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WASHINGTON, D.C., Mar. 25 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has started excavating the site of its future headquarters at 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, between 21st and 22nd Streets in Washington, D.C. Designed by architects, Michael Graves and Vlastimil Koubek, the building will be eleven stories high and have approximately 700,000 square feet of office space when completed at the end of 1996. The building will be occupied primarily by IFC; other units of the World Bank Group will also have space there. "IFC has outgrown its present office space and now occupies parts of three separate buildings," according to IFC's Vice President of Finance and Planning, Richard Frank. "Suitable space for consolidating IFC operations was not available from other sources within the central downtown business district and in proximity to the World Bank Group. After carrying out a detailed financial analysis, we concluded that purchasing a site and building a building would be the most cost effective solution to acq
uire the space we need. This step will also enable us to centralize our operations and function more efficiently." Following approval by IFC's Board of Directors in June 1992, the Corporation took advantage of the low prices prevailing in the depressed local real estate market and purchased the site, just off Washington Circle, from Circle Management. The building design and pre-bidding documents are expected to be completed in the Fall, after which IFC will invite bids from construction companies through an international competitive bidding process. Awards are expected to be announced towards the end of 1994. Until that time, the construction cost will not be known, however, preliminary cost estimates are in the order of $160 million. On a square foot basis, this is comparable to other building projects completed in the last two years in the Washington, D.C. area. IFC has contracted the Oliver Carr Company, a professional real estate development firm, to manage the building project. Skidmore, Owings and Merr
ill has been selected to design the interior. Both firms were selected through a competitive bid process. (more) Press Release No. 94/68, page 2 of 2 The exterior of the building will be clad primarily in cast stone with the overall objective of being attractive, functional, and cost-efficient. The building will have a 400-seat auditorium for conferences, seminars, and public use. IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing countries. Demand for IFC services has increased dramatically over the past several years due to the shift to a market economy in many developing countries, and in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. (30)
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