"Ultra-luxury" Georgetown Hotel Secures Financing

The long-simmering Georgetown luxury hotel project has secured financing and is finally moving forward, with an eye towards a December 2012 completion, just in time for the 2013 presidential inauguration.

The Capella Georgetown will be an “ultra luxury” hotel at 1050 31^st Street NW, the former American Trial Lawyers Association building. The five-story building, which overlooks the C&O Canal, will feature just 49 rooms and interiors designed by German firm Peter Silling & Associates. The design also calls for a public restaurant and bar overlooking the canal, but details aren't in place just yet. The project, spearheaded by Capella Hotels and Resorts, ICG Properties, and D.C.-based Castleton Holdings Inc., recently brought in Point Ford Management Ltd., an investment firm based in Indonesia, to complete financing for the project, which is estimated in the $45 million range.

"The [financing] process was challenging because of the market," says Nick Demas, Partner at Castleton Holdings LLC. "But in challenging markets there is also great opportunity. We worked through the market fluctuations and successfully secured all the funds needed to complete the project this past July. Our lender, PNC Bank, has been really supportive of the project and our partnership. And we are very excited about our relationship with our new equity partners, Point Ford Management Limited. They are terrific partners and are committed to our program of assembling an ultra-luxury hotel portfolio. As a developer, you really can’t ask for anything more."

The Capella Georgetown will cater to foreign dignitaries, captains of industry, and other international clientele (discussion at an October meeting of the Georgetown advisory neighborhood commission touched on possible entourage-related traffic jams), and the hotel will be accordingly discreet. While the interior has been gutted, the drab office building will receive only minor cosmetic changes to the exterior – new window frames and a slightly larger canopy - in deference not only to future guests' desire to keep a low profile, but also to neighborhood preferences for aesthetic continuity. By restricting the heavy redesign to the interior of the site, the developers have sidestepped the community backlash that often follows these sorts of projects. Demas says of the locals: "We are thrilled that our plan was so well received by our neighbors, the ANC and the Old Georgetown Board." And ANC2E Commissioner Tom Birch was quoted recently as praising the developers for "turning a sow's ear into a silk purse." The contrast between this hugfest and, say, the ongoing drama of the Friedman/Schrager Adams Morgan hotel could scarcely be greater.

Still, despite Demas' demurrals, this project was never realistically going to have problem attracting financing. Hotels, especially luxury ones, have proven to be safe money through the recession, and the District hotel market has historically been one of the strongest in the nation. Local occupancy rates have held steady in the low seventies, and while average luxury rates softened in the past few years, they’ve recovered to nearly the level of their 2008 peak.

This will be Atlanta-based Capella’s second hotel in the United States (its other property is in New York), and the company plans to expand into several other U.S. cities in the near future.

Washington D.C. real estate development news

Convention Center Marriott: Going Forward, Looking Back

Today it all becomes double super official, as suits and helmets mix it up at the site of the future convention center Marriott Marquis hotel this morning for an official groundbreaking. Construction began last month to build the 1175 rooms that will be owned by The Washington Convention and Sports Authority (WCSA), operated by Marriott, designed by TBS Architects and Cooper Carry Architecture, developed by Quadrangle Development and Capstone Development, on land owned by the District of Columbia. Got that? Okay, for those attending today's event that want to keep the players straight, here's a recap of the last decade of the ups and downs that got us here:

In 2001, the city issues an RFP for construction of a convention center hotel, with the Convention Center then just starting construction; the city calls for a privately funded hotel. DC chose neither of the proposals submitted by Marriott or Hilton, but subsequently announces it has chosen Marriott as a partner. Spring of 2003, the Convention Center opens amid high expectations and early success, but over time conventioneers have difficulty securing large blocks of rooms and opt for other locations; hopes of a post-construction neighborhood renaissance are unrealized. The Washington Convention Center Authority Act of 1994 is amended to further fund the Authority to build a hotel to service the convention center and add yet more convention space. Initial plans call for 1400-1500 rooms in a building that would span both sides of L Street and become the largest hotel in the city.

By early 2007, after numerous iterations of design and location, the District swaps its old convention center site for Kingdon Gould's site at 9th & Mass., Gould retains the northeast corner of what may one day become the CityCenter project. In September of 2007, Mayor Adrian Fenty announces that DC has signed a new agreement with Marriott for the hotel, now dialed back to around 1100 rooms on only one block; Marriott, which does not own the hotels it operates, agrees to lease the property for 99 years. The hotel will feature additional meeting space, an underground tunnel connecting to the Convention Center, and a glass canopied courtyard. The building will feature over 100,000 s.f. of meeting and ballroom space, 25,000 s.f. of retail, and 385 parking spaces. Marriott agrees to earn a LEED Silver rating and hangs on to the land north of L Street, now a decaying row of storefronts.

