Call Goes Out for Southwest Waterfront Developers

District Expects Great Interest in Remaking Strip

Adrian G. Washington, president of the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. (Robert A. Reeder - The Washington Post)

An ambitious plan to redevelop the District's sleepy Southwest waterfront is moving ahead after years of bureaucratic wrangling, as a quasi-governmental group gears up to select a developer that can transform the one-mile strip into a livelier mix of apartments, shops and entertainment venues.

Today, the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. plans to invite interested developers to identify themselves, come up with plans and explain why they are qualified to take control of a project that could attract $1 billion in public and private financing. Responses are due by May 1.

"We're going out to the development world -- local and national and international -- and asking them to bring us their ideas," said Adrian G. Washington, the group's president and chief executive since December. "We want to know who is out there, who is interested and what kinds of resources they can bring to the table."

Given the District's dearth of developable land and the general allure of waterfront projects, District officials expect extensive interest from developers. Adding to the attraction is the proposed baseball stadium less than a mile away, which could bring customers with money to spend.

All those reasons, said James J. Abdo, president and chief executive of District-based Abdo Development, make him consider taking part in the project.

"There are so many cities in the country that have made a big deal about waterfront development when they don't even have waterfront, but little tributaries," Abdo said. "Here we have this magnificent river that really hasn't been fully utilized for its development potential. . . . There's going to be significant interest across the board from a multitude of developers."

The waterfront proposal dates to 2000, when Mayor Anthony A. Williams launched a plan to revitalize the neglected areas stretching 14 miles along both sides of the Anacostia River and the Washington Channel, where the Anacostia and Potomac rivers meet. The prime part of the portfolio was the seven-block section of waterfront in Southwest, from the Maine Avenue fish market to Fort McNair. That neighborhood was built in the 1950s and 1960s, in an urban-renewal effort that never gained much momentum.

In May 2002, the city and the National Capital Revitalization Corp. announced a plan to replace the Southwest waterfront's strip's boxy 1960s-style buildings with a denser mix of mid-rise residences, hotel rooms, offices, stores and cafes.

Under the plan, the new buildings would accommodate up to 800 additional housing units, parks would be improved and new ones added. The roads would be reconfigured to allow easy pedestrian access to the waterfront. And in the Washington Channel, new piers would support kayaking, fishing and water taxis.

But as the vision for the waterfront grew in scope, Williams became convinced that a separate waterfront agency was needed and created the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. in 2004, sparking months of sparring with the NCRC over who should control the property.

The two entities settled on a land swap in which the NCRC agreed to give up control of the Southwest waterfront in exchange for about $24.5 million worth of city-owned land, $25 million in cash and the right to take ownership of one of three large development sites elsewhere in the city.

"It's not a done deal yet, but it's close enough that the [Anacostia Waterfront Corp.] can put out an invitation to developers," said D.C. Council member Sharon Ambrose (D-Ward 6). The outreach to developers is "very exciting because it signals that the Anacostia waterfront is taking off."

The broad outlines of the plan have not changed since it was proposed in 2002, even with the baseball stadium looming nearby, Washington said. "In fact, there's such tremendous demand for the area around the baseball stadium that it made us comfortable with our timetable," he said.

If all goes as planned, ground could be broken on the Southwest waterfront project in mid-2008, he said.

"We've been through the good times and the bad," said Aden King, a vice president at Phillips Foods Inc. and Seafood Restaurants, which has a roughly 35-year-old restaurant on the waterfront. "This is not the end of the road for us. It's just the beginning."

Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.