Portions of The Wharf are Ahead of Schedule

 

Demolition continues apace over at The Wharf development. Phillips Flagship is now gone and the only building left along the waterfront from 7th Street to the Maine Avenue Fish Market is the Capital Yacht Club/Jenny’s Asian Fusion (both establishments have been relocated to the former Channel Inn).  Utility work along Maine Avenue should last until sometime in December.
 

Over at 6th and M streets (also known as Parcel 11), demolition began last Thursday at St. Augustine’s Church. Prior to the demolition, the copper beech tree on site was moved to the site of the future Waterfront Park near where the Maine Lobsterman statue used to be located (it has been put in storage and will be reinstalled near the Maine Avenue Fish Market). In the demolished church’s place will be a new St. Augustine’s, as well as 108 mixed-income condo units, which should be complete in 2016.

Even more progress has been made on the water side of The Wharf development as crews are months ahead of schedule. New docks and slips have been installed for the Capital Yacht Club to the east of 7th Street and piles are being driven for the massive District Pier that will extend from Maine Avenue at 9th Street out into the Washington Channel. Work on the seawall will also soon be underway. 

Meanwhile, renovations have been made to the former Channel Inn at 7th and Water streets and will contain several offices, including Perkins Eastman DC, Clark Construction, Capital Yacht Club, Jenny’s, Madison Marquette, E.R. Bacon Development, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, and PN Hoffman & Associates (PN Hoffman’s corporate headquarters will remain at the Wharf – either at Parcel 3A or at Pier 4). Jenny's may re-open at the Channel Inn by next moth in a cafe format serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Where Will a New SW Library be Built?

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) and the Office of Planning are pushing for a plan to include a new Southwest Branch Library as a component of a mixed-use building on a 4th Street parcel the city owns at Waterfront Station. As a part of the agreement made with Waterfront Associates when the former Waterside Mall at 4th and M streets was demolished and redeveloped, the city (formerly the National Capital Revitalization Corporation) would retain the NE parcel for future development as a mixed-use building with ground floor retail and residential units above, a percentage set aside as affordable housing. Marc Bleyer from DMPED is now the point man for disposition of the District-owned NE parcel and is looking to release a Request for Proposals (RFP) soon; however, he needs to determine first whether space for a new library should be included in the planned mixed-use building. 

DMPED has engaged CORE Architects to come up with some concepts for what is possible for a library that is contained within a mixed-use building, as well as how a standalone library at Wesley Place would look. These concepts will be developed over the next six weeks and presented to the community to gauge support for either option. The city has been building several new or substantially renovated libraries recently – mostly as standalone buildings; however, a library in a mixed-use building is planned in the West End and there are plans to put a non-library addition in the flagship Martin Luther King, Jr. library downtown. Some of the new, standalone library branches built in the city recent years include those in Bellevue, Anacostia, and Deanwood, while other branches that are architecturally significant have been substantially renovated, such as those in Petworth, Georgetown, and Northeast. 

At a recent meeting with community leaders, most of the attendees expressed their preference for a standalone library for several reasons. A concern shared by many was that a library on 4th Street would take away street-level retail space from potential retailers. Melissa Bird from the Office of Planning pointed out that the 4th Street retail corridor has struggled to sign tenants and a library would enliven the street, potentially attracting more tenants. Also, the library could be placed on the second floor, reducing the space it would take away on the ground level. Some were concerned that children would not feel welcome if the library was on 4th Street because of how some businesses along the street have become inhospitable to minors in their efforts to curb shoplifting. It was felt that children need a place to let off some steam after an altercation in the library and the library park serves that purpose – no such space would exist on 4th Street. Related to the library park, another concern was there would be lost synergy between the planned playground at the park and the library if it moved to 4th Street. 

Others were concerned that a standalone library at the current site would be overwhelmed by high-rise buildings surrounding it on three sides – the NE parcel at Waterfront Station to the west, a new building planned at Town Center East to the south, and the redevelopment of Greenleaf to the east. Along that line of reasoning, officials from the District Public Library system prefer to move to 4th Street in order to increase visibility and usage of the library. Meanwhile, a majority of respondents to a recent SWTLQTC unscientific poll preferred a mixed-use library on 4th Street. Fifty-two percent of respondents preferred a library on 4th Street, SW, compared to 35% of those who preferred a standalone library. The remaining 12% were unsure. 

