

The Great Minnesota Get-Together has been in existence nearly as long as Minnesota has been a state.  After four years of territorial fairs, the first Minnesota State Fair was held in 1859 near what became downtown Minneapolis.  That was just one year after Minnesota was granted statehood. Next year will see the celebration of the State Fair’s 150th anniversary!  During the fair’s early years, the site of the exposition rotated with stops in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Red Wing, Winona and Owatonna.  The Minnesota State Fair finally found a permanent home at its present location after the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners donated a 210-acre poor farm to the State Agricultural Society, which governed the State Fair at the time.

After setting down its roots, the Minnesota State Fair began to grow. The fairgrounds now sprawls over 320 acres. Architecturally, it is home for many historically-significant structures including the Arts Center, Progress Center, the famous Grandstand, and Coliseum (formerly known as the Hippodrome).

In early fairs, agricultural exhibits and competitions played heavil, reflecting its original purpose of encouraging farming within the state. While agriculture is still the main focus of the Minnesota State Fair, the spectrum of activities has broadened to include large-scale entertainment features, technological and industrial exhibits, and education and government institutions.

Random Fact:  Since it began, the Minnesota State Fair has been held every year without fail except for five occasions: in 1861 and 1862 due to the Civil War and Dakota Indian Conflict, in 1893 because of scheduling conflicts with the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 1945 due to war-time fuel shortages, and in 1946 due to a polio epidemic.

During the month of July 2008 in Minneapolis, the number of new listings decreased yet again, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors’ Market Update for 100 Twin Cities Communities. During July, there were 1,016 new listings. In July 2007, there were 1,106 new listings. That is a drop of -8.1%. The Uptown/Lakes community experienced the greatest decrease in new listings during July, with 101 new listings in compared to July of 2007’s 29. 58.6%Conversely, the University community, which experienced a decline of -58.6% in new listings during June, has seen its new real estate listings jump 40.0% during July 2008 compared to last year. That sounds big, but really there were 20 new listings during July last year, whearas there were 28 this year. Here is an inventory of July 2008 new listings in Minneapolis by community and the percentage of change that has occurred compared to July 2007 (To see a Barker & Hedges article about June 2008 Minneapolis Market Activity, please click here.)

Camden 148 (+2.8%)
Downtown Minneapolis 126 (-19.7%)
Longfellow 63 (-11.3%)
Nokomis 120 (-12.4%)
North 130 (+4.0%)
Northeast 71 (-13.4%)
Phillips 27 (+12.5%)
Powderhorn 83 (+31.7%)
Southwest 120 (-7.7%)
University Area 28 (+40.0%)
Uptown-Lakes 101 (-32.7%)

Minneapolis’ posted new listing for the 2008 year-to-date change that outlook a bit. From January through July of 2008, there were 7,210 new listings, compared to 8,206 during the same time period of 2007. That is a decrease of -12.1%, just a hair better than last month’s -12.8% year-to-date change. The most dramatic adjustments happened in the Uptown-Lakes and Downtown areas, which have experienced a drop in new listings of -27.3% and -23.6% respectively compared to last year. The Phillips community has experienced an increase in new listings to the tune of 22.9% and 11.9% respectively. Here is a depiction of new listings in Minneapolis by community for the 2008 year to date and the percentage of change that has occurred compared to 2007:

Camden 986 (-5.0%)
Downtown Minneapolis 915 (-23.6%)
Longfellow 396 (-9.6%)
Nokomis 836 (-19.4%)
North 902 (+10.7%)
Northeast 534 (-17.5%)
Phillips 220 (+22.9%)
Powderhorn 561 (+13.6%)
Southwest 888 (-15.7%)
University Area 170 (-15.8%)
Uptown-Lakes 801 (-27.3%)

Overall, Minneapolis closed sales dropped during July! Throughout the month, there were 473 properties sold, which means there were -7.6% fewer closed sales than in July of 2007. For the 2008 year to date, the City of Minneapolis closed sales are -4.1% lower than last year. 2,646 home sales were closed in Minneapolis so far in 2008 compared to 2,760 during the same time period of 2007. Homes seem to be selling like hotcakes in the Camden, North, and Powderhorn communities while closed sales are dragging more considerably in Phillips, Longfellow, and University areas.

