No.1 - March- Groundbreaking & Introducing the Players
No.2 - April - SGI (Società Generale Immobiliare): the Italian Real Estate Company that Developed the Watergate Complex
No.3 - May - A Glimpse into Foggy Bottom History
No.4 - June - Whose Buildings Are They Anyway?
No.5 - July/August - The Art Scene in Watergate and Foggy Bottom
No.6 - September - Washington Gas Light Plant (WGL)*
No.7 - October - The Silver Anniversary
No.8 - November - The Builders
No.9 - December - Happy New Year Postcard
*Due to the subject matter of this eNote, please email if you would like to read this one. Please include your name, contact information, which eNote you are requesting and the reason for your request.
Groundbreaking & Introducing the Players
1963-1964: Groundbreaking
The first shovel went into the ground in 1963 bringing a new lease on life for the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. It was August 1963 and Riverview Realty, the leasing agent for the Watergate, began to build its rental office.
In February 1964, ground was broken for Watergate East, the first of the 5* buildings.
The major players were:
Sponsor: Watergate Improvement Associates
Aldo Samaritani, Chairman
Nicolas M. Salgo, President
Project Management: Ediltecno, S.p.A., Inc. - Giuseppe Cecchi
Architects: Luigi Moretti (Italian), Milton Fischer (American)
Project Architect: William Graff
Financing ($4 million): John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, arranged by Donald H. Richardson Co., Inc., Byron K. Elliott, CEO
Lighting Consultant: Gerald Ewing
Landscape Architect: Boris V. Timchenko
General Contractor: Magazine Brothers Construction Corp.
Sales/Management Agent: Riverview Realty Corporation
Engineer: Royce Franklin Ward (CE) of Hageman-Harris (NY firm)
Read more about the development teams here.
2014: Groundbreaking "Reenactment"
On February 23, 2014, over 60 residents of Watergate East attended a ceremonial ribbon cutting, enjoying cake and coffee, while perusing several dozen historical documents. Many thanks to those residents who lent their personal documents and historical collections.
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SGI (Società Generale Immobiliare)
The Italian real estate company that developed the Watergate complex.
1862-mid-1960s: Società Generale Immobiliare
Società Generale Immobiliare (SGI) was the largest Italian real estate and construction company of its time. Founded in Turin in 1862, it moved to Rome in 1870 at the time of the unification* of Italy. Once in Rome, SGI became interested in the pastoral land around Rome, purchasing most of it for future development. With the growth of Rome, so grew the company and as real estate prices rose, so did SGI's fortunes. In 1933, Aldo Samaritani joined SGI, eventually becoming president of SGI and, later, Chairman of Watergate Improvement Associates. It was on his watch that SGI expanded its reach to countries outside Europe. Mr. Samaritani moved SGI from focusing on real estate purchases and holdings to a focus on construction. SGI was famous for its numerous residential buildings throughout Italy as well as the Cavalieri Hilton Hotel in Rome. In the United States, its most well-known construction project was the Watergate complex.
SGI was a public company, whose largest share holder was the Vatican, which held fifteen percent of the shares. However, most of the Vatican's holdings in SGI were sold in the mid-1960s to Gulf and Western (now Viacom and CBS Corporation...more).
Watergate Improvement Associates was the American division of SGI for the duration of the Watergate construction project. Mr. Salgo was president.
*The Department of State, Office of the Historian, has an excellent summary of this part of Italy's history: http://history.state.gov/countries/issues/italian-unification
Potomac Plaza
SGI, looking to expand outside Europe, established a NYC office. SGI employee Giuseppe Cecchi, then 29 years old, was sent to NYC to set up an office to begin to acquire land in the USA and Canada. In NYC, Mr. Cecchi met and joined forces with Hungarian financier Nicolas Salgo. Together they brokered a deal with Hegeman-Harris, owner of the land rights across the street from the future Watergate, for SGI to construct a cooperative on that bit of land. That cooperative is Potomac Plaza. Mr. Cecchi recalls this was a test of the ease or difficulty of obtaining DC permits before undertaking as large a project as the Watergate. The test proved successful and plans for Watergate moved forward.
Read more about Giuseppe Cecchi here. Read more about Nicolas Salgo here.
http://www.watergateeast.com/history4-devTeams.html#cecchi
http://www.watergateeast.com/history4-devTeams.html#Salgo
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A Glimpse into Foggy Bottom History
Overview
First platted in 1768, Foggy Bottom is one of the oldest residential neighborhoods in Washington. It is significant for its association with Washington's industrial history, its German, Irish and African-American communities, and for the low-scale brick row houses designed with pressed and molded brick details.1
Early residences were individually constructed flat-fronted, narrow brick row houses some of which were built by well-known architects including A. H. Beers and Norman Grimm. Approximately three acres of Foggy Bottom form the Foggy Bottom Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Today, the Historic District is what you see - a quiet enclave of private residences. The whole of Foggy Bottom includes major institutions, museums, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the State Department, the Watergate and other cooperatives, and George Washington University.
