Clearing Makes Way for Adams Morgan Hotel

Champlain St NW. Site cleared in preparation of new hotel tower.

Initial work began on the Adams Morgan hotel project almost two months ago. Lots of major changes have come since then. The building formerly housing the offices of Washington City Paper, 2390 Champlain St NW, has now been cleared. That clearing makes way for the majority of the new construction to begin.

The hotel brand is The Line. Here's the website for The Line in Los Angeles... yeah. Wondering if we'll get anything this cool looking or just another neutral color tone / modern wall sconce hotel. 

Standard (King) rooms in the Los Angeles Line hotel seem to run from around $225/night for a weeknight, to well over $350/night for choice weekend nights. Of course, it's too early to know room rates for the DC hotel, but there will be 227 total rooms total. The rooms and other amenities will be in the new 7 story addition (where the City Paper building was), and also incorporated into the old First Church of Christ, Scientist building facing Euclid St NW. I'll post more photos as the construction moves along.

Same view in June 2014 (via Google Maps)

Same  view with an early rendering of hotel.

Adams Morgan Hotel Work Begins, Chief Ike's Closing

Can only imagine what will open in its place.

Yesterday DCist and other outlets reported that Adams Morgan bar Chief Ike's Mambo Room will close this week. I mostly knew Chief Ike's as a weekend destination for packed, sweaty dance parties, the occasional live rock show, and a chill place to watch the game with hardly any hassle. Oh yeah, and the epic patio! But, all that is going the way of every other cool spot recently -- closed for good. The last day is Saturday. WOMP.

Construction fencing and equipment. Get used to it.

Just a block away form Chief Ike's, work has finally begun converting the old First Church of Christ, Scientist into a 227 room hotel called "The Line." The property, at 1770 Euclid St NW, was just placed on the National Register of Historic Places in February, and construction began on March 3. The church part of the hotel will be converted into restaurants, retail, gym, and other hotel amenities. The majority of guest rooms will be included in a new structure being built on the south front of the church building. See older renderings here.

Songbyrd is hiring.

The folks behind the semi-mysterious music house / record cafe concept, named Songbyrd, are hiring baristas and servers. Brown construction paper went up in the windows of never-opened Z Kabob and former restaurant Federal last fall. Since then, whatever has happened inside has happened in private. Songbyrd does have a pretty active Twitter account, but so far there aren't any photos of the physical space. I'm super interested to see how this place looks when built out. Looks like we're getting closer to that day. Very cool!

220 Key Adams Morgan Hotel Moving Forward

This former church will become part of a new 220 room hotel by 2015.

The contentious plans for a luxury hotel in Adams Morgan on the site of a former church look to be moving forward. The New York based co-developer Slydell Group plans to utilize the First Church of Christ, Scientist building at 1770 Euclid St NW along with new construction to bring  a 220 room hotel to the Adams Morgan neighborhood by mid-2015. The address of the hotel will be 1780 Columbia Rd NW.  The church selected the other co-developer, Friedman Capital, for this project in 2004. So, if the hotel is actually competed in 2015, this will have been an 11 year project. (Also, Friedman Capital is totally a candidate for 100percentmen).

Slydell Group has developed Ace Hotels in the past, however this hotel will be managed and operated by Bethesda-based Marriott International. They are using the language "boutique hotel," but there is no official name or branding, yet. Will it become part of Marriott's Edition brand? Possibly.

All 220 guest rooms will be in a new eight floor addition added to the southern edge of the property along Champlain Street NW. The new construction will replace the building formerly occupied by the Washington City Paper and WPFW Pacifica Radio station. In addition to the eight above ground floors, there will one concourse level and four underground parking levels with 132 spaces.

Not everyone is in favor of the development. Groups like No Adams Morgan Hotel oppose various aspects of the plan citing zoning oversight, economic impact, the controversial $46M tax abatement, traffic, noise, and pollution concerns. 

However, momentum seems to be with the developers. They plan to start construction this calendar year. They also have a promotional/informational website, oddly named Adams Morgan Historic Hotel. I suppose the church building is historic; it is over 100 years old. And FYI, the Christian Scientists who own and used this church in the past moved to a smaller place of worship at 1782 Columbia Rd NW years ago.

The old church structure will house part of the lobby, restaurants and meeting spaces. The main entrance and check-in area will be on the Champlain St side of the hotel, in the newer structure. Developers are seeking LEED Silver certification for this project.

For more architectural plans (PDF): Architectural Plans, Elevations and Renderings.

More renderings below courtesy of The Adams Morgan Historic Hotel website.

Building Section via Key Documents

via Key Documents

via Key Documents

via Key Documents

Will This Church Become a Hotel?

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.