The Wharf's "Resort In the City" Anchor Hotel Appeases Critics, Inches Forward

The four-star Intercontinental luxury hotel in the Wharf - the Southwest waterfront megadevelopment - is inching towards reality, though not without some changes along the way.

"Right now we're in the process of gathering equity," says Austin Flajser, President of Carr Hospitality.  "We anticipate construction starting in the third quarter of 2014, with delivery in the first quarter of 2016."

The 245,000 s.f., 278-room hotel from developer Carr Hospitality and designed by BBG-BBGM, will overlook the Washington Channel, now being developed by the Hoffman-Madison team, and feature a lavish 5,000 s.f. rooftoop lounge.  Plans also call for not one but two restaurants, two large water-facing ballrooms, and up to 7,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space.  The design calls for a red and gray brick facade, intermingled with terracotta, granite, and tinted glass.

Developers were forced to alter their plans, though, after ANC 6D passed a resolution recently in opposition to many of the specifics in the Phase 2 Planned Unit Development (PUD).

"We took down the clock tower, which was really just an architectural embellishment," says Flajser.  "We also altered the corners of the building a little bit, and there's no longer any sign."  (The above rendering depicts the original design; the rendering below depicts the revised design.)

In addition to those changes, the height of the structure - a planned 12-stories/130 feet - was also lowered.  After these changes were announced at a special meeting late last month, the ANC voted 4-3 to reinstate their support.  Carr also has a boutique luxury hotel in the works for Alexandria's contentious waterfront plan and has received objections from neighbors there as well.

Parcel 3b, where the hotel will be built, is near 9th and Water Streets (see map, above), and also abuts one of the development's planned piers; if Carr is able to purchase boat slips from the development group, guests could potentially arrive at the hotel by boat. Rates for the rooms will reportedly be between $300 and $400 per night.

Carr Hospitality notably restored the Willard hotel, a project widely lauded for its successful execution.  The Wharf Intercontinental will be its second hotel in the District.  Monty Hoffman of PN Hoffman has been quoted as saying the hotel will be an "anchor" of the megadevelopment.  The first construction at the Wharf should be begin early next year.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Hoffman-Madison Details Second-Stage Plans for Southwest Waterfront

PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, the chief developers of the long planned $1.5 billion Southwest Waterfront project, unveiled revised details of its vision for the 3.2 million s.f. development, which will include offices, apartments, a four-star InterContinental Hotel, four piers and a three-acre park -- part of the District's bid to transform its sleepy waterfront into a destination on par with San Francisco's Embarcadero and Seattle's Pike's Place.

While the first stage of what's to be known as the 23-acre Wharf District was approved by the Zoning Commission in 2011, that stage mainly dealt with traffic issues and building heights and setbacks -- today's Planned Unit Development (PUD) submission will give many in the District their first glimpse of the architectural vision and details.

"Each space is going to have its own experience," said Monty Hoffman of co-developer PN Hoffman in an interview. Hoffman's company has built more than 35 projects in the D.C. metro area, including The Lofts in Adams Morgan, the Mather Building near Verizon Center and the coming Northern Exchange on 14th Street. "There will be a different designer on each parcel so each can put their own DNA into the projects," Hoffman said. "It's not going to look like one contrived development."

Hoffman said that his group, along with partners Madison Marquette, builders of Cityline at Tenley, studied waterfront cities like San Francisco and Seattle to bring elements of the Embarcadero and its Ferry Building and Pike's Place to the Wharf District. That will include laying the groundwork (if not the tracks) for connecting to the District's planned 37-mile streetcar network, which could run on M Street SW and Maine Avenue and connect to the Nationals ballpark, said Matthew Steenhoek a development manager at PN Hoffman. The District has a M Street and Maine Avenue connection as part of its third phase of the streetcar plan. Steenhoek said short-term, the District Wharf would be connected by Circulator buses until the streetcar plan is built.

