G Street Glass Oasis Has New Life
16 10 2009For the last year the new development going in next to the MLK library in Penn Quarter has been nothing more than a big hole in the ground, but all that is about to change. Skanska USA has bought out D.C. developer PN Hoffman’s position in the stalled development of the 165,000-square-foot office.
They are going with the original design by Cunningham and Quill which was dubbed a “windowless street level design with zero street-facing retail” but anything is better than a big hole in the ground, so this is great news for that area of town. Skanska is proceeding to build without a tenant in place, so there is some major risk for the project, but with interiors and views like this, who wouldn’t want to move in? [Photo: serk1]
This site is NOT IN PENN QUARTER! This area by the library is considered Gallery Place, and it is closer to Metro Center than Penn Quarter. For the 100th time…. Penn Quarter is centered on Seventh Street NW and is south of F Street, north of Pennsylvania Avenue.
So what’s the status of the church that gave up the land for this hole in the ground? The church got in bed with the last developer and was supposed to already be in a new church space on the site. The church has been homeless while the old developer has been twiddling his thumbs. Has the new developer took on the obligation to the church? Third Church should take a lesson.
I checked out the church’s website: http://www.fccuccdc.org/ and according to bulletin they are a part of the deal and will have a church just like the original plans. I am happy for them. and happy that this hole will be filled.
I am also grateful for the coverage. I think that items on the boundaries of Penn Quarter are more than appropriate to comment on.
As far as I am concerned there is no neighborhood called Gallery Place. Just Penn Quarter and Chinatown.
This site is DOWNTOWN. If you want a Metro reference, you should use Metro Center since it is only one block from a Metro entrance (at the Woodies building).
@ Buff&Blue
Technically its one block from Gallery place as well
Penn Quarter, Chinatown…who cares? What’s important is that this building is going to be “a windowless street level design with zero street-facing retail”.
How utterly miserable. Why District Planning allows any building in central DC to be built that doesn’t include street-facing retail is a mystery to me. It does nothing but create a dead-zone along the street–which we already have there. So, I don’t see a whole lot to get excited about. This is very disappointing.