Amtrak and Arkidge Announce Union Station Upgrades and Burnham Place Project

Last week, Amtrak announced a $7 billion plan to expand and improve rail service at Union Station that will occur in phases over the next two decades.  While Amtrak must still raise the money to pay for its ambitious plans, it hopes to start the first phase of the project sometime next year.  DC and Federal Officials praised Amtrak for its vision to transform an aging Union Station into a state-of-the-art transportation facility that would triple the number of passengers using Union Station and spur further economic development in the already revitalized vicinity of the station.

Along with Amtrak’s plans for Union Station, DC-based developer Akridge announced its plans to develop a 3-million square-foot mixed-use project called Burnham Place on top of and around Union Station.  Akridge’s plans call for numerous buildings and a reconnected street grid linking Capitol Hill to the H Street and NoMa neighborhoods.  Akridge had executed a 2006 Air Rights Agreement with Amtrak giving it the right to build above the tracks behind Union Station. 

Amtrak, Akridge, and Union Station Redevelopment Corp., which manages Union Station, commissioned an economic analysis of the projects.  That analysis found that the projects would (a) generate tax revenues of about $1 billion for DC over the next 15 years, (b) increase spending by Amtrak passengers at Union Station to $1.8 billion through 2029 (increase of more than 200%), and (c) require $14.3 billion of construction.

Those announcements provide developers and contractors with new and exciting work opportunities in DC and further solidify the commercial and residential allure of the H Street and NoMa corridors.

The projects have attracted wide-spread media coverage, by, among others, The Washington Post and Washington Business Journal.