In June of 2008, HPRB considers plans for an 1100 room hotel, ultimately approving it as long as the American Federation of Labor building (pictured) is spared. With a deal inked involving Quadrangle and Capstone, construction seems near at hand, but the unfolding financial crisis drains developers of financing, halting progress.

In April 2008, the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center opens just south of the District inside a $2 billion project with 5 new hotels, a serious competitor for DC's convention trade. In 2009, an agitated Mayor Fenty pursues a public financing option that would have committed the Authority to picking up the $530,000,000 tab in full and proposed legislation that would have removed Quadrangle in place of a city funded program. The Council balked at the cost, and in July of 2009 the Council passes legislation, the New Convention Center Hotel Amendments Act of 2009, granting the WCSA authority to spend more than $200m to go toward construction, up from the previous $135m, with the rest to come from developers.

In August of 2009, Fenty signs the bill with much fanfare, construction of an 1175-key hotel appears imminent, but just two months later, a JBG-controlled company sues the city to delay consummation of the deal, alleging impropriety in DC's awarding process, in what some suspect was related to JBG's disagreement with Marriott over development of their Woodley Park project. JBG contends the city gave the development team a sweetheart deal financed by the city that it never offered the competition. In January of 2010, the Authority countersues JBG, alleging JBG intended to "extort" the city. JBG's suit was dismissed by a Superior Court judge in March.

In July, Marriott, the city and JBG said they had reached a deal to end the stalemate, planning then goes into high gear. By September of 2010, the city authorized WCSA to release $250m in bonds, and in early October preliminary groundwork gets underway. On October 20th the Authority announces it has sold its entire $250m bond release, clearing the last foreseeable hurdle. Today at 11, with speeches that seem longer than the planning, the parties will officially break ground on the hotel.

The four-star hotel is expected to be complete by the spring of 2014.

Washington DC real estate development news

Officialdom To Inaugurate Convention Center Hotel

The Washington Convention and Sports Authority (WCSA) has announced the official groundbreaking of the convention center Marriott next Wednesday at 11am. Legions of suits and ties, CEOs, Mayors and Mayors-elect will make official what in fact began last month: construction of one of the region's largest hotels to help transform what was supposed to have been a neighborhood-transforming project.

The four-star hotel is expected to be complete by the spring of 2014.

Washington DC real estate development news

DC Officially Gets its Convention Center Hotel

Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty will hold a very public ceremony this evening to officially ink the legislation that will kick-start, finally, the District's Convention Center Hotel. In a 5:30pm ceremony, the Mayor will sign the New Convention Center Hotel Amendments Act of 2009, granting authority to spend $182m in TIF funds and $35m in bonds to go toward the construction, operation, and maintenance of an 1160-room, 14-story hotel opposite the lonely Convention Center. Technically, the bill amends the Washington Convention Center Authority Act of 1994 to further fund the Washington Convention and Sports Authority (WCSA), which will own the hotel, and instructs the WCSA to contract Quadrangle Development to get it built, and with Marriott to operate the new hotel. The Act authorizes Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and the issuance of bonds, to fund up to $206m in construction and operational costs. The remainder will be paid for by private developers. Funds derived from bonds and TIFs will go solely toward hotel expenses, and not into DC's General Fund. The District government has actively conspired to get the new beds as a rebuttal to National Harbor, which hosts a larger convention center and five, count 'em, five hotels surrounding it. Not to mention that a nice river runs by it. But back to DC, where the massive hotel will serve the convention center, and ensure the success of the convention center. Of course, it was the convention center itself that was supposed defibrillate the moribund Shaw neighborhood and spark development of the area, expectations that many of the convention center's original backers feel have not been met. Officials have maintained that construction could start as early as October, with about a three-year time frame for completion. Plans for the hotel went through many iterations before today, beginning with an even more ambitious plan that would have stretched the hotel over L Street and onto the next block for more than 1400 rooms. The city had also pursued a public-financed option that would have committed the Authority to picking up the $530,000,000 tab in full. The current version incorporates the historic American Federation of Labor Building (pictured) into the Marriott, which will otherwise overtake a swath of surface parking lots. The hotel will become the third largest in DC, and fourth largest in the region. The largest, at 2000 rooms, remains the Gaylord, at National Harbor.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

Marriott Opens Hotel in Chevy Chase

Marriott opened a new Courtyard hotel this week in Chevy Chase Maryland, furthering Marriott's domination of the local hotel market. The 226 room hotel, at 5520 Wisconsin Avenue, is two blocks north of the Friendship Heights Metro near the DC border. Developers began a $35m rehab of the old Holiday Inn Hotel just last summer, with architects / designers OPX stripping the rectangular tower down to its shell, making structural repairs and rebuilding within a year.

