Mayor Williams, along with representatives from the National Capital Revitalization Corporation, the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation and DRI Partners today broke ground on the first new construction in the historic core of Anacostia in 15 years.
The building will offer 14,000 square feet of retail space, 49,000 square feet of Class A office and related space, and 112 sub-grade parking spaces.
Called Anacostia Gateway, the project is part of a larger scheme to revitalize the core of Anacostia along Martin Luther King Boulevard, which is the first thing people come to when they head across the 11th Street bridge. As this is the first new large-scale construction in this area, we ask, does this signify that there will be a new wave of construction and newcomers into the neighborhood? In 2004, the D.C. Preservation League (where we snagged this photo) declared Historic Anacostia as one of the most endangered areas in the city. We know residential developers have had their eyes on Anacostia for a while now as D.C. slowly but surely runs out of historic neighborhoods to revitalize. With this development, will the eyes of real estate developers begin to focus in on Anacostia like vultures?
And don’t forget, assuming all goes according to plan, Historic Anacostia will have a light-rail station as part of a demonstration streetcar line connecting to the Green Line.
Let the gentrification speculation … and the tensions mount in comments.
