Washington Business Journal by Rebecca Cooper
We’re getting a closer look at the revised designs for Events D.C.’s planned entertainment and sports arena, a $65 million venue in D.C.’s Ward 8 that will serve as a practice facility for the Washington Wizards, the home of the Mystics and host a range of other events.
The city has already started working on the infrastructure at the site in Congress Heights, and Events D.C., the city’s conventions and sports authority, hopes to break ground on the venue in the spring of 2017 and deliver the project in 2018.
The new renderings reflect a slightly pared-down design, with a more traditional roofline compared to the earlier designs. They're going for a “more clean, modern building,” according to Greg O’Dell, CEO of Events D.C.
The taller, sloped elevation on the east side of the facility will hold the 4,200-seat arena, which will be the Mystics’ home court in addition to hosting, for example, boxing matches, local high school sports tournaments, concerts and other activities.
The venue’s entryway will be a glass-enclosed atrium on the southeast corner of the building, with a secondary entrance to the west on Oak Street. The stepped-down roof to the west is the area where the Wizards separate practice facility will be located.
Retail spaces will be open even when there isn’t an event going on in the arena, and the spaces will be accessible from both the street and the building’s interior. There may even be opportunities for the retail to tie in with the in-arena concessions, according to O’Dell.
They expect to lease between 1,100 and 1,500 square feet, which is divided into four spaces, primarily to restaurants, said Events D.C. Board Chair Max Brown.
“We heard from the community that retail and food amenities are lacking in the area, so we’ve increased our focus on that,” Brown said. “We’ve already begun talking with potential restaurant tenants.”
Since Brown took over the board chairmanship in 2015, Events D.C. completed a major leasing project at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, landing some of the city’s buzziest restaurateurs and businesses to fill 19,000 square feet of retails space.
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2016/11/16/updated-design-for-wizards-practice-facility-at-st.html