Filling a Blank Canvas at Catholic University

Catholic University set out to develop the property after deciding to move the dormitories, which were built in the 1960s. "It became an opportunity for us," said Julie Englund, the university's treasurer and vice president for finance and administration. The new retail and housing outlets will "create some amenities we don't have," she said.

Neither Abdo nor university officials would disclose financial details of the deal, except to say that the school would sell a portion of the land to the developer and lease other parts.

Brookland, a lush, sloping neighborhood of rowhouses and detached homes, is known as "Little Rome" because it has more than 60 Catholic institutions, including the university, which was established in 1887, and the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.

Developers have focused on several Washington neighborhoods in recent years, but the Brookland area has largely been ignored. Deborah Crain, a planner with the city's Office of Planning, said Abdo's project would help create the kind of population density in the area necessary to attract retailers and bolster business along 12th Street.

"You need the residential numbers to make the commercial work," she said.

Jim Stiegman, owner of Colonel Brooks' Tavern, one of the neighborhood's only sit-down restaurants, said Abdo's development would "create the possibility for a real neighborhood shopping and entertainment area that will feed off itself, give people a reason to come here, and give people who live here a reason to get out of their cars."

Several community activists said Abdo's project could generate too much traffic, although his buildings would have underground parking.

"Eight stories?" asked Tom Rooney, a retired Catholic University art professor and a Brookland resident for more than 40 years, of the proposed buildings. "That's humongous for around here. Once you start doing that, this whole area is going to change."

Jim Feeley, 53, who grew up in Brookland and lives there, said he cherishes the neighborhood's small-town rhythms.

"Some people think we've been especially privileged and that it's time to for us to catch up with the 20th and 21st centuries," he said. "I feel that the quality of life we have should be prized and protected."