A rendering of the new building planned at L’Enfant Plaza. (Courtesy of the International Spy Museum)

This post has been updated with the District’s contribution

After the International Spy Museum’s plans to relocate to the Carnegie Library fell apart, it set its sights on a new spot in the District: L’Enfant Plaza. Now, the museum says, things are on track for a spring 2018 opening.

The lease on the Spy Museum’s Gallery Place location is up in 2017. Seeking more space, it originally proposed a move to Mount Vernon Square. After failing to win approval amid historic preservation concerns, the owners looked at L’Enfant, turning to developer JBG Cos. and the District government for help.

The museum has been working on an agreement for more than a year, and with a deal in place, construction is already underway. ““The new Spy Museum will be a welcome addition to Southwest,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a release. The District is contributing $50 million in a 30-year industrial revenue bond (essentially a tax-exempt loan), according to Joaquin McPeek, a spokesman for the Deputy Mayor’s Office for Planning & Economic Development. Other details of the deal have not been made available.

The new 140,000-square-foot facility will be an “immediate and multi-faceted catalyst for transformation” for both the 14-year-old attraction and its new surroundings in Southwest, the museum said, alluding to the plaza’s current dreariness.

In addition to adding a new theater and additional exhibit and educational spaces, the design is meant to reflect the museum’s identity, according to the release.

“Design features include a glass “veil” suspended in front of an enclosed “black box” exhibition space that will allow the movement of people to be visible from both inside and outside, contributing to new energy along 10th Street. This sense of veil and black box reflects the Museum’s espionage-related themes of secrets revealed and hiding in plain sight.”

The museum expects it will need to make a 20 percent increase in staff for the new facility.