The redevelopment of the 10-acre old Convention Center site into what is being described as the “heart and soul” of a vibrant new downtown D.C. will kick off in 2009, District leaders announced Monday.
Long-term lease agreements and zoning approvals for the $850 million project are finished, Mayor Adrian Fenty said, allowing the project to move into the design and permitting phase, and construction to be completed by 2012. The development is slated to include 670 apartments and condominiums — 20 percent “affordable” — 250,000 square feet of retail, 456,000 square feet of office space and 1,700 parking spaces.
“We’re ready to move forward on what can only be described as one of the most significant developments in the history of Washington, D.C.,” Fenty said during a news conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, which overlooks the old convention center parcel bounded by New York Avenue and 9th, 11th and H streets NW.
Developers Hines and Archstone Smith were chosen two years ago to lead the revitalization of what is now an extremely valuable parking lot.
Under the 99-year agreement, the developers will pay the city roughly $2 million a year in lease payments, $48 million to construct streets, parks and a plaza, and $14 million to promote public programming.
The “green” project is expected to generate $32 million a year in tax revenues and 2,500 permanent jobs.
Numerous developments under way near Shaw “are an example of what living downtown can bring to a city,” said Ward 2 D.C. Councilman Jack Evans. The center of D.C. is “dead” after 5 p.m. and on weekends, he said, but projects such as Gallery Place, the Verizon Center and the old convention center are re-energizing the area.
Project leaders said the development will re-establish downtown as a retail and shopping destination.
The District still has not decided what to do with a 111,000-square-foot parcel it controls on the site.
City leaders have talked with Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and other high-end retailers about the land, but Deputy Mayor Neil Albert said residential or civic uses have not been ruled out.
