Convention Site To Undergo $650M Rehab

WASHINGTON, DC-After some 18 months of deliberations, the District of Columbia Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning and Economic Development has approved a master plan for the $650-million redevelopment of the city’s old convention center. Archstone-Smith and Hines are the developers. Foster and Partners, a London-based architectural firm, and the locally based architectural firm Shalom Baranes Associates are leading the design team.

Some 1.4 million sf will be redeveloped into an urban mixed-use community, including 280,000 sf of retail–30% of which is to be devoted to local or boutique retailers. Also included in the plan are 686 residential units, of which 20% will be affordable housing; 415,000 sf of office; and 1,700 or so below-grade parking spaces. The project also includes a re-instatement of I Street and 10th Street through the site and the re-construction of land that is now controlled by the National Park Service, a plot called Reservation 174. The city has reserved the remainder of the land, some 110,000 sf, to be used as a new central library or similar project. The project will be designed based upon future LEED criteria.