Wells Fargo Provides $360M For Carmel Partners’ Historic Hotel Redevelopment in DC
By Keith Loria August 30, 2023 4:09 pm
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Carmel Partners has secured a $360 million construction loan for its planned redevelopment of the former Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C., according to papers filed with D.C’s Recorder of Deeds.
The San Francisco-based Carmel Partners plans to replace the 1,152-key hotel, which has been shuttered since 2020, with two multifamily towers.
Wells Fargo is supplying the loan. Requests for comment from the lender were not immediately returned.
The historic property opened as the Wardman Hotel in 1913 at 2660 Woodley Road NW, later taking on the Marriott branding. It closed permanently in the winter of 2020 after falling into distress due in part to the pandemic.
Carmel Partners acquired the property in July of 2022 for $152.2 million through a 129-round bankruptcy auction. At the time, the company announced plans to build a 900-unit, two-tower multifamily project at the site. Plans for the project were approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board in April of 2022.
Progress on the plan was briefly interrupted this past December, when D.C.’s Office of Planning put a halt on the proposed plan, requiring a large-tract review, which reviews development projects that are larger than 3 acres or with 50,000 square feet or more of commercial space.
Originally, the development was thought to be less than 3 acres, but plans filed with public records showed it would exceed 5 acres. It has since been approved.
Now, Carmel Properties plans to demolish the hotel to put up two 90-foot multifamily buildings constructed around a central courtyard, and include 2 acres of green space, according to D.C. records filed with the Historic Preservation Review Board.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
