More news on the Old Post Office redevelopment project: The Trump Old Post Office LLC received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission (401 9th Street) this month for preliminary site and building plans to revitalize the Old Post Office Building and Pavilion Annex (1100 Pennsylvania Avenue) into a luxury hotel and conference center. The General Services Administration (GSA), which selected the Trump Organization to revitalize the 113-year-old historic landmark, submitted the plans.
NCPC is the federal government’s central planning agency for D.C., Maryland and Virginia. It also reviews federal project and memorial designs and oversees long-range planning for future development. In approving the Old Post Office project, it suggested that the GSA and the Trump Organization continue to refine the proposed exterior signage design, making sure it’s appropriately scaled and oriented to the setting.
The agency also requested that the transfer of jurisdiction for a driveway in the former 11th Street right-of-way be submitted to it with, or prior to, final site and building plans. The final plans are expected to be submitted this fall.
Both Donald and Ivanka Trump signed a 60-year lease for the Old Post Office last month. The building’s lower level now houses a food court and retail, while its upper levels host various federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Trumps plan to replace these uses with the 267-room Trump International Hotel, several restaurants, a spa, meeting/banquet facilities, retail, a gift shop, and museum space located in 502,000 square feet. The redeveloped project is scheduled to open in early 2016.
Meanwhile, the popular Clock Tower will remain open to the public during and after construction, and the National Park Service (NPS) will continue to provide tours.
The DowntownDC BID, a consulting partner with the GSA through the Section 106 process, has been involved with meetings concerning this project.