During the redevelopment review of 2011 to 2014 a long list of planning documents was published about the Old Post Office: the request for proposals, design guidelines, environmental studies, a historic structure report, consultation presentations and the agreement that now governs the building's preservation.
This page summarises the most important of them in plain English, grouped the way the document library of the old site at this address was. We do not host or reissue the files. The originals belong to the agencies that published them, and anything official should be requested from those agencies directly.
General information
- Request for proposals March 24, 2011Invited developers to lease, restore and operate the building, its land and the Pavilion Annex under the Old Post Office Building Redevelopment Act of 2008.
- Preservation zone diagrams 2011Plans that ranked every part of the building by historic significance, from the light court and the tower down to altered office floors. They became the starting point for the design review.
- Design guidelines 2011Rules on windows, signage, lighting, rooftop equipment and new openings, written to keep the granite exterior and the principal interiors intact.
National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106)
Programmatic Agreement
- Programmatic Agreement May 23, 2013The signed agreement on the long-term preservation of the property, explained on our Section 106 page.
- Exhibits 1 to 6 2013The area of jurisdiction to be transferred from the National Park Service, the property boundary, areas previously disturbed by construction, the jurisdiction plan, the letters that opened consultation and the area of potential effect.
- Exhibits 7 to 10 2013 to 2014The historic structure report, the preliminary design, the categories of work exempt from further review and the final design submission to the National Capital Planning Commission (January 2014).
Section 106 correspondence
- Consultation letter May 7, 2012The letter that opened consultation shortly after the developer was selected and invited the consulting parties to take part.
Section 106 consultation meetings
- First consultation meeting May 22, 2012Project team, historic overview, sustainability, exterior, interior and site plan.
- Site tour June 26, 2012A tour of the building for consulting parties.
- Exterior and landscape July 25, 2012Exterior elements, programme overview and landscape plans.
- Interior zones September 19, 2012Contributing elements and interior zones, presented with the design architect.
- Area of potential effect November 27, 2012The proposed boundary of the area in which effects on historic properties would be studied.
- Design presentations December 19, 2012 and February 20, 2013Further presentations of the developing hotel design.
- Final design reviews October 23 and November 20, 2013Presentations and minutes from the last two meetings before the final submission to the National Capital Planning Commission.
National Environmental Policy Act
- Environmental Assessment, public draft 2012The first draft of the assessment, comparing redevelopment as a hotel with a no-action alternative. Our NEPA page explains the process.
- Transportation study 2012Traffic, parking, loading and tour-bus analysis for the block between 11th and 12th Streets.
- Final Environmental Assessment and FONSI May 2013The final assessment and the signed Finding of No Significant Impact, released for a 30-day review that ended on June 21, 2013.
Reference documents
- National Register of Historic Places nomination 1973The nomination that listed the building, with its description of the tower, the light court and the granite walls.
- Historic Structure Report April 2013Nine chapters plus appendices on the building's history, its original construction, later alterations and present condition.
- Historic overview presentation May 22, 2012A short illustrated history prepared for the first consultation meeting.
This guide is an independent summary for general readers. It is not an official list, and some of the documents described here may no longer be available from their publishers.