The new Marriott Courtyard is designed to meet the Gold LEED standard set by the U.S. Green Building Council, using low-VOC materials, solar-powered trash compactor, a reflective roof, and HVAC systems that don't use ozone-depleting refrigerants. Very cool. In addition, "100 percent of its energy" will be provided from wind power through the use of renewable energy credits by purchasing energy through an alternative provider, which in turn sources energy from an assortment of wind farms. Michael Ward, VP of Development at Grosvenor, said the hoteliers expect the alternative energy to cost the hotel an estimated $6,000 per year in increased charges.

Designed as one of Marriott's "refreshing business" concepts, the hotel replaces the traditional check-in desk with "welcome podiums" (an inn-convenience?) and business-oriented lobby. The hotel was purchased in 2004 by Grosvenor Americas, managed by Bethesda-based Hospitality Partners, and operated by the Courtyard, a sub-brand of Marriott.

The original hotel was built in 1970; the new Marriott comes online at a propitious moment, with the opening of Wisconsin Place, a large mixed-use project, now beginning to open for business.

Chevy Chase real estate development news

DC Passes Convention Center Hotel Bill

The District Council today passed legislation that authorizes and helps finance a new convention center hotel. The bill provides for District financing of nearly 40% of the costs of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, which government and civic leaders have sought for years to provide services to support the city's investment in the convention center. The project has been on-again off-again for several years, with builder Quadrangle Development Corporation reducing the one-time size of the project and negotiating with the District, which by one recent plan would have funded the entire project in order to help kick start the neighborhood and use of adjacent Washington Convention Center. Council members have been motivated to alleviate the Center's obvious Achille's heal - its dearth of hotels in the immediate vicinity - while distancing themselves from the cost of the project. Councilmember Kwame Brown (at-large) said in a press release that though today's legislation was "not ideal," the overall result was positive. "We went from a 100 percent publicly financed hotel to a deal that requires the developer to fund the majority of the costs." The mayor is expected to sign the legislation, which could get construction going as early as this fall. Development of the four-star hotel is expected to cost more than $500 million.

Washington DC retail and commercial real estate news

DC Officials Pitch New Plan for Convention Center Hotel

The DC City Council’s Committee on Economic Development was briefed today on a new scheme devised to underwrite the fully-approved and shovel-ready, if financing challenged, Marriott Marquis Hotel. The city's newest plan for the mostly vacant property next to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center would get construction going by mid-October.

Today’s hearing was spurred by legislation introduced by Mayor Adrian Fenty, himself described as "tired of waiting" on the project, this past spring that would have effectively removed the project’s developer, Quadrangle Development Corporation, and made the new Marriott wholly city-sponsored. In the intervening weeks, officials from the Washington Convention Center Authority (WCCA), the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCF) have been feverishly working on a fiscal reconciliation that would preserve the public-private partnership.

"Given current economic conditions and the lack of liquidity in the capital markets…the District, led by the Washington Convention Center Authority and its partners at Marriott and Quadrangle, was forced to pursue alternative plans, including an option whereby the Authority would finance 100% of the hotel by selling bonds,” said recently appointed (though still unconfirmed) Deputy Mayor Valerie Santos. “We’ve made considerable progress on a new financing proposal, such that the new hotel would once again be largely privately financed.”

The crux of the proposal depends of the Committee’s authorization of an additional $22 million in city-backed debt to get the project going. This deal, presented to the District by the development team only last Thursday, would ensure that more than 60% of the hotel’s $537 million budget come from private funds, with DC footing the bill for the remaining costs. At present, lawyers from the OCF are currently exploring whether the project could also qualify for stimulus funds under the American Investment and Recovery Act, thereby offsetting the District’s burden in a year of record high spending.

The sense of urgency behind the proceedings is well founded, as Greg O’Dell, head of WCSA, said his operation is continually losing business to other comparably-sized convention centers, such as those in Denver and Indianapolis, which have on-site hotels and hospitality amenities. Furthermore, city officials also view continued development at Prince George’s County’s National Harbor as a direct threat to the Convention Center’s revenue stream – a feeling that has only been exacerbated by Disney’s recent announcement that they’ll be building their own mega-hotel/meeting space just across the river. That leaves the District, in the words of Councilman-at-Large Michael Brown, directly “behind the eight ball.”

Both the public and private sides of the development team will now spend the next two weeks finalizing the in-and-outs of their proposal before returning to the Committee on July 14th for a final vote. In the meantime, Committee members repeatedly stressed that the project’s fast track status will not delay other city development in the pipeline or cause any fiscal belt tightening.

“This will not cause us to postpone any projects that are already authorized…Nor will this require expenditures from the general fund. This is not going to be publicly financed deal,” said Committee co-chair and Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans. This would not be the first partnership for Marriott and the developer, Quadrangle and Marriott jointly built a 224 room hotel together in Bethesda in 2004.