Currently, funding for a new Southwest branch library is tied to the sale of city-owned land. That does not necessarily mean that the land to be sold must be the current library site, but it is implied. There are other city-owned sites around the community that could be sold to fund a new Southwest branch library, including the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) inspection station, DMV office, and the fire truck repair facility at Half and M streets. Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells has stated that the DC Council could find a way to fund the new library in future budgets without the need to sell District land. 

If the current library site is sold, under current zoning, a building up to six stories tall could be built in its place if the owner goes through the Planned Unit Development (PUD) process. Proposed changes to the zoning code would allow for a similar amount of density on the site by-right. The library park to the north would remain whether the library is retained at its current site or moved to 4th Street, so the planned playground is not in danger of being scrapped. In fact, a design-build contract was recently awarded by the Department of General Services for phase one of the park, which includes infrastructure improvements and play equipment in the center berm area. 

A community meeting will be planned sometime this summer to discuss the concepts that CORE Architects has developed, then a RFP could be released sometime in the fall, with or without the library component. In the meantime, the vacant NE parcel will receive some upgrades in the coming months. The diagonal gravel pathway will be replaced with concrete or interlocking concrete pavers and semi-circular pathways will also be constructed using compressed stone. These improvements will accommodate a temporary art installation for 5 x 5, A Project of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. 5 x 5 is the largest, temporary public art project in the District. Designed by Lance Fung, the Waterfront Station installation will feature the work of five artists in a piece called Nonuments, described as “a temporary sculpture park featuring ‘monuments’ devoted not to the great but to ordinary people, to the ideals of democracy, and to the common struggles of humanity.” Nonuments will be on display from September 1 to December 6.

King Ribs Featured on YouTube

The developers of The Wharf have put together a YouTube video featuring Southwest resident Bufus Buchanan, the proprietor of King Ribs. Most recently, King Ribs was located on the grounds of St. Augustine's Church on Sundays. Now, Bufus serves up his barbecue from 6am - 7:30pm Thursday through Sunday at 7th Street Landing.  The Hoffman-Madison Waterfront team hopes to have more local entrepreneurs set up shop once the Southwest Waterfront is redeveloped into The Wharf, which will get underway by the end of 2012. Check out the video below or click on the above YouTube link.

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

Farmers Market Coming to 7th Street Landing

Starting in June, the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture will be bringing a mobile food market on Thursdays to 7th Street Landing at The Wharf.  The Mobile Market is a retrofitted school bus that runs on bio diesel. Here's a description of the Mobile Market according to the Arcadia Center's website:

Our Mobile Market will retail local produce and artisan foods to urban dwellers both in central, downtown areas, as well as neighborhoods that typically don't have access to fresh food.  The mobile market will offer recipes, cooking demos, and fun food education to encourage better eating and home cooking, and will happily accept SNAP and WIC.

The Arcadia Center is a non-profit organization launched last year by National Restaurant Group's Michael Babin, who operates restaurants in the metro area including Rustico, Tallula, and Birch & Barley.  Back in December, The Washington Post did a story on Babin's new venture at Woodlawn Plantation near Mount Vernon, where over 100 acres have been set aside to establish the Arcadia Center. From the article: 

Last month, the 42-year-old restaurateur broke ground on the site that will become the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture, a nonprofit venture aimed at training young growers, educating kids about farming and, perhaps most significant, scaling up the regional food economy by coordinating sales and delivery of the area's sustainably raised foods to restaurants, schools, groceries, institutional clients and consumers.

The Hoffman-Madison Waterfront team, the developers of The Wharf at the Southwest Waterfront, will soon be rolling out their full programming schedule for 7th Street Landing and 9th Street park, where a tennis stadium will be built for the Washington Kastles later this spring. Last fall, 7th Street Landing hosted jazz nights, yoga, food truck corrals, lawn games, and other events.

