Donatelli builds what investors will fund

Prince of Petworth interviews Chris Donatelli, developer behind the Ellington on U Street, Highland Park in Columbia Heights, and the upcoming Park Place in Petworth. Many of Donatelli’s decisions have been constrained by what he can and can’t raise money for. This supports Christopher Leinberger’s assertion that the real estate finance market inhibits good, creative urban development by only financing “nineteen standard real-estate product types” and making it difficult to raise money for anything outside the box.