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
Office Buildings | Jul 19, 2017
James Corner Field Operations, designers of the High Line, creates rooftop amenity spaces for three Dumbo office buildings
The new spaces range from about 8,500 to 11,000 sf and were added to Two Trees Management’s anchor office buildings.
Reconstruction & Renovation | Jul 18, 2017
Mortenson Construction incorporates 100-year-old barn into new Portland office space
Mortenson deconstructed the barn and repurposed it for the new space.
Office Buildings | Jul 12, 2017
CetraRuddy unveils seven-story office building design for Staten Island’s Corporate Park
Corporate Commons Three is expected to break ground later this summer.
Sustainability | Jul 10, 2017
British Columbia receives its first WELL certified workplace courtesy of Perkins + Will
Over 100 wellness features are incorporated into CBRE’s Vancouver office.
Office Buildings | Jul 5, 2017
Do open offices work?
Whether for a team of 20 or 200, if today’s professionals are not currently working in an open office environment, a change is likely on the horizon.
Office Buildings | Jun 27, 2017
Bloomberg’s European headquarters wants to become a natural extension of London
Foster + Partners’ design rises 10 stories and is composed of two connected buildings.
Office Buildings | Jun 20, 2017
Mattress company’s new ‘BEDQuarters’ definitely won’t put employees to sleep
The HQ is packed with amenities and features to keep team members happy and engaged at work.
Building Team Awards | Jun 14, 2017
A space for all: Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Nonprofit HQ fitout improves functionality, accessibility for blind and low-vision individuals.
Office Buildings | Jun 13, 2017
WeWork takes on a construction management app provider
Fieldlens helps turn jobsites into social networks.
Building Team Awards | Jun 12, 2017
Texas technopark: TechnipFMC John T. Gremp Campus
Silver Award: TechnipFMC’s new campus marks the start of a massive planned community in north Houston.