WASHINGTON, DC—Carr Properties broke ground today on Midtown Center, an 862,000 square foot, 14-story, trophy office building at the corner of 15th & L streets, NW that is replacing the onetime headquarters of the Washington Post. The completed project will be anchored by Fannie Mae's new National Headquarters.

Midtown Center was designed by New York-based SHoP Architects. It will have two full-height curtain wall office towers separated by an European-style public plaza that was inspired by the historic L'Enfant city plan. There will also be 50,000-square feet of retail, divvied up between the 15,000-square foot retail plaza fronting on L Street and a less formal 10,000-square foot retail alley fronting on 15th Street.

The building will deliver in 2018.

PERRYVILLE, MD—Trammell Crow Company and Diamond Realty Investments have begun construction on a 1.15-million-square foot distribution center in the I-95 North submarket. The center will be called, fittingly, the Principio Commerce Center I, as it is located on a 100-acre land parcel the partners just purchased in the

6-million-square foot master-planned Principio Business Park .

The center will have 190' truck courts and 283 trailer stalls and up to 216 dock doors. The project can be expanded by 300,000 square feet of or an additional 350 trailer drops. It is expected to deliver in Spring 2017.

Andrew Dance (Related), Josh Foreso (HITT), Jason Whiteman (Related), Joe Kmiecinski (HITT), Brett Hitt (HITT), Jeremy Bardin (HITT), and Jason Sasson (Related).

WASHINGTON, DC—The 13-story, mixed-use building at 909 Half St., SE, has topped out. Developed by building owners Related Cos. and Ruben Cos., the 548,000-square foot building will have three levels of below-grade parking, 25,000-square feet of ground floor retail and 383 apartments. The concrete structure's facade will feature a custom curtain wall system with alternating projections for increased views. HITT Contracting is the construction manager on the project.

In case you've forgotten the origin of the phrase “topping out”, it refers to the completion of a building's framing by placing a steel beam, which is signed by the project team, as the final piece of the frame. A tree is also placed atop the building to signify the new growth that the project brings to the area.

WASHINGTON DC—Next week EastBanc will host its own topping out ceremony for its Square 50 project at 23rd and M Streets, NW — also known as the West End Library and Fire Station Project.

Square 50 will feature a 15,500-square-foot new West End Fire Station, a 54,300-square-foot affordable housing building with 55 units at 60% AMI or less along with six market-rate residential units and a parking garage. There will also be a squash facility with eight courts and a full-service restaurant, called Squash on Fire, which will be run by squash coach Amir Wagih, who was the head coach of Egypt's National Squash Team.

Square 50 is designed by Enrique Norten of TEN-Arquitectos. The three separate components — the Fire Station, Squash on Fire and the residences of the building — will be housed within a 90 foot-high concrete structure while still maintaining a unique architectural identity of different materials, setbacks and cantilevers.

EastBanc is also currently building the West End Library Project, or Square 37. It is a 21,000-square-foot library and 7,300 square feet of retail topped by 71 condominiums and 93 market-rate rentals also designed by Norten of TEN-Arquitectos.

Both complexes are being developed under a public-private partnership between the District of Columbia, EastBanc, The JBG Cos. and Clark Enterprises.

The building will deliver in 2018.

6-million-square foot master-planned Principio Business Park .

WASHINGTON DC—Next week EastBanc will host its own topping out ceremony for its Square 50 project at 23rd and M Streets, NW — also known as the West End Library and Fire Station Project.

Both complexes are being developed under a public-private partnership between the District of Columbia, EastBanc, The JBG Cos. and Clark Enterprises.

Instant Insights /

All Around Town Buildings Are Topping Out, Breaking Ground

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