One, Two, Three or Four in Southeast?

When DC Mud last reported on DRI's proposed mixed-use development at 88 K Street SE, the project had more working titles than a Star Wars sequel ("99 I Street" or "Square 696") and there was much confusion as to what shape the project would take when fully realized. The identity crisis now has some closure, now that Tammal Demolition completed its razing of a taxicab garage on the site in order to make way the project - now indisputably titled "The Plaza on K."

The HOK-designed project will begin Phase I construction in the coming months with a "flexible building plan," that, according to DRI's marketing department, could accommodate up to 4 towers of retail and office space taking up the entire city block at First and K Streets SE. (This despite the fact that the Capitol Riverfront's own newsletter reported the Plaza on K as tri-tower development in conjunction with the raze.)

The project’s first phase will include construction of the first tower and will add 290,000 square feet of office space and 14,000 square feet of ground-level retail space to Southeast’s shot at a real estate "do-over." Current plans call for the three towers to total 825,000 square feet in all, sport rooftop terraces and gold LEED certifications, and surround a 10,000 square foot public plaza.

The Plaza on K is just one of multiple District revitalization projects underway on what were once some the District’s most neglected pieces of property. Once completed, the Plaza will neighbor JPI’s Capitol Yards development at 100 I Street and the Cohen Companies' Velocity condo complex at 1050 First Street. Phase I's single tower is scheduled for completion in mid-2010, although a BID for the project has yet to issued. A firm timeline for further towers on the site has yet to be established.