Washington DC real estate development news

W Hotel Debuts in DC July 8

Washington DC's first W Hotel will open to the public on July 8th, the first local opening for the hip hotelier. The international pop luxury chain, operated by Starwood Capital Group, takes the place of the Hotel Washington, once a grande dame of DC hotels but that had become faded and tired before selling in 2006, first for $120 million and then to Istithmar Hotels for $150 million, then closing for renovation in 2007 and selling yet again to Nakheel Hotels. Both Istithmar and Nakheel are partly owned by the government of Dubai.

Starwood will provide 317 rooms and suites, stretched out from the original 400 rooms, retaining the famed 11th-floor rooftop terrace that overlooks Tim Geithner's office, not to mention the White House, in a decidedly more upscale setting - the word "swanky" being all but ubiquitous in reviews of the hotel chain. In keeping with its "category buster" profile, the hotel was re-designed by architect Dianna Wong, a Los Angeleno, who kept many of the original architectural elements while adding such must-haves as a DJ and "digital fireplace," for an appearance that will be "sophisticated and sleek but never trendy."

The hotel renovation, which took 18 months to complete, entailed a complete gut and overhaul, and the new owners "gutted it to the girders," according to Barbara Martin, Director of the Patton Group, a public relations firm. Some original elements of the building such as chandaliers, check-in desks, and archways were taken out, restored and returned to the building, but the rest will be new. The POV (point of view) Lounge on the top floor will operate year-round, with drop-down screens and raised awnings for yet better views of the executive office.

Opening within the hotel will be J&G Steakhouse. Rates available on the W's website start at $289 per night single-occupancy. The hotel was built in 1888 as department store and renovated in 1917 to become the fabled Hotel Washington. The July 8th event will be open to the public.

Bottom rendering courtesy Dianna Wong.

Update: It should also be noted that BBG-BBGM was the architect of record for the redesign of the hotel. BBG-BBGM has designed numerous hotels both locally and internationally, and designed the W Hotel in New York City.

N Street Hotel Prolongs the Agony

If Development Hell is a real place, surely the planned renovation of the former Gralyn Hotel and Woodbine Apartments at 1743-1755 N Street, NW holds a place in its ninth circle. Since purchasing the stately and historic Dupont Circle properties in 1988, Washington DC real estate tycoon Morton Bender and his N Street Follies Ltd. (NSF) corporation have pursued a variety of redevelopment schemes for the buildings - all of which have been vacant for more than a decade. First, it was going to be an office building and apartment complex - but, since that attempt fell apart in the late-1990s, NSF has been pursuing a hotel for the site. It’s not going well.

This week, NSF was back before the DC Board of Zoning Adjustment (their fifth appearance in two years) to request several variances for the project. Once again, the Board postponed their hearing, this time until October. According to ANC 2B05 Commissioner Victor Wexler, the BZA hearing is just the latest in an eternity of changes and stay requests that Bender and company have wrangled out of the system.

“It’s been going on for many years and I just walked into it,” said Wexler. “I don’t know what this Bender wants, but he’s been turned down by the Federal Court, he came back on appeal and now they want an extension. It’s beyond me…I think Bender would like it to go on forever, so he doesn’t have to pay taxes.”

And The Washington Post agrees. According to that outlet – which in 2006 described Bender as “a litigious developer” and “not a man who likes to negotiate” – the hullabaloo surrounding the N Street site is, in fact, based on Bender’s contention that the District has overvalued the property and charges him a tax rate far in excess of its intrinsic worth. It can't help the District recently raised its tax rate on vacant property from 5% to 10% of the appraised value; according to DC tax assessment records, they're currently valued at $12.5 million. In 2004, he told the Washington City Paper, he wasn't even sure if they had ever been added to the city's vacant property registry.

“What difference does it make?” said Bender. "The bills come in, they get paid.”

Perhaps to prove a point, NSF consequently let the six historic buildings at the site lapse into disrepair over the past decade. Since purchasing the century-old buildings for $8 million in cash in 1988 and finally vacating the final tenants from the 1755 N Street Apartments in 1998 (reportedly by slashing the tires on the last remaining occupant's car), next to no upkeep has been performed on the properties – leading to a 2005 citation for “demolition-by-neglect” from the DC Board of Condemnation for Insanitary Buildings and the site’s inclusion on DC Preservation League’s 2007 list of Washington’s "Most Endangered Places."

"They're not endangered," Bender told the Post following the site's inclusion on the list. "I maintain them." In the same article, he laid blame for the delays afflicting the project at the feet of "unreasonable preservation protections." Nonetheless, the buildings' windows were subsequently boarded up.

But while the properties themselves have seen better days, that hasn’t stopped NSF from continually tweaking their redevelopment plans. Said Bender at a January 2006 BZA hearing:

We were going to [do] an office building [and] apartment house and that didn’t receive too much acceptance. We then have been working on it and have come up with doing a hotel…After going to the ANC and the Office of Planning and hearing all the negative comments, I went back to the architects and said…what can we do?…So we cut the building back from 117 hotel units to 77. We cut the garage to 96 from 127 and minimized whatever issues would be questionable by anybody.

