Dirt Moves on NoMa 140,000 SF

WASHINGTON, DC-Ground has been broken for the Washington Center’s 140,000-square-foot, 95-unit housing facility in NoMa. Slated for completion in August 2010, the $38-million building will be a centralized mini-campus for college students participating in Washington Center’s internship programs.

Paradigm Development Co. of Arlington, VA is developing the project. The 345-bed building will house 1,200 students per year. The housing facility will be located on the northeast corner of Third and K Streets, NE, formerly used as a taxicab parking lot. The project pushes NoMa closer to its goal of becoming a work-live-play destination, NoMa BID director Liz Price says in a prepared statement.

This project is one of a handful that entered the development pipeline in the city after the credit crisis and recession had become fully apparent. Other projects are either further along–such as Third Street from Union Place, a residential complex under development by Cohen Cos. that is located across the street from the future TWC housing facility–or have delivered, but remain empty. The project at 77 K St., NE, for example, a NoMa office building that delivered last summer is still largely vacant.