Specifics
In 1763, Joseph Funk, a German immigrant, purchased 130 acres of land, subdivided it into 234 lots, and named it Hamburg. Locals soon nicknamed it Funkstown. Capitalizing on the location, with its easy access to the Potomac River and Rock Creek, which was both broader and deeper than it is today, shipping developed as an industry and wharves were built on the Foggy Bottom and Georgetown river front. Mr. Funk envisioned a community similar to Georgetown. As the docks and warehouses grew, laborers streamed into the area. So did support and other industries including a glassworks factory (the Glass House), a brewery (Heurich) and a gasworks plant (Washington Gas Light).
Two public sites anchored the neighborhood: Washington Circle and Camp Hill. In 1842, Camp Hill became the site of the first Naval Observatory. The observatory's scientists became internationally known for work not only in astronomy, but in oceanography. The observatory even played a major role in American history when, in 1849, it became the site of the American Meridian2 - and in 1869, when it set the standard for time signals used to coordinate rail travel. In 1873, after the installation of the world's largest telescope at that time, astronomers at the observatory discovered 2 moons of Mars (1877).
Riverfront development slowed the flow of the Potomac River, which led to the growth of mosquito-breeding swamps, causing malaria. Between the malaria and the fog (which often clouded the view of the astronomers), the Naval Observatory moved to its present location on Massachusetts Avenue. While Washington boomed between the 1850s and the early 1900s, Foggy Bottom stagnated. During the American War Between the States, Foggy Bottom was used to house livestock and military. More breweries opened along with a paving company and 2 lime kilns. The gasworks expanded. Living conditions deteriorated.
In 1926, the National Capital Park and Planning Commission was established with their self-imposed goal of protecting Rock Creek from further encroachment and plans to extend the National Mall. Both projects left indelible marks on Foggy Bottom. The neighborhood's changed from industrial to pastoral within a few decades. The George Washington University moved its campus to Foggy Bottom in 1912, beginning a shift in population and industry. With the move of the State Department in 1947 to Foggy Bottom, the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and the Whitehurst (K Street) Freeway, the Watergate and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Foggy Bottom gradually changed to one of the most desired and diversified neighborhoods in the District. Through all the changes, the 19th-century working class neighborhood is still discernible from its immediate surroundings. Foggy Bottom serves as a visual reminder of Washington's not so well known industrial heritage.
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Whose Buildings Are They Anyway?
This is a quick overview of the ownership of the commercial buildings. If you find inaccuracies, please email them to 50years@watergateeast.org to be verified.
The entire Watergate complex was initially owned by Watergate Improvements, Inc., a division of Società Generale Immobiliare (SGI). SGI bought the 10-acre site from Washington Gas for $7 million.
The Watergate complex changed hands in the 1970s, and each building was sold off separately during the 1990s and 2000s, with the residential buildings remaining in the hands of their respective cooperative members. In 1977, Nicholas Salgo, one of the Watergate's financiers and Chairman of Watergate Companies (operators of the hotel and retail mall) and Continental Illinois Properties bought SGI's stake in the development for $49 million. Two years later, Continental Illinois sold its interest to the National Coal Board pension fund (which became the British Coal Corporation in 1987)). Salgo did the same in 1986. The Coal Board pension fund put the Watergate complex up for sale in 1989, and estimated the complex's worth at between $70 and $100 million.
OFFICE BUILDING & HOTEL
The Building: 2600 Virginia Avenue NW
In 1993, the National Coal Board Pension Fund sold the office portion of the building (as well as the land under two of the three Watergate apartment buildings) to The JBG Companies (an American firm) and Buvermo Properties Inc. (a Dutch company). In 1997, JBG Cos. and Buvermo Properties sold the office building to the Blackstone Group's Trizec Properties division. Trizec put the office building up for sale for $100 million in 2005 and sold it to BentleyForbes Acquisitions LLC, a private firm owned by C. Frederick Wehba and members of the Los Angeles-based Webha family. BentleyForbes put the office tower up for sale on March 12, 2009. In November 2011, after 20 months on the market, the office building sold for $76 million to the Penzance Companies.
In mid-2012, the Penzance Companies began a multi-million dollar upgrade to the lobby, common areas, and Virginia Avenue entrance. The modernization was completed in December 2012, and the building began leasing space again in January 2013.