When it comes to home sales prices, it probably comes as no surprise that they have dropped some more. The average sales price of a home in Minneapolis was $233,770 which is -11.0% less than last year’s $262,595, but much better than June’s $222,804. The average sales price year-to-date in the City of Minneapolis is increasing, as from January through July of 2008 the average sales price of a home was $219,510, which is -15.7% lower than 2007’s $260,511 but, once again, is better than June’s $214,406. The percentage of Minneapolis homes which sold at their original list price was 91.3% during the month of July, down from 95.1% in 2007. The communities which are doing better, however, include Downtown Minneapolis and the Uptown Area, which have experienced increases in real estate values due to high demand for properties here.

Average prices of homes sold in Minneapolis by community during July 2008:

Camden $83,278 (-38.3%)
Downtown $358,812 (+29.0%)
Longfellow $181,341 (-15.8%)
Nokomis $213,987 (-11.4%)
North $57,846 (-42.8%)
Northeast $181,839 (-8.9%)
Phillips $110,020 (-27.0%)
Powderhorn $146,133 (-13.6%)
Southwest $363,039 (+4.4%)
University Area $216,353 (-23.3%)
Uptown-Lakes $464,491 (+10.5%)

Lastly, homes for sale in Minneapolis are staying on the market for much longer than they were in 2007. Last year in July, a Minneapolis home was on the market for an average of 101 days before selling. During July of 2008, a home was on the market for an average of 126 days when it sold. The statistics vary based on neighborhood and the types of housing on the market. Condos and town homes are being snapped up much more quickly, while single family homes are staying on the market for much longer. Here is the average number of days a home is on the market at the time of sale by individual Minneapolis community during the month of July 2008.

Camden 161 (-6.6%)
Downtown Minneapolis 105 (+28.2%)
Longfellow 77 (-7.1%)
Nokomis 90 (+11.7%)
North 161 (-17.2%)
Northeast 125 (+49.2%)
Phillips 134 (+6.0%)
Powderhorn 120 (+23)
Southwest 120 (+26.6%)
University Area 169 (+98.5%)
Uptown-Lakes 117 (+33.6%)

This is a brief analysis of the Minneapolis real estate market based on calculations by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. These statistics do not reflect each individual situation of course.

Browse homes for sale by Minneapolis community:

Calhoun Isle
Camden
Central
Longfellow
Phillips
Powderhorn
Near North
Nokomis
Northeast
Southwest
University

It’s been a while since I’ve written a strange-but-true real estate related post. I feel like this one warrants it though. Though it is certainly strange, it may have its merit!

More and more it seems these days the real estate market is a buyer’s world. In many places, the boom has turned to bust and house prices are falling. Instead of worrying someone else may bid a house out from under them if they take a second too long to think, they are taking their time. So much so in fact, that some would like 24 hours to make the decision. 24 hours of living at the house in a form of “test drive,” that is.

From Florida to California and everywhere in between, people are seeking creative ways to attract buyers. As discussed earlier in this blog, they’re trying things which would have been unthinkable not too long ago. Have they worked? It’s hard to say. But this method not only has the potential to work, at least one house in California sold after its soon-to-be new owners spent 24 hours alone in the home including a sleepover.

The “sleep on it” idea is such a good idea that HGTV has even made a reality TV show about it. Yes, you read that right. “Sleep On It” is a hot real estate reality show that follows potential buyers as they try out a home before deciding to buy it or not. Now in its second season, “Sleep on It” was among HGTV’s Top 10 shows last month. It airs at 10 p.m. on Sundays.

It’s not for everyone or every home. It’s not for the faint of heart and its deffinately not a tactic which should be considered if the buyer is not absolutely serious about the possibility of buying the home.

For the yet another month, new Saint Paul, Minnesota, listings for homes decreased during the month of July, according to the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors’ Market Update for 100 Twin Cities Communities. Throughout July of 2008, there were 599 new listings within the City of Saint Paul. In July of 2007, there were 692 new listings, which is a drop of about -13.4%. This is worse than June 2008’s drop of -8.9%. The Mac-Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul experienced the greatest decline in new listings this month at -56.9%. The West Side/Cherokee neighborhoods experienced the greatest increase in new listings over last year at 41, a very significant 86.4% more listings when compared to July 2007. Here is a list of July 2008 new listings in Saint Paul by neighborhood and the percentage of change that has occurred compared to July 2007. (To see a Barker & Hedges blog entry about June 2008 St. Paul Market Activity, please click here.)

