Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, the master developer of the 3.2 million square foot Southwest Waterfront project (“The Wharf”), announced on January 15th the approval of its Phase 1 Planned Unit Development (PUD) by the District of Columbia Zoning Commission. The Zoning Commission’s action approves all of the architectural designs and specific plans for each parcel of the project’s first phase encompassing 1.5 million square feet of residential, hotel, office and retail uses along with three piers, numerous open spaces, gathering places and a 3-acre waterfront park.
“The unanimous approval last night by the commissioners participating in the hearings is exhilarating. It creates momentum for ground breaking later this year,” said Monty Hoffman, Managing Member of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront. “After more than six years of planning and substantial investment, we are preparing to launch one of the highest profile redevelopments in the country. We are ready to put shovels in the ground for this $2 billion redevelopment of the Southwest Waterfront.”
“The Zoning Commission’s approval recognizes The Wharf’s world-class team of architects, planners and engineers led by Perkins Eastman,” said David Brainerd, Managing Director of Investments of Madison Marquette. “The Wharf will become a compelling waterfront neighborhood, celebrating the District’s reconnection to the water while recalling the working waterfront’s rich maritime history and commercial activity.”
The Zoning Commission’s written order is expected in the next several weeks.
“Our design goal is to reunite the city with the water’s edge and enliven the waterfront with a mix of uses and year-round urban vibrancy,” said Stan Eckstut, a Principal at Perkins Eastman, master planner of The Wharf. “We’ve designed a neighborhood of waterfront places—not a project—and each parcel and its adjacent space is independently intended to create an inviting and memorable public environment for the District of Columbia and the entire Mid-Atlantic region.”
Consistent with the Phase 1 PUD, approved by the Zoning Commission in 2011, the Phase 2 PUD encompasses Parcels 2, 3 and 4. Additionally, in order to accomplish the development needs of St. Augustine’s Church, the Phase 2 application also includes Parcel 11, as well as a new 3-acre waterfront park designed with a community charette process.
The Zoning Commission approval includes:
Parcel 2: Residential, Cultural and Entertainment Venue, Retail Spaces and Combined Heating and Power Facility.
Parcel 3a: Commercial Office Building and Ground Floor Retail.
Parcel 3b: InterContinental Hotel and Ground Floor Retail.
Parcel 4: Residential Building and Two levels of Retail Space.
Parcel 11: St. Augustine’s Church and Residential Building.
Piers, Open Spaces and Thoroughfares: Streets, Yacht Club Piazza, Mews, Parks and New Piers.
Parking and Bicycle Transit: Below-Grade Parking Facility for Cars and Bikes, Surface Parking, New Maine Avenue Bike Lane, and Completing Link of the 20-Mile Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.
Wharf Kiosks: Outdoor Retail Pavilions.
Hoffman-Madison Waterfront has developed guidelines to ensure that The Wharf has been designed in accordance with LEED-ND Gold objectives, in order to meet certification requirements and to comply with all LEED-ND criteria. Innovative stormwater management designs have been carefully integrated into The Wharf. Significant Low Impact Development (LID) zone plantings and a monumental storm water reuse cistern that stretches beneath the entire length of The Wharf will drastically reduce or eliminate stormwater runoff that enters the Washington Channel and help improve the health of the Potomac River watershed. The Wharf’s reuse of stormwater runoff for CHP cooling and the creative use of LID strategies will help the development meet the stormwater management goals of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative.
Groundbreaking is scheduled for 2013 and the first phase of The Wharf will open in the last quarter of 2016. More information is available at www.wharfdc.com.
Courtesy of Hoffmann-Madison Waterfront