The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will move its headquarters and 700 employees to NoMa starting on November 18th and complete the move by early December. The Commission will be located at One NoMa Station at 131 M Street, NE. Last year, GSA leased 144,000 SF in the building, owned by Bristol Group, Inc. of San Francisco on behalf of EEOC. The lease has grown to a total of 161,000 SF. A deli and lobby shop to serve the building’s new occupants is nearing completion on the first floor.

Moving to NoMa in December will be the first tenants at Capitol Plaza I, located at 1200 1st Street. Point Carbon, a private firm based in Oslo, Norway, is a leading international provider of independent news, analysis and consulting services for European and global power, gas and carbon markets. It has offices in Oslo, Kiev, Malmö, London, Tokyo, Boston, as well as Washington and will occupy 9,887 SF at Capitol Plaza. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has leased 34,773 SF comprising the entire second floor and part of the third floor.

Despite the economic slowdown, NoMa continues to snag new deals. J Street’s office condominium project under construction at 111 K Street is 60 percent committed with private, non-profit buyers:

Last week J Street announced that YWCA USA, a national not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to empowering women and ending racism, has purchased the 11th floor of the building (9,400 SF) for its national headquarters. Established in 1858, the YWCA is the oldest and largest national women’s organization. Through its nearly 300 local affiliates and its headquarters in Washington, DC, the YWCA serves 2.5 million women and girls each year. YWCA USA is a member of World YWCA, which has affiliates in 122 countries that serve 25 million women and girls worldwide.

The National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) a trade association representing student affairs administrators in higher education has also purchased a floor of the building. Both organizations will join Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, which signed a purchase agreement for a three-floor, 28,000 SF office condominium in August and will move its legislative offices to NoMa in 2010.

1100 First Street Nears Completion
Tishman Speyer’s spectacular new office building at 1100 First Street, N.E. is nearing completion with the gleaming glass curtain wall now installed and the structure “closed in.” Designed by the Chicago-based firm Krueck & Sexton along with locally-based Gensler, the building gives a contemporary edge to the emerging NoMa skyline. Scheduled for delivery in April 2009, the building has 350,000 square feet of Class A office space and 15,000 square feet of retail space, and is designed to achieve the LEED Silver rating.

Constitution Square: Full Steam Ahead
The city’s largest construction project is about to go vertical. With nearly 400 workers, five cranes and their very own concrete batch plant on site, Stonebridge Carras is making quick work of this 1.6 million SF mixed used project and future home to Department of Justice, Harris Teeter and Hilton Garden Inn. The massive hole at 1st and M is gone and the team has now reached grade on its two office buildings.

NPR Picks Boston Properties
NPR, a premier worldwide media organizations, has selected Boston Properties, Inc. to redevelop its future headquarters in NoMa at 1111 North Capitol Street. At the same time, Boston Properties acquired NPR’s current Washington, D.C. headquarters at 635 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. NPR will remain at its current location and lease it back from Boston Properties until the new headquarters is ready for occupancy in late 2012.

Five Guys, the popular homegrown restaurant that serves quality burgers and fries, opened its NoMa eatery on Friday, November 14th. It joins Pound Coffee in the ATF retail building on Second Street just outside the New York Avenue Metro station. Five Guys is open 7 days a week from 11am to 10pm. Two more restaurants, Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli and Sister’s Pizza & Mussels, are under construction and will open by the end of the year. A Chevy Chase Bank ATM on Second Street has proved highly popular with NoMa workers; the ATM’s transaction volume tripled between August and September.

NoMa was the subject of a nearly full-page article in The New York Times on September 24, titled “In Washington’s NoMa, a trendy name and high hopes.” It’s an upbeat article that calls NoMa “Washington’s newest and hottest commercial neighborhood, with residential development expected to follow.”

