neighborhood news
The Modern Capitol Riverfront It’s Not All About a Ballpark by Jacqueline Dupree
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f one were to ask a non-interested observer about when the “revitalization” began of the neighborhood between the Southeast Freeway and the Anacostia River, it’s likely that the answer would have something to do with the arrival of the Washington Nationals. Some might have picked Sept. 2004 the Montreal Expos relocated to DC and the city decided to construct the team’s stadium on South Capitol Street, and other’s would choose the ballpark’s opening in March 2008. After all, in the preceding years the area hadn’t exactly been a destination for non-residents unless you worked at the Navy Yard, or knew someone who lived in one of the Capper/Carrollsburg public housing buildings, or who frequented the multiple dance clubs or strip clubs, or who needed cheap industrial space. The Nationals put the neighborhood on the map, many pundits would say. And yet, while there is no denying that 2005 and 2006 saw a “gold rush” of money being thrown at long-time landowners as big real estate companies swooped in, a strong case can be made that Nationals Park merely threw accelerant on the redevelopment fire that had actually started smoldering a few years earlier.
The City and the Feds
In 1995, Congress approved spending $200 million to modernize and construct portions of the Washington Navy Yard that would become the new headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and bring more than 4,000 new employees to the brick-walled enclave. Five years later, 19 federal and District agencies signed the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, committing to restor-
New Jersey Ave, SE looking south
Yards Park, looking north
Yards Park, looking east
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E a s t o f t h e R i v er D C N e w s . c o m
ing the city’s “forgotten river.” Not long afterward, federal legislation passed that allowed the General Services Administration to partner with private developers for the first time in its history in order to redevelop the 55-acre Southeast Federal Center site south of M Street and east of South Capitol Street. And in 2001, along with the official opening of the NAVSEA HQ, GSA chose JBG Cos. to build the new US Department of Transportation headquarters at New Jersey and M, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a $35 million grant to the DC Hous-
ing Authority to replace 700 aging public housing units at the Arthur Capper project between 2nd and 5th Streets SE alongside construction another 800 units of marketrate offerings. Because of these moves, by the time ground was broken in spring 2006 for what would become Nationals Park there were already five new office buildings completed along M Street SE and one more underway, filling up with contractors wanting to be close to NAVSEA and the Navy Yard. GSA had selected Forest City Washington to develop what would become “The Yards” on the rest of the Southeast Federal Center site. Capitol Hill Tower, a co-op that would be the neighborhood’s first “luxury” residential building, was under construction at New Jersey and K, opening in 2006 along with its sibling on th south side of the building, the Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Two buildings for low-income seniors were under construction as part of the Capper revitalization plans. And the Marines’ new Bachelor Enlisted Quarters had opened at 7th and L. 2006 also saw the last residents “temporarily” moved out of the existing Capper/Carrollsburg buildings. Nightclubs such as the Nexus Gold Club, Nation, Ziegfield’s, and others closed down, along with warehouses, asphalt and concrete plants, car repair garages, fast food joints, li-