A Few Quick Items: Wharf Hotel, Earth Day Clean-Up, Another Pizza Autentica Opens, Centennial Cherry Blossom Festival

- PR Newswire brings news that the Hoffman-Madison Waterfront team has selected Humboldt Hospitality to advise them on the sale or joint venture of their hotel site for phase one of The Wharf. The hotel is planned as a luxury, full service, four-star/diamond facility and will face the Washington Channel, adjacent to the future home of The Graduate School USA at 9th Street and Maine Avenue.

- According to the SW Library Playground Project blog, the group will be holding a spring clean-up of the proposed site for a new playground on Earth Day, April 23rd from 11am-1pm.  Everyone is welcome to come and help with the clean-up.  Items that are needed include work gloves and rakes, however, bags will be provided. The playground site is located at 3rd & I Street, next to the Southwest Library, which itself will be renovated over the next few years.

- Last Thursday, the second Pizza Autentica in Southwest opened on the ground floor of Capitol View, an office building at 425 3rd Street.  The new restaurant is open seven days a week (Monday - Friday from 7am-10pm and weekends from 11am-10pm). In addition to pizza, stromboli, salads and paninis, the restaurant serves breakfast on weekdays and also has gelato.

- Get ready for an extended cherry blossom festival...the National Cherry Blossom Festival organizers have announced that the centennial celebration of the gifting of cherry trees to DC by Japan will take place next year and the normal two-week festival will last five weeks. Next year's festival will run from March 20 - April 27, 2012.

Above rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront.

Kastles Stadium at The Wharf

I wasn't able to make it this morning to the press conference announcing the Washington Kastles' move to the Southwest Waterfront (AKA The Wharf), but below is the press release and some images/renderings courtesy of the Kastles:

WASHINGTON – March 7, 2011 – Today, the Washington Kastles announced that they will play the 2011 and 2012 seasons in a new stadium that will be specially constructed for them in Southwest Washington, D.C. The new Kastles Stadium at The Wharf will be located at 800 Water Street, S.W. Fans at the new stadium will watch some of the world’s best known and most iconic players against a backdrop of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and the Potomac River. The Kastles, led by Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Sam Querrey, will inaugurate their new home during the 2011 World TeamTennis (WTT) season, which runs from July 4-24. “As a native Washingtonian, I am committed to investing in our community and, through the Kastles, hope to create lifelong memories for people throughout our region,” said team owner Mark Ein. “We are excited to bring the Kastles and lots of other entertaining events to our spectacular new home in Southwest Washington and are thrilled to be part of the rebirth of that part of town. We know our fans will be treated to great summer nights in one of the most unique venues anywhere.” “It has been impressive to see how the Kastles have brought the city together for the past three summers and I am thrilled to welcome them to their new home,” said D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells. “I would like to offer my thanks to Mark for bringing the Kastles to Southwest Washington and the wharf area. I can think of no better way to commemorate the new Kastles Stadium than with another title.” "We are on track to begin our outward process of creating a world class waterfront and we are thrilled that the Kastles will be part of our year-round programming plans for The Wharf, attracting lots of new people to this spectacular part of the city," said Monty Hoffman, CEO of PN Hoffman. "Kastles Stadium at The Wharf will be a great addition to the neighborhood and we look forward to working with Mark and the Kastles to bring world class tennis and community events to the site." Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, located on the site formerly occupied by Hogates Restaurant, will be easily accessible by Metro via the Waterfront-SEU and L’Enfant Plaza stations, both within three blocks of the stadium. In addition, the stadium will feature an underground parking lot and several surface lots adjacent to the site. The stadium will also host other programming throughout the year. Kastles Stadium at The Wharf will host John McEnroe and Anna Kournikova as they return to Washington during the 2011 season, as members of the New York Sportimes and the St. Louis Aces, respectively. The full 2011 Kastles roster will be determined during the March 15 WTT Roster Draft. A core principal of the Kastles franchise and its mission is to give back to those less fortunate in the Washington region and, since inception, the team has donated more than 6,000 match tickets, 3,000 tennis rackets and cash grants and other donations totaling more than $500,000 to local charities, youth groups and armed forces organizations. For the past three seasons, the Kastles and other visiting WTT players – including Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova – have hosted more than 800 local children at tennis clinics. Tickets for all seven home matches go on sale to the general public on Friday, April 15 through the website or Ticketmaster. Season tickets are now available and can be purchased by contacting info@washingtonkastles.com or calling 202-4TENNIS (483-6647). For exclusive Kastles news, ticket information and player updates, follow the Kastles on Facebook and on Twitter.

