The plans for the highly anticipated redevelopment of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Northwest Washington have cleared a major hurdle and are headed to the city council for approval.
The Local Redevelopment Committee last week approved a plan for 3.1 million square feet of development, more than half of it residential. The plan now heads to Mayor Vincent Gray’s office to be drafted into a bill for D.C. Council approval.
But for those anxious to see the walled-off military campus rejoin its community, groundbreaking is still potentially years away. The plan heading to council for approval was accomplished through dozens of community meetings after new boundaries favoring the District were drawn last spring. The city, however, still has to acquire the land from the Army, which means it could be at least two more years before the first shovel strikes the ground.
| Who’s already signed on to Walter Reed |
| HELP USA — building 75 units of low-income housing |
| So Others Might Eat — 40 housing units for homeless seniors |
| Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School — 100,000 square feet for a middle and high school |
| Latin American Montessori Bilingual charter school — 30,000 square feet |
| Transitional Housing Corporation — 6,000 square feet of office space |
But that isn’t stopping officials from marketing the site to big box retailers. Last year, Gray and council members met with the highly sought-after grocer Wegmans and home improvement rivals Home Depot and Lowe’s at a retail development conference in Las Vegas that historically has been the breeding ground for major real estate deals in the District.
Jose Sousa, spokesman for the deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said officials this year will continue to shop the site around to major retailers at this year’s conference in May.
“As things continue to gain traction over the next couple of months, this will obviously be one of the sites we talk about with retailers,” Sousa said. “We want to let people know about the [development] schedule and get them thinking about what are the kinds of spaces those retailers need.”
