Buyer Of Anacostia Site Plans 36-Unit Mixed-Use Project
A new mixed-use development is in the works along one of Anacostia's main streets.
Nonprofit Recovery Café DC acquired the property at 1337 Good Hope Road SE for $2.5M with plans to build a mixed-use project, Feldman Ruel Urban Property Advisors Managing Principal Ian Ruel tells Bisnow.
Ruel, who co-founded the brokerage firm in March with fellow Marcus & Millichap alumnus Josh Feldman, represented the seller in the deal. The property was sold by the owner of the Discount Place home goods store, which has operated on the property since 1997.
The buyer, in partnership with the Anacostia Economic Development Corp., plans to build 36 units of affordable housing, with 8K SF of ground-floor program space for Recovery Café DC.
Founded by Jacqueline Conerly and Donald Conerly, Recovery Café DC is part of a network of 25 café-style spaces that serve as recovery centers for those that have struggled with addiction, mental health challenges, homelessness and incarceration.
Recovery Café DC has one existing location at 2419 Minnesota Ave. SE, which it leases. It plans to vacate that space and relocate to the new building once the development is completed, Ruel told Bisnow.
The buyer aims to break ground on the project in nine to 12 months, Ruel said. He said environmental issues and financing delays complicated this deal, and it took over seven months to close.
"While this was a difficult transaction to navigate, we were lucky to be working with great people on both sides of the transaction," Ruel wrote in a statement. "Recovery Café DC and Anacostia Economic Development Corp. have an incredible plan for this site that will benefit the community by bringing its much-needed services, as well as more affordable housing to the neighborhood."
The property sits two blocks from the intersection of Good Hope Road SE and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. At that intersection, The Menkiti Group is building its MLK Gateway mixed-use project, where it has landed technology company Enlightened and a D.C. agency as office tenants.
CORRECTION, DEC. 15., 3:50 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story incorrectly described one of the co-founders of Recovery Café DC. This story has been updated.