When the Kastles stadium was located in a parking lot downtown, it would be dismantled at the end of each season. However, the stadium at The Wharf will remain standing throughout the year and will be used for other events, such as concerts, cook-offs, arts festivals, beach volleyball games, and possibly an ice skating rink in the winter. A member of Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells' staff tweeted during the press conference that the Kastles announced a partnership with Jefferson Middle School to help bring tennis to students. I imagine this would include refurbishing the tennis courts at Jefferson, which are currently in disrepair.

SW Waterfront to Transform Washington

In the spring issue of the Washington Business Journal's Onsite Magazine (subscribers only), five projects in DC and Rosslyn that will transform the region are profiled - one of which is the Southwest Waterfront. There's nothing really new here for those who have been closely watching what has been discussed about the Southwest Waterfront development, but the article mentions how the buildings will be situated to preserve views of the Washington Channel. From the article:

The master planner, Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, has avoided the mistakes previously made in Southwest by conceiving an urban design at a finer grain than in other parts of the city. According to the plan, the new buildings will be narrow enough to preserve the views from Arena Stage and nearby buildings while allowing for pedestrian access to the water. Parcels within the new development will be no larger than 240 feet by 240 feet, compared with the typical 400-by-325-foot commercial blocks found along K Street NW. “By breaking our site into smaller component blocks, we are increasing the porosity of the design and allowing for significant views out to the water,” says Matthew Steenhoek, development manager of PN Hoffman.

The Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team submitted their stage one Planned Unit Development application on February 10 to the Zoning Commission and expect to start construction on phase one by the end of 2012.

Rendering courtesy of the Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team.

Southwest Waterfront PUD Submitted

According to the Washington Business Journal, the developers of the new Southwest Waterfront have submitted the stage one Planned Unit Development (PUD) application. It appears that the number of residential units has increased in the PUD submission from when the PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team met with the community in September to present their plans. From the article:

The application, filed Feb. 10 with the Zoning Commission, proposes roughly 3.2 million square feet of gross floor area, including 1,200 mixed-income residential units, 400,000 square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of retail, 625 hotel rooms, 100,000 square feet devoted to cultural activities, 25,000 square feet for maritime activities and 12 acres of parks and open space. Those numbers, from the notice of the filing issued Friday by the commission, suggests the project's scope has changed in recent months to go heavier on residential and lighter on office. As recently as September, the development plan featured 560 dwelling units and 840,000 square feet of office.

Back in December, the DC Council passed a bill to change the way affordable units will be divided at the Southwest Waterfront development. Under the new law, 30% of the first 500 units of housing will be set aside as affordable housing (half for those making 60% of Area Median Income, or AMI, which is about $109,000 for a family of four, and the other half for those making 30% of AMI). For the remaining 700 units, at least 20% will be set aside as workforce housing (for households making 80% to 100% of AMI). Construction is supposed to get underway on phase one, from 7th Street to 9th Street, by the end of 2012.

Update: The WBJ got outscooped by our local monthly paper...The Southwester!

Southwest Waterfront Fireworks Festival Plans Take Shape

Big plans are underway for the Southwest Waterfront Fireworks Festival, which will take place on Saturday, April 2, one of the official events of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. This is the seventh year that the Washington Waterfront Association has hosted the festival, but this year it will be co-produced with PN Hoffman/Madison Marquette, the developers of the new Southwest Waterfront. The festival will be a day-long affair, starting at 1pm and ending around 8:30pm, followed by the fireworks show at 8:30. In honor of the cherry blossoms, pink lights will be lit along the waterfront, with a special unveiling before the fireworks show begins. Also, the festival will cover a larger area of the waterfront. Three stages will be set up; one at the Gangplank Marina pocket park at 600 Water Street, 7th Street Landing, and the new park coming to the corner of 9th and Water Street.

