WASHINGTON — The District’s plan to redevelop the former Walter Reed Army National Medical Center in Northwest is moving forward but construction might not start any time soon.
A bill that would allow the District to purchase a 66-acre portion of the former hospital property passed out of committee on Tuesday. A final council vote is expected March 1. The city is expected to close on a deal with the site’s master developer within the year.
“Construction is expected to begin within 5 to 7 years after closing,” D.C. Council Committee of the Whole Legislative Counsel Cynthia LeFevre tells WTOP in an email.
LeFevre expects “substantial completion” of the entire redevelopment project within 23 years.
The former military campus lies between 16th Street and Georgia Avenue in upper Northwest. The campus is bounded to the north and south Fern and Aspen streets.
About 30 acres of the property along 16th street will go to the U.S. Department of State for use as an international chancery center for embassies. The Army will keep 10 acres for a health research facility.
The plan for the acres the city intends to purchase and lease to a developer includes a town center, green space, office buildings, a hotel, grocery store, retail, two charter schools plus space for Howard University, artists and charities.
More than 20 percent of the townhomes, condos, and apartments to be placed throughout the property will be priced to be affordable for residents earning 30 percent, 50 percent and 80 percent of the area’s median income.
The former Walter Reed campus in Northwest closed August 27, 2011 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC). In its more than 100-year history the location provided medical care for members of the U.S. military and their families along with elected leaders including members of Congress, the vice president and president.
The redevelopment plan calls for the preservation of a number of historic buildings on the site but the old hospital building will be demolished. In its place will be the town center that will be anchored by a grocery store.
A community advisory meeting on the project will be held the third week in March:
Mon. March 14, 2016
6:30 p.m. — 8 p.m.
Fort Stevens Recreation Center
Multipurpose Room #150
1327 Van Buren St NW
Washington, D.C. 20012
Residents interested in related project developments can sign up for notifications.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the change in title for LeFevre.
