The National Capitol Planning Commission, the federal government’s planning agency for the Washington metro area, approved final site and building plans for a new Moroccan chancery within the International Chancery Center, an embassy enclave in the District’s Van Ness neighborhood.
The decision was publicly announced Monday when the National Capital Planning Commission tweeted a rendering of the 49,000-square-foot structure.
The project entails a four-story building, with plans to include office space, the Ambassador’s quarters, a multipurpose hall to connect public and private areas and underground parking.
"Since the embassy design has been approved by both NCPC and the Commission of Fine Arts, the Government of Morocco may now proceed with the contracting aspects of the project," Donna Mavritte, from the State Department’s office of real property management, says in an email.
According to the proposal, the new chancery’s facade will have traditional Moroccan decorations and the roof tiles a glassy greenish hue.
The current embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco is located at 1601 21st Street, NW. City records show that its total value is $5.6 million.
The International Chancery Center, a 47-acre site in Van Ness, was created by Congress in 1968 to provide select foreign missions cost-effective prices when setting up an embassy in Washington’s real estate market.
The ICC, owned by the State Department, currently houses 17 chanceries, including Ghana, Bangladesh, Singapore, Israel and Kuwait.
Luis Velarde writes about business, investments, real estate, and urban development. His work has appeared in the BBC World Service, Voice of America and others.