Nancy Taylor Bubes, John Cecchi, Kelley Proxmire, Dale Overmyer
DHM: What do you love about the Kalorama neighborhood?
JC: The difference between Kalorama and Georgetown is that
in Kalorama you get a sense of elegance that you don’t feel in
Georgetown. These neighborhoods feature more stately homes
built strong as rocks. Kalorama was always considered one of the
finest neighborhoods in DC, while Georgetown evolved into that
more recently. You truly get a sense of grandeur and peacefulness
here—you are tucked away and it’s a wonderful, quiet place to live.
DHM: Is selecting an investment property more “art” or “science”?
JC: It’s both.You start with the more romantic, artistic side of it, seeing
the potential for a property. Then you get down to practicality—if
you’re going to make an investment in a home it can’t have too many
features that are lacking. With a heavy renovation in an expensive
home, you have to see if it can check off all the requirements of the
high caliber buyers in this price range. Finally, you always need to
crunch the numbers and find out what is reasonable to spend given
the market value.
DHM: What sets IDI Residential apart from other developers?
JC: It goes back to the fact that we don’t just come into a house and
say we’re going to repaint, do new finishes, bathrooms, and kitchens…
rather, we come in and start from scratch, often revising the entire
floor plan. We create the space that people are looking for in today’s
age. We are ready to do the real difficult job of gutting a house to
suit the modern lifestyle. We also work very closely with our talented
architect Dale Overmyer to create good flow in a home.
DHM: Do you take a more modern or classical design approach with
your projects?
JC: Our finishes create a modern-traditional take on things—nothing
too old so it looks like a museum, but nothing too modern either.
Our palette of finishes is something that everyone loves—it’s a very
clean look that buyers can fill with their own designs and decorations.
DHM: Do you enjoy working on single-family residences as opposed
to multi-unit buildings?
JC: I started doing multi-family projects, and I had a really good time
working on those properties. The prices are different, you meet
more owners—it’s very interesting and enjoyable. But on the other
hand, I love doing the homes—there is nothing like taking an older,
neglected house and bringing it back to where it once was.
DHM: What is your outlook on the real estate market in the District?
JC: I am most familiar with the Georgetown and Kalorama markets,
and I think they are doing very well. Because of the ways in which the
rest of the District is improving and growing, people are attracted to
the areas in which I operate. Empty nesters with beautiful homes in
Bethesda and McLean want to be closer in and don’t want to deal
with the traffic. People are moving into town, and if they are used to
their larger homes in the suburbs, they will of course be attracted to
Georgetown and Kalorama properties as opposed to new condos
downtown. I am even getting clients from out of town that are not
full-ti