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Hyatt's newest flag, complete with jazz club, could land in Chinatown

Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) may bring its newest lifestyle hotel brand to Chinatown.

Fillat + Architecture has filed plans with the Historic Preservation Review Board for an 11-story, 75,000-square-foot hotel to be constructed behind a half-dozen historic row buildings at 507-517 H St. NW. The plans call for 142 to 238 rooms with ground-floor food and beverage, a below-grade entertainment venue and a rooftop venue.

The wide range in room count reflects that the design and flag isn't set in stone. The plans detail a Caption by Hyatt, the hotel giant's newest flag. But D.C. developer Acumen Cos., which has the site under contract and will lead the project, is in negotiations with a number of brands, including Pod and perhaps an extended-stay provider.

"We're still trading term sheets with all the different groups to finalize our plan," said Abiud Zerubabel, Acumen's chairman and a Washington Business Journal 2018 40 Under 40 honoree.

Hyatt, he said, "has been one of the brands that's been talking to us."

The Pod D.C. at 627 H St. NW, a block from the Acumen site, will be converted to the District's first Motto by Hilton in 2020, leaving the micro-hotel in search of a new home.

Hyatt unveiled its lifestyle Caption brand in late September, and has yet to publicly announce any locations. The hotels generally are described as having "cozy" rooms and “richly designed” social spaces, “conversation-worthy” food and beverage and “experiences that don’t begin or end at the hotel’s front door.” Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group consulted on the design and curation of the food and beverage concept.

Per the plans for the D.C. outpost, dated Dec. 19, the six historic structures will be restored to their original 19th century architecture, with signage attached in Mandarin, and incorporated into the hotel. “The main entry to the hotel will have a new industrial/Asian storefront,” Fillat writes, while the general architecture will be “inspired by the post and beam Temple Architecture.”





Caption rooms generally run 220-270 square feet, according to a fact sheet released in September. The D.C. hotel, according to the plans submitted to the HPRB, will include a 521-square-foot fitness room, 300-square-foot meeting room, a 2,765-square-foot basement “Caption Jazz Club," a 1,024-square-foot rooftop bar and lounge, and a 2,800-square-foot ground-floor "social space."

The lots are listed in D.C.’s assessment database as being owned by Wellington Moy (three lots) and Shing Y Lui.