Let’s say, in a few years, you’re searching for a hotel room adjacent to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, and the swanky Marriott Marquis is full.
No problem. Maybe there’s a vacancy at the Courtyard Marriott next door. Or, perhaps, the Residence Inn by Marriott, next door.
Quadrangle Development Corp., as QC 369 LLC, has submitted a planned-unit development application to construct a 570,000-square-foot, 12-story building at Ninth and L streets NW, adjacent to the new Marriott Marquis. The $230 million project, called Columbia Place, will contain a hotel (really, two hotels, both Marriotts) and multifamily residential.
The site owner is (wait for it) Marriott International Inc. The project architects are Cooper Carry and TVS Design. The developer, Quadrangle, also worked with Marriott on the 1,175-room Marquis, which opened last month.
“Overall, the proposed development will significantly improve the existing area by virtue of the exceptional architectural design of the building, which carefully considers the nearby uses and aesthetics,” per the PUD application. “The proposed PUD will provide new housing and hotel opportunities to District residents, will put additional ‘eyes and ears’ on the street, and will create an improved pedestrian experience along 9th and L Streets, N.W.”
One part of the $230 million structure will contain a 124-room, extended stay Residence Inn by Marriott and a 377-room Courtyard Marriott, though the two will have separate entrances, both fronting L Street. The Residence Inn will include a restaurant and bar, 11 meeting rooms, a fitness center, internal courtyard with fire pit and “optional yoga deck,” and a retail space accessed from Ninth Street NW.
The 200-unit residential building, comprising studios, one- and two-bedroom units, will be located on the western side of the site, rising to a height of 110 feet. The Lurgan Building at 919 L will be retained and converted into 15 units. The new structure will have a rooftop recreation space and pool deck with a grill area, fire pit, lounge seating and “chess board turf.”
Quadrangle plans to demolish two historically contributing buildings, 911 and 913 L St. NW, while incorporating portions of nine other historic but dilapidated buildings into the development.
The project will be built in two phases, the hotel first followed by the residential.
The local advisory neighborhood commission unanimously backed the conceptual design and massing plan as it went through the Historic Preservation Review Board process earlier this year.