Carmel Partners has secured construction financing for its 900-unit redevelopment of a massive historic hotel in Northwest D.C.'s Woodley Park.
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The San Francisco-based development firm secured $360M in construction financing from Wells Fargo Bank for its redevelopment of the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, according to documents filed last week with the D.C. Recorder of Deeds.
Carmel Partners and Wells Fargo declined to comment on the financing.
Carmel Partners purchased the property at an auction in July 2021 for $152.25M after its prior owner, an affiliate of Pacific Life Insurance Co., closed the hotel and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The property had been saddled with $130M in debt obligations, and the hotel suffered from the impact of the pandemic.
The site had been home to a hotel for over 100 years, first opening the Wardman Hotel in 1918. The hotel, featuring 1,152 rooms and 195K SF of event space adjacent to the Woodley Park Metro station, closed temporarily during the height of the pandemic in 2020 and then permanently shuttered in the winter of 2021.
The developer plans to demolish the 99-foot-tall hotel and replace it with two 90-foot residential buildings constructed around a central courtyard. The building footprint would decrease from 47% to 23% of the parcel, adding more than 2 acres of green space, according to an application filed with D.C.’s Historic Preservation Review Board.
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“Conceived as two pavilions within a park-like setting, these new structures simultaneously define significant open space at the center and edges of the site,” the application says.
The development was subject to the HPRB because of its connection with historic landmark Wardman Tower, a building still standing from 1928 that is operated as a separate condominium property.
Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C and other community groups opposed the development, arguing that it could be used as an opportunity to create more affordable housing in a predominantly wealthy area. Housing advocates had previously called for D.C. to purchase the site to maximize its affordability.
After the proposal, the ANC called for the developer to increase the number of overall units in the development to 1,200 and make it at least 35% affordable to residents making up to between 30% and 60% of the area median income. ANC 3C also opposed the design and suggested it become a mixed-use development. Carmel hasn't disclosed how much of its project would be affordable.
Construction permits are under review with the city, according to the Department of Buildings database. DOB lists design, engineering and cost documents filed within the past few months and some as recently as a few days ago.
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