Washington Business Journal by Michael Neibauer
The $720 million overhaul of the historic McMillan Sand Filtration Plant is moving forward.
Vision McMillan Partners, the master developer for the controversial 25-acre project, on Monday released a request for proposals for a design-build contractor to prepare the site for vertical construction. VMP is a partnership of Trammell Crow Co., Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners and EYA.
An overview of the McMillan proposal, with the 8-acre park and community center in the… more
The District, as McMillan’s owner, has set aside $70 million for horizontal construction. The city’s 2016 budget requires that revenue from the sale of each pad site, roughly $27 million in total, be reinvested in the public portions of the project.
The general contractor will be chosen through a two-step process. A statement of qualification is due by April 1. A shortlist of firms will be asked to submit proposals due by May 5. VMP expects to issue a notice to proceed by Sept. 1, with the hope of breaking ground before the end of the year.
“A decommissioned water treatment plant, McMillan was purchased by the District of Columbia for redevelopment decades ago,” VMP announced Monday. “Now, following a robust community engagement and entitlement process, VMP is excited to take the next step in making the reimagining of McMillan a reality.”
Because the District owns McMillan, and VMP is operating under a contract with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the contractor will be required to comply with first-source hiring, certified business enterprise and living wage requirements.
The historic former sand filtration plant covers four city blocks bounded by Michigan Avenue, North Capitol Street, Channing Street and First Street NW. The project will include the phased demolition of 100-year-old structures (to the great dismay of opponents), mass excavation, preservation and rehabilitation of certain “iconic historic structures,” utility work, road and street construction and re-establishment of the Olmsted Walk around the perimeter.
The initial work is expected to last 18-24 months.
McMillan is advancing to the construction stage despite the fact that its opponents have petitioned the D.C. Court of Appeals to overturn the Zoning Commission's 2014 approval of the project's planned-unit development. Critics argue the McMillan plan is far too dense for its location, among other issues. The fundraising campaign for the Save McMillan Park legal effort has raised $13,855.
The 2.1-million-square-foot redevelopment plan calls for roughly 1 million square feet of medical office space (Trammell Crow), 531 apartments and a 52,000-square-foot Harris Teeter (Jair Lynch), 146 townhouses (EYA), an 8-acre central park and a 17,500-square-foot community center. Some historic resources on the property, including four regulator houses and two acres of underground filter-beds, will be preserved.