A hotel, apartments, and Dave Chappelle comedy are in the mix for Reeves Center redevelopment
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The Reeves Center site takes up a full city block. Photo: Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
A Dave Chappelle Comedy Club, Marion Barry Square, hundreds of apartments, a hotel, and a new NAACP headquarters are all in the mix for a big redevelopment on 14th and U streets.
Why it matters: D.C. is transforming the vast and aging Reeves Center municipal building into something that better fits the area's booming nightlife and honors the Black history of the U Street corridor.
Driving the news: The District unveiled the two final competing redevelopment proposals last week. Both emphasize the legacy of the area, once known as “Black Broadway,” and include 100,000 square feet of office space for the anchor tenant, the NAACP, which is relocating from Baltimore to D.C.
One plan — from MRP Realty, CSG Urban Partners, and Capri Investment Group — would bring Chappelle’s comedy club, 322 mixed-income apartments, a 116-unit “residential hotel,” a plaza, and an amphitheater.
- It also includes space for arts and education and 366 parking spaces.
The second plan — from Dantes Partners, the Menkiti Group, and EB5 Capital — would be dubbed Marion Barry Square and include 296 mixed-income residential units, a food hall, Moxy Hotel with 150-180 rooms, retail shops, and a space for D.C. Central Kitchen.
- There would be 147 underground parking spaces.
Flashback: Four-term mayor Barry spearheaded the building of the Reeves Center in 1986 to revitalize the U Street corridor.
What we're watching: The Bowser administration plans to pick a team in February and send it to the D.C. Council for approval by the summer. It could break ground in the summer of 2025.