Union Station officers say they’ve a brand new technique to lure again companies and passengers to “restore greatness” on the iconic transit hub, which has fallen on exhausting occasions in recent times.
Washington, D.C
New strategy aims to ‘restore greatness’ to ailing Union Station
“Can Union Station be saved? The reply is sure,” stated Doug Carr, the brand new president and chief government of the Union Station Redevelopment Corp. (USRC), which oversees the property. “Is it going to take a variety of work and energy? Completely.”
The contemporary upgrades are coming after a spike in vacancies and issues of safety, responding to rising issues about the way forward for the Washington rail station, which some D.C. officers, neighbors and passengers describe as outdated, unwelcoming and unsafe. Station officers stated they hope the addition of recent retailers and facilities, resembling musical performances and neighborhood occasions, will infuse vibrancy on the hub in coming months.
Carr stated crews in latest months have deep-cleaned the primary corridor’s marble flooring and added a coat of paint to the 96-foot, coffered ceilings. Lighting is being upgraded indoors and outdoor to boost security whereas the presence of personal safety has practically doubled, he stated.
Carr stated capital initiatives deliberate and underway, together with historic restoration work, will price a minimum of $20 million over the subsequent few years.
The USRC and managing firm Rexmark, a New York actual property agency that manages the station’s industrial facet, not too long ago named Matt Barry, who led Tysons Nook Middle for 4 years, as normal supervisor to supervise efforts to revitalize the 115-year-old landmark.
“Union Station is poised for a comeback,” Barry stated, citing efforts to extend foot site visitors and signal new retail and workplace leases to “restore greatness” to the station.
He stated the corporate is negotiating a number of leases that might be introduced within the coming months, though he declined to supply extra element. As a part of the technique, he stated, he desires to create extra inviting areas for neighbors and guests.
“We need to give them a spot to come back at evening and on the weekends,” he stated.
Three eateries that shuttered through the pandemic reopened this previous fall: Wendy’s, Dunkin’ and Jersey Mike’s Subs. Two different meals tenants have signed new leases. Barry stated he’s working to convey again Starbucks, which left final summer time citing security issues.
Companies have been departing the station for the reason that early 2000s, however the coronavirus pandemic accelerated the exodus. This previous fall, about 40 retailers and eateries had been open whereas greater than half of Union Station’s industrial house sat vacant — a distinction to its 100-store mall within the Nineteen Eighties.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who represents the world and has been urging adjustments on the rail hub, stated the speedy upgrades had been sorely wanted to infuse life into the station and restore confidence. In latest months, he stated he has heard from enterprise officers who need a presence on the station, which he described as an encouraging signal.
“We’ve nonetheless received to do extra, like getting new tenants in, getting new companies in, attracting extra foot site visitors,” Allen stated. “We’ve received to get extra riders on our rail system. That’s essential to its financial vitality.”
He stated it’s going to take time to raise the station to the place it was earlier than the pandemic and fill its empty areas, together with the largely vacant mezzanine degree, which he described as a “ghost city.”
Union Station’s customer counts and prepare operations dropped considerably through the pandemic. Earlier than 2020, it had greater than 40 million guests yearly and was served by 85 to 90 intercity Amtrak trains each day. It’s also the Washington area’s busiest transit hub, connecting Amtrak, Metro, Virginia Railway Specific, Maryland’s MARC commuter trains, and intercity and native buses.
Amtrak’s operations have rebounded to close pre-pandemic ranges, however Metro, and particularly commuter prepare site visitors, are removed from an analogous restoration. Nonetheless, Union Station officers stated there are encouraging indicators. Foot site visitors elevated by practically 180 p.c in 2022 in contrast with 2021, they stated.
“I’m very assured within the items of the puzzle which are coming collectively, from the management to the brand new companies which are coming in to the ridership that’s coming again,” Allen stated. “And I imagine that riders and people that gave up on Union Station are going to begin to come again.”
Barry stated the presence of safety guards on the rail hub has elevated 85 p.c. The corporate additionally has deployed “station ambassadors” who greet guests and supply steerage and additional vigilance.
Though crime has fallen in recent times as passenger counts additionally fell, the notion of crime and unsafe situations has grown, partly due to a number of high-profile incidents at or close to the station, together with a September capturing within the Principal Corridor. An increase in psychological well being calls and encounters with panhandlers have contributed to anxieties amongst some customers on the station.
Among the many plans are main historic preservation work within the station’s East Corridor and the Presidential Suite, each a part of the unique 1907 construction. Cleaners even have stepped up upkeep of the restrooms, officers stated, whereas plans this 12 months name for a renovation of the outdated restrooms in Amtrak ready areas.
The enhancements, Carr stated, are essential to enhancing the experiences of passengers and guaranteeing the station is prepared for a $10 billion redevelopment being deliberate, which would come with expanded tracks and concourses, underground parking and new facilities over twenty years.
“We’ve assembled the group and we expect we’re headed in the appropriate course,” Carr stated. “We aren’t ready for the station enlargement to make enhancements. We’re making enhancements now.”