Activities for every member of the family will be available at the festival. At the Gangplank Marina pocket park, there will be performances by the Navy Band, a color guard, the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and the U.S. Army Band Downrange, based at Fort Myer. This area will also be reserved for community organizations who want to help get the word out about their efforts. Jazz and blues will be performed throughout the day at 7th Street Landing. Meanwhile, at the new 9th Street park, there will be vocal and musical performances, including beach-themed music and Nen Daiko, a Japanese-style drumming band from Fairfax, VA. There will be strolling performers along the waterfront promenade, such as face painters, balloon artists, costumed characters, and minstrels. At the parking lot of the Gangplank Marina, there will be a demonstration set up to teach children how to build a toy sailboat, complete with a man-made pond. MPD’s Harbor Patrol will have a booth set up where children can make t-shirts from artwork and a fireboat will parade along the Washington Channel. While the event is family-friendly, there will also be things for adults to enjoy. Planners are in the process of getting permits to allow a beer and wine garden adjacent to 9th Street park. There will be food sampling from local restaurants, as well as food trucks will be invited to line up from the 600 block to 900 block of Water Street.

The Southwest Waterfront Fireworks Festival is the kick-off event for a year full of programming along the waterfront, culminating with the Parade of Lighted Boats on the first Saturday of December. According to Angela Sweeney of Madison Marquette, weekly events at 7th Street Landing will be back again this year, from June 2 – September 25. In addition, several festivals are planned throughout the season (more on that will be announced soon). One item mentioned at the December ANC 6D meeting was the possibility that the Washington Kastles World Team Tennis organization would set up shop on the waterfront for their month-long season in July, since their current home in a parking lot downtown will become a construction zone this spring with the development of CityCenterDC. That deal has not been finalized yet, though. The interim programming of the Southwest Waterfront is being done in anticipation for construction, which is scheduled to get underway by the end of 2012 with phase one of development.

Water Street Closure Plan

At Monday’s ANC 6D meeting, Shawn Seaman from the Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team presented its plan for closing Water Street in anticipation for the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront. By the Spring of 2011, the DC Council will presumably vote in favor of closing Water Street, but this closure is just “on paper” because a public easement will be enacted which will allow the street to be used just like it is currently. This easement will be valid from spring 2011 until the SW Waterfront land is transferred from the District to the Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront team, scheduled to be around the end of 2012. During this period, the entire street will remain open. Once title transfers from the District to the developers, Phase 1 of construction will begin and the portion of Water Street between 7th Street and 9th Street will be permanently closed. However, 7th Street and 9th Streets will remain open throughout construction. See below for details on Phase 1.

Phase 1 will last for approximately two years and once it’s complete, the new Wharf Street (if you don’t know what Wharf Street is, take a look at my Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment page) will be open between 7th & 9th Streets, as well as service roads that connect to Maine Avenue. The City Pier will also be complete. Phase 2 will bring the permanent closure of Water Street from 9th Street to the Fish Market. Construction on this phase is estimated to be from 2014-2016. See below for details on Phase 2.

Once Phase 2 is complete in 2016, Wharf Street will be extended to the Fish Market and more access roads will be opened to Maine Avenue, as well as a new traffic light at Maine Avenue and a new “grand staircase” connecting to the 10th Street Overlook (Banneker Park). Phase 3 will involve the permanent closure of Water Street from 7th Street to 6th Street. Access beyond 6th Street will be maintained for fire and police vehicles so they can reach the harbor patrol dock. This last phase is estimated to run from 2016-2018. See below for details on Phase 3.

By 2018 or so, the finished development will offer new road connections to the waterfront and emergency egress for police & fire. Besides the new traffic light at the base of the 10th Street Overlook, other new traffic lights will be located at a new traffic circle in front of Arena Stage and the northwest corner of the theater. See below for the final traffic plan.