The project is more than 50 years in the making. Ever since the federal government as part of its "Urban Renewal" plan razed much of Southwest D.C. to build the I-395 freeway and apartments, residents of Southwest have been cut off, for the most part, from the revival of the rest of the city while its natural waterfront remained underutilized.

Still, don't look for Baltimore Inner Harbor-style national chain attractions at District Wharf, Hoffman said. "We're not inviting large national brands, we're not going to be dominated by national chains," he said. Instead, emphasis will be placed on integrating D.C. icons like the Maine Avenue Fish Market into a larger community, he said. "We're going to be more Washington-centric."

What it will share with Baltimore's Inner Harbor is an emphasis on water-related activities and entertainment. The Washington Channel is 16 feet deep, which would allow some deeper-draft vessels to sail up to the many planned piers, including 180-foot tall schooner ships. "Water activity will be central, so whatever we can draw to the water will be critical," Hoffman said. To that end, Hoffman plans a partnership with the Capital Yacht Club to bring more boating activities to the piers, including regattas. The Washington Kastles, the District's tennis team, will also remain at the Wharf, although moved from their current location atop the demolished Hogates restaurant, Hoffman said.

So far, Hoffman-Madison has lined up $50 million for pre- development, partly through Monty Hoffman's own pocket as well as Madison-Marquette. "We're self-funded," he said. "We're spending about $1 million a month, but we've got the capital to work with for pre-development." Hoffman didn't say who will be financing the rest of the construction but said that he's got multiple avenues from potential investors. The District's Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment Bond Financing Act of 2008 also provides $148 million worth of related infrastructure improvements along Maine Avenue. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) last July began rehabbing parts of Maine Avenue in advance of the Wharf project. The Wharf District is expected to bring in $40 million in taxes to the District a year.

The Land Disposition Agreement, or LDA with the District will close at the end of the year,

which puts Hoffman on track for a groundbreaking in the first quarter of 2013, he said.

Here's how the project will break down:

Stage 2 is being designed by Rockwell Group and Perkins Eastman, which absorbed the former master planner of the Southwest Waterfront from Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn in 2010. It includes parcels 2, 3, and 4 along Maine Avenue. Parcel 2 will include 135,000 s.f. of entertainment-related venues, nearly 500 residential units in 357,000 s.f. and 39,000 s.f. of retail.

Parcel 3a will consist of 218,000 s.f. of Class A office space and 15,000 square feet of retail by Perkins Eastman. Parcel 3b will include a 245,000-s.f. InterContinental Hotel featuring a clock tower and 278 rooms. InterContinental operates the Willard Hotel. Carr Hospitality is the developer and BBG-BBGM is the architect.

Parcel 4 will be designed by Handel Architects, creators of the Ritz-Carlton D.C. and Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, and feature industrial and dockyard-related waterfront structures. It will include 168 rental units on 124,000 s.f. along with 130 condominiums on 179,000 square feet and 77,000 s.f. of retail including a fitness club.

Hoffman-Madison plans a public presentation of the plans on Feb. 27 at 6pm at Arena Stage.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Southwest Wharf Developers Move onto Design Phase

With Zoning Commission approval of the First Stage zoning application secured last week, PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette - joint developers of the $2-billion Wharf in Southwest - now turn to the completion of the Second Stage PUD, in order for submittal early next year.

The Hoffman-Madison team has been gaining momentum in filling its 3.2 million s.f. development along the northern shore of the Washington Channel and aims to begin construction on the first phase (of three) in the first quarter of 2013.

The first phase of construction, expected to take four years, will build out 40 percent of the entire development with parcels 2 thru 5 (seen to the right).

Site designs, in order from north to south, will include: two apartment towers above a 100,000-s.f. multi-purpose theater (parcel 2); a four-star, 268-room hotel by Carr Hospitality and InterContinental Hotels Group, which purchased the site in early October, and office space with signed tenant the Graduate School USA (parcel 3); an apartment and condominium building (parcel 4), and two JBG Companies-operated hotels, a limited service and an extended stay (parcel 5). All of the parcels will include ground floor retail, with the combined total approximately 300,000 s.f.

