“We are pleased to welcome Boston Properties to the growing list of leading national and regional development firms that are active in NoMa,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMa Business Improvement District (BID). “We are also excited to see NPR’s relocation to NoMa come one step closer to reality.”
“After an extremely competitive selection process, Boston Properties emerged as our developer of choice not only because of their real estate development expertise in the D.C. market, but also because of their ability to purchase our current building, thus ensuring a streamlined relocation process,” said Dennis Haarsager, NPR’s interim CEO. “We are confident that Boston Properties will deliver a top-notch, state-of-the-art public broadcasting facility that will best serve our 600 Washington-based staff, our 860 public radio station partners, and their 26 million listeners.”
“NPR is a nationally and internationally acclaimed organization and we are honored and privileged to have been selected to lead the development of their new headquarters,” said Ken Simmons, Boston Properties’ Senior Vice President. “We are also very pleased to have acquired NPR’s existing Massachusetts Avenue building which is located on one of the best remaining sites in the city.”
NPR will remain at its current location and lease it back from Boston Properties until the new headquarters is ready for occupancy, anticipated in late 2012. All of NPR’s Washington-based journalism, multimedia, technical distribution, business and executive activities will be housed in the new facility. NPR has been located in Washington, D.C. since it was founded in 1970, and has occupied the current property in Mount Vernon neighborhood since 1994.
Next steps in NPR’s new headquarters project include the selection of an architect for 1111 North Capitol Street, NE. The architect will be charged with designing an environmentally sensitive building with workspace that fosters a creative, collaborative and interactive atmosphere, and one that embraces new technology, enabling NPR to grow and merge its broadcast and digital activities. The new facility will include a 60,000 square foot space for NPR News’ extensive, award-winning broadcast and multimedia operations and a public space for live shows and events.
About the NoMa BID:
NoMa is an emerging mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in Washington, D.C. Private developers have invested over $1 billion in 2007–2008 alone, with plans to develop more than 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the 35-block area covered by the NoMa BID over the next 10 years. For more information about the BID, including an interactive development map, see the BID Web site at http://nomabid.wpengine.com.
About NPR:
Since its launch in 1970, NPR has evolved into a leading media company, award-winning news organization, and dominant force in American life. NPR produces and/or distributes more than 1300 hours of programming weekly, including more than 150 hours of news, information, talk, entertainment, and cultural shows for 860 NPR Member stations, with 26.5 million listeners weekly. NPR programs two 24/7 channels for Sirius satellite radio and five 24/7 music multicast channels for HD Radio; additionally, with more than 90 podcasts, NPR is the most successful podcaster among American media companies. Its 24/7 NPR Worldwide program stream reaches listeners in more than 100 countries. http://www.NPR.org offers extensive original audio, video, photography, and text content, as well as nearly 15 years of NPR programming archives. NPR Music, launched in November 2007 as a free music discovery destination, has concerts, interviews, blogs, reviews, artists index, and features spanning all music genres. NPR’s continuing expansion in digital media includes NPR Mobile, in partnership with Member stations nationwide, and the NPR Open API, launched July 2008. NPR programs produced in Washington, D.C. are Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, Tell Me More, All Songs Considered, Weekend Edition Saturday and Weekend Edition Sunday. NPR.org, NPR Music and NPR Podcasts are also based in Washington.
About Boston Properties:
Boston Properties, Inc. is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that develops, redevelops, acquires, manages, operates and owns a diverse portfolio consisting primarily of Class A office properties and one hotel. The Company is one of the largest owners and developers of Class A office properties in the United States, concentrated in five select markets – Boston, Midtown Manhattan, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Princeton, N.J. Visit the Company’s web site at http://www.bostonproperties.com.