Preview: Our Rosslyn Summit This Coming Monday
You've seen how Rosslyn is changing, and changing quick. In advance of our Future of Rosslyn event this Monday, we strolled through and found it's not just glassy buildings leading the transformation.
A lot is underway in Rosslyn. While 1812 N Moore is done and work at Central Place begins, there's another big project waiting in the wings: Gould Property Co/Vornado's Rosslyn Plaza, which we snapped from a balcony next to Artisphere. The partners hope to eventually redevelop the office site on Kent Street into mixed-use, featuring hotel, office, and residential. Connecting Rosslyn Plaza to nearby Roosevelt Island is also a possibility.
But it's not only big new projects changing the neighborhood—developers and residents are also aiming to beautify it. The Rosslyn BID hopes to brighten up the 17 blocks with more parks and public spaces, and initiatives like building community benefits into projects. So for example, WRIT's provided a public atrium and courtyard in one building, Monday Properties has pitched in for a public art installation next to 1812 N Moore, and JBG will contribute to an observation deck and plaza and $8M in Gateway Park improvements as part of its Central Place and Rosslyn Gateway projects.
The results are starting to show up, like this cool Frank Hallam Day photoprint just installed where JBG's Central Place will be built. (It'll be formally introduced tomorrow.) The BID's urban design guru, Lucia Vasak de Cordre, tells us the print spans 6,000 SF and is actually the largest photographic print on the East Coast. (You know what they say about big photos? Big dark rooms.) Just below the print is a public park, and those colorful banners now dress up the Rosslyn Metro station.
We snapped Lucia admiring some nifty light fixtures in that public space at WRIT's Bennett Park apartments on Clarendon Boulevard. The space is totally open to the public and Lucia tells us the BID sees the space as an indoor park—and it'll soon add tables, chairs, plants, and Wi-Fi. The BID is funding improvements at Bennett Park through a collaborative process with WRIT and the community, she says.
Another community benefit feature is the art installation below 1812 N Moore, on top of what used to be a substation for Dominion Power. The hand-crafted piece, designed by LA-based artist Christian Moeller, cost $1M to install, Lucia tells us. (If you add up all the times you didn't pay to go to the Smithsonian, it's a bargain.) Monday also pitched in $5M towards renovations for the Rosslyn Metro. There's still time to sign up for Monday's event—click here for more info.
