Welcome to the Washington Design Center, which is moving from Southwest D.C. to Franklin Court (1099 14th Street) in early 2014. The implications for Downtown are huge, offering the opportunity to reinvent design in D.C. and connect to the new, mixed-use CityCenterDC complex and condominiums along 14th Street.
“We’re very excited to have the Washington Design Center move downtown,” said Karyn Le Blanc, the BID’s director of communications. “Having WDC in downtown opens up new opportunities to focus on the larger design market and puts WDC at the center of activity, which bodes well for designers and their local commercial and residential customers.”
The Design Center selected Downtown DC for its robust neighborhoods and proximity to Metro, retailers, restaurants and residential housing. Franklin Court, an 11-story Class A office building, also offers its showrooms much-needed loading docks, freight elevators and an abundance of windows and lights to showcase their wares.
According to DC by Design, the new design center will occupy space on the entire second, third and fourth floors—and additional space on the first floor. Its showrooms will have glass storefronts and access to the building’s Plaza level for product display and events, and they will be able to use Franklin Court’s huge atrium, lower lobby and rooftop terrace for events, free of charge.
The design center is “the mid-Atlantic’s one-stop shopping resource” for the finest in home furnishings, furniture, fabric, and building products. Its showrooms cater to interior designers, architects, and space planners for custom design for their clients. The good news: consumers can also window shop and browse a select number of home furnishing showrooms, but they must contact a design professional to purchase from the home furnishing showrooms—obviously not a problem because the offerings are fabulous!
Last July, the center’s current building at 300 D Street was sold for $50 million. That space, where it occupied seven floors, will be converted into a Bible museum. Several developers, including Douglas Development Corporation (702 H Street), a major Downtown property owner and developer, have wooed the center’s showrooms.