Skip to content

NoMa’s Constitution Square Breaks Ground in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., April 7, 2008… Ground was broken today for the first phase of Constitution Square in the NoMa (north of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Developer StonebridgeCarras announced that the first phase of Constitution Square, recently selected for a 521,000 square foot lease for the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), also will include a 204-room Hilton Garden Inn Hotel. Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) joined the development team and other invited guests for the groundbreaking ceremony.The first phase of Constitution Square, scheduled to deliver in 2010, will total 1.6 million SF of mixed-use space located adjacent to the New York Avenue Metro station at First and M Streets, N.E., and will comprise:

  • One Constitution Square, with 340,000 square feet of speculative office space;
  • Two Constitution Square, with 589,000 square feet of Class A office space, of which 521,000 SF is pre-leased to the US General Services Administration (GSA) for the DoJ;
  • A 50,000 square foot Harris Teeter grocery store; and 30,000 square feet of additional retail space;
  • A residential building with 440 apartment units; and
  • A 204-key Hilton Garden Inn Hotel to be owned and operated by an affiliate of OTO Development of Spartanburg, SC, including meeting facilities and a restaurant open seven days a week.

“Today’s groundbreaking for Constitution Square marks an exciting time for our company,” commented StonebridgeCarras Principal Doug Firstenberg. “We’re very proud to be an integral part of the transformation of NoMa and look forward to the completion of this booming mixed-use environment bringing all components–office, retail, residential and hotel–to one location. With its dramatic architecture, sustainable qualities, superior access and abundant amenities, Constitution Square will become a landmark location, providing an extremely positive impact on the entire neighborhood.”

Constitution Square is a joint development of affiliates of StonebridgeCarras of Bethesda, MD and Walton Street Capital of Chicago, IL. Darian LeBlanc, Zeke Dodson and Mark Sullivan of Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers’ Washington, D.C. office are spearheading the leasing and marketing for the office portion of the project, which was designed by HOK Architects of Washington, D.C. to achieve the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) GOLD rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. JBG Rosenfeld Retail of Chevy Chase, MD is the leasing agent for Constitution Square’s retail space. The residential building, grocery store, and hotel were designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group of Washington, D.C.

“NoMa is no longer emerging,” noted Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “This groundbreaking marks the realization of the District’s vision for a truly mixed-use community. The location of a major federal agency, a Harris Teeter grocery store, a Hilton hotel, and new residences at a single project in a single phase is beyond our expectations.”

“We have been working to bring a Hilton Garden Inn to Constitution Square so we could be a part of this tremendous neighborhood,” stated Corry Oakes, CEO of OTO Development.”This is our first hotel in the District, and we hope and expect to develop more in the future.”

“This exciting new project will be a centerpiece for the mixed-used development in this booming new neighborhood,” added D.C. Council member Wells. “Today’s groundbreaking — connecting transit, housing, office, and retail amenities like Harris Teeter — turns the shovels for new opportunities in NoMa and the communities surrounding it.”

“Constitution Square is a seminal project for NoMa,” said Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMa Business Improvement District. “It brings together office, residential, hotel, and retail uses, all adjacent to the New York Avenue Metro station. The recently announced Harris Teeter is the foundation for a new, dynamic neighborhood in the heart of our great city. The size and scale of this project, over 1.6 million square feet, speaks to the momentum and confidence in the NoMa market.”

About StonebridgeCarras, LLC:
StonebridgeCarras, LLC is a privately held real estate investment and development firm based in Bethesda, Maryland which focuses primarily on developing mixed-use properties in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. During the past twenty years, the principals of StonebridgeCarras, LLC have been involved in the acquisition, development, joint venture, financing and disposition of real estate assets in the Washington area exceeding $5.0 billion in value.

About Walton Street Capital, L.L.C:
Walton Street Capital, L.L.C. was founded in 1995 and is a premier, private real estate investment company operating in the U.S. and abroad. Since its inception, Walton Street has received equity commitments in excess of $4.5 billion from public and corporate pension funds, foreign institutions, endowments and foundations, trusts and high net worth individuals. Through its series of opportunistic and value-added funds, Walton Street has invested or committed to invest more than $3.5 billion of equity in over $13 billion of gross assets in approximately 160 separate transactions in U.S. and international real estate, including the development and acquisition of office, hotel, retail, industrial, multi-family, for-sale residential, senior and student housing, and golf assets through individual, portfolio and company-level transactions.

About OTO Development:
OTO Development, LLC, headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, is the latest hospitality company launched by George D. Johnson Jr., H. Wayne Huizenga, Corry W. Oakes, III, and Todd Turner. OTO is the nation’s fastest growing developer and operator of premier select-service hotels in high-barrier-to-entry U.S. markets. Since the company’s inception in 2004, OTO has established a pipeline of 53 hotels representing over $1 billion in development. The Hilton Garden Inn at Constitution Square will be OTO’s 11th development project in the greater Washington metropolitan area. OTO develops brands offered by Hilton Hotels Corporation, Marriott International, Starwood Hotels, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

About the NoMa BID:
NoMa is an emerging mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in Washington DC. Private developers have invested approximately $1.5 billion to date with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the area covered by the NoMa BID over the next 10 years. The BID provides daily street and sidewalk cleaning, safety ambassadors, marketing, events, and other services to make NoMa a clean, safe, and vibrant neighborhood for businesses, residents, and visitors. For more information about the BID, including an interactive development map, see the BID Website at http://nomabid.wpengine.com.

Take the 2024 Community Survey

X