Washington Business Journal by Michael Neibauer

Developers, the door is open again to bid on the District's Parcel 42.

The 17,008-square-foot vacant lot — a D.C.-owned site bounded by Seventh Street, R Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW in the heart of Shaw — was the guinea pig in the city’s “Our RFP” process, through which the community essentially crafts the solicitation that goes out to developers.

The result of that community process, a request for proposals released on Sept. 4, is a call for a creative mix of uses, high-quality design “that establishes a signature gateway on this visible corner,” a mixed-income component that “maximizes affordability” if residential is proposed, a “vibrant retail mix that includes destination and neighborhood serving retail,” a vibrant streetscape, and the activation and public use of a small, adjacent triangular lot.

Bids are due by Jan. 8.

“I am proud to see the progress we have made on this innovative and inclusive initiative,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said of the Our RFP process. “For the District to reach its full potential, we must continue to engage residents on the future development of their neighborhoods. I look forward to seeing Parcel 42 transformed into a vibrant hub that reflects the needs and priorities of District residents.”

This is the third run through the RFP process for Parcel 42. The lot has been vacant for roughly 15 years.

• In 2007, the Adrian Fenty administration awarded the development rights to Parcel 42 Partners, for an affordable residential project on the site, but that bid was scaled back, and ultimately fizzled, amid the recession.
• In 2010, the property was the site of a tent city sit-in organized by affordable advocates who demanded ( and still do) a heavily subsidized, 100 percent affordable residential project on Parcel 42.
• In 2013, the Vincent Gray administration selected a partnership of the TenSquare Group and Chapman Development to transform the lot into 105 residential units and ground-floor retail. It was not the community’s choice: The Shaw advisory neighborhood commission preferred Baywood Hotels’ bid to build an extended-stay hotel, 22 units of affordable housing and retail on the property.

Like it did with the Franklin School award( another project now in another RFP round) the Bowser administration nixed the award shortly after taking office in January and pledged to start anew.

The Shaw community, headed up Seventh Street from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, has exploded with new development in the years since the first Parcel 42 RFP went out. Among the projects: Roadside Development's CityMarket at O and Jefferson MarketPlace.