DC's Best Water Views Opening Next Month

A Washington DC address - and a view of the water - are nearly oxymoronic desires.  At least until next month, when RiverPoint opens at the southern tip of Buzzard Point with 485 apartments and 70,000 s.f. of retail next month.  The southwestern promontory of DC was, not long ago, an industrial no-man's land, but real estate development has recently and rapidly shifted the landscape toward much trendier uses, including a strong retail presence on the waterfront.  The mixed use project by Akridge, Western Development, Orr Partners and Jefferson Development Group is close to  completion on what is very nearly the southern tip of southwest DC.  The conversion of the former Coast Guard headquarters was achieved by Antunovich Associates, the same firm that designed the conversion of the Watermark, the other Coast Guard headquarters building a block away, another office-to residential project by Douglas Development that delivered this summer.

In keeping with its location highlighting river views, RiverPoint features a rooftop pool with views that stretch well down the Potomac, and beyond the Frederic Douglass Memorial Bridge (still under construction).  Development of the land also completes one more section of the Anacostia River Trail, which will soon connect under the FDMB, making an easy walk or bike to the Navy Yard or Anacostia. 70,000 s.f. of retail will include restaurants by Greg Casten (of ProFish, Ivy City Smokehouse, Nick's Riverside Grill and Tony & Joe's), and by Spike Gjerde, a James Beard chef that until recently ran A Rake's Progress at the line hotel in Adams Morgan.  Architect Joe Antunovich noted the challenges of converting such a large building from "a very sturdy headquarters, but we were able to carve out atrium spaces to let light deep into the building that created more views of the water."  Antunovich called Buzzard Point "a sleeping giant, neglected for so long, and yet so close to so many things."  The firm had to remove the second floor to accommodate retail, noting the unhelpful 10 foot slab-to-slab floor plates required removal of a floor to allow for 20 foot ceiling heights in the retail.

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Buzzard Point's Turning Point

If there was a moment for Buzzard Point, the tip of DC where the Anacostia meets the Potomac, it might have been the opening of Audi Field, bringing tens of thousands of occasional fans to southwest DC's formerly industrial and empty midpoint.  But perhaps a more significant moment is the transition from parking lots and decrepit office buildings to actual neighborhood status, as long-planned real estate developments begin to fill with residents.  Three recent developments alone add more than a thousand residential units to the waterfront, with Peninsula 88's completion this summer adding 110 condos to Buzzard Point's southern tip, Akridge's Riverpoint residential project converting the former Coast Guard headquarters into 481 apartments and 60,000 s.f. of retail (coming soon), and, beginning delivery this week, the Watermark.

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The residential project by Douglas Development turned an "E" shaped 9-story office building - one of 2 buildings in the neighborhood that housed the U.S. Coast Guard - into 419 apartments, 15,000 s.f. of retail and some of the top water views in the city.  Amenities include views of the suddenly captivating Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, and the building even helps fulfill the dream of DC's bikers with a new stretch of the eventual Buzzard Point Trail, which will round Buzzard Point (avoiding Fort McNair) and connect with the Anacostia River Trail and the Wharf, which already connect well to the rest of DC and beyond.  Add to that a short walk to Nationals Park and even shorter walk to Audi Field, which will someday (sigh) host public sporting events, and you do, in fact, have a legit neighborhood to call home.

Project:  Watermark

Address:  1900 Half St., SW, Washington DC 

Developer:  Douglas Development and PTM Partners

Architect:  Antunovich Associates

Construction: Davis Construction

Use:  481 apartments, 15,600 s.f. of retail

Expected Completion:  Summer 2020

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