Monday, April 23, 2007
Developers Unveil Drawings for Old Convention Center Site
The Old Convention Center project is expected to break ground in 2008, with completion in 2011. It will also contain 1,700 underground parking spots and a public plaza, plus feature the reconnecting of both 10th Street and I Street through the site. The project is anticipated to generate over 7,000 construction-period jobs and 5,217 permanent jobs, plus $30 million a year in new tax revenues.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Officialdom To Inaugurate Convention Center Hotel
The four-star hotel is expected to be complete by the spring of 2014.
Washington DC real estate development news
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Shovel-Ready for 2010: CityCenter?
"We are within a year of breaking ground," said Miller. "We are continuously meeting and speaking with retailers that expressed interest."
And yet the project has missed several projected groundbreakings since the developers' first estimate of a groundbreaking by last January, and despite numerous assurances that the delay isn't affecting retail interest in CityCenter, no major retailers have been announced. The multi-phase, mixed-use development will commandeer 10-acres of vacant downtown property to eventually realize 400,000 square feet of retail space, more than a million square feet of office space, 670 residential units and a 400-room “high-end” hotel with its own 100,000 square foot retail plaza, under a 99 year lease from the city. It may sound a little on the ambitious side, but Archstone claims they have more than enough time – and resources – to see it through.
"At this point in time, we still have months to complete our construction documents and get our final permits and entitlements. We’re busy meeting with potential investors and banks that have expressed interest,” said Miller. “By year’s end, even though we’re in a challenging state with capital markets, we’ll be able to get the financing lined up and be able to break ground.”
The last time DCmud reported on the status of CityCenter last September, a Hines representative relayed that the project was “85% ready to go” and that the development team would seek a general contractor “in the next few weeks.” Though neither has yet transpired, there was recently one sign that wheels are again turning after a dour Spring; on April 28th, the development team met with potential contractors at a pre-bid "requirement conference."
The District Government swapped land in 2007 with Kingdon Gould, who gave up land on the site of the future Convention Center Marriott to get the northeast parcel of CityCenter from the District government (labeled 'District Parcel' in the rendering). Gould will be developing his land separately, but has also not committed in time or in scope, nor has the much discussed Convention Center Marriott broken ground yet.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Convention Center Financing Completes, Construction Begins
The Marriott project is being headed by Quadrangle Development and Capstone Development, and will help the District compete with National Harbor. With an "A" rating from Standard and Poor's, the WCSA sold the entire $250m bond release authorized by the DC Council on the last day of September. The Authority intends to hold a formal ceremony to mark construction in November.
Washington DC real estate development news
Monday, July 28, 2008
DC's Development Pipeline
Labels: Archstone, Clark Realty, DMPED, Ellis Development, Fenty, Hines, Louis Dreyfus Properties, Lowe Enterprises, Neil Albert, Roadside Development, Southwest
The projects listed below are still being refined. The numbers and square footage assigned to each are conceptual and are subject to change.
Projects With Developers
Clark Realty was selected in February as Master Developer for Poplar Point on the east side of the Anacostia. The number of residential and hotel units they will deliver has not yet been determined, however 30% of all residential units will be affordable. The District and the National Park Services held a public scoping meeting last month for the Environmental Impact Statement of the $2.5 billion project.
Center Leg Freeway on Massachusetts Ave, NW between 2nd and 3rd Streets is being developed by Louis Dreyfus Properties into 100 market- rate and 50 affordable residential units. The $1.1. billion project will cap the exposed section of I-395, and include 2,100,000 s.f. office space and 67,000 s.f. retail space.
The McMillan Sand Filtration Site on North Capital Street and Michigan Avenue will be developed into 820 market-rate units, 351 affordable units, and a 100-room hotel by EYA. The $1 billion project will also deliver 700,000 s.f. of office space and $110,000 s.f. of retail space. The project has long been worked over, but don't make plans for moving in any time soon.
In May the District reached a deal with Hines Archstone to develop a 400-room "high-end" hotel and 100,000 s.f. of additional retail space on "Parcel B", a 53,000 s.f. plot of land that is part of the larger CityCenter DC, the development taking up residence on the old convention center site. The entire $850 million project downtown will deliver 539 market-rate units, 135 affordable units, 476,000 s.f. of office space, and 266,000 s.f. of retail space.
On June 26th, Marriot International, Cooper Carry Architects and EHT Traceries presented plans for the Convention Center Headquarters Hotel to the Historic Preservation Review Board. Located on the Corner of 9th Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW, the $550 million project will deliver 1125 hotel rooms and 25,00 s.f. of retail space. Having been scaled back from its original 1400 bed facility, the project is well past its early schedule, of construction in 2007.