Como 33 (-21.4%)
Crocus Hill 37 (-19.6%)
Downtown Saint Paul 30 (-23.1%)
East Side 125 (-16.7%)
Highland Park 38 (-28.3%)
Mac-Groveland 22 (-56.9%)
Merriam Park 19 (-0.0%)
North End/Frogtown 75 (-12.8%)
Phalen 95 (+6.7%)
Southeast 32 (-25.6%)
St. Anthony/Midway 29 (-0.0%)
West 7th 20 (-9.1%)
West Side/Cherokee 41 (+86.4%)

As we view the city’s posted new listing for the 2008 year-to-date, from January through July, there were 4,369 new listings in St. Paul, compared to 4,841 during the same months of 2007. That equates to 9.8% fewer new listings so far this year. The most extreme changes have happened in the St. Anthony/Midway neighborhoods, where new listings have decreased by 29.8% while the Phalen neighborhood’s new listings continue to increase with 12.1% more homes for sale than last year. Here is a list of new listings in Saint Paul for the 2008 year to date compared to 2007:

Como 263 (-17.6%)
Crocus Hill 331 (-16.8%)
Downtown Saint Paul 271 (-20.5%)
East Side 933 (-2.1%)
Highland Park 285 (-13.4%)
Mac-Groveland 247 (-20.8%)
Merriam Park 127 (-24.9%)
North End/Frogtown 525 (-6.9%)
Phalen 620 (+12.1%)
Southeast 161 (-21.8%)
St. Anthony/Midway 224 (-29.8%)
West 7th 130 (-20.7%)
West Side/Cherokee 236 (+17.4%)

For yet another month, fewer new listings have not meant fewer closed sales on homes in St. Paul, Minnesota. At 300, there were 5.3% more closed sales this year in July than the same month of 2007’s 285. This has helped the 2008 year overall closed sales, which has inched up from 3.6% below last years figure to exactly 2.0% under. 1,537 home sales were closed in St. Paul from January through July of 2008 compared to 1,568 during the same time period last year. A little bit more and we’ll be on par with last year’s stats!

Home sales prices in Saint Paul continue to fall. The average price of a home sold within the City of St. Paul was $180,871 in July 2008 compared to $248,104 in 2007. That is a decrease of a noteworthy 27.1%. The exceptions to the downward trend were the Downtown and Highland Park neighborhoods, which saw increases over last year’s home sales prices of 10.6% and 1.5% respectively. The average sales price year-to-date in the City of Saint Paul is no better at $183,823. During the same time period in 2007, the average sales price of a home was $234,749, a decrease of 21.7%. The percentage of St. Paul homes which sold at their original list price has decreased to 91.3%. In 2007, 93.7% of the homes sold in July were purchased for their original listing price.

Average prices of homes sold in Saint Paul by neighborhood during July 2008:

Como $214,487 (-3.4%)
Crocus Hill $245,156 (-41.3%)
Downtown Saint Paul $204,979 (+10.6%)
East Side $107,984 (-30.6%)
Highland Park $303,873 (+1.5%)
Mac-Groveland $264,494 (-25.3%)
Merriam Park $252,947 (-14.3%)
North End/Frogtown $82,439 (-36.3%)
Phalen $102,421 (-36.8%)
Southeast $171,640 (-7.2%)
St. Anthony/Midway $180,384 (-28.8%)
West 7th $154,067 (-14.1%)
West Side/Cherokee $149,210 (-26.3%)

As we saw last months, homes for sale in Saint Paul are staying on the market longer than they did in 2007. In July of 2008, a home in St. Paul was up for sale an average of 133 days before it sold. In July of 2007, homes for sale in Saint Paul were on the market for an average of 116 days before selling. Of course, the amount of time a home spends on the market varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. Homes sold in the Mac-Groveland and Como neighborhoods of Saint Paul in July on the market 98 days before selling. That might seem quick at first glance, but they were selling in 81 and 92 days in July of 2007. It’s taking about 5 months for homes to sell in most neighborhoods. In Southeast St. Paul, it’s taking 195 days for a home to sell. That’s much better than last month’s 244 days for that neighborhood! Year to date, homes are taking an average of 141 days to sell, compared to 2007’s 123 days. Here is the average number of days a home is on the market at the time of sale by St. Paul neighborhood for July of 2008.

