NPR is Moving to Eckington

[Guest Eckington District Resident]

This is fantastic news for the Eckington Community.

 

http://washington.bizjournals.com/washingt...ml?surround=lfn

 

National Public Radio will move its headquarters to a newly built office at 1111 N. Capitol St. NE in the neighborhood north of Massachusetts Avenue, according to sources familiar with the deal.

 

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is expected to announce the move Wednesday afternoon.

 

J Street Development has been planning to build a 525,000-square-foot office building on the site, by redeveloping and adding to the Smithsonian Institution warehouse that sits on the site. The Smithsonian leases the existing 170,000-square-foot structure, formerly owned by the Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co., but will vacate in October. Working with architecture firm Shalom Baranes Associates, J Street plans to retain the historic facades on three sides as it adds new office space and 25,000 square feet of retail.

 

The building sits between Pierce Street NE to the north and L Street NE to the south. To the east of NPR's new headquarters lies a swath of new construction.

 

NPR was represented by the D.C. office of Studley, a national tenant brokerage firm.

 

The public radio network has said it wants nearly 400,000 square feet of office and studio space to consolidate its D.C. offices and to make room for future digital media programs. NPR operates out of two buildings near Mount Vernon Square, 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, which it owns, and 900 Seventh St. NW, about a block away.

 

The move represents a major score for the neighborhood north of Massachusetts Avenue (NoMa), an area touted as a future government enclave and retail destination. Currently, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms headquarters and XM Satellite Radio Inc. are the biggest names in NoMa.