O Street Market at 7th Street and Georgia Avenue will be transformed into a mixed-use development that will include 550 market-rate and 80 affordable residential units by Roadside Development. The $329 million development will replace a current Giant supermarket with a new 71,000 s.f. store and include a 200 unit hotel and 87,000 s.f. of retail space. The District reached an agreement with the developer late last month to kickstart financing. Of the dozens of projects promising to revitalize the Shaw neighborhood, this may be the first large project to actually get underway.
Skyland Shopping Center on Good Hope Road at Naylor and Alabama Avenue, SE will be developed by Rappaport Companies and William C. Smith Companies into a $261 million development with 155 market-rate units and 66 affordable units as well as 230,000 s.f. of retail space. When? Even an estimate will be fine.
City Vista, which began sales in late 2005, will bring 441 condos with 138 affordable residential units to, as well as a separate apartment building, to 5th and K Streets, NW. The project will also include 130,000 s.f. of retail space and will cost $191 million. The first condominium building completed last October, the remaining condominium and the apartment building are nearly ready for occupancy.
Early this year, Fenty signed a Land Disposition Agreement with Broadcast Center One Partners LLC, (Ellis Development and Four Points, LLC) that will bring African-American-owned Radio One to the district. The $144 million Broadcast Center One at 7th and S Streets, NW will be a mixed-use project with 135 market-rate and 45 affordable residential units as well as 96,000 s.f. of office space and 22,000 s.f. of retail space. According to Fenty's office, "the deal also sets in motion the $22 million redevelopment of the Howard Theater, a long-shuttered landmark that was the hub of black Broadway." If it gets built; the timeline remains uncertain.
Mt. Carmel (Parcel 51B) on 3rd Street, NW between K and H Streets is being developed by MQW LLC (Quadrangle and the Wilkes Companies) into $130 million mixed-use project with 267 market-rate units, 67 affordable units and 90,000 s.f. office space.
Forest City Washington is responsible for the $120 million O Street SE Redevelopment by the SE Federal Center. It will deliver 354 market-rate units, 89 affordable units and 47,000 s.f. of retail space.
The Village at Dakota Crossing in Fort Lincoln by Ft. Lincoln New Town Corporation will include 327 market-rate and 30 affordable units. It will cost $110 million.
Mid City Urban and A&R Development will bring 216 market-rate and 54 affordable residential units as well as 70,000 s.f. of retail space to the area around the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station with their $105 million Rhode Island Station project. First attempted as a condo project, developers have bowed to the market and substituted apartment buildings - at least in theory, as the project has yet to break ground.
The $100 million Shops at Dakota Crossing on New York and South Dakota Avenue, NE will be developed by Ft. Lincoln New Town Corporation into 29,000 s.f. of office space and 461,000 s.f. of retail space.
Lowe Enterprises and Jack Sophie Development have long had intentions to develop Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue, NE (Triangle Parcel) into 208 market-rate units, 52 affordable units and 23,223 s.f. of retail to the tune of $75 million. The fate of the project is uncertain, as higher construction costs, shrinking condo prices, and more conservative lending practices - especially in low-income neighborhoods, make such projects harder to justify.
Park Place on Georgia Avenue in Petworth will be developed by Donatelli Development into 161 market-rate units, 32 affordable units and 16,000 s.f of retail space and will cost $60 million. Purchased by Donatelli, along with partners Gragg & Associates, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, will be one of the few developers delivering new condos in 2009.
In February, the District made a Term Sheet with Parcel 42 Partners to develop 95 affordable housing units and 8,000 s.f. of retail space on Parcel 42, in Shaw at 7th and Rhode Island Avenue, NW for $28 million.
In December 2007, the District selected William C. Smtih Companies and the Jair Lynch Companies to develop the $700 million Northwest One New Community that will deliver 1,600 units of housing on former NCRC parcels as well as adjacent DC-controlled and private properties in Ward 6. Located between North Capitol Street, New York Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, and K Street, the site is in an area that has "long been plagued by high crime and poverty", but is surrounded by the up-and-coming NoMa and Mt.Vernon Triangle neighborhoods. The development team, which also includes Banneker Ventures and CPDC (affordable housing provider), will create apartments, townhouses, and condos for all income levels as well as over 40,000 s.f. of retail and 220,000 s.f. of office space. The development will also offer a 21,000 s.f. clinic.
And further down the road...
The District issued a solicitation in early June for Parcel 69 at 4th, 6th, and E Streets, SW. The $130 million development will be an office and hotel project along the Southwest freeway. Proposals are due by September 15th.
