Revamp is ‘harbinger’ of upcoming changes for D.C. waterfront area
By Liz Farmer
Examiner Staff Writer Arena Stage’s planned reopening Saturday will mark more than just a return to its Southwest Waterfront home.
Anticipation has been so high that reservations for the grand opening sold out in two days and tickets for the Opening Gala Celebration on Monday night — which range from $1,500 for one ticket to $50,000 for a table — sold out “right away,” said Managing Director Edgar Dobie.
And the expected surge in business in the area has one restaurateur scrambling to open a new restaurant near the theater by February.
In what has long been a quiet and neglected quadrant of the District, the return of the
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater signifies the beginning of what developers and residents hope will be a new era of vibrancy in one of the city’s most storied neighborhoods.
“It’s more than just a theater,” said Ron McBee, chairman of the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission. “The Arena is a harbinger for what’s going to be happening for our community — it’s a bright light.”
The $135 million project — $40 million from the District — broke ground nearly three years ago. The nondescript brick building was transformed into a modern design with swooping roof lines and a gleaming glass facade — a reflection of its waterfront surroundings and role as standard-bearer of development to come.
“There’s a kind of lift in the steps of the residents around here,” said Dobie, who also lives in the neighborhood.
Everything about the theater is bigger. The building is more than twice as large, and a third theater has been added. Annual play attendance is expected to increase to 250,000 people this year from fewer than 200,000 in recent years.
Dobie said he hopes to boost the number of plays per year from eight to 12, which could increase attendance to 400,000.
Combined with the addition of a regular special events business, the theater’s annual operating budget could increase from about $16 million this year to more than $20 million within the next decade, he said.
It’s a major dose
of nightlife in what has mostly been a residential and office neighborhood.
That’s not lost on Med Lahlou, the owner of Ulah’s Bistro on U Street, which for two years capitalized on Arena Stage’s business when it used the Lincoln Theatre as a temporary location.
“The Arena theater brought me unbelievable business,” Lahlou said. “It was always packed here between 5 and 7 [p.m.].”
Lahlou, who owns four D.C. restaurants, has started construction on his fifth — Station Four — just blocks from the new Arena Stage.
And with PN Hoffman-Madison Marquette’s $1.5 billion
Southwest Waterfront project scheduled to break ground in less than two years, the theater’s dominating presence is a reminder that more development is coming.
“The theater brings tremendous vitality to the area,” said Monty Hoffman, principal of PN Hoffman. “It’s a catalyst for business.”
Hoffman said the theater acts as a gateway, leading visitors to what will be an inviting waterfront destination.
“What there needs to be around there is restaurants and casual dining where someone can go have a nice meal in less than an hour,” he said. “And where you can walk safely across Maine Avenue.”
The development includes plans for a hotel, as many as 1,000 residences and up to 900,000 square feet of office space. Roughly 300,000 square feet of retail space will house restaurants and services like a fitness center, Hoffman said.
The last major redevelopment in the area was in the 1950s, when the Southeast/Southwest Freeway slashed through the quadrant and the historic Fish Wharf.
In recent years, the area took another hit when the Environmental Protection Agency moved out.
“That hurt a lot of businesses in our neighborhood … and some didn’t come back,” McBee said. “Those days are over.”
102340689
contentBio
DC
www.washingtonexaminer.com
10/21/10 20:00:00 PM
www.washingtonexaminer.com
10/21/10 20:00:00 PM
www.washingtonexaminer.com
10/21/10 20:00:00 PM
www.washingtonexaminer.com
10/21/10 20:00:00 PM
[email protected]
