Dive Brief:
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The same architects who designed New York’s Grand Central Terminal will oversee a $10 billion proposed expansion of Washington, DC’s Union Station, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
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Beyer Blinder Belle, based in New York and Washington, will partner with Grimshaw Architects on plans for additions to Union Station that could triple its passenger capacity. Grimshaw specializes in train station design.
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The project will include 3 million square feet of development around Union Station, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Because of that designation, plans for the expansion face many bureaucratic approvals.
Dive Insight:
Economic, transportation, and development analysts have predicted the expanded Union Station could become the capital city’s commercial hub.
Writing in The Washington Post, columnist Steven Pearlstein said the project “could do for Washington what Grand Central Terminal did for New York a century ago—create a new commercial epicenter for the city and provide the transportation for a regional economy, stretching from Richmond to Baltimore.”
Beverley Swaim-Staley, president and chief executive of Union Station Redevelopment Corp., which manages Union Station, agreed, telling The Post Wednesday that “this project is going to transform not only Washington, DC, but the region.”