The Hotel: 2650 Virginia Avenue (originally part of the2600 office building)
Cunard Line, the cruise ship company, took over management of the hotel in 1986 and began redecorating and refurbishing the property. The National Coal Board pension fund sold the hotel portion of the building to a British-Japanese consortium in 1990 for $48 million. Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, the real estate affiliate of the Blackstone Group, bought the hotel for $39 million in July 1998.
For a few years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Watergate Hotel was operated by the Swissôtel hotel group. But the hotel underperformed other Swissôtel operations of similar size, location, and price. Jean-Louis Palladin's restaurant in the building closed in 1996. The hotel subsequently underwent a renovation in 2000. Swissôtel was purchased by Raffles Hotels and Resorts, and Raffles' management contract ended in May 2002.
Blackstone began managing the hotel, and put it up for sale in the fall of 2002 (with an asking price of $50 million to $68 million). Monument Realty bought the hotel for $45 million in 2004 and planned to turn it into luxury apartment cooperatives. They closed the hotel on August 1, 2007, for a $170 million 18-month renovation, during which the hotel rooms were intended to be roughly doubled in size to 650 square feet. But the renovation never occurred. Lehman Brothers, Monument Realty's financing partner, went bankrupt in 2008 and Monument was forced to attempt to sell the property. No buyer emerged and the Blackstone Group regained ownership of the hotel.
The Blackstone Group transferred the Watergate Hotel to its Trizec Properties subsidiary. Trizec did not pay the hotel's property taxes for 2008 and estimated that it would take $100 million to make the hotel habitable due to the stalled 2007 renovation. The hotel was put on the market in May 2009, but once again no buyer emerged. The hotel was auctioned off on July 21, 2009 (with the minimum bid beginning at $1 million), but there were no buyers and Deutsche Postbank, which held the $40 million mortgage on the property, took over ownership. The bank began marketing the property for sale, and Monument Realty submitted a bid in October 2009 to buy the hotel back. Monument was outbid by developer Robert Holland and the Jumeirah Group (a luxury hotel chain based in Dubai), but the deal collapsed in November 2009 when financing fell through. Euro Capital Properties purchased the hotel in May 2010 for $45 million, with plans to rehabilitate it.
Euro Capital announced its year-long, $85 million renovation of the hotel in January 2013.
600 New Hampshire Avenue
Britain's National Coal Board pension fund sold the Watergate Office Building to John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance in the early 1990s. The building underwent a renovation of its office spaces in 1994. The Atlantic Monthly magazine owner David G. Bradley purchased the office building in 2003.
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The Art Scene in Watergate and Foggy Bottom
Foggy Bottom encompasses a large area, home to several historic and landmark buildings, memorials, and art spaces and galleries — and this summer for its fourth season, the outdoor sculpture exhibit, featuring 15 contemporary artists. You likely know about the monuments and memorials (WWII, Lincoln, Kennedy Center, Vietnam, Washington Circle), although you may be less familiar with those listed here.
Watergate Gallery
2552 Virginia Ave NW
202-338-4488
watergategalleryframedesign.com
Luther W. Brady Art Gallery
The George Washington University
Media & Public Affairs Building, 2nd Floor
805 - 21st St NW
202-994-1525
gwu.edu/~bradyart/
West End Cinema
23rd Street (between M & N)
202-419-FILM (202-419-3456)
westendcinema.com
de Andino Fine Arts
2450 Virginia Avenue NW
202-861-0638
profinart.com
de Andino Fine Arts presently is open by appointment. Established in 1982 to promote and market modern and contemporary art, de Andino Fine Arts sells to both public and private collectors, advises on the formation and dispersal of individual works of art or entire collections and offers a full service for installations and assistance with the conservation and restoration of works of art.
Organization of American States - Art Museum of the Americas
201 - 18th Street NW
202-458-6016
Changing exhibits highlight modern and contemporary Latin American and Caribbean artists in this small gallery, part of the Organization of American States (OAS). The collection has 2,000 objects reflecting the diversity of expression found in the region. A public garden connects the Art Museum and the OAS building.
Cost: Free
Hours: Tues.–Sun. 10–5
www.amamuseum.org
Arts Club of Washington
2017 I St NW (between 20th and 21st)
202-31-7282
artsclubofwashington.org
For nearly a century the Arts Club of Washington has promoted and celebrated the visual, performing, and literary arts in the nation's capital. Exhibits and performances are held in the club's historic I Street mansion, which was formerly the home of President James Monroe.
