A rendering of the Half Street Market Wells will testify in favor of.

House Republicans are getting off of Capitol Hill tomorrow and will hold a hearing at a warehouse near Nationals Park that has sat unused since 2009, costing taxpayers $70,000 a year to maintain. The hearing is part of a series put on by the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, which has been looking into the federal government’s real estate portfolio.

This warehouse is of some local interest, though. Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) is set to testify at the hearing, where he will ask that it be turned over to a group of developers so they can create the Half Street Market, a public market and restaurant that will also serve as a “living classroom for workforce development training and education in the hospitality and culinary arts.”

According to Wells, using the warehouse for the market would add needed amenities to the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood.

“Within the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood, we are building the equivalent of a small city – with tens of thousands of residents. Great cities and great neighborhoods have distinctive places and community spaces. You could ask for no better example of that than Yards Park on the riverfront just a few blocks away. Among other great spaces are public markets that activate a streetscape and the blocks around it, and serve a neighborhood with fresh food and places to gather as a community,” he said.

If all of this sounds familiar, it should—last June they used Georgetown’s West Heating Plant for the same purposes, and it was only recently sold to a private developer for $19.5 million.