Renovated Historic DC Office Building The Herald Nabs First Tenant
By Keith Loria September 7, 2021 9:49 am
reprints
CGCN Group, a Washington, D.C.-based government affairs firm, has signed an 8,000-square-foot lease at The Herald, a $41 million renovated office building in D.C. that opens on Sept. 22.
The lease is for 10 years at an asking rent of $72 a square foot, with the company taking space on the sixth floor.
Marx Realty owns the 114,000-square-foot building, having acquired it in April 2020, and immediately set out to create a hospitality-infused transformation of the historic property.
“We bought the building during COVID, because we believed in the physical attributes of the building and we believe in D.C.,” Craig Deitelzweig, president and CEO of Marx Realty, told Commercial Observer. “We’re seeing our vision come to fruition, and we couldn’t be happier with the interest and demand. It would have been excellent in a pre-COVID world, but it’s been unbelievable in a post-COVID world.”
Located at 1307 New York Avenue and originally built in 1923, the building once housed the printing presses and offices of the old Washington Times-Herald, where Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (then Jacqueline Bouvier) worked as the “Inquiring Camera Girl.”
The office building now features a doorman attending to oversized wooden entry doors, an intimate foyer that opens to an expansive lobby with design elements inspired by that original use as a newspaper office, and a glass wall inspired by traditional Linotype printing machines and portraits of D.C. notable politicians.
The building also boasts 14-foot ceiling heights, a 40-seat boardroom, a fitness center, and an 8,800-square-foot “Bouvier Lounge” on the ground floor, adjacent to a European-style cafe.
“The hospitality-like aesthetic and the details we’ve infused into every nook are a big draw for discerning firms seeking a sophisticated aesthetic and spaces where employees will enjoy coming to work,” Deitelzweig said. “We are seeing interest in every floor of the building. I believe the reason for that is that tenants really want space that is special and hospitality-inspired, and space that helps bring employees back to the office.”
CGCN is the first announced tenant and more leases are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Keith Loria can be reached at kloria@commercialobserver.com.
