FEATURE STORY
Work Ramps Up for
Washington, DC’s Most
Ambitious Community
Revitalization Project
Capitol Crossing construction
crews, with the help of a 300-ton
crane, meticulously guided the first
steel beam into place over the I-395
Center Leg freeway in late February,
marking a turning point since the
project’s inception. It is a step that
signals meaningful progress toward
completion of Washington, DC’s
most ambitious community
revitalization project.
Washingtonians will start to see
more dramatic changes over the
next few months as 129 steel beams
weighing around 130,000 pounds each
are lifted into place overnight between
now and October 2016. Concrete
panels placed over the beams will
soon enclose the open space over the
I-395 freeway from Massachusetts
Avenue, NW to E Street, NW between
I-395 Center Leg Freeway, restoring
Pierre L’Enfant’s vision of a fully
connected street grid for the nation’s
capital. Property Group Partners
broke ground on the project in
February 2014.
Second and Third streets, and will
eventually support five buildings
across three new city blocks, totaling
2.2 million square feet.
“This is a project unlike anything
we’ve seen in this city before. Capitol
Crossing is already creating jobs,
spurring economic growth and
reconnecting Downtown with
Capitol Hill,” said Bob Braunohler,
Regional Vice President of Property
Group Partners.
Capitol Crossing will bridge a divide
between two neighborhoods, Capitol
Hill and the East End, separated by the
Up until now, much of the
work on the project has been
underground, including installing
a new high-voltage electrical line in
Massachusetts Avenue, replacing
and upgrading water mains,
and replacing the electrical grid
between the Capitol Hill and East
End neighborhoods. This work will
improve and stabilize the electricity
supply in both neighborhoods.
“This is a project unlike anything
we’ve seen in this city before.”
“Much of our work on this
project for our great city began
with many improvements to public
infrastructure, especially the creation
of a 21st-century utility grid. Now,
we begin our vertical construction to
develop an entirely new community,”
added Braunohler. “It’s an exciting
time to be a part of the city’s
historic growth.”
Capitol Crossing is the culmination of
decades of planning by community
leaders, city planners, District
government, and District residents,
and is the largest private development
currently underway in Washington,
DC. The project will accommodate
an estimated 10,000 employees and
residents in the five buildings.
Underpass eased congestion;
and by 1961, the “Circumferential
Highway” — now known as the
Capital Beltway — had
been completed.
L’ENFANT’S CORNER
Healing the
Scar of I-395
News You Can Use
• Capitol Crossing will create 4,000
construction jobs and dramatically
improve the utility infrastructure
in your neighborhood before the
first tenant moves into the building.
The top priorities have always been
clear: support local neighborhoods
and transform one of the city’s
most traversed corridors, all the
while creating more economic
opportunity with each completed
construction milestone.
• Private investment by Property
Group Partners is funding new
infrastructure in the core of the city
to power a world-class business
center, enable future growth and
benefit District residents.
• The project includes plans for the
area’s first eco-district — achieving
“beyond LEED Platinum” certification
and superseding the highest level of
the “world’s premier benchmark for
high-performance green buildings”—
which will attract individuals and
families to the District of Columbia
and make the new neighborhood
a destination to highlight for
prospective job creators.
If the city streets could talk, those
in the neighborhoods surrounding
Capitol Crossing would have some
stories to tell of the presidents,
business owners and ordinary
residents both young and old who
have walked them. The evolution
of the area over the last 60 years
might even make the neighborhood
unrecognizable to the 900,000
people who all lived within city
limits around 1950 (over 650,000
live in the city today).
With as many as 1.5 million people
residing in the greater metro
region at the time, the popularity
of the automobile and draw of
suburban life demanded that
many more roads be built in
order to accommodate everyone
who wanted to live and work in
Washington, DC. Build they did.
Passage of the U.S. Highway Act of
1956 set the goal of 40,000 miles
of interstate highways by 1970. In
DC the Whitehurst Freeway was
efficiently moving drivers around
the lower Georgetown area by
1947; in 1948 the Dupont Circle
The Beltway was just the beginning
of planners’ ambitions for the city.
Officials charted a plan for an
Inner Loop highway system that
would include several segments
connecting various neighborhoods:
• A South Leg to tie the Southeast
Freeway, the 14th Street Bridge and
Roosevelt Bridge.
• An East Leg to connect the
Anacostia Freeway with the 11th
Street Bridge and Lincoln Park on
Capitol Hill.
• Additionally West, North and
Center Legs.
“Arguably one of the first times the
East End neighborhood underwent
major development was during the
planning and construction of the
Center Leg Freeway around 1964.”
Arguably one of the first times the
East End neighborhood underwent
major development was during the
planning and construction of the
Center Leg Freeway around 1964.
Construction of the existing portion
forced demolition of over 400
dwellings and 100 businesses, and
displaced 1,600 residents.
By this time, growing concerns
about all of the construction,
especially regarding the Inner
Loop highway system’s impact on
L’Enfant’s plan for the city, began
to have an effect. Eventually, the
full Inner Loop plan was abandoned
and the full scope of the Center Leg
Freeway plan was never completed.
It was replaced with a significantly
shorter 1.4-mile highway—said to be
the most expensive highway built at
the time (in 1972).
Although it eased congestion and
connected some neighborhoods,
ultimately the highway severed
the existing community in
half, negatively impacted the
environment and made the area
significantly less pedestrian friendly.
That will all finally change. Capitol
Crossing is taking steps to cover
the scar—revitalizing a community
that was lost decades ago to the
construction of the highway—and
begin to write an exciting new
chapter in this great city’s future.
(Research and background courtesy of Georgetown University Law Center Professor Wally Mlyniec)
Did You Know?
