D.C.’s $40B agenda for development

Most of the development that is planned or proposed from now through 2011 centers on the Anacostia waterfront, the area surrounding Union Station and the neighborhood that encompasses the new convention center, the report said.

“With as much change as D.C. has already seen, the bulk of the change in the city is actually ahead of us,” said Steve Moore, chief executive officer of the economic partnership.

The Union Station area called NoMa, which stands for North of Massachusetts Avenue, is scheduled for 28 million square feet of commercial, retail and residential space over the next four years. Developers have completed 3.8 million square feet there since 2001.

More than 19 million square feet of development is planned for the Southeast neighborhood surrounding the new Washington Nationals ballpark, on top of the 6 million square feet already built in the area.

In Anacostia, almost 10 million square feet are planned or proposed, compared with fewer than 600,000 square feet that have been completed there since 2001.

“This kind of investment could either displace a lot of people, or it could incorporate a lot of people,” said John Talmage, chief executive of Social Compact, a nonprofit group that partners with local governments to assess city demographics and generate community investment.

“I think that’s the challenge — to make sure that there’s a small-business pipeline so that there’s a retail balance and that it’s neighborhood-serving development as well.”

Erik Moses, director of the city’s department of small and local business development, said he would like the city to require that developers set aside subsidized rental space for local small businesses to set up shop in their buildings, but that it is not clear which D.C. government office the initiative would fall under.

“It’s going to take some coordination at the government level,” he said.

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