The first phase also includes the restructuring of portions of 7th and 9th Streets at Maine Avenue, a new Capital Yacht Club, two new piers - "City Pier" off of 9th and "Transit Pier" - and a major infrastructure overhaul of Water Street, the grand scheme being to turn Water Street (running parallel to the shore) into a promenade with 60' of width shared between pedestrians, streetcars, bikes, and outdoor diners.

The Wharf is being developed in partnership with the District, which agreed to provide $200 million in public financing in 2008. Madison Marquette joined PN Hoffman as a partner in the spring of 2010, after the partnership with Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse faltered. PN Hoffman and Struever were selected by the now-defunct Anacostia Waterfront Corporation as the joint Master Developer for the Southwest Waterfront in 2006.

Update: 11/7 Added in residential plan for parcel 4, corrected second pier name to "Transit Pier," and changed "Office of Zoning" to "Zoning Commission"

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Carr Hospitality Gets Hostel In Southwest

In an unlikely chain of events, Carr Hospitality has outsourced their design process to a futuristic parallel universe where Ridley Scott is devising hotel schematics for architectural firms instead of directing movies. And although sources for these facts remain unconfirmed, the early renderings of a proposed hostel in Southwest DC bare out these claims. Indeed, the half hostel, half hotel "officially" designed by Gordon Godat and his team at Baltimore-based JP2 Architects would be more at home on the set of Blade Runner than in DC's Buzzard Point. The preliminary plans for the Carr-developed 110 room hostel were presented to the Zoning Commission on July 29th under the guise of "Tiber Creek Associates, LLC"; and although a new hearing date was not set down, the Commission agreed to entertain the applicant's proposal as a contested case, as long as several minor conditions are met prior to the next meeting. More detailed plans are likely to be hashed out and presented later this fall.

Located at 129 Q Street SW, the six story, 73,975 s.f. "C Hostel & Hotel," rising sixty plus feet, will house nearly 500 beds for "youth travelers, families, and budget-minded groups." Half the rooms will be outfitted with a single queen or twin beds and blessed with private bathrooms, while the other half will be filled with dormitory-style bunk beds. With families as an exception, floors and communal showers will be segregated by gender. Hotel amenities will include an open air rooftop courtyard; a large communal dining area and complimentary continental breakfast will be provided, but guests will be encouraged to bring and prepare their own food for lunch and dinner using the hotel facilities. The dining area will also host evening social hours for travelers in search of friendly conversation and newly forged companionship. A library, cyber lounge, and game lounge are all also included in the early stages of planning. The building will rest atop a single level of below grade parking, offering twenty-seven spaces for travelers arriving by automobile. Upon completion, developers are ambitiously predicting a LEED Platinum Certification.

The mostly concrete building will take on a c-shape to allow for a central cutout that gives the building a more interesting look, as the change in depth breaks up the typical flat rectangle frontage. The landscaped rooftop courtyard is situated in the setback, amidst

the surrounding hotel walls. A subsection of each half of the building, making up the walls of the courtyard, is layered with "fiber cement panels" that take on a faux-wood grain pattern, contrasting with the largely gray color scheme. Colorful and oddly shaped windows, abstractly strewn across the building, give the building an ultramodern and artsy flavor. The ground floor facade is accentuated by aluminum framed glass store fronts that stretch nearly the entire block. The pattern of the building is asymmetrical, but very geometric and rigid in its strict adherence to the use of rectangles and right angles. Taking the place of a dirty, dilapidated auto shop, this unique design will be a bold addition to this otherwise neglected and under-appreciated part of the city.

Developers have admitted that the estimated $28 million project faces steep challenges before it will break ground, the main problem being the "need to overcome lenders' perceptions of the neighborhood." But the team remains confident that upon secured financing, the building will be delivered within 24 months.

Washington D.C. Real Estate Development News