Currently, ProjectItemGroupElement.AddItem(string itemType, string include, IEnumerable<KeyValuePair<string, string>> metadata); adds the metadata as children to the item and there is no way to add metadata as attributes.
e.g. -
<PackageReference Include="NewtonSoft.Json">
<Version>9.0.1</Version>
</PackageReference>
As opposed to -
<PackageReference Include = "Newtonsoft.Json" Version="9.0.1"/>
//cc: @rainersigwald @rrelyea