NAB To Relocate to Waterfront in 2018

NAB will build a new 10-story headquarters in Washington's Capitol Riverfront area and move in by fall 2018, the association said. It said the new building's price is expected to be financed by the sale of NAB's current Dupont Circle headquarters. The new HQ is a mile from the Capitol and less than two miles from the FCC, making it much more accessible for legislators than the current building, an NAB spokesman told us. The new headquarters would likely cost about $300-$350 per square foot to build -- excluding the ground cost -- in the location named by NAB, a commercial real estate industry official said.

The new HQ “will send a strong message to public policymakers on the vibrant future of local broadcasting," NAB President Gordon Smith said in a news release Monday. The association’s emphasis on being close to Congress reflects that body's increased involvement in the communications industry over what it had in 1969, when the current NAB building was built to be close to the then-FCC HQ at 1919 M St. NW, a broadcast attorney said. Smith cited access to policymakers as being behind the move when it was first announced in September 2013 (see 1309060028). The relocation is “the culmination of a rigorous search for a location with easier access to Capitol Hill that will allow NAB to improve its advocacy efforts,” NAB said.

The new building will be at the corner of South Capitol and M streets in Southeast D.C., two blocks from the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, NAB said. It expects to break ground on the site in spring 2016, and the new building will include “a curved facade facing M Street, a rooftop terrace with a breathtaking view of the Capitol, along with a 100 seat theater,” NAB said. The building is intended to let NAB host receptions and special events such as fundraisers, the spokesman said. NAB said the sale of the current N Street HQ will be used to help finance the new building ”upon closing the purchase in early 2018.” The possibility of the new building housing tenants in addition to the NAB is "under consideration," an NAB spokesman told us.

Monument Realty is the developer for the project and CBRE brokered the transaction, NAB said. HOK will design the new building, and Hickok Cole will be interiors architect, it said. More details of the new building, including an artist's rendering and price information, are expected to be released after NAB's June board meeting, the spokesman said.

The NAB's focus on being close to Capitol Hill reflects increased congressional involvement in communications, a broadcast attorney said. With issues such as retransmission consent and Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorizations arising every five years, organizations like NAB have increased motivation to lobby lawmakers, Pillsbury Winthrop broadcast lawyer Scott Flick said. The focus on the Hill may also have been pushed by the possibility of a move of FCC HQ, Flick said. Since the FCC's eventual location is uncertain, it makes sense that NAB would try to be close to lawmakers, he said. The move “reflects the importance of legislators to the process of determining the future of all industries,” the NAB spokesman said.