The William C. Smith Companies and Jair Lynch Companies will head a $700 million project to revitalize the poverty-plagued area surrounding the Sursum Corda housing cooperative, Mayor Adrian Fenty said Thursday.
The developerswill tear down the low-income, 199-unit cooperative and build more than 1,600 units of housing that will include at least as many low-income units as are currently available in the area, as well as for-sale and for-rent housing for all income levels, the mayor’s office said.
“There is incredible development pressure in the community, with NoMa on one side and Mount Vernon Square on the other, so this land is becoming increasingly valuable,” said Sean Madigan, spokesman for the office of the deputy mayor of planning and economic development. “The idea is to make sure that people in this area aren’t pushed out and to incorporate a mix of incomes to make a more economically diverse community.”
The area, named Northwest One by the city, is bounded by K Street to the south, New York Avenue to the north and New Jersey Avenue to the west, with North Capitol Street slicing through it.
It will be the first of four planned areas to feel the effects of the District’s New Communities Initiative, in which the city will partner with developers to overhaul economically distressed neighborhoods.
In addition to housing, the developers proposed 220,000 square feet of office space, 40,000 square feet of retail space and a new, 21,000-square-foot clinic for Northwest One. The District will invest $45 million to rebuild the Walker-Jones Elementary School.
The developers have yet to negotiate with the city to determine how much public funding the project will receive and must still seek zoning approval from the District for two of the six parcels of land in the area, Jair Lynch said.
Once terms are negotiated, construction could break ground on the section east of North Capitol Street within a year, Lynch said.
