Development of the RFK stadium area has been a mystery for years. But, now it looks like’s plans are coming together, with the first two developments recently selected by Mayor Bowser. Highlighted by a hotel, retail, and affordable housing.
The District plans to lease a portion of one of the East Coast’s largest undeveloped parcels of public land to two companies that will build more than 2,000 apartments, some restricted for lower-income renters, and a hotel.
The fate of the sprawling property on the west bank of the Anacostia between the D.C. jail and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium has long been a source of speculation and argument, as developers and nearby residents have put forth ideas for what the space ought to be used for.
On Tuesday, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said she had selected two bidders as winners of the competition for two portions of the site, which is known as Reservation 13: Blue Skye Construction & Development and R13 Community Partners.
The D.C. Council will have to approve the contracts in 2022, Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio said, for construction to begin in 2023.
Blue Skye Development plans to build 1,068 units of housing and 25,000 square feet of retail space on its portion of the site, with two-thirds of the rental units subsidized and restricted to people at certain low- and middle-income levels.
The Blue Skye bid beat a proposal from a company that wanted to build a day care and an assisted living home as well as housing on the site.
R13 Community Partners, a group led in part by former D.C. Council member Yvette M. Alexander, plans to build 1,241 housing units, with more than 700 of them subsidized for certain income levels, as well as 60,000 square feet of retail space and a 150-room hotel.
The area, which is east of Capitol Hill, has few hotel options. When the developers pitched their proposal at a city meeting earlier this year, they said that if the adjacent RFK Stadium is ever torn down and replaced with a new stadium or entertainment complex, then demand for hotel rooms will soar.
Competing developers unsuccessfully pitched other ideas for the site, including a shelter for homeless teenagers, an office tower and a Home Depot.
Almost all the housing in both sites will be rental units, with 74 condos in the Blue Skye project and 125 in the R13 project intended to be for sale.
Falcicchio said neighbors will have further opportunities to submit feedback now that the winning bids have been selected — including ideas for what sort of businesses they would like to see in the retail spaces.