Como 98 (+6.9%)
Crocus Hill 170 (+77.7%)
Downtown Saint Paul 164 (+1.1%)
East Side 160 (+12.6%)
Highland Park 102 (-14.9%)
Mac-Groveland 98 (+20.1%)
Merriam Park 132 (+26.1%)
North End/Frogtown 138 (+20.0%)
Phalen 130 (+5.9%)
Southeast 195 (+40.6%)
St. Anthony/Midway 111 (+31.8%)
West 7th 128 (-30.1%)
West Side/Cherokee 154 (+3.8%)

This is a brief analysis of the St. Paul real estate market based on calculations by the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors. These statistics do not reflect all situations.

Browse homes for sale by Saint Paul Neighborhood:

Battle Creek & Highwood
Como/Como Park
Downtown
Greater East Side
Hamline-Midway
Highland Park
Dayton’s Bluff
Payne-Phalen
Macalester-Groveland
Merriam Park
North End
St. Anthony/Midway
Summit Hill
Summit University
Thomas-Dale
West Side
West 7th

Attention Sellers: What does hair gel and room decor have in common? The answer: A little goes a long way!

When selling your house, rooms should appear uncluttered and stylish. If a room has too much decorations or stuff of any kind, buyers will miss seeing the room itself. Take a look at the example below:

In this photo, the overwhelming decorations are distracting to the room.

The wide variety of colors, patterns, and textures make this area feel smaller than it should.

Too many pieces of art work ornate the walls barely leaving any visual wall space.

The vanity is covered with daily products thus decreasing its visual size. While the floor is hardly visible amongst the rugs, shelves, and other miscellaneous items.

In this condition, buyers will remember a room that is chaotic and small instead of appreciating the full bath tub and large vanity.

After an in-home staging consultation by KFM Staging & Design, the home owner was given a plan to create a spacious bathroom that will appeal to buyers.

The color palette was kept neutral to create the illusion of more space. A small amount of color was added with the artwork for visual interest.

The artwork was limited to the focal point of the bathroom - in this case, the wall space above the towel bar. It is important to see clean wall space when selling your house.

Extra items on the floor, including the rugs, trash bins, and shelves have been removed to show the maximum amount of floor space. The more floor space that is visible, the larger the room appears.

The final transformation to this area was exchanging the dated shower curtain for a cloth curtain that is streamline. Just like window treatments in a bedroom, the shower curtain will set the style of the bathroom.  Through staging, this bathroom was instantly updated!

When it comes to de-cluttering, a little goes a long way, but a lot goes even further!

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that has been creating “First Impressions That Sell” for homeowners and Realtors across the Twin Cities and western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in home staging consultations and vacant stagings. For more information on home staging visit our website: www.kfmstaging.com.

Starting tonight, the 10-foot-tall letters that spell out “FOSHAY” on top of the Foshay Tower will shine in downtown Minneapolis once again.  At 9:00 PM tonight, the name on one of Minneapolis’ most famous downtown landmarks will light up on all four sides. Tomorrow, the building located at 821 Marquette Ave reopens as the 230-room W Hotel.

The letters, situated at the 30th floor, were turned off in November of 2006 as renovations of the building began.  All previous occupants except for the beloved Key’s Café have moved since then. 

Modeled after the Washington Monument, the Foshay Tower was completed in 1929 in the months before “Black Monday” in October of that year. It stands 447 feet high, plus an antenna mast that extends the total height of the structure to 607 feet. When it was constructed, it was the tallest building and the first skyscraper of Minneapolis.  It was dethroned in 1972 by the construction of the IDS Center. It remains one of the tallest concrete skyscrapers to this day, second only in height to the Empire State Building. The Foshay Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

I found an interesting story regarding the construction of the Foshay Tower and its history.  It seems that Foshay Tower was the lifelong dream and namesake of Wilbur Foshay, an art student turned businessman who bought and sold utilities companies in order to make his fortune. He had planned to locate his business and residence on the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth floors where a three bedroom, three bath suite was built.  Foshay invited 25,000 guests to the dedication ceremony and provided all-expenses paid trips to many who included cabinet members, senators and congressmen.  Each guest received a gold pocket watch, there were 19-gun salutes, dancers and more.  It was a big “to do.”  Even John Philip Sousa conducted music for the event, including “Foshay Tower-Washington Memorial March” a march he wrote specifically for the occasion and for which Foshay presented him with a check for $20,000.