Sculpture Exhibit
artsinfoggybottom.com
The award-winning Arts in Foggy Bottom outdoor sculpture biennial is back for its fourth season with the 2014 exhibition, Sculpted: Histories Revealed.
Aaron Gallery
2101 L Street NW, Suite 800
By Appointment Only
202-234-3311
Aaron Gallery is a contemporary art space committed to bringing the finest in Abstract Expressionist painting and sculpture, with an emphasis on color. Represents many local, nation and international artists working in a variety of media.
House of Sweden
2900 K St NW
202-536-1500
houseofsweden.com/en/House-Of-Sweden/Exhibitions/
This award-winning building houses art displays, readings and short plays with a panoramic view of the river.
Textile Museum/George Washington University
21st at G Street, NW (scheduled to open late 2014 or early 2015)
museum.gwu.edu
Albert Einstein Memorial
2101 Constitution Ave NW
Full Count (Baseball Sculpture)
on Virginia Avenue side of Federal Reserve Annex
by local sculptor John Dreyfuss
dcmemorials.com/index_indiv0000923.htm#info
Dacor Bacon House
1801 F St NW
dacorbacon.org/
It is hidden in plain sight at the corner of 18th & F NW.
Octagon House
1799 New York Ave. NW
202-626–7439
Historically-furnished rooms include the parlor, dining room, treaty room and basement kitchen. Second floor gallery spaces hold temporary exhibits on architecture and design. The building is considered one of the best examples of Federal architecture in the United States, and offers visitors an opportunity to learn about life in the city at the birth of the new nation's capital. Designed by Dr. William Thornton (original architect of the U.S. Capitol), the Octagon was built for John Tayloe III, a wealthy Virginia plantation owner, and was completed in 1801. Thornton chose the unusual shape to conform to the acute angle formed by L'Enfant's intersection of New York Avenue and 18th Street.
Guided tours for groups of any size are available by appointment for a fee.
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The Silver Anniversary
A Souvenir
Those who attended the October 27, 1965 dedication of Building One (Watergate East) went home with a ceremonial trowel, engraved with the Watergate logo, the date and location. Thanks to our residents and the Graffs (project architect and his wife) for sharing this bit of history.
A Commemorative Booklet
Kerry Stowell, former WEI board president, was a prime mover behind the 25-year history of Watergate East, published in 1992, now long out of print.*
*This booklet is available electronically. If interested, send and email and please include your name, contact information, and the reason for your request.
A Narrative
On February 13, 1991, George E. Arnstein (resident of Watergate East since November 1965) drafted this article to be published in the Watergate Post (an in-house newsletter). George graciously consented to reprinting it here.
Watergate at 25
On the plaster under the wall covering, outside Apartment 509-S of Watergate East, there is a note: "Berlin, moving Oct 22, 1965." It was uncovered, and recovered a few years ago when the halls and walls were redecorated. It marks the earliest arrival of the resident who has lived here longer than anybody: Margaret Berlin, widow of Ralph Berlin.
The beginning of the Watergate East Cooperative may properly be dated as March 29, 1966, even though the first members of the Cooperative were Admiral and Mrs. Paul Dudley, tied for "seniority" with Mrs. and Mrs. Louis Ratner; all moved in on October 16, 1965. Admiral Dudley later served as a member of the Board of Directors and was elected president in April 1968. The first president was William Simon, succeeded by Pete Hamm the second year, then Paul Dudley, the third year.
A surprising number of original occupants still live in the complex, which goes back to days when there was no shopping mall, no Safeway (it opened October 5, 1966), no Kennedy Center (1971), no Metro, a leaking roof, and heavy advertising by the sponsors who sought to convey an image of leisure and opulence of future occupants who sat on their balconies wearing black tie and long gowns as they sipped cocktails from long-stemmed glasses.
That image has persisted over the years, reinforced by the later arrival of the Watergate Hotel and office building, which greatly impaired the view toward Key Bridge, Watergate West, and Watergate South, which impaired the view downstream. In fairness to the sponsor. these plans had been fully disclosed, along with promises that there would be no surface parking.
The sponsor, an Italian real estate company partly owned by the Vatican, gave rise to a variety of jokes, beginning with the "Vatican City West" label, and ending -- but the jokes have not ended as yet. Do you recall the elongated shape of Watergate East, also known as Banana-on-the Potomac? Or the toothsome balconies known as The Lower Denture? The Vatican pulled out long ago; ownership of the apartments has passed to the residents, and the hotel and office complex have gone through several changes.
Earlier occupants of the area included the Howard Johnson motel, the Saudi embassy (formerly the home of People's Life Insurance company), Potomac Plaza, and the education center of the American Association of University Women (a building now empty, scheduled for demolition). George Washington University was there, but smaller.
