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DC’s NoMa Accepted into LEED Neighborhood Development Pilot

Washington, D.C., August 8, 2007… The emerging NoMa (north of Massachusetts Ave.) neighborhood just north of Union Station and Capitol Hill has been accepted into the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program (LEED ND), being conducted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This new program integrates the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building into the first national rating system for neighborhood design.“We have a tremendous opportunity here in NoMA to literally build an entire neighborhood from scratch,” said Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. “And I am proud of the work that is being done to make sure what we create will be a model for sustainability in the 21st Century.”

Many of NoMA’s major office, retail, and residential buildings — a total of over 20 million square feet of space — are being planned to meet LEED green building criteria. “NoMA ’s redevelopment embraces environmentally friendly building design and technology as well as smart growth principles, allowing people to live, work, and shop within walking distance of the U.S. Capitol and our city’s superior public transportation system,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMA Business Improvement District (BID), which worked with the D.C. Office of Planning to secure NoMA’s participation in the LEED ND program.

Several of NoMA’s early development projects will participate in LEED ND on behalf of NoMA:

  • MRP Realty’s Washington Gateway, a project with one million square feet of office, apartment, hotel, and retail space, is slated to break ground in second quarter 2008. The office component will be built for Gold LEED certification and the other uses will be designed to LEED standards.
  • StonebridgeCarras and Walton Street Capital will break ground later this year on the first phase of its 2.3 million square feet Constitution Square mixed-use development including office, residential, and retail space. The office component will be built for Silver LEED certification and the residential component will be designed to LEED standards.
  • A 218-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, under construction for delivery in 2009, will have a green roof and other environmentally friendly features. It is part of Marriott’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40,000 tons annually.

Other NoMA projects have also made strong commitments to sustainable design:

  • The General Services Administration is seeking LEED certification for the new Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives headquarters.
  • Tishman Speyer’s 1100 and 1150 First Street projects, with a total of 670,000 SF of office space and 30,000 SF of retail space, are being designed to receive Silver LEED certification. 1100 First Street is scheduled to break ground this summer for delivery in 2009.
  • J Street Development is designing all three of its NoMA projects to meet LEED certification: a 90,000 SF office condominium building at 111 K Street to deliver in early 2009, a 200,000 square foot boutique office condominium at 100 K Street to deliver in 2010, and planned redevelopment of a warehouse located at 1111 N. Capitol Street.
  • The first phase of JBG’s Capitol Square is in the early planning stages to participate in the LEED program. Capitol Square will include up to 1.6 million square feet of mixed-use space.

Participation in the LEED ND pilot program is an opportunity for NoMA and other selected neighborhoods to receive third-party recognition for incorporating smart growth and green design principles. Feedback from the pilot program will be used to refine the rating system. LEED ND is a collaborative effort that includes the USGBC, the Congress for New Urbanism, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

In addition to LEED ND, the District’s Office of Planning has launched the NoMA Sustainability Study (ecoNoMA), which will recommend neighborhood-scale strategies that promote sustainable design, including improved energy efficiency, water conservation, stormwater management, transportation, and recycling. Together, LEED-ND and ecoNoMA put NoMA on the forefront of the sustainable development movement that brings government, community, and business leaders together and looks beyond individual building impacts to neighborhood–wide solutions.

The NoMA BID is bounded generally by Massachusetts Avenue on the south, North Capitol Street on the west, and Q and R Streets on the north; it also extends eastward just beyond the CSX/Metrorail tracks. Centrally located within the BID is the New York Avenue Metro Station, situated near the new ATF headquarters building. Private developers are investing more than $1 billion this year with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the 35-block area covered by the NoMA BID over the next 20 years. For more information about the BID, including a development pipeline map, see the BID Website at http://nomabid.wpengine.com.

For more information on the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED Green Building Rating System, and the LEED Neighborhood Development pilot program, visit http://www.usgbc.org.

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