The Wharf's Secret Sauce: A 150,000 SF Entertainment Venue

WASHINGTON, DC—Yes, of course there is office space at The Wharf, a $2 billion mixed-use project on the Southwest Waterfront. In fact, the master-developer of the project, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront, recently announced its first office tenant would be the American Psychiatric Association, for 65,000 square feet. It is also in discussions with an office user that could take 500,000 square feet, Monty Hoffman told GlobeSt.com.

And yes, there is a sizeable hotel component to the project. Last week, Hoffman-Madison announced a $160 million dual-branded hotel project consisting of the Canopy by Hilton and Hyatt House.

Both deals turned heads, especially considering that the project just bottomed out.

Less noticed, though, has been another component of The Wharf, which sets it apart from other mixed-use projects in the area: its concert convention hall, a 150,000-square foot space that "is nothing like anything in the Washington DC area or even the Mid-Atlantic," Hoffman said.

It is being designed to best-in-class specs with seven dressing rooms and high-tech lighting and sound systems. Its design style? A lot of "grit", Hoffman says, with exposed steel and concrete. Its development costs are somewhere in the neighborhood of $65 million.

Hoffman-Madison Waterfront secured the owner of DC's famed 9:30 Club as a long-term tenant a few years ago.

The space, which can handle about 1,200 people is not a competitor to the Downtown Convention Center, but rather an "accessory," Hoffman says.

It is more of a competitor to the numerous hotel ballroom options for certain conferences, he says. Retail leasing in general is moving along for The Wharf. The developer plans to announce 12 new restaurant leases. Meanwhile it has several Letters of Intent in its pipeline.