Watergate was a pioneering urban venture on the site of the former gas works. It was among the first American designs to combine a shopping mall with residences and offices, so that some residents would claim that they were living "above the store," reminiscent of an upwardly mobile America. The mixture of residences and business has since been imitated and replicated.
The complex became nationally, even internationally, famous when the break-in occurred in the Watergate Office building, followed by the gradually emerging Watergate Scandal. Nightly, the television cameras showed pictures, not so much of the site of the actual break-in, but shots of Watergate East with its visually appealing photo angles, balconies, and generous entrance marquee. Comments tended to emphasize the expensive penthouses and failed to mention more modest studio apartments. And, of course, several prominent Nixon appointees lived at Watergate East, including the Postmaster General, the Secretary of Commerce, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Today's occupants continue to include nationally prominent persons as well.
The original Board of Directors was hand-picked by the sponsor but soon established its autonomy. There were a few confrontations with the sponsor over major leaks in the roof and lesser imperfections, leading to various payments and adjustments. As one early president of the cooperative explained: "They sometimes seem to forget that they used to own the building but have, in fact, sold it to us, the Cooperative." The complex established its own identify and even lived down the anachronistic crack that the Kennedy Center was the box in which the Watergate was delivered. The "closing" took place, dated March 1, 1966, and the first budget, covering ten months of 1966, became effective on March 1.
The Original Promotion
A promotional brochure published in 1965 and sponsored by Watergate Improvements Inc., refers to Watergate East as "Washington's consummate cooperative apartment residence." General contractor was Magazine Brothers Corp., landscaping by Boris V. Timochenko [stet], and architecture by Luigi Moretti of Rome, and Corning, Moore, Elmore and Fischer here. Financing was by John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. [which also owns the land for which the Cooperative has an option to buy]°. Here are excerpts:
"Above all else, Watergate is exciting. The design of sweeping arcs of glass and concrete .... set in 10 acres of luxuriant gardens, was chosen to take maximum advantage of the view .... Watergate is unquestionably Washington's most elegant, most exciting, most sought-after address .... No detail has been overlooked, no expense has been spared, in creating the luxe ambience that surrounds apartment-owners at Watergate East .... Particular attention has been paid to sound-proofing ..."
° In 1975, WIA successor to WI, Inc., purchased the land.
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The Builders
As in any large project there were hundreds of people who worked on the Watergate over time. Some had major roles, others had brief touches with the project. Most surprising of all is discovering how those with relatively minor roles in building the complex later developed other relationships with the community and became historic footnotes in Watergate's history.
One such is Jack Lyons, a Potomac, Maryland resident before he retired, who owned the concrete company hired to pour the concrete for Watergate West. Years later, the Lyons became members of Watergate West. Another is Harry Winston, resident of Watergate South, who discovered the taped open door during the DNC offices break-in. The infamous door is now on display at the Newseum. There are connections to Magazine Brothers, the general contractor for Watergate East; to the project manager of the current hotel renovation; to architects still practicing in the metro area who played small parts in drafting.
The major players are the most significant. While a lot of Watergators know about the building and construction teams, for those who do not, or would like a refresher, here is a list of the major players, with links to more in-depth information about these teams.
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THE DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION TEAMS
Architects
Luigi Moretti (Italy)
Moretti and his Architecture
The Watergate Project
Summary of presentation by Mario di Valmarana, December 2005
Milton Fischer (USA)
William Graff, Project Architect
Development Teams
Sponsor: Watergate Improvement Associates
Aldo Samaritani, Chairman
Nicolas M. Salgo, President
Project Management
Project Manager: Giuseppe Cecchi (Ediltecno, S.p.A., Inc.)
Interview with Giuseppe Cecchi, Project Manager for the Watergate Complex. 15 Jun 2007. Reprinted with permission from The Italian Legacy in Washington D.C. by Luca Molinari, Skira, 2008.
Financing ($44 million): John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company, arranged by Donald H. Richardson Co., Inc., Byron K. Elliott, CEO
Lighting Consultant: Gerald Ewing
Landscape Architect: Boris V. Timchenko
General Contractor: Magazine Brothers Construction Corp.
Engineers: Royce Franklin Ward (CE) of Hageman-Harris (NY firm)
Structural Engineers: Heinzman & Clifton, Washington DC
Survey Engineers: Matz-Childs & Associates, Rockville, MD
Computer Program: Engineering Physics Co.
Sales/Management Agent: Riverview Realty Corporation: Hal Lewis
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Happy New Year Postcard
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