425 Eye Construction Update

From my condo I have a front seat view to witness the progress of construction at 425 Eye Street. The renovation will transform the building from Class B office space contained in a bland white box to Class A office space with a glass facade and 29,000 SF of new retail space.

Left: Before image from Spring 2009; Right: Rendering of proposed improvements

July '09 image of Fourth and Eye corner

Nov '09 image of Eye Street frontage

Nov '09 image of Fourth Street frontage

Renovations are forecasted to be completed by the Summer of 2010. Presently there is no news about potential office or retail tenants.

Latest Bisnow update on 425 Eye

Commercial Real Estate news site Bisnow has provided another update on Paramount Group's renovation of 425 Eye Street NW.

John Bone of Paramount Group

It’s a great value play at low to mid-40s full service) and on schedule to deliver Q1 ‘10. It’ll have all new lobby, common areas, bathrooms, fitness facilities, and rooftop deck, and he adds that 4th and I is a "perfect" place for a restaurant.

Paramount has selected Bill Miller of Transwestern Retail to lease the 29,000 SF of ground floor retail space. Transwestern has been a key player in the downtown retail scene signing Buddha Bar for 455 Mass and listing Coco Sala, PS7, Proof and Cork & Fork among their deals.


Transwestern's website lists 22 tenants actively looking available space in the DC Metro Area. Any of the 22 seem like a fit? I think Humble or Marvelous Market might work. While I know there is a hunger for diners among district residents I can't say Metro Silver Diner really appeals to me. That seems like it should have signed on at DCUSA...

425 Eye Retail floorplate

The Paramount Property Group has posted floor plates on to their corporate website for each level of it's 425 Eye renovation project.

Image from Paramount Group; Click to enlarge

Over 29,000 SF of retail is split across 7 bays. Bays A thru C are west of the lobby entrance on Eye street and represent nearly 13,000 SF of contiguous space. East of the lobby Bays D through G follow along Eye Street then wrap around to span the building's entire Fourth Street frontage.

Seems there are a large number of columns tenants will need to design around. I'm not certain of ceiling height but I would guess 12 feet. If so I think potential restaurant tenants would most likely be fast casual concepts. In past retail discussions many of our females readers have lobbied for a nice spa/nails place. Could this building eventually fill that need?

Eye Catching Displays

Below are snapshots of two signs posted in the neighborhood over the last few days.


The remodel of the office building at 425 Eye is in full force and the Paramount group recently erected the gigantic banner above along the structure's rear. I do think the slogan "Here comes the neighborhood" is a bit ridiculous for an office building. If you're going to spin it that way atleast hype the 28,000 s.f. of retail elsewhere on the banner. Overall I am pleased the blank wall has been dressed up.


Also of note on Eye Street is that DURKL apparel now has lettering in their front window. They reside in the blue & white garage at 443 Eye Street.

Picking off the (S)CAAB

The skin/scab has come off the old Chester A. Arthur building (CAAB). The office building is being renovated and rebranded from the CAAB to 425 Eye. The renovation will transform the building from Class B office space contained in a bland white box to Class A office space with a glass facade and 28,000sf of new retail space.


Renovations are forecasted to be completed by the Summer of 2010. Presently there is no news about potential office or retail tenants.

Triangle Times - Summer '09 edition

The Summer '09 edition of the Triangle Times newsletter is available on the MVT CID Website in PDF form. The newsletter has a special focus on new retail and redevelopment in the Triangle.


On interesting piece of new information is that the 425 Eye Street office building renovation plans to substantial ground floor retail:

Approximately 28,000 square feet of retail space will be created on the first floor – ideally with a white tablecloth restaurant in the mix.

For a frame of reference 28,000 sf of retail would be 3 times the size of Buddha Bar or Acadiana. While I doubt they would lease to three large restaurants it's very easy to imagine a scenario with one nice large restaurant, a cafe catered towards quick lunch food for office workers, and a mix of other service oriented businesses.