The march was only played once during Foshay’s lifetime. Six weeks after the building’s opening, the Great Depression began and Foshay’s corporate empire crumbled. The check he had written to Sousa bounced. In retaliation, Sousa prohibited the playing of the march so long as Foshay’s debt to him remained outstanding. Foshay never lived in his new home and he never heard the march again.  In 1999, a group of Minnesota investors repaid Foshay’s debt to Sousa’s estate, and the march was permitted to be played again.

Who would have ever known?

Construction activity in the Twin Cities metro area is still very slow.  In fact, new home construction is limping along at about half the pace of last year, according to data released last week by the Builders Association of the Twin Cities.

During July, 255 permits were issued to build 650 units. That’s a 42 percent decline in the number of permits and a 33 percent decline in the number of new units. So far this year, the number of permits and planned units were down nearly 50 percent.

It’s not that new houses have stopped selling, but home builders have basically stopped building homes that haven’t already been sold.  Right now, they’re focused on reducing inventories of unsold houses that were built during the housing boom.

A report from Metrostudy, a company that tracks housing inventories, shows that, during the second quarter of this year, the number of new unsold houses was down 32 percent compared with the same time last year, leaving the supply of unsold homes at 3.8 months.

More than a third of the planned units last month were to build two large multi-unit buildings in Bloomington, which hasn’t made an appearance on the top-five list all summer.

ASID Kitchen Tour

This 16th edition of this tour will showcase outstanding metro kitchens created by the American Society of Interior Designers. Sixteen kitchens of private homes feature the latest design and remodeling trends. Meet the designers as well as guest chefs with samples of restaurant fare. Walk away with fabulous ideas, great prizes and more! Proceeds benefit the Minnesota Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers.

Saturday, August 9

Sunday, August 10

10:00 AM – 4:00 PM both days.

Price: $15 - $25

Call 612-336-9296 for more information.

Remodeled Home Tour

This weekend will finally bring about the Remodeled Home Tour a self-guided, one day tour of recently remodeled homes in South and Southwest Minneapolis. The tour was created so people could get the chance to observe high-quality home construction and remodeling trends in these historic and trendy neighborhoods. The contractors who worked on the projects will be available to meet with tour guests and answer questions.

Large and small projects alike will be prominent in the tour. Examples of how even small changes can make a big difference in a home will be showcased in this tour. Most of the homes will be older, having been renovated to meet the needs of modern occupants. However, there will be a few examples of new homes which have been constructed in such a way as to blend into the older neighborhoods. Green remodeling methods and features will also be presented in the Remodeled Home Tour as well.

The first tour was in 2006, beginning as a grass-roots idea to bring a wider segment of the community together to show how 19th and early 20th century homes in Minneapolis are transitioning to the modern lifestyle and culture of today’s homeowner. The Remodeled Home Tour has been successful each year it has been held, raising thousands of dollars for local neighborhood organizations. In 2006, just under $1,200 was raised for the Fulton, E. Harriet, Lynnhurst, and Linden Hills neighborhoods.

The net proceeds from this year’s tour are being donated to Rebuilding Together Twin Cities. An affiliate of the national Rebuilding Together organization, Rebuilding Together Twin Cities has been preserving and revitalizing homes and communities since 1997.

In addition to the homes tour guests will discover a wealth of local neighborhood information along the tour. The Remodeled Home Tour is a great way to explore beautiful remodeling in wonderful neighborhoods.

The tour happens on Sunday, August 10th, 2008, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Tickets cost $8 in advance and will cost $10 on the day of the event. You may purchase tickets on line at the website or at Great Minneapolis Real Estate, located at 54th and Penn Ave.