Friday, March 23, 2007
Jack Evans: Convention Center Hotel Agreement Reached
In his current weekly newsletter, Councilmember Jack Evans reports that "As of this week, it appears DC has reached an agreement with Marriott/RLJ Companies to construct the hotel." He also states that the new Convention Center Hotel will be built across 9th Street, NW from the new Convention Center will have 1,500 rooms and additional convention meeting space. This is very good news for all of us if this holds true.
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10 comments:
they have really taken their sweet time with this one. The post mentions the hotel in an article today about ending development subsidies:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201885.html
thanks for the link to the article, Si! Let's hope this deal is, indeed, inked and that we see some permit applications and some earth moved soon!
whatever Marriott wants Marriott gets. yet, let's get it done!
according to the article, fenty played a bit of hardball & refused to provide further subsidies than mayor williams had negotiated. apparently marriott asked for more tax breaks! Good for Mayor Fenty, I say. Now for real, lets get it done.
Whoo-hooo!
Hopefully we'll soon also be saying goodbye to lower-9th's boarded up empty buildings. And hello to more new businesses who follow the hotel and realize that Shaw is where its at.
Next stop on the development train - O Street Market.... or will it be Radio One?
This is a massive hotel. I believe the development will go from Mass up to and include the southern half of the block between L and M (including the boarded up rowhouses the city has kept hostage/decrepit for years). In general, I think the hotel is probably better than the current slum motif, but I've never appreciated the retail associated with giant hotels or thought they were a benefit to residents. Consider the giant Renaissance Hotel at 9th and K (it only has 800 rooms, not 1,500); It's not a community asset... the foot traffic is nice, but I've never cosidered the "President's Sports Bar" (the hotel's bar) for dinner or a drink. I think we'd be better off if the city sold off those row houses between L an M and let a range of small business, bars, and restaurants fill it in. A massive Marriott will give us an Outback Steakhouse and lobby gift shop at best. This development is certainly nothing to get excited about. Perhaps my take on the footprint of the hotel is wrong, but it seems to me that Marriott is taking a prime slice of Shaw.
I’m not exactly positive about the hotel’s footprint. I think the “front” of the hotel will be on Massachusetts Avenue, and the hotel will span over L Street and into the block between L and M. Hopefully the historic facades on 9th Street won’t be sacrificed.
I think the hotel concept is changing, and large hoteliers are providing neater spaces, restaurants and bars in response to the popularity of boutique hotels. Regardless of whether or not this Marriott becomes a destination for Shaw residents, I think it’ll be great that convention traffic will have a reason to remain north of Massachusetts Avenue, thereby providing Shaw businesses with potential customers and prompting other retail to follow.
I am excited about it, mailnly because I believe it will be a catalyst for more residential, retail and commercial growth.
as a northern chinatown resident i will be happy to shop in the blagden alley neighborhood
Let's hope that the hotel development will force the city to develope its own vacant properties and enduce shitty shiloh to do something with its abandoned properties. Congrats to the Council and the Mayor for moving this forward.
This is great news (lets hope it becomes official) and vital for our neighborhood.
I just hope the hotel has as much retail as possible along its streetscape.
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