The reduction of the scope of the project, however, hasn’t put its critics to bed. Over the past two years, the Dupont Circle Conservancy, the Historic Preservation Board, the local ANC and host of area businesses and office tenants - including the Tabard Inn, Science Services Inc., United Auto Workers, the Penn Art Ladies, the Middle East Institute and Johns Hopkins University – have all voiced their disapproval of the planned hotel's design scheme. In the meantime, NSF has traded up architects for the project – from JSA Inc. to HAA Architects – and legal counsel. Only after the project’s next BZA appearance this coming October 13th will we know when (and if) N Street will be seeing ever being seeing a new hotel.

For what it's worth, the N Street "folly" is one of the numerous legal battles Bender has immersed himself in over the years. In 2006 alone, he was engaged in two concurrent lawsuits. The first against Independence Federal Savings Bank, where, as the majority shareholder, he waged an unsuccessful take over the District-based financial institution. In the second, he was drawn into a bitter dispute with residents of Northwest's Palisades neighborhood - including former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his wife, NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell - when he sought to build thirteen "mansions" on thirteen acres adjoining Chain Bridge Road. For one of the few times in a conflict-studded career, he lost. Said Mitchell of her opponent: "[He's] a developer with the deepest of pockets and no sense of community obligation."

Luxury Hotel Sought for Georgetown Canal

Commercial real estate developer ICG Properties announced this week that it is seeking to redevelop the former headquarters of the American Trial Lawyers Association at 1050 31^st Street, NW through a joint partnership with Castleton Holdings. The Washington DC-based developer's goal for the prominent Georgetown location? An "ultra-luxury hotel" with top-tier retail.

"[We are looking for a] high-end, luxury hotel operator," said David C. Stern, a principal with ICG. "There’s an opportunity for a fantastic restaurant presence on the Canal side of the building…In keeping with its location in the heart of Georgetown, it’s going to be a high-end project."

In its current incarnation, the five-story building hosts 50,000 square feet of space with two-levels of underground parking and views of the C&O Canal, the Potomac and the surrounding Georgetown area. According to Stern, the development will doing little to alter that – at least, externally.

“It won’t be a demolition. The hotel renovation would be primarily interior renovation work,” he said. “We haven’t selected a project architect yet…It’s very preliminary right now. Decisions like the operator, financing and the hotel architect haven’t yet fallen completely into place.”

That, however, hasn’t scared them from locking down a timeline on the project. Stern says his group is negotiating with an unnamed hotelier and is planning to begin construction by the end of the year. "They are not currently in the District, but, like many other groups, they are very interested in starting operations [here]," he said.

"Given the fact that it’s primarily an interior renovation project, it would be a 12 to 18 month period for construction,” said Stern. “Our goal would be to open in the first quarter of 2011." Presumably by then a hotel operator will have been selected.

Washington DC commercial real estate news

JBG Lays Out Plans for U Street Hotel

JBG has made public more of the details planned for the hotel it intends to build at U and 13th Street, a 10-story, LEED-certified hotel with stacked parking, art gallery, green roof and fitness club.

Matt Valentini of the JBG Companies and Michael C. Swartz of David M. Schwarz Architects met with the Cardozo Shaw Neighborhood Association (CSNA) last night to present plans for their proposed 250-room hotel at the current site of the Rite Aid at 13th and U Streets, NW.

The team began their presentation describing the current Rite Aid-dominated single-story strip mall on site as a "suburban building type" that under-utilizes its prominent location. "The Metro being at the corner of 13th and U really makes this a focal point not only for the neighborhood by the historic district as a whole,” said Swartz. The architect’s stated goal in designing the hotel is to make something more “iconic and memorable,” who went on to identify numerous area precedents for the bayed brick design, including the Dunbar and Whitelaw Hotels.

Their current plans call for the building to top out a 10-stories, though they are alternatively exploring the possibility of limiting it to nine. A final determination on the building's height will be made once the development begins the approval process with local governing bodies such as the ANC 1B, the Historic Preservation Review Board and the Office of Planning.

At its’ current 90 foot height, the proposed hotel would require multiple variances in order to exceed the by-right height limit of 65 feet. Valentini countered criticisms that the hotel was a “colossus” by outlining the various benefits the project would offer: one hundred and fifty permanent jobs (sold!), a gallery showcasing the work of the local artists, future contributions to local community organizations, a public pool and spas, and guest vouchers to promote Metro use were among the items cited. “All those things are out there to be publicly consumed,” said Valentini.

According to the JBG representative, a project at the permitted 65 feet would not be economically feasible, especially considering that the developer must accommodate Rite Aid, which has leased the site until 2026. The hotel will retain the 25,000 square feet of retail presently available, though most of it will be devoted to the pharmacy. The remaining ground floor space will be allotted to glass-fronted retail and Valentini told the audience that JBG is “considering people on U Street today” as possible tenants.

