Zara Billionaire Plans Renovation Of Office Across From White House
The investment vehicle of Zara founder and Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega is planning a large-scale revamp of an iconic office property in the heart of Washington, D.C.
Ponte Gadea, the owner of 1445 New York Ave. NW, is seeking permission to modify the property to make it more enticing to office tenants. The firm's plans include adding a rooftop amenity space and habitable penthouse, undertaking a partial glass facade replacement, modifying the entryway and creating a new atrium.
Architecture firm Gensler, on behalf of Ponte Gadea, filed the plans with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts last week. The commission is set to consider the proposal at its monthly meeting Thursday.
The 1880s-era property, which sits on the northeast corner of the White House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The project is an effort to make the property “more competitive in the DC market and more attractive to top tenants,” the filing says.
Ponte Gadea didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The office building, also known as the National Savings & Trust Co. Building, was constructed in 1888 in the Queen Anne style and has undergone three significant expansions over the past century and a half.
The latest, in 1984, tacked on a taller portion in a slightly different style. The glass facade replacement would be to that portion of the property, the filing says, which isn’t considered to be contributing to the historic nature of the building.
“A sensitive and elegant glass facade can appeal to today’s tenant market tastes while also more crisply spotlighting the real star — the historic structure,” the CFA filing says.
The new rooftop terrace atop the seventh floor of the main building is imagined to provide a “park-like retreat for building users as well as a place for hosting outdoor gatherings.” It would also house a large, circular skylight that would filter light down into a new atrium.
Although the filings don’t describe the new atrium, they say that the work to create it would include partially removing some of the infill floors.
Just a few blocks away, on the other side of the White House, Grosvenor is also planning a large-scale renovation of its historic office building at 1701 Pennsylvania Ave NW. That project is similarly set to include a facade replacement and new penthouse, as well as lobby improvements, for its anchor tenant White & Case.
Ponte Gadea purchased 1445 New York Ave. in 2007 for $87M. Its other D.C. holdings include 815 Connecticut Ave. NW, an office building just northwest of the White House, and the Investment Building at 1501 K St. NW.
The company has been active in South Florida, where its U.S. operations are based, over the past year.
In October, Ponte Gadea paid $274M for a half-million-square-foot office tower in Brickell, Miami's financial center. It acquired a retail stretch in the Miami Design District a month earlier and a 259-unit Fort Lauderdale apartment building last June.
In New York City, the company sold an 85K SF office building near Grand Central Station for a massive discount in October.
It is also reportedly in negotiations for an office complex in Paris for $985M.
