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More Renderings for Union Station Master Plan Including Burnham Place

Yesterday afternoon we took a look at a rendering and master plan for Union Station development. Here’s more info, renderings a press release from Akridge.

Akridge will join Amtrak, the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC), and federal, state and local government officials in announcing the Washington Union Station Master Plan. A cornerstone of the Plan is Burnham Place, a 3-million square-foot mixed use development that will create a new urban neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C. Built atop the rail yards north of the station, Burnham Place will bring a host of benefits to the neighborhood, the region and the entire Northeastern United States.

Ideally located at the convergence of the city’s central business district, Capitol Hill, and the burgeoning NoMa and H St. NE neighborhoods, Burnham Place is envisioned as a major commercial, retail, and residential hub for the entire D.C. Metropolitan area. While still in initial planning stages, early projections for the project suggest 1.5 million square feet of office space, more than 1,300 residential units, 500 hotel rooms, and 100,000 square feet of retail space. Only six blocks from the U.S. Capitol, the project’s potential is vast and could accommodate a global headquarters, cultural or educational institution, or multi-building campus.

Additionally, Burnham Place will feature a linear park or “greenway” along the west side of the station. This half-mile long park will provide a pedestrian walking path and bike lane for commuters, residents and visitors alike, connecting the NoMa neighborhood with Union Station and Metro. The beautifully landscaped greenway will also incorporate and connect to the elevated portion of the popular bikeway, the Metropolitan Branch Trail.

Burnham Place is integrated as part of Amtrak’s overall Union Station Master Plan and will help connect residents, workers, and visitors to the nation’s capital and the region. With regional mobility now severely constrained, the plan offers the ability to accommodate the significant growth in regional transportation projected over the coming decades, with twice the number of trains and triple the number of passengers by 2030. The plan also allows for even further growth, including high-performance, high-speed rail along the Northeast Corridor. Notably, the Master Plan along with Burnham Place is expected to generate $14.3 billion in economic benefit to the D.C. Metropolitan area over the next 15 years.

Category: Architecture, Buildings, Development, NoMa

By: | 26 July 2012 11:00 AM | 26 Comments

  • ceeps

    So… in essence, they’re planning on building a Reston Town Center™ in the middle of the city.

  • JC – I initially thought they were planning on tearing down the original building! This eases my fears, though the project does still seem massive and obviouslywillrunWAYoverbudget…

  • WOW… so looks like DC is growing up just a little bit huh.

    Didn’t realize Union Station was the second busiest train station in the country. The future is bright for sure.

    • Joe Blow

      Yes indeed. And if we could just get some tax incentives to bring the buggy whip manufacturing interests back to town, we could really kickstart the local economy…

  • Nolo

    This looks awesome. Don’t listen to the haters.

  • It still needs a movie theater where teenagers can yell at the screen and stab eachother.

  • Anonymous

    I think they’re making a dangerous assumption that people are going to want to pay a lot of money to live on top of a very busy train station. Have they forgotten that most of the trains coming through there still run on diesel fuel, and will for the foreseeable future?

    • Anonymous

      Do you ever notice the smell of diesel while walking down 1 St NE in front of the Supreme Court? or Virginia Ave SE? because the trains sun under those streets all day…

    • CorneliusV

      They certainly pay a premium in NYC, Park Avenue North sits right on top of the rail lines headed north. Some of the priciest real estate in the country.

      • Anonymous

        I’m not so sure that’s a fair comparison, because people play ungodly sums for a lot of stupid stuff in NYC, just because of the scarcity of land.

    • Anonymous

      it’d be a perfect location for corporate apartments, actually.

  • Logan Res

    This project is so much larger than just the buildings and retail. It includes layers and layers of tunnels, connections, new platforms, rails, and ties together Amtrak, MARC, VRE, Metro, city buses, tourist buses, future Metro, etc. Visions like this should be realized to move us forward and make our transportation cleaner, safer, and more reliable.

    • CornholioDC

      +1

      Well stated. I would love to see DC’s public transit infrastructure improved to this level and on par with other world class systems.

  • Anonymous

    Nice. Any of the NoMa haters care to comment?

  • Anonymous

    Looks great. See ya there when it’s done, in about 20 years!

  • Improving Union Station + infrastructure with federal tax $ is a great idea. Spending billions of tax dollars on some crappy faux development is a joke.

  • SF

    I’m all for redeveloping and expanding this transit hub but $7.5 BILLION, and in the same breath mentioning stimulus funds, sounds like a huge, sweaty-palmed grab for federal dollars.

    It looks similar to Berlin Hauptbahnhof, which took ten years to complete and cost EUR 700 Million (less that US $1 Billion). Can somebody tell me why this thing would cost 8x that development?

    • Anonymous

      The Berlin Hbf didn’t include a ton of retail and residential redevelopment around it. Much of the construction was for the train station itself (which, btw, is fantastic)

  • Anonymous

    Holy shit, Union Station kicks ass!!

  • M-Dawg

    I think it’s pretty badass that they’re installing water slides that lead to the food court. Also, nice touch using real civil war skeletons as security gaurds!

  • So…is this happening regardless of the Union Station redevelopment plan, or are they waiting for Federal funding, or what? It’s never been clear to me if this is something that will move forward on its own, or only in conjunction if the proposed Union Station plan takes place as well.

  • CorneliusV

    Wow! Now I’m a fan, looks Fabulous !!
    Looks like a really great modern day version of Grand Central. I venture many don’t realize much of Park Ave is build on top of rail lines. The area around Grand Central is all the better from my point of view.

  • Anonymous

    Fed funds should be easy to procure, as it will be a pet project for every Congress member who lives on the eastern seaboard and uses on Amtrak on a regular basis



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