Signs of Life for Randall School Project?

There was a feature in Washingtonian about the Mera and Donald Rubell, who own the Capitol Skyline Hotel and have teamed up with Telesis to redevelop the former Randall School at First and Half streets into a modern art museum, restaurant, and 500+ multifamily rental apartments in two high-rise buildings. The revised project was approved back in 2014, but nothing has happened at the site. Earlier this year, it was announced at a community meeting that the development team added Lowe Enterprises to the project. In the Washingtonian article, it states “after years of delays, the couple is poised to break ground.” Unfortunately, the project architect Bing Thom (who also designed the remodeled Arena Stage) won’t be able to see the project to fruition since he passed away this week. 

Rendering courtesy of Bing Thom Architects

Randall School Developers Seek Extension

At last Monday's ANC 6D meeting, Marilyn Melkonian from Telesis came before the commissioners to request their support in extending the PUD for the Randall School project at Half and I Streets.  The Telesis/Rubell team have yet to submit their own PUD for the project, so the extension is for the original plans when the site was owned by the Corcoran and Monument Realty. The Telesis/Rubell team agreed to purchase the site from the Corcoran in 2010, but the sale closed only a few months ago. Telesis is putting together the programming, financing, and design of the project and hopes to start construction in 2013 with completion in 2015-16. While the project is still in the design phase, some particulars were revealed during the presentation. Below is a massing study done on the project by Bing Thom Architects that was presented at the meeting.  

The model shows the three heritage buildings that will remain along with two residential buildings with a total of approximately 400 units that will rise up to 110 feet behind. Of the 400 units, 20% will be set aside as affordable housing for households earning up to 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). A boutique hotel was also planned previously, but it was determined that it was not financially feasible, so the residential component was increased. It's envisioned that the modern art museum that will house the Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation will be located within the heritage buildings. In addition, a restaurant may be placed in the easternmost heritage building. A new mid-block east-west street will be created behind the heritage buildings to remove some traffic off of I Street, but deliveries will primarily occur on H Street. With the removal of the newer wings of the Randall School, the back of the heritage buildings will be exposed and the development team is still contemplating whether to build townhouse units alongside the rear of the heritage buildings or retail spaces. A courtyard will be created behind the central heritage building that will be open to the public.  Ms. Melkonian said she hopes the entire project will be built in one phase starting in 2013, but the residential buildings could be done in two phases.  While the residential buildings are currently planned as apartments, it's possible that one of the buildings could be done as condos if built in phases and depending on market conditions. Regardless of when the residential buildings are completed, the modern art museum will be done in the first phase.

The ANC voted to support the PUD extension 6-1 after agreeing to rescind their prior disapproval 5-1-1 when no one from the Telesis team came to the February ANC meeting. Next, the Telesis/Rubell team will meet with the Zoning Commission on March 21 to seek the PUD extension.

Southwest Development Featured in WaPo

There’s an article in today’s The Washington Post about the redevelopment of Southwest. The basic premise of the article is that Arena Stage’s design has the potential to change the way the rest of the waterfront will be developed, which until now, according to the author, has been “desultory” in architectural design. From the article:

Bing Thom's new building demands better neighbors. And it calls for a more holistic approach to the waterfront -- more porous and open. There are not enough details in the existing plans for redevelopment of the blocks nearby to be sure that it will get what it deserves. The city and its chosen developers, PN Hoffman and Madison Marquette, have big plans for the waterfront just opposite the Arena Stage building, but will it be overbuilt? Will views be maintained? Or will it turn the waterfront in on itself, surrounding the marina and public plazas with structures that are so big they encircle the space, creating an insular, commerce-heavy, over-produced "urban space" that is in fact a giant suburban shopping mall?

The Hoffman-Madison Marquette team will be having a community forum this Wednesday to reveal more detailed plans about the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront, starting at 6pm at Arena Stage. I hear that there will be new renderings revealed and will get those up on the blog once I receive them next week.

