Recap of SW Waterfront Community Workshop

Over 300 people attended the community workshop tonight at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel organized by SWNA and ANC 6D to discuss the Planned Unit Development (PUD) for The Wharf (check out my Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment page for more information about plans for The Wharf). After some opening remarks by representatives from SWNA, the ANC, the District government, and the Hoffman-Madison Waterfront team, the meeting was split into five different rooms, each discussing one of the following themes:

• Design & Public Realm
• Transportation, Traffic & Parking
• Maritime Plan
• Sustainability & Environment
• Retail & Amenities

I stayed in the main ballroom for the Design & Public Realm discussion, so most of what I'm writing about has to do with that topic.  At the end of the meeting, however, the group reconvened and major concerns from all five themes were shared with the audience, which are listed later in this post.  In addition, discussion of the first three themes listed above were videotaped and will soon be available on the ANC's website.

Stan Eckstut from EE&K Architects gave an overview of the master plan for The Wharf.  In his remarks, Eckstut mentioned that the design of the Southwest Waterfront is not an interpretation of other cities' waterfronts, but is uniquely Washington. It will be a pedestrian-friendly waterfront with vehicular access on the new Wharf Street; however, the presence of cars is just for convenience purposes and the street will not serve as a through route.

 

All of the parking for the development will be located below-grade, which is unique for waterfront developments and all of the buildings are designed to not cast a shadow on the water's edge. The blocks at The Wharf are designed to be 250 feet long compared to the typical length of building blocks along other corridors of the city such as K Street, NW, which is 600 feet. About 55% of the site is planned as open space and these public spaces are the focal points of the development. Eckstut also noted that the buildings were designed so there is no back side to the buildings along Maine Avenue.

About half of the buildings will rise to 130 feet (I counted 11), but will be stepped and angled to reduce the appearance of a wall of buildings along Maine Avenue. The average height of the other buildings will be 60-70 feet. Both residential and commercial buildings will have ground floor retail with a height of 20 feet; the residential buildings will be 10 feet per floor above the base level and commercial buildings will be 12 feet per floor. So, for a building 130 feet high, that translates to a 12-story residential building or a 10-story office building. 

According to zoning, an additional 18-foot mechanical penthouse is allowed on up to 33% of the surface area on top of the 130-foot buildings for a total of 148 feet. The taller buildings are concentrated in the middle of the development with shorter buildings closer to Arena Stage and the fish market. Examples of building heights in other areas of The Wharf include:

• a 60-foot building next to the fish market slated for a re-creation of the headhouse market that once was on the waterfront back in the 1930s
• a 45-foot condo building at the St. Augustine's Church site at 6th Street and Maine Avenue
• 35 to 45-foot residential buildings (townhouses) on Pier 4 (the pier that currently is used by the Spirit cruise ships) along with a 60-foot architectural feature at the end of the pier 

Below are the major concerns brought by each of the five groups at the end of the meeting:

Design & Public Realm

• Too many 130-foot buildings
• Pier 4
• Vistas and views 

Traffic & Transportation

• Shared pedestrian safety/crossing esplanade zone
• Bike path/parking (valet service)
• Resident parking
• Streetcars
• Bus parking
• ADA/wheelchairs (persons with disabilities)
• Rush hour impact/Nats games/commuter traffic
• Traffic study

Maritime Plan

• What we want at the end of 7th Street Pier
• Regular meetings with people who live along the waterfront
• Transition plan for the Gangplank community

Sustainability & Environment

• Public access to green roofs & community gardens (integrating design into sustainability)
• More stormwater retention/gray H2O
• Demonstrate sustainability externally (turn it "inside out")

Retail & Amenities

• We want "being a local" to mean something

           - parking

           - affordability

           - jobs

           - opening a business

• We want unique experiences in theater, food, shopping, etc.
• We want our proprietors and facility managers to keep us, our kids, & our visitors safe.  Contribute to our community, not just make money

A word about retail - Monty Hoffman from PN Hoffman mentioned that they are hoping to bring back Jenny's Asian Fusion, Cantina Marina, and a smaller version of Phillips to The Wharf once the redevelopment is complete. Channel Inn will not be coming back.  There will be a mix of white table cloth and less expensive restaurants and cafes. No restaurant tenants have been announced, but the next anticipated announcement is a hotel anchor (HMW hired a consultant a couple months ago to help them decide on an operator for their planned four-star hotel).

