Huge change - Marriott Wardman Park in Woodley DC possibly demolished

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't agree that it's an eyesore. I hope they don't demolish it.

Agree. That would seem to be a waste of resources. I hope it finds utility.

[Anonymous]

Trying to clarify....

the building at the corner of Woodley and CT Ave is the Wardman Tower and is now condos. The hotel is back in the middle of the property.

While the potential loss of the hotel will impact jobs and the commercial corridor, it is also an opportunity to rethink the parcel. JBG had an amazing proposal a few years ago; while they walked away, the concept should be revisited. Extend the commercial area up into the property and add several thousand units of housing, including affordable and family sized (ie 3-4 bedrooms) and it could be transformative.

[Anonymous]

I love this building! I’ve always liked the architecture- and have many fond memories of attending events there. I hope it gets reconfigured as condos.
Question: Is part of the building complex already condos?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The hotel might close, but where is there any news about it being demolished?

+1

It is a historic building (registered), Marriot was leasing, and there are $2.5m+ condos on the third floor up - I don't suspect that it can just be leveled?

[Anonymous]

Good Lord OP, talk about jumping to conclusions and spreading rumors. Yes, Marriott will likely leave but they do not even own it. Third floor & up are condos and the building is listed on the historic registry so cannot be torn down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good Lord OP, talk about jumping to conclusions and spreading rumors. Yes, Marriott will likely leave but they do not even own it. Third floor & up are condos and the building is listed on the historic registry so cannot be torn down.

32 condos and 4800+ monthly HOA per unit https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/2660-Connecticut-Ave-NW-20008/unit-3A/home/112845667
Maybe the lower floors will be repurposed into The Woodley style smaller apartments or condos. https://www.thewoodleydc.com/floorplans

Interesting that DC lists 33 owners at 2660 Connecticut and 9 out of the 32 condos are owned by NASH WARDMAN TOWER JBG SMITH PROPERTIES. Rentals?

[Anonymous]

I always assumed the giant underground portion was somehow national security related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The hotel might close, but where is there any news about it being demolished?

I'm struggling to figure out why they'd keep the existing building and what use it could be.

Its only a hill and prime real estate. I think that whole corridor in Woodley Park needs revitalization and leveling that hill to put something amazing in like the Wharf could do that.

OK, now we get it. You are a developer.

The hotel is beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The hotel might close, but where is there any news about it being demolished?

I'm struggling to figure out why they'd keep the existing building and what use it could be.

Its only a hill and prime real estate. I think that whole corridor in Woodley Park needs revitalization and leveling that hill to put something amazing in like the Wharf could do that.

I cannot follow what you're suggesting here. They should level the actual hill under the existing hotel to ... flood it? Surely not. Level the hill (again - ???) in order to put in a bunch of restaurants and venue spaces to compete with the Wharf? That's not particularly feasible either. Prime real estate it may be but Woodley Park does not have a track record of keeping decent restaurants open, and residents do not want concert venues or busy bars nearby. It will either be reconfigured into condos or torn down and replaced with different condos.

That is my point. Its a dead zone for no reason. Georgetown is trending that way as well. Soon enough there won't be anything WOTP but if you don't have any issue with it -- nothing will change.

No one wants that kind of change in that area. It's residential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The hotel might close, but where is there any news about it being demolished?

+1

It is a historic building (registered), Marriot was leasing, and there are $2.5m+ condos on the third floor up - I don't suspect that it can just be leveled?

The Wardman Tower is historic. The hotel is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good Lord OP, talk about jumping to conclusions and spreading rumors. Yes, Marriott will likely leave but they do not even own it. Third floor & up are condos and the building is listed on the historic registry so cannot be torn down.

32 condos and 4800+ monthly HOA per unit https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/2660-Connecticut-Ave-NW-20008/unit-3A/home/112845667
Maybe the lower floors will be repurposed into The Woodley style smaller apartments or condos. https://www.thewoodleydc.com/floorplans

Interesting that DC lists 33 owners at 2660 Connecticut and 9 out of the 32 condos are owned by NASH WARDMAN TOWER JBG SMITH PROPERTIES. Rentals?

4,800 per month HOA? That must be some sort of record. Does that cover the gym?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's the only real convention sized hotel besides National Harbor/Gaylord Marriott. DC is about to lose a lot of small convention business ( 1500 - 4000 attendees).

Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle can handle those. Been to plenty there. How about the new Marriott Marquis near the convention center? Haven't checked it out yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's the only real convention sized hotel besides National Harbor/Gaylord Marriott. DC is about to lose a lot of small convention business ( 1500 - 4000 attendees).

Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle can handle those. Been to plenty there. How about the new Marriott Marquis near the convention center? Haven't checked it out yet.

Went to a medium-sized conference in late 2018 at the Marriott Marquis. It handles them quite well, as do newer hotels in Crystal City. The Wardman was a fine conference hotel, but as the energy of the city moves East, it makes sense that it would be the hotel that Marriott would look to offload in favor of its more central offerings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's the only real convention sized hotel besides National Harbor/Gaylord Marriott. DC is about to lose a lot of small convention business ( 1500 - 4000 attendees).

Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle can handle those. Been to plenty there. How about the new Marriott Marquis near the convention center? Haven't checked it out yet.

Went to a medium-sized conference in late 2018 at the Marriott Marquis. It handles them quite well, as do newer hotels in Crystal City. The Wardman was a fine conference hotel, but as the energy of the city moves East, it makes sense that it would be the hotel that Marriott would look to offload in favor of its more central offerings.

Most of the smaller conventions in DC involve member visits to Capitol Hill, so the hotels further east are more convenient.

This isn't good news for DC, though. It's not clear when those conventions will come back, and between the loss of those, tourist visits and the drop in visits from people coming in to lobby, the District is going to feel the impact.

I used to be a lobbyist, and we were constantly hosting executives in from out of town to visit the Hill/Administration. They stayed at the nicest hotels and ate at the best restaurants. They aren't doing that now, at least not in anything like previous numbers. It's not an insignificant amount of $$ lost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well you saw an eyesore, I loved that hotel. Very sad to see it go.

I like it, too. And I doubt the building is going to be demolished just because the hotel is going out of business. I can think of plenty of uses for it.

It won’t be demolished- it’s historical. A building like that is terribly expensive to rehab and maintain so it will likely be sitting without a new tenant/buyer given the current market conditions.