Other encouraging signs of redevelopment mentioned in the article include the reopening of 4th Street and Waterfront Station, as well as plans to create a “grand public” stairway to connect the 10th Street Overlook with the Southwest Waterfront (a temporary staircase, that may last 10 years, will be built in the interim). Others have shared the same sentiment with me that the area near 4th & M has come alive since 4th Street reopened and the new Safeway made its debut in the spring. With more retail making its way to Waterfront Station, the area will become even more vibrant in the months to come (if only the retail could get open faster!). However, the Southeast-Southwest freeway remains a barrier that isolates Southwest from the rest of the city. Another barrier mentioned in the article is the Department of Energy’s Forrestal complex, which straddles 10th Street in front of the Smithsonian Castle. There are plans from the National Capital Planning Commission to redevelop the 10th Street corridor, along with other areas of the Southwest Rectangle described in its Monumental Core Framework Plan.

Update: There is a special section in Sunday's The Washington Post about Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater and its impact on the city (Southwest in particular). Several related articles are in the feature, including the one mentioned above, how Arena Stage will transform the theater scene in the city, a profile of architect Bing Thom, the transformation of Southwest, and the building's design. In addition, there are photo galleries, a guide, and a video tour (see below).

Randall School Redevelopment Agreement Chock Full of Community Benefits

At tonight's ANC 6D meeting, Marilyn Melkonian from Telesis Corporation spoke about the mixed use project planned for the former Randall School building on I Street. The new plans for Randall School are more ambitious than the former one, when the Corcoran was planning on moving its College of Art + Design to Randall and Monument Realty was adding a multifamily building behind the historic school. While the size of the development will remain the same under the Telesis/Rubell team, the components are more varied. As reported previously, the Telesis/Rubell team plans to have a 25,000 SF contemporary art museum, boutique hotel, and residential units. In addition, there will be retail (a classy restaurant is planned in the former auditorium space in the Randall School). Melkonian described some components of the design, including an elevated public plaza facing the Capitol building. The museum will be in the core of the development. Three historic buildings will be saved, while the newer wings will be demolished and replaced with new construction. Half Street will be partially reopened through the project and traffic will be directed towards the center of the development.

The community benefits package worked out between the development team and the ANC is robust, including the following components:

• 200 jobs will be created (including the construction period and permanent union jobs at the hotel)
• A pre-apprentice program
• 20% affordable housing component
• An annual art exhibit for ANC 6D
• An annual Neighborhood Day street fair
• Free admission to the art museum for any ANC 6D resident EVERY DAY
• Sculpture garden on the Delaware Avenue circle
• Space within the development for ANC 6D programming
• The continuation of free admission one day a year at the Corcoran
• Easement on H Street to allow access to the Randall Recreation Center next door
• Annual exhibit at the museum for ANC 6D artists

Bing Thom Architects will design the project (the same architect as Arena Stage), along with landscape architects Oehme van Sweden and DC-based architectural history and historic preservation firm EHT Traceries, Inc. Melkonian shared some preliminary renderings of the massing of the project with the ANC commissioners, but said that there will be a formal presentation in the fall by Bing Thom, herself, and Mera Rubell of the preliminary designs for the development.

The ANC unanimously approved a resolution supporting the development team's desire to change the covenants placed on the property by the DC Government, since the intended use of Randall School will no longer be a college campus. A bill has been introduced in the DC Council to change the covenant in place so the purchase and sale agreement between the Corcoran and the Telesis/Rubell team can move forward.

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.

Webcam at Arena Stage

Here's another webcam, but this one shows the progress being made at the new Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, located at 6th Street and Maine Avenue. Arena Stage is less than two blocks away from the old Waterside Mall and will bridge the new development at the mall and Marina View to the East with the redeveloped watefront to the West. In addition, this building will be a striking architectual landmark in Southwest DC. Designed by Bing Thom Architects, the new Arena Stage should be ready by Fall 2010. In the meantime, performances are being held in Crystal City and The Lincoln Theater.