The next steps in the Phase 1 PUD process is a revised preliminary PUD will be available on June 28 at the Southwest library.  Then, the ANC will vote on the PUD at their July 11 meeting and the Zoning Commission meeting will take place on July 18. Interestingly enough, the paper closure of Water Street is now in effect as of Tuesday, but the street will remain open until December 2012 when phased closures will begin. Another meeting is planned by HMW soon to discuss just the residential aspect of the development - affordable and market-rate housing. I'll let you know the meeting details once those are available.

Renderings courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

EPA Towers at Waterfront Station on Track for Conversion to Residential

On the heels of the groundbreaking ceremony of Camden South Capitol apartments, which is supposed to get underway later this morning, there's news that the former EPA towers at Waterfront Station will soon be converted to apartment buildings. According to a source at Urban Atlantic, who purchased the buildings from Waterfront Associates on March 7 for $20 million, the developer will start construction this fall on the conversion of the East tower to 265 units and the West tower to 252 units. 20%, or about 104 units, will be set aside for households earning up to 50% of Area Median Income (AMI), which is approximately $51,750. Construction will last about 22 months, so expect delivery around the end of 2013. The buildings will be designed by Wiencek & Associates, the same architects that are working with Adjaye Associates on the Washington Highlands Library in Bellevue. The architects have made refinements to the designs originally done by Shalom Baranes Associates when the PUD for phase one of development was approved a few years ago. The ANC will most likely have to approve these latest design changes. I should be able to get new renderings in a few weeks since they are still being finalized. One thing is for certain though - the hulking concrete skin of the former EPA towers will be removed when the buildings are repurposed as residential.

Design Team Selected for Randall School

According to DCist, a trio of architecture firms has been selected to work on the Randall School redevelopment project on I Street. The article states that Bing Thom Architects (the same firm that designed Arena Stage) will be the principal firm, along with landscape architects Oehme van Sweden and DC-based architectural history and historic preservation firm EHT Traceries, Inc. Oehme van Sweden has worked on other projects in Southwest, including the World War II Memorial and the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial.

If you recall back in February, a partnership between Telesis Corporation (a DC-based developer) and CACB Holdings LLC (owned by the Rubell family that owns the Capitol Skyline Hotel across the street from Randall) signed a purchase and sale agreement for Randall School from the Corcoran. Plans include a contemporary art museum, 225-key hotel, and a residential building. The museum will be 20,000 square feet in size and will house the Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation, which will serve as a satellite location for the Rubell Foundation's main museum in Miami, Florida. The hotel and residential building will be approximately 480,000 square feet. The sale has to be approved by the DC Council, since the original sale by the city to the Corcoran has a covenant that stipulated that the intended use of the building would be a college, which won't be the case under the new development plan.

A Couple Quick Items

- I forgot to post a link to JDLand's post from last week about a water taxi start-up company planning to offer service in the Washington area in the next couple of months called American River Taxi, or ART for short. Stops in the initial phase include the Southwest Waterfront, Nationals Park, Georgetown, National Harbor, and Alexandria. Future phases will include National Airport and Poplar Point.

- The Washington Post has an article about the new Benning library opening today in Northeast, but there's mention of other new libraries that will open in the next couple of years, including the Washington Highlands branch in Bellevue (incorrectly labeled as located in SE in the article), designed by London architect David Adjaye, which will open in 2011.

Design Concept Selected for Eisenhower Square

The Washington Post reports that the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission met today to select a design concept for Eisenhower Square, the name of the memorial planned across from the National Air & Space Museum for President Eisenhower. The article gives a brief description of the selected design concept:

The commission chose the most elaborate of the designs, with a central grove and columns on the north and south sides, plus a "tapestry" of woven stainless steel mesh.

