The streets surrounding the White House may be bustling with tourists and local office workers, but the developers of 699 14th St. NW have their eyes set on bringing this DC neighborhood its first creative trophy office building.

The development of the historic National Bank of Washington at 14th and G streets is a joint effort between the commercial development teams at Dallas-based Lincoln Property and Chicago-based private equity investment firm Pearlmark Real Estate.

Surprisingly, this corner of the District has remained dormant since the early 1990s, until now. The redevelopment project will not only reactivate the corner, but will also bring new retail, architecture and office tenants to the immediate neighborhood.

The site offers a rare opportunity to develop a brand-new office tower in a micro market that is otherwise almost completely built out. 699 14th remains one of the last ground-up development spaces available within a few blocks of the White House.

“We’ve been pursuing this site over several years,” Lincoln Property senior executive vice president Brandon Ernst said. “It’s not often that you get an opportunity to acquire a site this close to the White House, especially with such a tremendous identity. When complete, we don’t think there will be another lobby or building in town with the kind of character this premier building will bring.”

The building will be composed of 11 stories of office space, with nine-foot finished ceiling heights, multiple outdoor terraces, floor-to-ceiling glass panels over 10 feet high, new retail and underground parking.

The historic bank property is in the process of being fully restored and will include retail opportunities while serving as the main entrance and lobby of the new office building. The developers will marry the historic with the modern by preserving much of the building's architectural façade while incorporating the new office building design to work seamlessly across the two. This presents a rare exterior signage opportunity at this highly visible corner, offering a tenant an exciting branding presence at the top of both sides of the building along G and 14th streets.

“We believe the branding opportunity at this site will be similar to that of Jones Day at 51 Louisiana Ave. on Capitol Hill,” Lincoln Property director of leasing John Marvin Jones said.

Some of the project’s most attractive features include the bank's historical interior architecture that includes two preserved, massive bank vaults. The vault on the lower level will likely be incorporated into a future upscale restaurant space.

The lower, non-historic retail spaces — previously occupied by a shoe store — will be cleared and redesigned as signature restaurant space. In keeping with one of the nation’s favorite office trends, the project will have multiple rooftop terraces and incorporate a fitness and wellness center.

The project is being designed by Shalom Baranes Associates, and will begin development early in the summer of 2017 with delivery scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2019. Lincoln’s leasing team of Jones and senior vice presidents Adam Biberaj and Merrill Turnbull are marketing the office space, while senior vice president of retail leasing Joe Falcone will focus on attracting new prospects to the retail portions of the site.

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