Also added to the project website are answers to questions that community members wrote down at the community forum on September 29th. (Renderings courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Marquette Waterfront)

Southwest Waterfront Meeting Details

The 514-seat Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage was almost filled to capacity with people this evening who were interested in hearing about the revised master plan for the Southwest Waterfront. Representatives from the Hoffman-Madison Marquette team and EE&K Architects presented their vision for the waterfront, a 26-acre development along the Washington Channel. See below for details on the new plan, or check out the Southwest Waterfront Redevelopment page. ( now with renderings)

Key development principles for the Southwest Waterfront include:

• Create an accessible, lively waterfront neighborhood - alive with people, activity, commerce, culture and recreation
• Bring the District to the water's edge
• Restore successful elements of Southwest DC to serve as a great place for District residents
• Become a model development by use of best practices for sustainability
• Create an enduring place - a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of the people of Washington

Current plans include the following basic elements:

• 560 residential units
• 600 keys in three hotels
• 840,000 SF of office - the development team is talking with a tenant for phase I
• 335,000 SF of ground floor retail wrapped around all of the buildings
• music hall/museum/maritime education
• 2,500 underground parking spaces in five garages
• 400-500 marina slips
• 60% of the site area will be public space

Community benefits include the following:

• 30% of the residential units will be affordable - half of the affordable units will be for those earning up to 30% of AMI and the other half for those earning up to 60% of AMI. The affordable units will blend in with market-rate housing.
• 51% of all new jobs will go to District residents with an emphasis on Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8
• 650 - 1,000 construction jobs will be created
• 2,800 permanent jobs will be created (1,000 of them will be service jobs)
• 35% of goods and services will be provided by CBEs
• 20% of retail will be reserved for unique and local retailers

The Southwest Waterfront development will be built in three phases, however, phases I and II could be combined depending on whether the development team can secure enough pre-leasing:

• Phase I - from 7th Street to 9th Street, including 7th Street Park & Pier and City Pier. Will include 2 hotels with 40,000 SF of retail, office, a residential building and the Capital Yacht Club.
• Phase II - from 9th Street to the Fish Market will include the music hall or other cultural element, farmers' market, office, retail, and residential.
• Phase III - from 7th Street to P Street Park. Will include residential, office, hotel, retail and commercial pier

Some of the major public spaces include the following:

City Pier
The City Pier will serve as the terminus of 9th Street from Maine Avenue and will jut out into the Washington Channel. This will be the main civic space of the waterfront, where tall ships can dock, a band shell may be located at the end of the pier, and a landmark light tower may be located adjacent to the pier. This will also be the area that will have the most programmed activity.

Market Square and Pier
This section of the waterfront is near the fish market, which will be refurbished. In addition, a new farmer's market will be built north of the fish market to replace the head house market that once existed in the area back in the 1930s. A seasonal market, brewery, cafes, picnic tables, and restaurants will be located in this informal space and a couple of barges will be added to this area.

7th Street Park and Pier
7th Street Park will be at the terminus of 7th Street and will be more formal in nature than Market Square. It will be a grassy area with lots of trees and the retail space adjacent to the park will be reserved for higher-end restaurants. There will be a pedestrian pier with perhaps a gazebo and kayak rental facilities.

M Street Landing
Across from Arena Stage will be M Street Landing, an open space that connects the waterfront to Arena Stage. This area will have 1-2 story buildings so Arena Stage can serve as a showcase building visible from the waterfront. There will be a traffic circle on Maine Avenue in front of Arena Stage and a water feature - perhaps an ice skating rink - that will be near the Washington Channel. This area is seen as being a fun area with less formal restaurants and family-oriented retail. M Street Landing will also serve as a staging area for the cruise ships that will all operate at the commercial pier nearby.

Maine Avenue
Maine Avenue will become a neighborhood street, with ground floor convenience goods retail running along its length, such as dry cleaners, bakery, pharmacy, etc. Each side of Maine Avenue will have a travel lane on the left, a second travel lane that shares space with a streetcar line, and a parking/loading lane. A row of street trees will separate the road from a 10-foot wide bike lane and a 15-foot sidewalk, so buildings will be 25 feet away from the street. Traffic lights will be added at the new Maine Avenue traffic circle, the northwestern edge of Arena Stage, and the Grand Staircase planned to connect the 10th Street Overlook to the waterfront. Tour buses will be moved to Maine Avenue near M Street Landing so cruise ship patrons have easy access to the commercial pier.

