Trammell Crow joins McMillan Reservoir redevelopment team

Trammell Crow, the Dallas-based developer, has joined the real estate team planning a redevelopment of McMillan Reservoir, a 25-acre city-owned former sand filtration facility in Northwest Washington, to accommodate potential expansion of Washington Hospital Center, Children's National Medical Center and the Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The plans for the site, at the intersection of North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue, are still in the works but call for new offices, housing, parks and retail. Bethesda-based housing developer EYA was selected by the city to lead the redevelopment in 2007, but the plans have been delayed by the economy and are not expected to be finalized until this fall, with construction scheduled to begin in 2013.

Trammell Crow is being brought in to develop medical office buildings aimed at accommodating expansion from the three major medical operations located across the street to the north of the site, according to Aakash Thakkar, EYA vice president for acquisition and development. In 2005, Trammell teamed with pension fund investors to create Partners Health Trust, a fund dedicated to development and ownership of hospital real estate.

Thakkar said that given the site's proximity to the existing hospital facilities, "it was critical that our team had a medical office developer of their caliber to accommodate and facilitate the growth of these and other regional health-care institutions." Existing members of EYA's team include Jair Lynch Development Partners, Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects and the Alexander Co., a Wisconsin-based historic preservation specialist.

Trammell Crow has been developing properties in Washington since the early 1980s. It is expected to shortly announce a deal with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and developer Michele Hagans for a major retail development near the intersection of New York and South Dakota avenues in Northeast. Called the Shops at Dakota Crossing, it will include the city's first Costco and its second Target store.

The company also recently developed Sentinel Square I, a 12-story, 412,000-square-foot office building in NoMa. Trammell Crow was selected by Fort Meade to build an office complex for government contractors there, but no final agreement between the company and the base has been announced.