Interim-Use Comes to Skyland!
DC CHEW: The Office of the Deputy Mayor is pleased to announce that on Saturday, December 10th and December 17th of 2011, the District held two inaugural farm markets at Skyland called DC CHEW. Please go to http://www.dcchew.com/ for more information on the 2012 season.

The Skyland project is geared to promote neighborhood revitalization and economic growth on an 18-acre site located in Ward 7 at the intersections of Good Hope Road, Naylor Road, and Alabama Ave SE. While the Skyland Shopping Center is still active, a considerable portion of the shopping center is vacant, and now contains either underutilized buildings with some boarded-up and vacated buildings, which presents serious safety concerns in the neighborhood. The potential of this site is significant, due to its prominent location, the considerable land area available for redevelopment, and the resources and public benefits the project would provide to the neighborhood.

The District is working with the Rappaport Cos. and the William S. Smith Co, among others, to redevelop the site.

Plans for Skyland call for more than 315,000 square feet of retail space-- a combination of high-quality, large format national-brand retailers and neighborhood serving shops and restaurants.
The project will also include 468 units of housing.

There are several outstanding legal issues associated with the project that have complicated the development process, but the District is working closely with the development team and its architects, Torti Gallas & Partners, to accelerate the pre-development work so the project moves on a parallel track with the legal process.

The development team received a final approval of its Planned Unit Development (PUD) application to the Zoning Commission in the summer of 2010. The District and development team are negotiating the business terms of their agreement. The DC Council has already approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) package to provide gap financing for the project.