A rendering of the hotel from Champlain Street NW; this will replace the City Paper/WPFW building.

The building that houses the Washington City Paper and WPFW-FM may not be as centrally located or hard to miss as the Washington Post’s 15th Street headquarters, but it has still played an important role in producing alternative journalism, music and commentary over the last two decades. Soon, though, it will be no more.

The Washington Business Journal reports that the city has approved a raze permit for the building on Champlain Street NW in Adams Morgan, which will eventually become the site of a controversial 227-room luxury hotel. Last week City Paper editor Mike Madden announced that the alt-weekly would move to a temporary office in the decidedly less alt McPherson Square; the space will serve the paper’s needs for the next year-and-a-half.

As for WPFW, well, that’s more complicated. The City Paper writes today that the “jazz and justice” station is riven by internal fights over whether it should sublease a space in Silver Spring (owned by behemoth Clear Channel, no less) or try and remain within city limits. Given that both the City Paper and WPFW have to be out by April 30, there’s a good chance that the station will be left without a home; last week one staffer told me that they were considered everything from pre-recording shows to just airing old content while they get settled.

However it ends up, the razing of the building that houses both WPFW and the City Paper leaves both outlets searching for new homes in a city that has fast changed around them. Adams Morgan is certainly a different place than when the two outlets established themselves there, and in many ways has ceased reflecting the attitude and appeal of the readers and listeners both tried to reach. And while both have to prioritize need over desire, it seems strange for either one to decamp to a more traditional office location.

Of course, both have shared some challenges: fewer people listen to WPFW, while the City Paper has struggled through various owners in recent years.