Work Starts on $300M CityMarket at O Project

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

On Nov. 18, work finally began on the the $300 million CityMarket at O, a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use project in Washington, D.C.’s historic Shaw neighborhood. It is one of 14 U.S. infrastructure projects selected by the Obama administration to be expedited through the permitting and environmental review process. Mayor Vincent Gray, Acting Assistant HUD Secretary and Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Carol Galante and U.S. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes North attended the ceremony, held at the project site at Seventh and O streets, N.W.

Located directly north of Downtown Washington, CityMarket at O will include 635 residential units, 84 of which will be set aside for seniors, with 401 market-rate apartments and 150 high-end condominiums. The market-rate rental housing is planned for an autumn 2013 completion, while the condominiums and seniors housing will be delivered a year later.

Constructed in 1881, the O Street Market Building will be restored and incorporated into a new 72,000-square-foot Giant Food Store. The development will also include retail and restaurants, a 182-room Cambria Suites hotel, more than 500 vehicle parking spaces, indoor bike parking stalls and a 270-linear-foot rooftop dog park. The supermarket will open in summer 2013, with the hotel opening in early fall of the same year.

CityMarket at O is the only HUD project to be fast-tracked for funding by the Obama administration. It will generate more than 2,400 jobs and is expected to attract 1,000 new residents to the Shaw neighborhood. The Giant Food will also bring in 200 workers, many from the Shaw neighborhood.

Local developer Roadside Development will include on its team Bernstein Management Corp., Giant Food, DC Regional Center, EB5 Capital, Clark Construction, Bozzuto Management, Shalom Baranes Associates, Concord Hospitality and Choice Hotels. The city has invested $37.5 million in the $260 million project.

CityMarket at O will serve as the catalyst for the revitalization of the Shaw neighborhood, one of Washington’s oldest commercial, residential and cultural communities. It will also enhance the district’s already flourishing housing market.