A new 2.5-million-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment project in Southwest Washington will bring much-needed retail space to the Anacostia Waterfront and serve as a town center for the soon-to-be revitalized neighborhood, city officials announced Monday. The public-private partnership will also include 500,000 square feet of space for city government offices that will relocate from downtown in 2009.
The redevelopment, next to the Waterfront Metro stop and on the site of the former Waterside Mall, will include 1.2 million square feet of residential space, 1.2 million of office space and up to 160,000 square feet of retail space. While retailers have not been named yet, officials said the project will include both national chains and locally owned stores.
“This is going to be the town center for Southwest, and it’s going to provide all the services that the residents so desperately need,” said Jennifer Budoff, senior development manager with the National Capital Revitalization Corporation. “[This development] will make Southwest a more desirable community. … The one thing that Southwest is missing right now is neighborhood amenities.”
District employees from the office of the Chief Financial Officer and the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs will also take up space in the redevelopment, as part of outgoing Mayor Anthony Williams’ initiative to locate government workers throughout the city.
The project, called simply “Waterfront,” is a joint venture between Forest City Washington, Vornado/Charles E. Smith, Besler & Reiner and the National Capital Revitalization Corporation and part of the larger Anacostia Waterfront redevelopment project, which includes the new baseball stadium and surrounding neighborhoods.
The project is scheduled to break ground in 2007. Most of the existing structures on the parcel will be demolished to make way for condos, stores and offices. A Safeway on the property will remain open during the construction, but the grocery store chain is in talks with the developer to expand and remodel the store in the future.
Monday’s announcement came after about six years of planning. The site was originally supposed to house Fannie Mae’s headquarters, but the deal fell through in early 2005.
