After 10 years of remarkable transformation and redevelopment, Washington’s traditional downtown is nearly fully built out. With 5 or 6 million SF of new development estimated over the next five years, Downtown’s boundaries necessarily will spill over into adjacent areas to the east, north and south as the city’s central core expands to adopt a mix of uses. This new “Center City” encircles both the National Mall and the US Capitol, stretching from Dupont Circle to the Southeast/Southwest Waterfront and from Foggy Bottom to Capitol Hill.
Earlier today, Mayor Fenty announced the 2008 Center City Action Agenda, which builds on the achievements of the 2000 Downtown Action Agenda, the planning document that helped guide Downtown’s transformation into the economic engine of the city and the cultural and entertainment center of the region. The Center City Action Agenda establishes new development and place making goals and extends the city’s urban core into emerging areas that can absorb the growth needed to sustain DC’s economic momentum and fiscal stability.
“This is an evolutionary step that will help maintain Washington, DC’s strong competitiveness both regionally and nationally,” said Richard Bradley, executive director of the Downtown DC Business Improvement District (BID). “We commend Mayor Fenty and the Office of Planning for developing a plan that will leverage private investments, generate immense fiscal benefits for the city, and finance the administration’s broad social agenda.”
The Center City Action Agenda is the result of a multi-year process that involved hundreds of public and private sector stakeholders in developing key strategic initiatives for maintaining the city’s economic momentum, guiding the type and quality of growth in neighborhoods surrounding Downtown and linking together existing and emerging neighborhoods.
Recognizing the need for Downtown to grow and expand into a larger Center City area where available land exists to accommodate new office and residential markets, the city already has invested significantly in Mount Vernon Triangle, NoMa, Southwest Waterfront and the Capitol Riverfront as key areas for new development. The Action Agenda highlights strategies of importance to Downtown, transportation, parks, place making, retail support and homelessness, and makes them top priorities for the city as well.