In the 1890s, Judiciary Square and
the area of Third and F streets,
NW were considered “Little
Italy” in Washington, DC. The
neighborhood was anchored by
the presence of the parish of the
Holy Rosary Church, established
in 1913 as the only “national Italian
parish” in Washington, DC
(Source: Holy Rosary Church)
FROM THE HEADLINES
“Capitol Crossing Development Hits Major Milestone”News4’s Shomari Stone reported live from Second
Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NW as the first
beam in the Capitol Crossing project was placed over
I-395. “The District is taking a big step forward,”
Stone reported. “It makes me feel very proud,” said
Bob Braunohler, Regional Vice President of Property
Group Partners.
February 17, 2016 WRC-TV Interview
“Absolutely Wild: Capitol Crossing Enclosure Begins”“Capitol Crossing began installation of the project’s
first steel beam, laying the groundwork for reclaiming
a neighborhood separated for over 40 years,
announced developer Property Group Partners.
February 26, 2016, PopVille
Points of View
“I have found Capitol Crossing and PGP extremely responsive to
the needs of my particular condo association. I am on the sixth
floor on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Third, and
have watched the construction. It’s been amazing to watch, and
I have experienced only the best from this group of individuals.”
Susan B. Gross, L.I.C.S.W,BCD
The Sonata, 301 Massachusetts Ave., NW
“I love watching progress of the Third Street Tunnel project. I
see amazing attention to detail and care. There is progress and
change every day. I live at 400 Mass and I work in Virginia. I
travel during rush hours, and I’m always excited to get into the
tunnel in the afternoon. I’m always amazed how my commute
time has not increased at all, and so much work is being done.
I have plenty of options as to which route I take home. Third
Street is the easiest, and through all this construction, it is still
my fastest route. I think it’s a very cool project and I’m happy to
support it.”
Michelle Brown
400 Massachusetts Avenue Resident
COMMUNITY MINUTE
“The Mount Vernon Triangle Community
Improvement District welcomes all of the
exciting news about Capitol Crossing. With
more than 50 restaurants and retailers and
5,000 residents in the MVT neighborhood,
we know our communities will enjoy
sharing the unique qualities that each
brings to our beautiful city.”
Leon Johnson, MVTCID Operations Manager
The DowntownDC Business Improvement
District (BID) welcomes Capitol Crossing
to Downtown DC. We look forward to
following updates about this unique
development as it works to reconnect and
reenergize a vital area of the city.
Learn more about Downtown at
www.downtowndc.org.
Did You Know?
Over the next nine months, 129
steel beams weighing around
130,000 pounds each will form
the foundation for five new
buildings at Capitol Crossing.
U.S. POSTAGE
HERE
for decades, support the city’s
rapidly growing population and
make the area a top draw for new
businesses and retail.
I-395 Highway/Third Street Tunnel
Infrastructure improvements in
the highway are substantially
complete, as are the foundation
footings supporting the ongoing
steel erection and concrete decking
above the open portions of the
tunnel.
LOOK AHEAD
Third Street Tunnel
April 2016
Capitol Crossing and the
Third Street Tunnel project are
transforming one of the city’s
most traversed corridors, creating
more economic opportunity with
each completed construction
milestone. Significant infrastructure
upgrades during the initial phase
of construction have equipped
Washington, DC, to compete in the
future and meet the demands of
the city’s growing population.
Infrastructure Investments
Nearly Complete
Utility relocation construction on
the Third Street Tunnel Infrastructure
project is substantially complete
after more than $200 million in
upgrades on the surface streets
and the highway. The new stateof-the-art utility grid will not
only support the exciting Capitol
Crossing mixed-use development
now under construction above, but
also the new East End community
that will emerge between Mt. Vernon
Triangle, Union Station and
Verizon Center.
New utility investments include:
• Installation of a new high-voltage
electrical line along Massachusetts
Avenue from Third to Fourth streets.
• Installation of a new 30” water
main on Massachusetts Avenue
between Second and Fourth streets.
• Installation of a new 8” water
main along the east side of Third
Street from E Street to F Street.
• Upgrades to gas lines and local
telecom utilities throughout the area.
These infrastructure investments
will improve utility performance and
reliability in the core of the District
Highway and tunnel infrastructure
improvements include:
• Refurbishment of the existing
tunnel structure; aligning with post9/11 safety and security standards.
• New water lines and drainage
systems.
• New travel management system
technology.
• New tunnel emergency
management and
telecommunications systems.
Massachusetts Avenue I-395 Portal
A new access portal to I-395 is now
under construction. The new portal
will significantly improve the flow of
traffic on Massachusetts Avenue and
surrounding streets while making
the area more pedestrian friendly.
Excavation and shoring will continue
through the spring. The work on
Massachusetts Avenue above Third
Street will continue to block a lane
of traffic between Second and Third
streets. However, an eastbound lane
of traffic will remain open at
all times.
Spring/Summer
2016 Schedule
April
The steel plates at Massachusetts
Avenue and Third and Fourth streets
will be removed.
May
The intersection at Massachusetts
Avenue and Third and Fourth streets
and area potholes will be patched
until final repaving toward the end
of the project.
June
Construction of the new Second
Street off-ramp will conclude and
traffic will be shifted to the new exit.
Demolition of old Office of the Chief
Technology Officer (OCTO) and
current construction yard at
Third Street and Massachusetts
Avenue will begin.
July
Steel erection and precast concrete
deck setting over I-395
will continue through the end of
the year.
Precast planks known as “bulb tees”
will be used to span the highway
to create the foundations for the
new connections for F and G streets.
When complete, the rebuilt streets
will restore the original traffic grid
contemplated in the original L’Enfant
plan for the nation’s capital.
Contact
202.719.0196
[email protected]
www.3rdsttunnel.com
@3rdStTun
facebook.com/thirdstreettunnel.dc