A Decaying Waterfront in Washington Returns to Life
- 7 years ago
A Decaying Waterfront in Washington Returns to Life
Despite a 130-foot height limit for new development in Washington, Mr. Eckstut said, “we were able to carve out a real city fabric and one purposely not like the federal city fabric,
but really to go back to a more walkable compact city without much order, great variety, no symmetry, nothing predictable, if we could avoid it.”
The first phase of the project, which cost $1.4 billion, will formally open to the public on Oct. 12.
He said he expected the Wharf “to soon be taking its place as the centerpiece of one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in the country.”
Notably, the developers have chosen almost all local commercial establishments, eschewing national chains in favor of what Monty Hoffman, chief executive
and founder of PN Hoffman, described as “authenticity throughout.”
Among the prominent local brands is Politics and Prose, a well-known independent bookstore, which will open a 2,300-square-foot shop in the Wharf.
A joint effort by two real estate developers, PN Hoffman
and Madison Marquette, the Wharf is the culmination of a 10-year process to right the wrongs of previous generations of city planners and government officials.
The project — comprising 24 acres on land and 50 on the water — draws its inspiration, Mr. Eckstut said, from waterfront developments in Baltimore, San Francisco
and Seattle, as well as from cities abroad like Sydney, Australia, and Qingdao, China.
Ms. Holmes Norton pushed the legislation through three subcommittees, an effort
that the developers recognized by dedicating the Wharf’s 3.5-acre waterfront park to her.
Despite a 130-foot height limit for new development in Washington, Mr. Eckstut said, “we were able to carve out a real city fabric and one purposely not like the federal city fabric,
but really to go back to a more walkable compact city without much order, great variety, no symmetry, nothing predictable, if we could avoid it.”
The first phase of the project, which cost $1.4 billion, will formally open to the public on Oct. 12.
He said he expected the Wharf “to soon be taking its place as the centerpiece of one of the most dynamic neighborhoods in the country.”
Notably, the developers have chosen almost all local commercial establishments, eschewing national chains in favor of what Monty Hoffman, chief executive
and founder of PN Hoffman, described as “authenticity throughout.”
Among the prominent local brands is Politics and Prose, a well-known independent bookstore, which will open a 2,300-square-foot shop in the Wharf.
A joint effort by two real estate developers, PN Hoffman
and Madison Marquette, the Wharf is the culmination of a 10-year process to right the wrongs of previous generations of city planners and government officials.
The project — comprising 24 acres on land and 50 on the water — draws its inspiration, Mr. Eckstut said, from waterfront developments in Baltimore, San Francisco
and Seattle, as well as from cities abroad like Sydney, Australia, and Qingdao, China.
Ms. Holmes Norton pushed the legislation through three subcommittees, an effort
that the developers recognized by dedicating the Wharf’s 3.5-acre waterfront park to her.