When the National Association of Realtors sold its office building in the Nation's Capital seven years ago and moved into rented space, several commentators had a field day pointing out the irony of it all.

Here was NAR, whose members handle the sale of millions of houses every year and generally take responsibility for creating America as a nation of homeowners, renting instead of owning. How bizarre is that?

Well, don't look now, but guess who's having the last laugh?

Why it's NAR, the Mothership of all things Realtor, which will own its brand new, $46 million Washington headquarters building free and clear long before most home buyers own theirs without a mortgage company looking over their shoulders.

The $15 million downpayment for the striking 93,000-square-foot structure at 500 New Jersey Avenue, just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol, came from a special reserve fund established when the original property on 14th Street NW was sold in 1997.

NAR staff will occupy the second floor and the top four floors in the 12-story edifice, taking a total of about 40,000 square feet. The remaining space will be leased.

By owning its own building in Washington, the Chicago-based trade association says it will incur no occupancy costs. And with the income generated from rents when the building is fully occupied, the nearly one-million-member-strong group expects to save more than $500,000 a year.

It's enough to make the wags green with envy.

Speaking of green, that's what the new triangular-shaped office building is. Not only is it wrapped in green glass, it is environmentally sustainable, incorporating the latest, state-of-the-art green building techniques.

For starters, it is located on a contaminated "brownfield" site previously occupied by a gas station. Before the building went up, construction crews dug down -- 24 feet, to be exact -- and hauled away tons of dirty dirt to approved waste sites.

Next, the structure was designed to benefit the environment by keeping operating costs down. Among the green aspects are:

• A landscape plan that uses native plants to reduce irrigation demands and captures rainwater for the lion's share of that task.

• An efficient heating, cooling and ventilation system that, when combined with the high-performance glass curtain wall, will reduce energy usage by up to 30 percent below code requirements.

• No CFC-refirgerants, and no smoking.

• Recycled and/or low-emitting materials.

• A carbon dioxide monitoring system that introduces fresh air into areas of heavy occupancy.

The building is so environmentally friendly that NAR expects it to be the first newly built office building in the city to earn a certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The U.S. Green Building Council awards LEEDS certification to projects achieving high levels or environmental performance.

NAR, which currently leases space at 700 11th St. NW, will take delivery of the new building this month. Staff will take up occupancy by September, when the interior build-out is scheduled for completion.

Published: March 17, 2004

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.