Mayor Adrian Fenty said Wednesday he supports consolidating two quasi-government agencies charged with developing major interior and waterfront properties and bringing their responsibilities under his authority.
With Fenty’s backing, the days appear numbered for the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. as they exist today. The D.C. Council is considering a bill that would dissolve both agencies and shift their duties to the office of Neil Albert, Fenty’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development.
“We can support that legislation if it would consolidate the functions of the AWC and NCRC under the deputy mayor’s office,” Fenty said of the legislation, introduced by Ward 2 Council Member Jack Evans.
Restructuring the corporations was a top priority for Fenty in his first 100 days, and a report analyzing various structural alternatives was delivered to the council this week. But the mayor had yet to take a position on Evans’ bill, now under consideration by the council’s economic development committee.
“The likelihood is that the organizations will be consolidated in some fashion and it will be under the control of the mayor,” Evans said.
Both agencies have been accused of engaging in turf wars, stalling major projects worth billions of dollars.
The Anacostia corporation is charged with developing hundreds of acres along the river, including land surrounding the Washington Nationals’ new ballpark. Albert now serves as the AWC’s interim president and chief executive officer, perhaps easing the dissolution of that agency.
The NCRC fosters economic development in struggling District neighborhoods, such as the DC-USA project in Columbia Heights and the Skyland Shopping Center in Ward 7. Its interim director, Therman Baker, took over in February.
NCRC spokeswoman Crystal Wright declined comment.
