Sneak Peek: The New Watergate Hotel

The dramatic transformation of the long-dormant Watergate hotel into a luxury five-star is symbolic of the massive changes to existing property changing the face of DC. It's one of the reasons we're excited to be holding DC’s Repositioning Boom at the Reagan Building this coming Thursday, starting at 7:45am.

The logistics of turning one of DC’s most iconic buildings into a luxury hotel with a European flair fell to Euro Capital Properties principal Jacques Cohen (a speaker at our event), who’s overseeing The Watergate Hotel. He says the project has had challenges, including the legal process of bringing it out of bankruptcy, zoning modifications, and the complexities of remodeling of an old structure (built between 1963 and 1971).

Here's what you'll be sitting on while sipping whisky. Jacques' wife and Euro Capital SVP of design and development, Rakel Cohen (another event panelist), is modeling the chair designed specially for the hotel's whisky bar (but in red) by Moroso, an Italian furniture designer. Euro Capital also hired industrial designer Ron Arad, who’s known for designing chandeliers for Swarovski, the Bauhaus Museum in Tel Aviv, the Design Museum Holon (also Israel) and an eyewear collection.

A rendering of The Watergate Hotel's new lobby. Jacques, whose firm purchased the building for $45M in 2010, says it’s on pace to open in early fall. The $125M project will have 337 rooms, including five Diplomat Suites and two Presidential Suites, two restaurants and a rooftop terrace with 360-degree views. Nearly all the rooms will have views of the Potomac and half of them will have balconies, a rarity for DC hotels. (Everyone's too busy lobbying in the lobby to spend any time on a balcony.) It also includes the addition of 27k SF of meeting and event space. Hear about more repositioning trends Thursday morning at our DC Repositioning Boom event at the Reagan Building. We'll also honor real estate legend Oliver Carr. (Sign up here!)