Officials broke ground Wednesday on a major mixed-use development near the site of the new Nationals stadium officially marking the latest step toward the revitalization of the Anacostia waterfront.
The 42-acre site, formerly called the Southeast Federal Center but now dubbed The Yards, will eventually house 2,800 affordable and market-rate residential units, 1.8 million square feet of office space, significant retail space and a 5.5-acre riverfront public park.
The first phase of construction is scheduled to finish up in 2009 or 2010, though the entire project will take 20 years to complete.
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., attended the event, along with representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S General Services Administration, the D.C. Council and site developer Forrest City Washington.
Norton championed the idea of revitalizing the area in 2000 when she sponsored a bill that would allow for private redevelopment of the federally owned land.
The area was once the Navy Yard Annex but remained largely unused for years.
Forrest City is leasing some parts of the site from the federal government and buying others. Retail and residential buildings will belong to the developer.
“What the government gets is some benefit and actually some revenue from the property for the first time, instead of allowing it lie essentially as a slum on M street,” Norton told The Examiner. “What the city is going to get is revenue over 20 years as parcel by parcel is developed.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation has already set up shop at a new headquarters adjacent to the site, bringing 5,000 workers to the area.
