It really hasn’t been a secret that Starwood Capital was building a 1 Hotel in Washington – for one it is listed on 1 Hotel’s website (www.1hotels.com) as a future  location for the brand. It has been known for a while that the 1 Hotel was going to be located on the West End of Washington, DC, across the street from the Ritz Carlton, Washington DC. The property used to be occupied by the Nigerian Embassy.

According to a press release yesterday from Starwood Capital, the hotel is being built in conjunction with Perseus Realty, a private developer that focuses their investments in the Washington DC Metro Area. The 1 Hotel Washington DC will have 180 rooms, and does not seem to have any residences (it is referred to throughout the Press Release and 1Hotel.com as “1 Hotel” instead of “1 Hotel and Residences”. Ground is expected to be broken in mid-2008, and delivery (opening) scheduled to occur in 2010.

Future Location of 1 Hotel, Washington DC located in center of picture. Ritz Carlton, Washington DC located directly to the left of 1 Hotel site.

I have not been able to find any renderings of the property which is being designed by Chad Oppenheim and his company Oppenheim. In a recent Portfolio Magazine article on Barry Sternlicht (CEO/Chairman of Starwood Capital Group), the 1 Hotel Washington, DC is briefly mentioned:

In Washington, [Sternlicht] recently bought the Nigerian embassy, across the street from the Ritz-Carlton, for $15.5 million and plans to build something that Mies van der Rohe might have crafted if he’d been asked to draft a Biosphere 3 for Princeton’s campus: Ivy will cloak much of the first floor and creep up the side of an airy glass-and-steel structure; a hanging garden will appear to cleave the hotel.

It sounds like the 1 Hotel, Washington DC will stay true to its “Green” roots by having living plants up and down the glass framed building. It’s surely sounds like a sight to see.

I love the confidence that the Starwood Capital Group had to build one of the first hotels of a brand new hotel brand, directly across the street from a much bigger and much better known competitor.

Personally, I think its great that the Ritz-Carlton is directly across the street – it’s perfect for the overflow which will surely come from the 1 once it’s booked solid every night.

andrew@alconic-inc.com

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