The weathered Motel 6 sitting near the entrance to Union Market off New York Avenue NE is getting a dramatic makeover. Developer EDENS has unveiled plans to turn the shuttered motel into Late Checkout, a 30-room boutique hotel, paired with Nº 31, a Mediterranean-inspired cocktail bar and garden, with both slated to open in spring 2027.
According to PoPville, EDENS unveiled the plans for the site at the corner of 4th and Penn streets NE, with Late Checkout featuring 30 private rooms split across four distinct design themes developed by Paul Baldwin Studios. Sojourn will serve as the lodging operator, bringing what the release describes as its own fresh approach to the hotel component. Next door, Nº 31 will pair an intimate cocktail bar with a sprawling 6,000-square-foot outdoor patio, according to the same release.
That patio is shaping up to be the project's centerpiece. Per PoPville's report, the space will include a second open-air bar, dining tables that flow into lounge seating, sunbeds, and a water feature, alongside a cocktail program paired with a Mediterranean-inspired menu. Nº 31 is conceived by Residents Hospitality Group partners David Nammour and Farid Azouri, per the same account.
From Dupont and Georgetown to Union Market
Nº 31's own website describes it as an intimate bar and Mediterranean-inspired cocktail garden tucked inside the Late Checkout hotel, according to No31dc.com, which also lists a spring 2027 opening. The site notes that Nº 31 comes from the team behind Residents, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant and cocktail bar in Dupont Circle, and River Club, an elevated Lebanese, Italian and Spanish restaurant and cocktail bar on the Georgetown Waterfront.
As Axios reports, Residents Hospitality will bring Riviera vibes to Nº 31, with the space built around multiple bars, Mediterranean food, and the outdoor lounge area with its water feature. The hotel itself is billed as a design-heavy, 30-room boutique stay meant to stand apart from the chain motel that once occupied the lot.
A Bigger Development Remains On Hold
The hotel and bar concept arrives as an interim step rather than the finish line for the site. Per a report from the Washington Business Journal, EDENS has put its proposed 350-unit residential complex at the former Motel 6 site on hold, and the developer now plans to reactivate the site with the lodging concept and cocktail bar in the meantime. Axios likewise reports that EDENS plans to eventually overhaul the space into a bigger mixed-use development, citing the Washington Business Journal.
The site has already served as a testing ground for what the lot could become. EDENS previously transformed the former motel into a design pop-up in 2025, a two-week event that PoPville's report says drew 7,000 visitors to see motel rooms reimagined by designers and brands.
Union Market's Building Boom Continues
The Late Checkout project lands amid a broader wave of development reshaping the neighborhood. Nearly 1,100 residential units are under construction or planned around Union Market, according to UrbanTurf, which also notes EDENS has separately received approval for a seven-story, 130-room hotel at 1271 5th Street NE.
The transformation also fits into a national trend of reviving old roadside motels for a new generation of travelers. Motels are attracting younger fans drawn to road-trip culture and Americana-style design, per The New York Times, which notes that more than 61,000 motels operated across the country at their peak in 1964. Industry observers quoted by the Times put it plainly: motels are having a moment.
