Gensler Out, BBG-BBGM in as Watergate Architects

Interior restoration work on the famed Watergate Hotel has been quietly moving forward for weeks now and DCMud has confirmed that hotel owner Euro Capital Properties has engaged the firm BBG-BBGM as the new architectural firm on the project.

BBG-BBGM replaces Gensler as the architectural firm working on the hotel at 2650 Virginia Avenue, NW in DC's Foggy Bottom neighborhood.  Architectural firm Gensler, which completed conceptual designs for the project, has not had any involvement since October, according to a source.

Thomas Luebke, FAIA, secretary with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) said the Commission gave preliminary approval under a courtesy conceptual review of the designs for the restoration last July 2011.  The CFA asked Euro Capital Properties to make a few minor changes.  But Luebke said the CFA has not seen plans since.  "If there is a final proposal, we would love to see it," Luebke said.  Designs submitted to the CFA last year showed very minimal changes to the exterior of Italian architect Luigi Moretti's iconic 1960 structure.

The Shipstead-Luce Act of 1930 designates that exterior changes to properties within a geographic overlay area - the Watergate complex falls within that area - are subject to final approval from the Commission in order to promote design sensitivity.  Under Federal Law, the project must have CFA's stamp of approval on plans for exterior work before the DC permitting authorities can issue permits for exterior restoration work.

Final plans for the hotel must also be approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) in the Historic Preservation Office of D.C. Office of Planning.  According to city staff, HPO staff last met with BBG-BBGM in January 2012 to discuss details of the initial restoration plans, but has not received any new plans from Euro Capital Properties. 

Plans to renovate the hotel have seen challenges since the property was sold to Monument Realty in 2004.  With the hotel still open, Monument plowed forward with plans to revert the building to its historic use as co-operative residences, but pre-sales slumped in 2006 and legal problems beset the conversion.  Monument stalled and closed the hotel in 2007.  Monument's lender PB Capital Corporation foreclosed on the hotel and put it up for auction in 2009 but there were no bids.  
Euro Capital Properties bought the hotel in 2010 with plans to turn the property into a $300 a night luxury hotel.  Euro Capital principal Jaques Cohen has said his company plans to invest $70 million in the project, according to The Georgetown Current.  Progress on the Watergate Hotel restoration again seemed to hit turbulence last fall when some residents of the Watergate complex's co-op residential units voiced opposition to the developer's restoration plans.  Neither Euro Capital Properties nor BBG-BBGM had responded to DCMud inquiries at the time of publication of this article.

 
















Washington D.C. real estate development news

The Wharf's "Resort In the City" Anchor Hotel Appeases Critics, Inches Forward

The four-star Intercontinental luxury hotel in the Wharf - the Southwest waterfront megadevelopment - is inching towards reality, though not without some changes along the way.

"Right now we're in the process of gathering equity," says Austin Flajser, President of Carr Hospitality.  "We anticipate construction starting in the third quarter of 2014, with delivery in the first quarter of 2016."

The 245,000 s.f., 278-room hotel from developer Carr Hospitality and designed by BBG-BBGM, will overlook the Washington Channel, now being developed by the Hoffman-Madison team, and feature a lavish 5,000 s.f. rooftoop lounge.  Plans also call for not one but two restaurants, two large water-facing ballrooms, and up to 7,000 s.f. of ground floor retail space.  The design calls for a red and gray brick facade, intermingled with terracotta, granite, and tinted glass.

Developers were forced to alter their plans, though, after ANC 6D passed a resolution recently in opposition to many of the specifics in the Phase 2 Planned Unit Development (PUD).

"We took down the clock tower, which was really just an architectural embellishment," says Flajser.  "We also altered the corners of the building a little bit, and there's no longer any sign."  (The above rendering depicts the original design; the rendering below depicts the revised design.)

In addition to those changes, the height of the structure - a planned 12-stories/130 feet - was also lowered.  After these changes were announced at a special meeting late last month, the ANC voted 4-3 to reinstate their support.  Carr also has a boutique luxury hotel in the works for Alexandria's contentious waterfront plan and has received objections from neighbors there as well.

Parcel 3b, where the hotel will be built, is near 9th and Water Streets (see map, above), and also abuts one of the development's planned piers; if Carr is able to purchase boat slips from the development group, guests could potentially arrive at the hotel by boat. Rates for the rooms will reportedly be between $300 and $400 per night.

Carr Hospitality notably restored the Willard hotel, a project widely lauded for its successful execution.  The Wharf Intercontinental will be its second hotel in the District.  Monty Hoffman of PN Hoffman has been quoted as saying the hotel will be an "anchor" of the megadevelopment.  The first construction at the Wharf should be begin early next year.

Washington D.C. real estate development news