Triangle Times also announced that 455 Mass Ave won an award from WBJ:

The Buddha Bar at 455 Mass was awarded the Urban Retail Transaction of the Year from the The Washington Business Journal. The building, developed by Penzance and ASB Real Estate Investments, leased a 9,500-square-foot, first-floor space to the international restaurant group based in Paris. Congratulations!

Bisnow on 425 Eye Street

Commercial Real Estate news site Bisnow reports on the transformation underway at 425 Eye Street. From a content perspective Bisnow repeats much of the basic details and renderings this blog outlayed on May 6th. New information includes placing faces on the key players responsible for the project and suggesting an ETA of July 2010.


Hat Tip: KR

425 Eye Construction fencing

Last week we witnessed the first clear sign that renovations at 425 Eye St had begun. A fence along the building's Eye street frontage has blocked off the entire ~20 foot wide sidewalk and a lane of roadway. Sigal construction placed their signs on the fencing and the building late in the week.


In early 2008 the district government announced a new pedestrian safety standard that requires either covered walkways or protected open walkways at most construction sites. While existing construction projects around the city were grandfathered out of the requirement new projects like 425 Eye street should be held to the standard.

The Bloomingdale (for now) blog had the same observation about construction fencing recently erected at the Watha T. Daniel library site. The issue there has been sorted out and pedestrian access restored. We'll have to watch over the coming weeks to see if Sigal construction boxed out this area on Eye Street as a precursor to building covered walkways or if they are simply in non-compliance.

425 Eye Street renovations

Last December the GSA relocated ICE headquarters from their 30 year home at the Chester A. Arthur building (425 Eye Street NW) to Southwest DC. The Paramount Group, which purchased the CAAB building in 2005 for 135.5 million dollars, plans to upgrade the seven-story 384,520 s.f. class B office building to class A office space.

Renovation work has recently begun at the building which begs the question what level of transformation does Paramount have planned? I've come across an old brochure for the property which may not reflect the latest details but should be reasonably accurate. (ed note: notice the reflections of the DuMont in the windows of the rendering)

brochure excerpt:

425 Eye Street’s transformation was inspired and designed by the innovative thinkers at SmithGroup Architects. Attention to detail, commitment to sustainability, and world class design have earned SmithGroup awards around the globe. Their cornerstones of design are reflected in the material throughout 425 Eye Street.

The brochure states that the building will aspire to a LEED Silver rating. The renderings suggest that the structure will remain at the current seven story height. The biggest transformation to the exterior would be the reskinning of the building with new windows and a sleek grey finish. The west wing of the building is pictured with a glass curtain wall.


The renderings depict the ground level as being at grade with the sidewalk. This is clearly not the case as sunken terraces occupy the Eye and Fourth street frontage. It should be interesting to watch how these renovations unfold.

ICE melting away

The Immigration and Custom Enforcements (ICE) agency is moving out of the Chester A. Arthur Building (425 I Street NW) to Southwest DC. The move has been ongoing for weeks and will be completed by year end.


The seven-story 384,520 s.f. class B office building has served as the headquarter for ICE (formerly INS) for 30 years. The agency is moving to JBG's Potomac Center North at 500 12th Street SW.

The Australian based Paramount Group purchased 425 I Street in 2005 for 135.5 million dollars, or about $352 per square foot. Given the high cost per square foot razing the building would not seem to be an option. Paramount will transform the building into Class A office space and is considering adding two stories, an atrium and/or re-skinning the building. The face lift will likely take 12 months while they search for a new tenant.

With the next tenant not likely to be GSA the concrete planters along Eye and 4th Streets that I detest so much should be removed. While the building is vacant, lack of eyes on the street could become an issue. One of my neighbors at Madrigal suggested to me that the early morning activity in the parking lots from the ICE workers each morning allows the walk to Results Gym to be less sketchy.