National Harbor project enters the final stretch

Once described mostly in terms of square footage, National Harbor is beginning to place its singular stamp on southern Prince George's.

The skeleton of the 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center is already standing on the waterfront, across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from Alexandria. It's the cornerstone of the project and billed as the largest non-gaming hotel and convention center in the eastern U.S.

The landscape is marked by dozens of construction cranes, and thousands of construction workers enter the site every day. The air is filled with the sound of pile drivers hammering foundation into massive pits that will one day be condos or stores. The outlines of what will eventually be 700-foot commercial and recreational piers are starting to form.

Developer The Peterson Companies expects to announce next week an all-star lineup of restaurants coming to the resort. McCormick & Schmick’s and Grace’s Fortune, as well as the seven restaurants in the Gaylord center (including Moon Bay Cuisine, Pienza and Old Hickory Steakhouse) are already known to be part of the tenant lineup.

‘‘We think it’ll be ... the best offering of anywhere in the U.S.,“ said Kent Digby, the project’s operations vice president.

Residents and county leaders are hopeful the new eateries will offset the fast food scene common in the rest of Prince George's and new retail options will improve the county's image.

‘‘The county has enough ... cookie cutter restaurants,” said Jim Estepp, of the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable. ‘‘A prelude to high-end retail is high-end eateries ... We need things that are uniquely our own to put there.” In June, the first of 2,500 condominiums are expected to go on sale. The condos at the 253-unit One National Harbor will start in the $300,000s for one bedrooms and climb to the $600,000s for penthouses.

Next, look for a series of announcements about retail tenants, all leading up to the opening.

‘‘National Harbor is a one-of-a-kind project,” said Digby, who took reporters and photographers from The Gazette on a tour Monday.

The finished product is expected to include 4,000 hotel rooms, 1 million square feet of shopping, dining and entertainment space, and even 60 slips for yachts and other private watercraft.

Residents will have to wait a bit longer for the rest of the details, as the developer rolls them out over the course of the next 12 months. With each announcement comes the promise of more jobs, many of them in the hospitality sector.

Peterson marketing director Rocell Viniard said the first phase of the project in spring 2008 will bring between 4,000 and 5,000 jobs, ranging from bartenders to private security guards to chefs to restaurant managers to front desk positions. She said the full development, which could be completed in five to 10 years, will bring between 9,000 and 10,000 positions, which could also include residential property managers and other retail and office jobs.

‘‘Next year at this time, we will have a blockbuster of a celebration,” County Executive Jack B. Johnson said in a recent speech.

E-mail Judson Berger at jberger@gazette.net.