Washington Construction News staff writer
Although a significant number of projects are being shelved or delayed in an environment of higher interest rates and challenging post-pandemic office vacancy rates, several significant projects are moving forward in the DC area in 2024.
Axios DC summarized some of the most significant projects in a recent posting:
11th Street Bridge Park
Construction is scheduled to start on the $92 million park this summer, with an anticipated 2026 finish date, park director Scott Kratz tells Axios.
The X-shaped park will have an environmental education center, an outdoor ampitheatre, canoe and kayak launches, a cafe, and trails and gardens among other resources in an X-shaped area over the Anacostia River between the navy Yard and Anacostia neighborhoods.
The Bridge District
Developer Redbrick says in early 2025 The Douglass will be completed with more than 750 rental units in three buildings, along with an Atlas Brew Works outpost at the 8-acre Ward 8 site. Meanwhile, the community’s second phase (with 635 residential units plus short term lodging) is scheduled to break ground later this year, Axios reports.
A further project will be the National Campus for Cyber Leadership.
Buzzard Point
Mixed-use community Vermeer should open this year, with 501 residential units and more than 38,000 sq. ft. of retail space.
As well, a Moxy hotel and 45Q, with 64 residential units, should be finshished, says a Capitol Riverfront BID spokesperson.
The spokesperson told Axios that phase one of The Stacks — a development that will ultimately see more than 2 million sq. ft. of mixed-use space, hotels, offices, pedestrian paths, and green space — is anticipated to deliver in 2025. A second phase will follow in 2028.
As well Parcel B — a mixed-use community with affordable housing for seniors, plus bowling and concert venue Brooklyn Bowl and a new Volunteers of America headquarters — should also open next year, according to a spokesperson.
Potomac Yard
This is the area where Monumental Sports plans a 70-acre development with a new home for the Wizards and Caps, a performing arts venue, underground parking, retail, and residential space. Work should be done by 2028 if all goes according to plan.
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech is opening the first building on its Innovation Campus later this year, bolstering the Potomac Yard/National Landing area’s rep as a burgeoning tech scene, Axios DC reported. Another two buildings will join the 11-story 300,000 sq. ft. structure on the 3.5-acre campus.
As well, an Inova health care facility is expected to open this year in the Oakville Triangle area along Route 1, with multifamily housing and retail also planned for the area.
Reservoir District
The former McMillan Sand Filtration site just north of Bloomingdale is being redeveloped into the Reservoir District mixed-use community.
When completed, the 25-acre community will include apartments, townhomes, retail, restaurants, a grocery store, a community center with a pool and fitness center, six acres of green space, a restored Olmsted Walk pathway, and the McMillan Center for Health and Research, which will house health care providers and a research facility, Axios reports.
Some of the townhomes will be completed this year, says a representative of EYA, one of the project’s developers. Other aspects including the grocery and restaurants should be ready by 2026.
St. Elizabeths Campus
A new $375 million GW Health hospital is expected to open this year, with urgent care, women’s health services, specialty care, and a trauma center.
As well, Sycamore & Oak — a five-acre mixed-use development — is planning to break ground in 2025 and deliver in 2028, according to a representative from the Emerson Collective, one of the project’s developers.
Architect David Adjaye has designed a permanent 650,000-sq. ft., five-structure development with affordable housing, a hotel, office space, a grocery store, retail, restaurants, and an outdoor performance space.
