Each year, NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, honors outstanding achievements in real estate by presenting its Awards of Excellence to the best new projects in each of its 49 chapters. Carr Properties is thrilled to have won six recognitions in NAIOP DC|MD’s 19th annual Awards of Excellence.
These include 2021’s Best Urban D.C. Office (over 150,000 square feet), Best Amenity Space, Best Urban Maryland Office (over 150,000 square feet), Best Multi-Family Project, Best Master Plan/Mixed-Use Project and Firm of the Year.
NAIOP DC|MD’s chapter leaders announced the winners in a special virtual-only celebration held on Monday, September 13.
Signal House, a ten-story, trophy office building located in the Union Market District of Washington, D.C., received both the Best Urban D.C. Office (over 150,000 square feet) and Best Amenity Space awards. By design, the 228,000 square foot Signal House is unlike any other office building. It both honors the neighborhood’s industrial history through its unique terracotta, metal and glass exterior, and epitomizes that neighborhood’s reinvention with its private terraces, state-of-the-art fitness facility, premium retail and penthouse.
Indeed, Signal House’s penthouse is NAIOP’s honoree for 2021’s Best Amenity Space. Its best-in-class offerings feature several benefits that are rarely seen in a Washington, D.C. area office building, including a demonstration kitchen (with wood-burning hearth), an indoor-outdoor bar, a podcast studio, a DJ booth, a karaoke room, convertible meeting space and a wraparound exterior rooftop terrace with breathtaking views of the Capitol.
The Wilson and The Elm, respectively the office and residential components of our 940,000 square foot development in downtown Bethesda, won distinction both together and separately from NAIOP. Together, The Wilson and The Elm won the award for Best Master Plan/Mixed-Use Project. In addition, The Wilson, a landmark 23-story tower featuring 361,000 square feet of trophy office space and a multipurpose rooftop penthouse in the heart of Bethesda, took the honor of Best Urban Maryland Office Space (over 150,000 square feet). The award for Best Multi-Family Project in Montgomery, Prince George’s, or Frederick Counties went to its sister complex The Elm, whose twin 28-story residential towers offer a combined 456 rental units. Among its amenities, The Elm features a heated rooftop pool, semi-private workspaces with complimentary WiFi, a 17th-floor terrace with landscaped green space and a luxurious 28th-floor Skybridge that connects the two towers.
Lastly, NAIOP bestowed its prestigious Firm of the Year Award upon Carr Properties for 2021. Unlike the other Awards of Excellence categories, Firm of the Year is not open to submissions; NAIOP DC|MD chapter leadership and the award judges select the honoree as part of the association’s “Best of the Best” award category.
Although the awards ceremony was held in a virtual environment, NAIOP DC|MD will also host a rooftop reception to “Celebrate the Winners” on Tuesday, September 14, from 5:30–8:00 p.m at Carr Properties’ Signal House penthouse.