In May, Fenty issued an RFEI for the Hill East Waterfront on Capitol Hill East. The District seeks a developer to create 2,100 market-rate and 900 affordable units with 2,000,000 s.f office space and 67,000 s.f. of retail space. The District anticipates a price tag of $1.1 billion for the development of the 50 acres surrounding the former DC General Hospital. Proposals are due by October 31st.
Proposals were due June 3rd for Minnesota and Benning Road, NE Phase II. The $107 million development will include 60 market rate, 392 affordable units and 40,000 s.f. of retail. No developer has been selected.
It is high time the District announced developer for Fifth and I Street, NW. After proposals were submitted in March, the District widdled the teams down to the final four including BG, Buccini/Pollin, Potomac Investment Properties, and a group comprised of Holland Development, Donohoe Development, Spectrum Management, and Harris Development. The winning team, whenever they are announced, will create somewhere around 170 market-rate units, 30 affordable units, 100 hotel rooms and 50,000 s.f. of retail space.
Upcoming Solicitations
The District would like to see 1,469 market-rate and 440 affordable units in Lincoln Heights in Ward 7 at an estimated cost of $576 million.
Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road in Ward 8 will likely include 110 market and 330 affordable housing units and will cost around $550 million. The project is an effort to revitalize low-income properties in the historic Anacostia area.
The issuance of the Park Morton solicitation at Park Road and Georgia Avenue, NW is "imminent" according to the Mayor's office and will cost $136 million with 499 market-rate and 150 affordable units. Axis
Friday, June 25, 2010
CityCenter: On Track for Early 2011 Groundbreaking
Labels: Archstone, Clark Construction, Convention Center, Foster and Partners, Hines, Shalom Baranes Architects, Smoot Construction
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Today in Pictures - Marriott Marquis
Labels: Capstone Development, Marriott, Quadrangle Development, Shaw
Washington D.C. real estate development news. Photographs by Rey Lopez.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Two Megabuildings Downtown in Pipeline for Gould
Labels: CORE Architects, Downtown DC, Gould Property Company, Pickard Chilton
Gould Property's 600 Mass Ave. - Rendering courtesy CORE |
Gould Property's 600 Mass Ave. - Rendering courtesy CORE |
"Instead of filling in the property with a box, we were able to do something architecturally interesting." Ngiam also said the building's setback on Eye St. respects the scale of that streetscape. "We are quite excited about the project," he told DCMud.
600 Mass Ave. - Eye St. Frontage - Rendering courtesy CORE |
For CityCenterDC, Gould is planning a 12-story building designed by Pickard Chilton Architects. The design includes a center atrium that reaches the full height of the building's 12 floors. The atrium is covered with a "unique free standing" glass roof supported by v-shaped columns. Renderings also call for lushly planted rooftop terraces, nine-foot ceilings, and ground floor retail.
900 New York Ave. - Rendering Pickard Chilton website |
Gould is also behind plans with Vornado Realty for a massive redevelopment of Rosslyn Plaza that would replace six buildings with four new ones to include hundreds of new residential units, as well as hotel space.
900 New York Ave. - Rendering Pickard Chilton website |
At both 900 New York Avenue and 600 Massachusetts Avenue, the developer has the approvals needed to start, according to the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID). Now all the projects need are good tenants.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Plan for Old Convention Center Site Approved
Friday, May 12, 2006
DC Lays Out Billion-Dollar Plan for Old Convention Center Site
Labels: Convention Center, Downtown DC, Washington DC
Thursday, March 01, 2012
JBG's Woodley Park Residential Tower Reborn as 2700 Woodley
Labels: David M Schwarz Architects, Esocoff and Associates, JBG Companies, Marriott, Woodley Park
Construction on The JBG Companies' long-planned residential tower in Woodley Park, just east of the Marriott Wardman Park, is well underway with excavation nearly complete, and the project - formerly known as Wardman West - has been rebranded as 2700 Woodley.
Upon completion (delivery is anticipated in Q1 2014), the upscale David M. Schwarz Architects-designed tower will offer 211 rental residences. Ongoing speculation has centered on whether the project would be condos or apartments, and it turns out that developers have decided to go the "premier apartment community" route, a savvy decision considering the almost complete absence of new high-end rentals in the immediate area. Matthew R. Blocher, Senior Vice President at JBG, said a full-scale marketing campaign will launch in the fall. (Possibly from New York-based SeventhArt?)