Amenities planned for the hotel include the aforementioned gallery and pool, as well as a hotel restaurant, rooftop bar, meeting space and green roof – in keeping with the project’s pledged LEED silver certification. Furthermore, the development team stated that they had already amended their design to address a primary community concern: parking along already congested U Street. The current design features an all-valet two-story garage that will utilize mechanical stacking devices to far surpass the amount of spaces required by zoning.

JBG has yet to formally announce a flag for the hotel, but did say that they have reached out to hotelier Denihan Hospitality Group about the U Street project. “They do smaller boutique hotels, but we like their style and one of the things we’ve really talked about is this idea of a hotel club,” said Valentini. “Whereby, when we a build spa, when we have a pool, when we have a fitness center, that’ll be open to the public too.”

Following the meeting, CSNA President Bryan Martin Firvida told DCmud:

While JBG was able to speak to many of the questions and concerns raised during the meeting, there are a still a number that will need to be addressed as the plans move ahead...Even though we're only in the concept and planning stages today, this project has already made an impact on our neighborhood, and will continue to do so, during planning, construction, and most importantly, long after the front doors of the hotel open for business....The end goal of course, is to ensure that once complete, this project makes a positive impact on our already great U Street neighborhood.

Though JBG has yet to formally submit their application to the Office of Planning, the development team projects that the PUD process will begin in “late spring/summer.” At present, construction is tentatively scheduled for 2011, followed by a 2014 completion. In the meantime, the CSNA has opened up a website devoted solely to JBG’s 14th Street Hotel project: http://ustreethotel.csnadc.org/

JBG to Build 4-Star Hotel on U Street

With their new plans for a residential project on 14th Street locked, the JBG Companies are moving ahead with their proposed "Destination Hotel" at 13th and U Streets, NW - currently the site of a Rite Aid outlet and, promisingly enough, directly across from the first shot fired in the war of U Street redevelopment, the Ellington.

Currently under design by David M. Schwarz Architects, the JBG-developed hotel looks to revitalize the Rite Aid site with a four-star, "boutique and independently managed" hotel that could include as many as 250 guestrooms, 4,500 square feet of conference space and a robust 23,000 square feet of retail. Though still in the planning stages, JBG has presented the Cardozo-Shaw Neighborhood Association (CSNA) with a tentative outline of their plans for the development, which include “a signature restaurant,” rooftop bar, swimming pool, full-service neighborhood gym, a publicly accessible arts component and requisite LEED Silver certification. Fancy accoutrements aside, JBG isn’t entirely forsaking the parcel’s past; the local Rite Aid will remain, albeit in an updated and reconfigured space. Gone, however, are tentative plans to add condos to the top floors.

JBG has yet to formally partner with a hotelier for the project – though the smart money’s on Marriott International, with whom they’ve partnered for a host of metro area co-developments. According to a statement from the CSNA, in the coming weeks JBG will “continue to participate and host community meetings with project neighbors, CSNA, ANC 1B, and other government officials, boards, and agencies, including the DC Historic Preservation Review Board and the DC Zoning Commission.” JBG will make good on that pledge, in conjunction with the CSNA, when they make the first public presentation regarding the hotel at 1835 14th Street, NW on Thursday, March 12 at 7 PM. Despite slowing their residential developmnet profile, JBG also just received HPRB approval just 3 blocks away at 1800 14th St., for a large residential building.

A Marriott Monopoly

Marriott International Inc. is expanding its domination of the Washington DC metro hotel market. Their latest acquisition is a 2.4 acre triangular parcel in an Alexandria Virginia office park, where they plan to roll out one of their least established brands - the so-called Springhill Suites - maintaining a virtual monopoly over business travelers at the bustling junction of Telegraph Road and Eisenhower Avenue.

Located at 2950 Eisenhower Avenue, the new hotel will fall at the western end of the Alexandria Tech Center and stand just a stone's throw away from the Capital Beltway. This newest Springhill Suites will measure in at five-stories and 152 rooms, made up of 106 king suites and 46 double queen suites. Amenities planned for the site include an indoor swimming pool, lounge, small conference room, a gym, an outdoor terrace and shuttle service to the nearby Eisenhower Avenue Metro Station. Designed by architects Davis Carter Scott, the project is expected to come in at a cost of roughly $13 million.

The project was unanimously approved by the both the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council in mid-November. Marriott already has a hotel in the Alexandria Tech Center – a 98,000 square foot Marriott Courtyard that bookends the opposite side of the development.

The Planning Board staff praised the Springhill project as providing “an enhanced gateway to the Alexandria Tech Center and the Eisenhower Valley with an open space plaza and interesting building design,” but also chastised them their intention to use chintzy motel building materials – in this case a synthetic stucco called StoCreativ Granite.

