Skyland.

A visualization of the Skyland Town Center.

As city officials prepared to break ground at the long-planned Skyland Town Center this morning, Councilmember Jack Evans joked that discussions for the Ward 7 retail hub first began between George Washington and Pierre L’Enfant.

“Then Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln got involved,” Evans continued, “But then the Civil War got in the way.”

The idea for the shopping center, wedge between Naylor Road, Good Hope Road and Alabama Avenue SE, was first conceived 25 years ago, a fact nearly every speaker touched upon.

Councilmember Yvette Alexander, who represents Ward 7, thanked residents for “keeping the faith for many, many years” that the shopping center, which will be anchored by a Walmart, would happen. Indeed, after the Large Retailer Accountability Act was passed, Wal-Mart threatened to pull-out of plans to build the Skyland location. A veto by Mayor Vince Gray reversed this decision.

“This is really a success story,” Alexander said, adding that Skyland will give residents a place to shop in-Ward, and will bring more residents and jobs to the area.

The first phase, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, will produce a Walmart and mixed-use building with 100,000 square feet of retail space and 263 residential units. That number will eventually rise to 480, including 48 affordable units. Three hundred construction jobs will be created, as well as permanent jobs Alexander and Gray said they hope go to D.C. residents.

A Ward 7 resident himself, Gray said the Town Center will create a main street unlike any other in what he calls the East End or possibly the whole city. The mayor explained that he no longer uses east of the [Anacostia] River to describe where he lives, as it brings an “other side of the tracks” image to some peoples’ minds.

“I live in a vibrant, wonderful neighborhood,” Gray said to applause.

The 18.5-acre project is also the work of Rappaport, WC Smith, Skyland DC LLC, Marshall Heights Community Development Organization and The East Washington Limited Liability Corporation. A representative from Wal-Mart was in attendance today and said the company is “pleased to be the anchor” of the shopping center.

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