Spotlight on Anacostia, Washington, D.C.
Anacostia, situated in the southeast quadrant of the city of Washington, D.C., is the popular name for a number of neighborhoods in a large stretch of the city on the east bank of the Anacostia River, north of its confluence with the Potomac River. Known for its row houses and turn-of-the-century Victorian homes, the area is easily accessible by Metrorail, I-295, I-395, and the Suitland Parkway. In historic Anacostia, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Good Hope Road, both designated as Great Streets, intersect to form the center of the commercial corridor of the area. As revitalization of the community takes place, local residents and visitors enjoy cultural offerings which include the Honfleur Art Gallery, Anacostia Arts Center, American Poetry Museum, the Anacostia Playhouse, and the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site combining to create a flourishing arts and culture hub.
With a variety of commercial, residential, and cultural projects planned for the area, Anacostia and its surrounding neighborhoods are poised for transformational developments in the coming years. The real estate market is already gaining momentum, as Anacostia’s zip code experienced one of the largest gains in median home prices in the Washington region last year, according to Rockville-based multiple-listing service MRIS, ranking number one in the District and number five in the region. Adding to the residential offerings, Four Points and Curtis Development have plans to develop Reunion Square, a six block project that would eventually bring 500 residential units and 1.1 million square feet of commercial and office space to the area.
One of the most innovative developments proposed for the neighborhood is the 11th Street Bridge Park spanning the Anacostia River, connecting Anacostia to Capitol Hill as the city’s first elevated park. To be built on the piers of the old 11th Street bridge, the Bridge Park envisions outdoor performance spaces, playgrounds, orchards, an environmental education center, and kayak and canoe launches. The project is a collaboration between the Washington, D.C. government and the non-profit organization Building Bridges Across the River. Pre-construction work is already underway and construction is expected to begin in 2017.
The Skyland shopping center at Alabama Avenue and Good Hope Road SE is being redeveloped into a town center that will include approximately 340,000 square feet of retail and approximately 475 residential units. On the East Campus of the historic Saint Elizabeths Hospital, Redbrick LMD and Gragg Cardona Partners have plans for the first phase of a 183-acre project. The development is slated to deliver a 171,000 square foot office building with 47,000 square feet of retail, 250 apartments, and 60 townhomes. The total project will eventually bring 1.8 million square feet of office, 206,000 square feet of retail, and 1,300 residential units. The West Campus is now home to headquarters of the United States Coast Guard, which opened in 2013 with 3,700 employees as part of the plan to eventually relocate the headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security to the site.
This report features six urban retail centers in Anacostia with rents ranging from $20.00 to $39.00 per square foot for non-anchor tenants. In the Northeast/Southeast Washington, D.C. retail market, asking rents for the fourth quarter of 2015 averaged $20.92 for shopping centers, up from $18.50 from the first quarter of 2014, and $19.76 for general retail properties. Asking rents for the Southeast Washington, D.C. submarket averaged $23.27 with a vacancy rate of 4.4%.