Any qualms were abated, however, with promises of new jobs, an expanded “commercial tax base,” LEED certification and – a point not lost on urban planners - $13 million in promised new tax revenue to be generated by the hotel over the next decade. A number of local associations, including Carlyle Eisenhower Civic Association, the Cameron Parke Home Owner Association, the Eisenhower Partnership and the Alexandria Federation of Civic Associations, have also lent their approval to the project.

Marriott describes the Springhill Suites brand as “a prototype…geared toward the younger business traveler” with less expensive, yet large rooms with accompanying work space and internet access. In addition to the neighboring Courtyard location, the Tech Center’s newest tenant will also join a Strayer College location and a cluster of mid-rise office buildings along Eisenhower Avenue. Construction is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2009.

In addition to the planned Springhill Suites location, the hotelier also has plans in the works for double hotels on one block in downtown Crystal City and another under construction in Arlington’s Courthouse District, as well as several in Arlington and Washington DC. Lacey

DC's First Green Hotel on the Way

Developers of the "1 Hotel" are finally knocking down the former Nigerian Embassy at 22^nd and M Streets, NW (pictured below, looking not much worse than it has for the last decade). Demolition is courtesy of the Starwood Capital Group and Perseus Realty, LLC to make way for what may become Washington DC's first truly green hotel. In 2010, the development duo intends open the District’s first - a 182 room project that’s being dubbed "Washington’s first green luxury hotel" and the east coast flagship for Starwood’s new "luxe-eco" endeavors.

Coming in at 188,000 square feet, the Chad Oppenheim-designed edifice will consist of three "11-story volumes connected by glass enclosed vertical gardens." Drawing upon Victorian-era botanical gardens for inspiration, the architect claims that this configuration will function as a “living machine” that will serve as a natural air and water purification system. In a natural move for such a verdant project, the hotel will seek LEED certification and feature an organic spa, along with a green roof (with lounge) in the heart of Washington’s West End. Additionally, the development team is seeking to boost their green street cred by allying themselves National Resources Defense Council - to whom they will donate one percent of the profits from DC 1. While the embassy will be missed by few, popular restaurant Asia Nora is also being demolished to make way for green hotel, but the hotel group has plans for an organic restaurant within to replace the loss to the food supply of the West End, a neighborhood that will now have one of the highest concentrations of hotels in the DC area.

The 1 Hotel & Residences brand is Starwood’s attempt at bridging the gap between two equally trendy, yet totally opposite poles: high-class living and environmentally sound building practices. The hoteliers, who bought the land in 2006, will have plenty of competition for elegance - once completed it will stand directly across from the Ritz-Carlton and within a block of several upscale hotels - which may make it a good test case to see if green pays.

Other 1 locations currently in the pipeline include Paris, France; Seattle, WA; Scottsdale, AZ; Mammoth Lakes, CA; and Ft. Lauderdale, FL with further expansions planned for Los Angeles and New York. Construction of the DC location is being overseen be Tompkins Builders and, once open, is sure to be the most Google unfriendly hotel in the metropolitan area.

Developer Chosen for 5th & I

The District of Columbia announced this morning that it is partnering with developer Donohoe Companies to bring a high-end hotel, retail outlets and jazz club to the soon-to-be booming Mount Vernon Triangle. In a press conference held this morning, Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty laid out the changes that will soon be coming to the District- owned site at 5^th and I Streets NW and praised developments in the area as a whole.

"It's important that we move these projects fast, that we get them out to developers who know what to do with them and I think that...in less than a year we've demonstrated that we're not just holding onto these properties," said Fenty. "We're allowing them to be developed for the benefit of the community."

Those benefits will take the shape of a 475,000-square foot development, titled Arts at 5^th & I. The project will center around a new 260-room ME Hotel from luxury Spanish hotelier, Melia and also include - promoters say - a bicycle retailer, hardware store, book store/café and new outlet for the Zenith Art Gallery. Perhaps most exciting for local residents, who lobbied the city for more entertainment-oriented projects in the neighborhood during the 6 month bidding process, will be the addition of a new music venue in the form of the Boisdale Jazz Club – the first US location from the London-based chain of nightclubs.

A new apartment complex sporting 166 apartments will also be springing up on the site, with the developer pledging to a minimum of 50 affordable-housing units within the building. Rounding out the proposal is a 238-space underground parking garage. Groundbreaking is a projected 18 months away, following approval by the City Council.

Jad Donohoe of the Donohoe Companies outlined future plans for not only 5^th and I, but the rest of the Mount Vernon Triangle area as well. “We’re going to take this lot and then move up 5^th Street and take out those vacant properties,” he said. “[Donohoe is going to] redevelop that entire street and build on the investment that the city has already made in CityVista.”