The District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) has awarded the NoMa BID a $50,000 matching grant to fund the installation of public art in the heart of the NoMa neighborhood. DCCAH is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant was made possible through the Public Art Building Communities grant program, which offers funds to eligible artists and nonprofit organizations for the creation and installation of permanent public art projects in the District. The NoMa BID will issue a call to artists this Fall for the fabrication and installation of permanent, iconic artwork in the plaza space at the northwest corner of 1st and M Streets, N.E., just one block from the New York Avenue Metro station. The artwork is expected to be completed and installed by Fall 2009.

Two projects are currently underway that will ultimately make NoMa one of the city’s most bike-friendly neighborhoods. The District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) has begun construction on a new $4 million Bicycle Transit Facility at Union Station. Scheduled to open in Spring of 2009, the “Bike Station” will offer secure bicycle parking, rentals, repairs, and accessories in a contemporary 1,700 SF building at the corner of 1st Street and Massachusetts Avenue, NE. This will be the first facility of its kind on the east coast.

At the same time, DDOT has begun design and construction of phase two of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) that will run between New York Avenue and Franklin Street, N.E. in NoMa. This new segment, scheduled to open in Summer 2009, will provide a dedicated bike path from Catholic University to Union Station and provide direct access to three Metrorail stations: New York Avenue, Union Station, and Rhode Island Avenue. Upon completion, the MBT will provide an 8-mile bike trail between Silver Spring and the National Mall. DDOT and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities have selected a local artist, Robert Kent Wilson, to create an artistic identity that brands and unifies the trail as it traverses different neighborhoods. You can learn more about the bike trail and the branding efforts at http://www.metbranchtrail.com/.

The century-old Union Station was named one of the “great public spaces in America,” along with such destinations as New York’s Central Park, by the American Planning Association (APA). Mayor Fenty attended a ceremony at the station to accept the award on behalf of Union Station. APA’s annual list is intended to engender public support for important public spaces. Union Station has over 32 million visitors every year and is the most visited site in Washington. Train travel in general is on the rise with Amtrak reporting that ridership rose 11 percent last year to 28.7 million passengers.

NoMa Perceptions Survey
Please take a few minutes and complete our online survey. There are only 10 questions and it will take less than 2 minutes. Your feedback will help us identify areas of concern and priorities for the BID. The BID initiated this annual survey last year and had a great response rate. Please help us once again!

FY 2009 Budget
The NoMa BID Board approved the FY 2009 budget at its 3rd Quarter meeting on September 23rd. The BID’s estimated revenues are $1.57 Million with expenditures allocate across the following program areas:
 

Clean and Safe
NoMa BID has renewed its contract for street and sidewalk cleaning services with Gospel Rescue Ministry’s Ready to Work (RTW) program. Ready to Work is a transitional job program for formerly homeless men and women. The BID provides employment and RTW provides the workers with housing and supportive services. Our team includes six workers, a driver and on-site supervisor seven days a week from 7 AM – 3 PM. In its first year, the BID and RTW removed over 21,000 bags of trash totaling over 600,000 pounds. Great work team!

The BID is looking to add a fourth ambassador to our team. We have enjoyed great success with our ambassador program since it was launched in April. Our team provides support to workers, visitors and residents in the area as well as outreach to the homeless, detailed cleaning around Metro stations, reporting of infrastructure maintenance needs and special event support. Some quick stats:

• Over 2,000 assists to area workers and visitors
• 150 maintenance requests reported to District Government.
• 7 individuals have been placed in permanent housing
• 2 individuals have completed detox programs; one has joined Ready to Work and is part of NoMa’s clean team
• 25 or more have been enrolled in social service programs and/or medical/welfare benefits

If you know of an outgoing individual who would be an asset to our team, please contact Merrit Drucker at mdrucker@nomabid.org or 202-289-0112. The job description is available online.

Internship opportunity
There are so many exciting projects in NoMa right now that we need an intern to help move things along. Opportunities include marketing and events, demographic research, development tracking and urban planning, to name a few. If you know someone who is a self starter and may be interested in a full- or part-time internship, have them contact Dana Chieco at dchieco@nomabid.org.

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