Wash Biz Journal - What could St. Elizabeths east look like? Here's a recap of the master developer pitches

Four Points Development's proposal for St. Elizabeths east includes 350 homes, 25 stores, 5,250 students, and 6 acres of community farmland. (Four Points)

Here an excerpt of a recent article by Michael Neibauer at the Washington Business Journal, recapping the pitches presented by 5 teams, all vying to be the master developers for phase one the St. Elizabeths East campus - "the largest public-private economic development project in the District's pipeline". Where? You guessed it: right here in Congress Heights.

The first phase of St. E's east is generally focused near the Congress Heights Metro station. It will include space for three pre-selected tech anchors — Microsoft for its Innovation Center, Citelum for its lighting lab and VimTrek for its 3D building modeling demonstration center — residential, office and retail development.

The District has committed more than $100 million to rebuild virtually all of the infrastructure at St. E's, though a contractor has not yet been selected to lead that multiyear effort. The decades-long full buildout of the campus could bring up to 5 million square feet of academic, commercial, residential and retail uses.

On the opposite side of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, on St. Elizabeths west, the General Services Administration is continuing its pursuit of the new Department of Homeland Security headquarters — a key to luring private sector business to the east campus.

The selection of a winner, expected at the end of the year, will be based on the strength of the overall development team, evidence of specific experience in design and development, experience with public-private partnership, ability to secure financing and generate new jobs, and the financial value to D.C. 

Click here for the full article and to see a rundown of each team's proposal (and more sketches!)