Back in January, the Commission selected Gilbane Building Company to oversee the design and construction of the memorial, which will be designed by famed LA architect Frank Gehry. The Commission will present their selection to the National Capital Planning Commission at their next meeting on April 1. Hopefully I can get a rendering of the design concept soon to include with this post.

Update: The Post has another article about the memorial that includes a rendering and gives more details about the plans. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Instead, Gehry has proposed closing off a newly defined square defined by the intersection of Independence and Maryland avenues and Fourth and Sixth streets SW. The north and south sides of "Eisenhower Square" will be [lined] by huge limestone columns, the interior filled with a grove of large oaks and a semicircular space made of a rough assemblage of monolithic stone blocks. There will also be carvings and inscriptions and a service building. But the most intriguing and potentially most problematic element of the design are three huge tapestries, made of woven metal. Preliminary models show one tapestry running along almost the full height and length of the north face of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building. That could limit light and affect sightlines for workers who once had views to the Mall. Gehry, who attended the commission's Capitol Hill news conference, said that the tapestry would be translucent and that it will stand 90 to 100 feet away from the Education Department building, which is essentially the width of a city street.

The memorial will close off Maryland Avenue, but sightlines to the Capitol will be maintained.

Update #2: Above is a rendering of the proposed memorial, from the Eisenhower Memorial Commission.

Update #3: DCist and Greater Greater Washington have posts about the memorial, along with more renderings.

Renovations Underway at L'Enfant Plaza's Retail Promenade

In early November, the JBG Companies, owner of the retail promenade at L’Enfant Plaza, began a $40 million renovation and expansion effort designed by SmithGroup, a national architecture firm. Billed as the only major retail shopping center in Southwest Washington, the retail promenade’s modernization is well overdue. Recently, I took a stroll along the retail promenade and with the gold-looking metal frame around the storefronts, Broadway-style marquee lighting, and 80’s music pumping through the sound system, I felt like I went through a time warp. Above is a photo of a typical storefront at the promenade, which looks very dated.

The retail promenade is located below grade at the center of L’Enfant Plaza, a 1960s-era mixed-use complex that was designed in the Brutalist architectural style, with some of the buildings designed by renowned architect I.M. Pei. It connects to three existing office buildings and the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. A glass pyramid was built more recently in the center plaza and provides the only source of natural light to the shopping center below. Current tenants include Dress Barn, CVS, Radio Shack, PNC Bank, and Au Bon Pain, along with fast food restaurants, a florist, and other convenience retailers. Some retailers on the eastern side of the promenade were relocated to the west side so improvements could begin first on the side closest to the Metro entrance. Above is a view of the north office building from the glass pyramid inside the retail promenade.

Once phase one is completed in the first quarter of 2011, a food court will be located near the Metro entrance with windows facing the neighboring HUD building, along with outdoor seating for restaurant patrons. At full built-out, the retail center will be 205,000 square feet and will complement the modernist architecture of L’Enfant Plaza with a clean, slick design. A large sculptural glass entryway will replace the pyramid to bring some natural light and visual interest into the underground shopping center. Other restaurants will be located under the glass entryway and storefronts will be scattered throughout the retail promenade. Above is a rendering of the glass entryway, courtesy of JBG. The renovation of the retail promenade is part of the overall revamping of L’Enfant Plaza, which will include the renovation of the north and south tower office buildings, as well as the 370-key L’Enfant Plaza Hotel. The west tower office building, home to the United States Postal Service, is not owned by JBG, and is not part of the renovation schedule. Two new office buildings will be constructed in the center plaza area, an extended-stay hotel will be located in the northeast parcel, and apartments will be built on the southeast parcel. Below are a couple more renderings.

(Left) Here is a rendering of the sculptural glass entryway.





(Right) This is a rendering of the food court, which is a part of phase one of construction.

