(Washington, DC) – Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on Wednesday announced the District will sell a small city-owned site at Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue NE to a team of developers who are planning to build a million square feet of housing and retail on nine acres of land surrounding the District property
“This deal clears the way for a vast transformation of not only this intersection but the entire neighborhood,” said Mayor Fenty. “For too long, high quality, convenient retail has been hard to find in this part of the city and that’s going to change with these projects.”
Under the terms of the deal, the District will sell a vacant triangular parcel on the northeast corner of the Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue intersection to a joint venture between Lowe Enterprises and Jacksophie Development. The Lowe/Jacksophie team is planning to build three separate projects surrounding the District parcel.
Later this year, the team will break ground on Ft. Totten Square, on the former Tiger Mart site. The project will include 468 units of housing (94 units reserved as affordable), 71,000 square feet of retail including a full-service grocery store and almost 500 parking spaces.
The following year, the team expects to begin construction on a second phase, Dakota Pointe, which will include about 170 units of housing and 87 parking spaces.
The final phase, which includes the District’s triangle parcel, is called the Dakota Flats. It will include about 260 apartments (52 affordable units), 23,000 square feet of retail and 150 underground parking spaces. The development team estimates the $80 million Dakota Flat project will create about 100 full-time jobs, 250 construction jobs and about $1.8 million in new tax revenue.
The District Department of Transportation has been working with the development team to redesign the intersection to ease congestion and improve pedestrian safety. The projects would also implement the Office of Planning’s Riggs Road / South Dakota Avenue Area Plan, which was recently transmitted to the DC Council.