A new rendering acquired by DCMud (top) shows a building structurally similar to the Esocoff-designed concept depicted in the earlier renderings (below, right), but with a vastly different, and more attractive facade. Whereas the previous design verged on minimalistic (if not outright post-Soviet Eastern Bloc), the new facade is more texturally interesting, and much more in keeping with the character of the nearby hotel.
Washington D.C. real estate development news
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
A Neighborhood Runs Through It: The Hilton Washington
Frank Lloyd Wright was right. The story goes that in the 1940s, the iconoclast architect stood on the site of the future Hilton Washington, next to a once grand but derelict Victorian mansion known as "The Heights," declaring it a prime location for a hotel. Two decades later, Conrad Hilton shared that vision and on March 28, 1965, built in the signature 1960s and '70s Brutalism style of the American modernist movement by architect William B. Tabler Sr., the hotel - at 1919 Connecticut Ave. NW - opened its doors to what continues to be a Washington keystone.
With more than one million s.f. of space and following a massive, three-year (concept-to-champagne) $150 million renovation - and in many spaces a painstaking restoration - the Hilton Washington is still going strong, having reinvented itself in time for a re-launch on May 25. Shepherded by OPX Global architects, under the auspices of owners Lowe Enterprises and the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund which purchased the property for $290 million in 2007, the hotel has achieved historic preservation status in its quest to become a coveted landmark property, and also included community focus groups, to reestablish itself as a seminal neighborhood landmark.
Up to the Challenge
“They’re really trying to be a hotel that lives in Kalorama, lives in DuPont, lives in the U Street Corridor,” said W. David Owen, OPX principal, explaining that among other things, his firm opened up the property by improving the clarity of glass on the public levels so neighbors could see into the lobby when illuminated at night. Conversely, the profile of the landscaped dome outside was lowered for more visual access from the inside out to the sidewalk. Soon-to-be realized plans for a Starbucks just inside the lobby will serve both hotel guests and area residents, and in an effort to improve relationships with most of the neighbors, according to Owen, the loading dock, where facilitating large exhibits has been known to impede street travel, was redesigned in ways that included reworking turn planes and improving capability to accept larger bay trucks.
In the big picture, among the many design challenges for OPX Global was an effort to establish a sense of flow and make every space feel seamless, according to Owen, who noted it had been “chopped up” in prior renovations. In part this was achieved by establishing a basic palette at the front door with very light finishes in contrast to dark woods, something that resonates throughout the property. Bringing the building back to its modernist roots, in light of prior renovations, also posed a challenge, as did a 21st century dictum for the integration of pervasive and visible technology vis-Ã -vis “raising the hotel up into the luxury market.”
Around the Room(s)
According to Owen, when the hotel was built, “…it was kind of an interesting hybrid because the latest trend at that time was motor courts.” Accordingly, the 1,250 guestrooms – all of which faced out and curved per Tabler’s design – were very small, emblematic of the “clean, efficient, moderately priced” motor court credo. “It stood in contrast to some of the grand hotels that were here, which serves well for a convention market where people are not in their rooms for most of the day,” Owen explained. Efficiency withstanding, and without altering the guestroom footprint, OPX Global rallied to visually expand the stark, small, utilitarian “pie wedge-shaped” rooms to include warm bathroom granite-topped cabinetry that “looks like a piece of furniture,” and replace doors with translucent glass sliders. Bathroom floors are marble, and combination light/mirror fixtures both conserve and open up space.
The hotel is renowned for its legendary 35,815 s.f. International Ballroom which seats 2,700 and, according to one source, is one of the largest public hotel spaces south of NY and east of the Mississippi. The ballroom is the annual scene of the crime for the White House Correspondents Association dinner, among other glittering events, including one of 2008’s inaugural balls. A brand new 15,000 s.f. exhibition space, Columbia Hall, is part of an additional 20,000 s.f. of public space added to the hotel, and can be used as a whole or partitioned into four separate rooms or two banks of two with a center corridor. “Actually I believe there are almost 10 configurations they can do with walls around the center,” Owen said, with the center portions having 14-foot ceilings to comply with Hilton brand’s requisite for social event rooms.
“All of the construction was done while the hotel was operating,” Owen stated. “It never closed, except for one two-week period after holiday parties when things slow down, in order to relocate a massive amount of plumbing that involved the ceiling in the lobby area. Forfeiting 100 of the hotel’s 1250 guestrooms to the renovation, the hotel anticipates creating long term rental suites for business travelers replete with kitchenettes and other extended living-type amenities. The owners have also received approval from the District to build a condo tower on the property, wherein residents will be able to share hotel amenities such as maid service, health club, catering and more, according to Owen.