Real Estate & Property Law

Plans to transform Anacostia

By Alan Ackerman

Washington Business Journal, March 3,2008

Anacostia is getting a long-desired makeover, courtesy of a familiar name.
George Curtis III, whose family's furniture company built the 19-foot high chair at V Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, is teaming with D.C.'s Four Points LLC on a planned 1.5 million square feet of new development in the heart of Anacostia's blighted business district.

The plans include 855,000 square feet of offices, 500 residential units, 165,000 square feet of retail, an eight- to 10-screen movie theater and a grocery store.

Developers and community leaders say the project, with construction possibly beginning in early 2009, could transform Anacostia's main corridor into a vibrant retail and business center.
D.C. estimates the property's value at its best use to be about $33.8 million. Four Points plans to seek greater zoning flexibility.

Curtis will sell the land to Four Points but retain a stake in the project, capping his family's 80 years of involvement in the neighborhood.

-One has to hope the area is truly blighted, and can only be rehabilitated through governmental involvement. If so, the project intended to clean the area makes sense. However, one wonders if there is a private profit motive leading the way. I hope that the individual owners will be protected.

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on March 05, 2008 (boomark / email).