The District’s selection of Donahue comes at the end of a 6 month bidding process that saw JBG, Buccini/Pollin, Potomac Investment Properties, and the winning Donohoe-managed joint proposal that included Holland Development, Spectrum Management, and Harris Development, all vying for a contract to build on the coveted Ward 6 parcel. With regards to how Donohoe’s joint proposal edged out the competition, Deputy Mayor Neil Albert said:

I took a look at their work and was very impressed with it. The community wanted entertainment as part of the development and they had a jazz club, which was well received…and then, they were going to pay us $7 million for this piece of land. They definitely had the best proposal. And that’s not just our rating, but community support was overwhelmingly in support of this proposal.

The 5 & I site was transferred into the city’s portfolio in October 2007 in the wake of the National Capital Revitalization Corp.’s (NCRC) dismantlement. DC's Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development then issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) early this year. The District is negotiating subsidies for the project with Donohoe at present and hopes to generate approximately $85 million in tax revenue from the Arts at 5^th and I project.

Adams Morgan Church Resurrected as Hotel

On Wednesday, Beztak Companies and DC-based Friedman Capital presented plans for their conversion of the First Church of Christ Scientist, in the center of Adams Morgan, into a 150-room "boutique hotel." The concept submitted involves the construction of a hotel within and behind the church at 1770 Euclid Street, NW. Under plans submitted to DC's Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), the century-old church will be designated as a landmark site, undergo major restoration, and connect to a larger, seventy to ninety foot structure that will replace the current City Paper building. 

The 180,000 s.f. boutique hotel at the intersection of Euclid Street and Columbia Road, NW, will be partnering with Ian Schrager, the developer responsible for New York's Studio 54 and Gramercy Park Hotel, and credited by some with creating the "boutique hotel" genre. Not aiming for your average conventioneer, the developer plans to convert the main sanctuary into a grand ballroom with a 500-guest capacity, and the mezzanine section for an elevated bar overlooking the ballroom. The two areas will be separated by a glass curtain that can be alternatively transparent or reflective. 

Designed by New York-based Handel Architects, the project, in keeping with the boutique theme, will host large, up-scale, "exclusive" events. Your average guest will not get to climb the front steps - those will be reserved for special galas and events, thank you very much. "One of the most important aspects of the sanctuary space is volume and preserving the structure of the space," said Brian Friedman of Friedman Capital. Connecting the church to the new structure has presented a logistical challenge in preserving its historic integrity. At the behest of HPRB, the developers will expand two existing windows in the church's former nursery to act as a connector, minimizing damage to the facade. HPRB also recommended increasing the space between the buildings, currently planned around twenty feet. 

No doubt the developer is mindful of the fate of Il Palazzo, the old Italian Embassy nearly next door, which had been sanctioned by DC Zoning for conversion into a condominium, but was later 'landmarked' by HPRB, effectively shutting down the project after sales had already begun. Until recently, the site had been marked for a 69-unit condominium, initially to be developed First Management Group of Chevy Chase, but later revised their plans in favor of a hotel. "I want to note that we tried very hard to come up with a type of business that could go in there to preserve a church that is 100 years old. We needed a business where, 100 years later, you could still see that church. A hotel was the only thing we could come up with to make that happen. We started with condos but we think this development brings better progress," Friedman said. He added that the project would offer 4,000 s.f. of community space for meetings and events. "We are very proud that there will be community space, to give you an idea, the penthouse or condo units are half the size of the community space," he said, referring to the ten condo units destined for the penthouse level. 

But while developers project an urbanizing, avant-garde creation that will invigorate the neighborhood, neighborhood organizations are predictably wary, especially about the height - this being Washington DC. "I think that in the spirit and concept of project we are fully behind it. I think that some commissioners are hesitant to put full support behind until we see full elevation and full plans," said Bryan Weaver of ANC 1C Peter Lyden of the Reed-Cooke Neighborhood Association was less credulous. "We've not seen any definitive drawings with height, density, or views, so we really haven't had any solid detail to make a decision. We do have comments that were received...one from long time resident reads, 'In my view, this height simply goes beyond heights of the neighborhood...the height should fit the character, not change it.' We welcome the idea, but it has to fit the zoning of the area," Lyden said. To which the developer replies that the building will be hidden behind the church and will not overtake it. 

To alleviate traffic on Champlain Street, the developer plans to follow the example of the Georgetown Ritz and incorporate the parking driveway into the site. Friedman and his team will submit a PUD and return to the HPRB in October; until then, the board recommended moving the pool, which will be surrounded by the hotel and next to a spa and bar, rather than on the roof, to muffle the noise of festive guests that might disturb the late-night hordes on 18th Street. The developer wanted the pool on the roof but neighbors were concerned about noise; the board recommended moving the pool up a few stories in order to put rooms under it. The board also recommended studying the building at the street level to "avoid an overly commercial look for an addition to a masonry church building in what is a largely residential area of the city." In fact the building would be the lone hotel in the Adams Morgan and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods. This will be first foray into hotel production and several other single and multi-family projects across the country. The new church-hotel does not yet have a name or an established construction timeline.

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