Not anytime soon, but the idea is out there. And wheels are turning. The owners of the Edition brand hotel have been eying this spot for almost three years. Edition is a boutique hotel brand related to the Marriott behemoth.
The hotel would occupy what is now the First Church of Christ Scientist building on Euclid Street NW at Columbia Rd. A rebuild and additon would transform the building into 150 hotel rooms, six restaurants and a gym + spa. It's unclear whether any of that would be accessible to the public at large.
Now Ward One council member Jim Graham wants to give the Edition developers a 15 year property tax abatement in order to tip their hand in favor of building the hotel on the site. The tax relief would start in 2014 when the hotel is scheduled to open. The abatement is just a proposal at this point. It would have to be approved by the city to become reality. I want a 15 year property tax break! Wow.
Anyway, I'm really curious how a major hotel would change Adams Morgan. There are a few bed and breakfasts nearby, and of course the Hilton in Dupont, but this place is right in the heart of Adams Morgan. Edition would be a ways away from any Metro stop (.7 miles from each the two closest) and would be in the thick of the Adams Morgan fray on a nightly basis. I'm sure it'd be a draw for a certain type of visitor and might be one of the classiest places in the neighborhood after it's all said and done. But I'm not sold on the tax abatement. Will keep you updated on how this one unfolds.
10 comments:
They still need to get a height variance to build the number of floors they want to build so despite the councilmember saying the tax abatement will move the project forward, the zoning variance...which is contentious with folks who live around it...is the major hold up.
It's a $100 million project that according to Hotel Developer Brian Friedman is 80% there and shovel ready.
The Christ Church building itself on Euclid Street (which will be preserved and incorporated into the project), the adjacent church parking lot on Champlain, and the Washington City Paper building at 2390 Champlain are the three parcels which have already been acquired to incorporate the hotel complex:
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2010/08/09/story7.html
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/housingcomplex/2010/08/06/adams-morgan-hotel-just-waiting-on-its-tax-abatement/#comments
The proposed bond issue by the District of Columbia is paid for by hotel revenues during the 15 years. So it's really a tax deferral which makes up for the other 20% of the project. This is common practice in municipalities where cities and states contribute their creditworthiness to the large positive economic impact and vitality that a new hotel brings to the city and to the neighborhood.
This will be a five star boutique hotel by New York hotelier Ian Schraeger and lifelong Washingtonian innkeeper Bill Marriott as they roll out their new brand of international five star boutique Edition Hotels.
http://www.blogs.marriott.com/marriott-on-the-move/2008/01/edition-our-new-boutique-hotel-brand-with-ian-schrager.html
http://www.editionhotels.com/
The hotel design incorporates and donates about 4,000 square feet of community meeting space and offices for area non profits and the local ANC to use:
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/06/23/story8.html
The historical preservation board and the special PUD Zoning have already been approved.
The local merchants are struggling in this economy and all welcome this hotel development.
There will be multiple levels of its own underground parking so as to provide for itself. The five star boutique hotel with 180,000 square feet will rise 9 stories with 180 rooms, a swimming pool, and six restaurants within the hotel complex to be known as The Washington Edition Hotel with entrances on both Champlain Street and Euclid Street using the existing grand entrances of the church.
The 15 month publicly funded 18th Street Streetscape with new 16 foot tinted exposed aggregate sidewalks, 22 foot bulb outs at every intersection from Florida Avenue up to Columbia Road with new Washington glove lighting, tree boxes, benches, bicycle racks, landscaping and a host of other road improvements will make Adams Morgan more pedestrian friendly and oriented commences this fall.
These publicly funded neighborhood improvements together with this private hotel development, these two big positive changes will dramatically alter the neighborhood for the long term being the catalysts to garner incrementally more private investment in the years to come bringing positive, upscale change to Adams Morgan one address at a time.
This is a pretty much a done deal. Residential property values have risen already in anticipation as well.
There is no opposition to this project (except it seems The 42).
In a short three to five years, we might not recognize Adams Morgan.
High end condominiums on Champlain Street have sold for nearly $700 a square foot, three for than a $1 million, and several fixer up row houses have sold in a matter of days and for more than their listing prices in anticipation.
The future of Adams Morgan is a bright one.
for the developers, perhaps.
Clearly the one anonymous poster is either a member of the Adams Morgan BID or perhaps AMMainStreet.
For whoever this person is to say there is no opposition to the project is wordsmithing....quite a few people who actually live around it are concerned about the height. They are not opposed to having a hotel there, they are opposed to the height of the proposed building, which because it's at the top of the hill will have a greater impact on the folks below it on Champlain.
yeah, i was guessing that there are a few people in AM against this.
no way there is 100% approval rating for this idea. not close i presume.
Anonymous August 23, 2010 2:04 PM,
I am not a member of the Adams Morgan BID nor AMMainStreet.
I am a resident within very close proximity (nearly in the shadow) of the forthcoming Washington Edition Hotel.
Just who are these "quite a few people" ? Where have they been ? Does that include you ? They have not registered any such opposition that you describe nor attended meetings that are now into its fifth year including any lower or upper Champlain Street residents or property owners. There's been nothing but support from Champlain Street residents and property owners.
I'm a long time resident/property owner that's not going anywhere and simply wants what's best for my neighborhood of Adams Morgan.
Wanting to be well informed, I'm sharing the facts with others here so inclined, including The 42, and they are all undisputed facts.
Those facts include incorporating and the significant donation of 4,000 square feet of the hotel for community meeting space and offices for area non profits and the local ANC to use which answers The 42's question as whether the hotel would be accessible to the public at large.
Just what clearly do you bring to Adams Morgan other than clearly stating your cynicism and prejudices of other commenters on this forum ?
Anything positive or constructive ?
Oh, and one last thing,
Anonymous August 23, 2010 2:04 PM,
I'm a regular on the 42 Bus Route and the new 43 Express which is the greatest improvement ever made on this route.
I've been taking the DC Transit 42 Bus since we used to pay with small dime sized tokens with a star in the middle of the token.
Welcome to 18th & Columbia Road, or what today we call Adams Morgan.
I'm against this development.
AM resident.
Adams Morgan is a neighborhood with amazing character and sense of place. With its height alone, this project will irreparably damage part of the neighborhood fabric that makes this area great. Even with the preservation of the church facade, it sounds terribly context-insensitive.
Ditch it.
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