"We've already got about 1,000 people a day coming in and out of our buildings," said Rizzo, whose company owns a medical office building and leases space to the D.C. Lottery Board. "But to get a retail market, we need more people. . . . Having some office buildings will do that."
The talk of redevelopment in Anacostia and the fact that there were no other major developers active in the neighborhood attracted Jemal, who holds a portfolio of 7 million square feet of office and retail space in the region. He is best known in the development industry for revitalizing the 800 block of F Street NW and renovating the old Woodward & Lothrop building at 10th and F Streets NW.
Albert R. "Butch" Hopkins Jr., left, president and chief executive of the Anacostia Economic Development Corp., and developer Douglas Jemal take in the changing sights along Good Hope Road in Anacostia.
(Dudley M. Brooks -- The Washington Post)
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Metro Business: Coverage of Washington area businesses and the local economy.
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In 2003, Jemal paid $575,000 for an empty lot and a warehouse at the corner of U Street and Martin Luther Jr. King, and laid plans to assemble several adjoining parcels.
"I saw despair in the area and nothing going on. . . . That spells opportunity to me," Jemal said. "When I started buying along Seventh Street, it looked like this. . . . There was nothing for people to come to. Here, it's kind of the same. I can do something with this."
Jemal's arrival in the neighborhood stoked the hopes of longtime residents and small-business owners such as Tony Cole.
"He's the answer to this place right here," said Cole, one recent afternoon as Jemal stood on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in front of some abandoned buildings. Cole and his mother own Cole's Cafe, a popular restaurant and a fixture of Anacostia social life.
"Whattya doing in my neighborhood?" Jemal asked as he shook hands and gave Cole a bear hug.
"This is my neighborhood," Cole laughed. "You put the spirit in it."
Jemal's plans won't proceed without challenges.
Alberto Gomez, a native of Colombia who runs a small construction business in the 1100 block of Good Hope Road, said he is reluctant to sell. He said he bought the rowhouse he uses for his office and the parking lot next to it -- about 14,000 square feet -- for less than $250,000 in 1990.