The Wharf
The main attraction at the Southwest Waterfront will be The Wharf, which is the promenade that will run the length of the waterfront from Market Square to M Street Landing. Water Street will be removed and replaced with Wharf Street. The promenade will be 60 feet wide broken into three equal sections and in most places will be at "elevation 13" or 13 feet above the surface of the channel. The 20-foot section closest to buildings will be for outdoor seating. The middle 20-foot section will be Wharf Street, with limited vehicular access and possibly a streetcar line that will run northwest-bound. The 20-foot section closest to the shoreline will be for pedestrians.

Other public spaces planned include P Street Park, which will be a large park space where the tour buses currently idle; Waterfront Park; The Grove, which will be a more intimate space near the Gangplank Marina; The Mews, Theater Alley, Transit Plaza and Pier; and Club Plaza. A major component of the experience that a visitor will have when going to the new Southwest Waterfront will be the programming that will occur. Concerts, fireworks, festivals, seasonal markets, and many other big & small planned events will animate the waterfront so a visitor won't have the same experience twice.

The northwest side of the waterfront will be the more lively area while the activity and buzz starts to die down closer to the existing neighborhood on the southeast side.

Most of the buildings will be perpendicular to The Wharf to minimize blocked views to the waterfront. Taller buildings will also be positioned to avoid a wall effect along the waterfront and enhance view corridors.

The entire development is aiming for LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) and individual buildings will be seeking LEED-Gold or Silver.

The Planned Unit Development (PUD) process will begin this fall. Construction is supposed to begin in late 2012 and should last 7-8 years.

What do you think about the revised plans for the Southwest Waterfront? Feel free to leave a comment and/or vote in the poll at the top left corner of the blog.

Update: The illustrative plan has now been uploaded to the project website.

Live-Aboards in Peril on the Waterfront?

The Washington Post follows up their coverage of Arena Stage and development in Southwest with a story about the live-aboard community at the Gangplank Marina, whose future is uncertain as the Southwest Waterfront is getting ready to be redeveloped. According to the article, the houseboat owners at the Gangplank Marina, which is the only live-aboard community in the District - about 150 people live there, haven't received a transition plan yet from the Hoffman-Madison Marquette team, who will be undertaking the redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront. However, next door at the Capital Yacht Club, a transition plan is already in place. Despite the lack of a transition plan, the developers claim that Gangplank Marina will not disappear. From the article:

Shawn Seaman, PN Hoffman's project director for the Southwest waterfront project, said that once the project is completed, both Gangplank and the Capital Yacht Club will have the same number of slips and that the "bulkhead, promenade and marina slips will be reconstructed and improved as part of the project."

The first phase of development is supposed to take place from 7th Street to 9th Street, where the Gangplank Marina is located. Find out what other plans the developers have for the waterfront at Wednesday's Community Forum. Check the Upcoming Events page for details.

Hoffman-Struever to Become Hoffman-Marquette

According to The Washington Post, there is a new partnership to redevelop the Southwest Waterfront. PN Hoffman is replacing Baltimore-based developer Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse, which reduced its stake in the project back in June, with Madison Marquette, a DC-based retail and mixed-use developer. Locally, Madison Marquette also owns 770 M Street, SE in the Capitol Riverfront, also known as "The Blue Castle" building, as well as the Cityline at Tenley development in Tenleytown. From the article:

The two D.C. companies are still going through due diligence before the deal, signed this month, can be finalized. The partnership would allow construction to begin in 2012, [PN Hoffman CEO Monty] Hoffman said. "We'll be staying on schedule, basically," he said. "This summer we'll be working on our master plan." He said he will seek zoning changes this fall "so we'll be staying on track with what we were planning a year or two ago."

PN Hoffman will retain majority interest and managing control of the project, which encompasses 26 acres along Maine Avenue SW facing Washington Channel. The plan calls for three hotels, 800 residential units, 250,000 to 300,000 square feet of retail, offices, a marina, underground parking, and parks and promenades along the waterfront nearly a mile long.

The Southwest Waterfront will be connected to the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall via 10th Street, which is in the initial planning stages of redevelopment. L'Enfant Plaza is also located on 10th Street and will be redeveloped - the promenade is currently undergoing a $40 million renovation and I've been told some new restaurant tenants will be announced soon.

Above is a rendering of the redeveloped SW Waterfront, from the Southwest Waterfront website.