The new hotel is just part of the city's vision for big changes that will come when the present Washington Convention Center is phased out. A task force unveiled its plans last week for the 10.2-acre site that will be made available once the current center is demolished. The group, which visited several cities as it researched alternatives, created plans for a three-million sf mixed-use development including apartments, a luxury hotel, shops, a museum and open space.

According to the task force's report, the development--bounded by New York Avenue NW, 9th, 8th, and 11th streets--will attract more than $400 million in private development capital and draw up to three million people a year. The task force presented three alternatives for developing the site, all of them including mixed uses but in different combinations, carrying an overall price tag of up to $900 million.

According to the report, the development should include between 700 to 1,000 housing units to create a "critical mass of population" large enough to support a new 24-hour Downtown area, and its streets and buildings should be constructed around an "energetic urban open space" ringed with retail shops, cafes and performance venues. The task force specifically suggested barring any substantial office development within the project because it wouldn't fit in with the goal of creating a vibrant new neighborhood.

The group also said locating a 400-room luxury hotel within the mixed-use development would be an asset. "A high-end hotel that may be able to also provide an entertainment destination, such as New York's Soho Grand, could add life while adding value," the task force wrote. But the group also recommends not putting the headquarters hotel within the mixed-use development because "the large massing and substantial truck and visitor access needs conflict with the site's urban development goals, making on-site development a last resort," according to the report. Metro may also build a new station at the lower end of the property.

The new Washington Convention Center is located two blocks northeast of the present center. At a press conference, Williams promised a decision by the end of the year on where the new headquarters hotel, which officials say would open by 2004, would be located. Officials say the hotel will cost as much as $200 million. Developers are reportedly making plans to compete for the project.