Food Hall, Dance Studios And Dave Chappelle: Developers Update Plans For Reeves Center Redevelopment
The two finalists to redevelop the Frank D. Reeves Center at the busy corner of 14th and U streets NW resubmitted proposals for the site in response to an updated request for proposals.
Following a meeting to discuss the two proposals, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development expects to make a final decision on the development plan for the site in the coming month, UrbanTurf reported.
The proposals, which follow the reissued EquityRFP from December, remain substantially similar to previous iterations and feature a mix of community uses and a space for the NAACP headquarters, plus retail and residential.
Applicant Legacy Community Partners is led by Dantes Partners, The Menkiti Group, EB5 Capital and Soto. Its proposal includes a 150-to-180-room hotel that is branded as a Moxy in the proposal, plus ground-floor space for a Songbyrd venue.
The proposal's retail also includes a more than 8K SF food hall, a 1K SF DC Central Kitchen training center, a space for the Constellation Theatre Company and nearly 6K SF of additional unclaimed retail space.
The 101K SF office property in the proposal would be split roughly 50-50 between the new NAACP headquarters and government uses that would remain on the site.
The residential components, dubbed The Barry and The Zora, include a 246-unit multifamily property with four additional live-work units for sale, plus senior housing comprising 43 units and three for-sale townhomes.
In addition to the food hall, the developers are also planning for a one-for-one replacement of farmers market tents on the redeveloped site.
Applicant Reeves CMC Ventures is led by MRP Realty, CSG Urban Partners and Capri Investment Group. Its proposal has a smaller hotel but more residential units than its competitor, in addition to office, retail and arts spaces.
The developers didn't name a brand for the 116-room hotel, which would be in the lower floors of the same building as the 322-unit, mixed-income residential component.
The proposal emphasized the 44K SF of arts, education and entertainment programming, including new homes for the Washington Jazz Arts Institute, the Christian Tabernacle Child Development Center and The VIVA School, a local pre-professional dance school. The property would also host the first D.C. outpost of New York dance school The Ailey School.
The retail component would be anchored by a restaurant led by Top Chef contestant Carla Hall and a comedy club from D.C. native Dave Chappelle.
Public uses include the 24K SF Frederick Douglass Plaza and 200-seat Marion Barry Jr. Amphitheater.
