WASHPO: Riverfront Parcel Lures Developers
By Paul Schwartzman
Washington Post Staff
Writer Thursday,
January 29, 2009; Page B01
More than a dozen developers are vying to create a new destination on 67 acres along the Anacostia River, the last unclaimed parcel on Washington's waterfront.
Set on the eastern edge of Capitol Hill, just south of RFK Stadium, the site has been a virtual no man's land for years, home to the shuttered D.C. General Hospital, parking lots, a methadone clinic and assorted medical facilities.
As part of the District's quest to revive the city's waterfront, the administration of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty hopes to build a neighborhood, with office and apartment buildings, retail space, parks and a newly extended Massachusetts Avenue leading to the Anacostia River.
"It's a great site, a great location, and the community is hungry for progress," said Genevieve Hanson, the District's development manager overseeing the project.
Even as the economic crisis has all but frozen new construction, District officials and the developers are counting on financial conditions easing by the time they're ready to build.