Earlier this month, Clark Construction, on behalf of the owner Carr Properties, filed applications to raze four buildings in Washington D.C., which include the headquarters of the Washington Post, which is moving to a new location.
That demolition—of two seven-story office buildings, one 10-story building, and a 12-story office building—isn’t scheduled to occur until next year at the earliest.
But Carr—which paid $157.4 million to acquire these properties in March 2014—has already signed Fannie Mae as an anchor tenant for a new development that the developer is planning for this site.
On Monday, Carr Properties filed its plans with the city’s Board of Zoning Adjustments for an 838,480-sf 12-story metal and glass office building. Fannie Mae will lease about 85% of the building’s space and intends to occupy the property in two phases starting in late 2017.
When it relocates, Fannie Mae would be consolidating the 1 million sf its current headquarters takes up. Fannie has announced plans to put that headquarters building, as well as two other buildings, up for sale.
Carr intends to link this building to the nearby Columbia Center—which earlier this month it purchased for $120 million—using a canopy structure that could be as large as 4,000 sf. Overall, the two buildings will consist of 1,252,600 sf. Urban Turf.com reports that the new building will be constructed to a height of 130 feet as measured from the elevation at the midpoint of the building along 15th Street to the top of the parapet.
The building will feature two wings, separated by a large open and landscaped courtyard. There will be a series of retail pavilions totaling 42,000 sf, and 579 parking spaces on three underground levels.
The architects listed for this project are WDG Architecture and SHoP Architects. The Washington Business Journal observes that this design is similar to the one SHoP designed for Uber’s headquarters in San Francisco.
But initial reaction to the design for D.C. building was decidedly mixed. Several readers commented on Urban Turf’s website that they thought the design was too boxy, and used words like “boring,” “cut-rate,” and “dull” to describe its look. Some readers also seemed peeved that Carr had hired out-of-town architects to design its building.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
10% of world's skyscraper construction on hold
Emporis, the largest provider of global building data worldwide, reported that 8.7% of all skyscrapers listed as "under construction" in its database had been put on hold. Most of these projects have been halted in the second half of 2008. According to Emporis statistics, the United States had been hit the worst: at the beginning of 2008, "Met 3" in Miami was the only U.S. skyscraper listed as being "on hold". In the second half of the year, 19 projects followed suit.
| Aug 11, 2010
Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
IFMA workplace study: Average space per employee up 40 sf since 2007, likely due to corporate layoffs
The International Facility Management Association has released “Operations and Maintenance Benchmarks, Research Report #32,” a study outlining the facility trends affecting workplaces throughout North America. Among the new report’s findings are that the average space per person has risen nearly 40 square feet since 2007, likely due to recent corporate layoffs.
| Aug 11, 2010
'Too cold' and 'too hot' most common complaints among office workers, says IFMA study
The International Facility Management Association has released “Temperature Wars: Savings vs. Comfort,” a new study that takes an in-depth look at the most common thermal complaints made by workers and the variety of ways facility professionals respond to them.For many years, IFMA has surveyed facility professionals to learn the top office complaints among employees.
| Aug 11, 2010
Best AEC Firms of 2011/12
Later this year, we will launch Best AEC Firms 2012. We’re looking for firms that create truly positive workplaces for their AEC professionals and support staff. Keep an eye on this page for entry information. +
| Aug 11, 2010
Manitoba Hydro Place, Tornado Tower among world's 'best tall buildings,' according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat last week announced the winners of its annual “Best Tall Building” awards for 2009, recognizing one outstanding tall building from each of four geographical regions: Americas, Asia & Australia, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. This year’s winners are: Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg, Canada; Linked Hybrid, Beijing, China; The Broadgate Tower, London, UK; Tornado Tower, Doha, Qatar.
| Aug 11, 2010
AAMA leads development of BIM standard for fenestration products
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association’s newly formed BIM Task Group met during the AAMA National Fall Conference to discuss the need for an BIM standard for nonresidential fenestration products.
| Aug 11, 2010
Call for entries: Building enclosure design awards
The Boston Society of Architects and the Boston chapter of the Building Enclosure Council (BEC-Boston) have announced a High Performance Building award that will assess building enclosure innovation through the demonstrated design, construction, and operation of the building enclosure.
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