Apart from the L’Enfant Plaza complex, but along 10th Street, the Washington Interdependence Council plans to build a memorial to Benjamin Banneker, an astronomer and mathematician who helped Pierre L’Enfant plan the city of Washington. Included with the memorial will be the Banneker Institute of Math & Science and a Founding Fathers Walk. In addition, the Monumental Core Framework Plan, released earlier this year by the National Capital Planning Commission and the US Commission of Fine Arts, calls for the redevelopment of the 10th Street corridor as a gateway between the National Mall and the Southwest Waterfront. Construction timetables have not been set for the renovations and new buildings along 10th Street, but once everything is complete, L’Enfant Plaza and its environs will be unrecognizable.

Spotlight on Design: Bing Thom

On September 15th, Bing Thom, the architect of the new Arena Stage, and Molly Smith, the Artistic Director for Arena Stage, will be discussing the unique challenges in building performing arts venues as a part of the National Building Museum's Spotlight on Design lecture series. The lecture will be held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library downtown from 6:30pm to 8pm. You can buy tickets for the lecture here. (Above is a rendering of the new Arena Stage, scheduled to open Fall 2010, from the Arena Stage website.)

Washington Highlands Library Rendering Released

With the news that architect David Adjaye's firm was chosen to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall, we thought we would focus on Adjaye's other work in DC - namely the new Washington Highlands branch public library he is designing on Atlantic Street in Bellevue (Southwest...TLQTC reported on this story back in October). On March 31st, there was a community meeting where a slide show presentation showed some of Adjaye's initial designs for the new space. The new library will be three stories tall, contain approximately 20,000 square feet of space, and will aim for LEED-Silver certification. Enhancements at the new library include an outdoor amphitheatre, outdoor space for children's games like hopscotch and jump rope, a garden, meeting rooms, study rooms, additional computers, and separate space for children, teens, and adults. According to the Washington Highlands Neighborhood Library Project website, the design process should be complete by Summer 2009, with construction taking 18-20 months. By Spring 2011, the new library should be open. An interim library will be open for the community around the corner from the current site while the new one is built. (Above is a rendering of the new library shown from South Capitol Terrace, from the March 31st presentation)

Week in Review

Here's a recap of the week's events...

- Cherry Blossom Festival Begins. On a rainy Saturday, the National Cherry Blossom Festival began with several activities around the city, and earlier this week, the blossoms began their peak blooming period. The festival will continue through Sunday, April 12th, with local events, including the dedication of the SW Call Boxes and the Fireworks Show, both of which will occur on April 11th. (The above photo is one of the cherry blossom-themed call boxes along M Street, before the artwork has been installed)

- SEU President Resigns. While I was on vacation, a letter was in my inbox from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Southeastern University, stating that SEU President Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis was resigning from her post as of March 31, 2009. In her place, Dr. Elaine Ryan was appointed interim President, previously serving as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer. SEU is facing accreditation problems and is looking to merge with the GS Graduate School. See my post from last month for more background on the merger talks. On my flight to California, I ended up sitting next to one of the former deans at Southeastern and we started chatting about SEU's current situation and development trends in Southwest. It's a small world indeed!

- Frank Gehry chosen to design Eisenhower Memorial...No Joke! The Washington Business Journal reported on Wednesday that the Eisenhower Memorial Commission has chosen famed LA-based architect Frank Gehry to design a memorial dedicated to President Eisenhower, located across from the Air & Space Museum and the Department of Education headquarters at 4th Street & Independence Avenue. This is Gehry's second chance to design a structure in DC - the first time he was tapped to design an addition to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, but the gallery had financing issues, so it was never built. See my post from January about this topic.

London "Starchitect" to Design New Washington Highlands Library

According to this article from The Washington Post, David Adjaye, a prominent young architect based in London, will design two new DC Public Library branches, located in Washington Highlands (on the east side of the Anacostia River at 115 Atlantic Street, SW) and the Fort Davis neighborhood in Southeast. The other library in Southwest, located at 900 Wesley Place and built in 1965, will probably not be replaced anytime soon, since it was just renovated a few years ago.