The Anacostia Waterfront Corporation (AWC) was a government-owned corporation established in 2004 by the government of District of Columbia, in the United States, to revitalize neighborhoods next to the Anacostia River and to coordinate the environmental rehabilitation and use of the river.Wilgoren, "D.C. to Unveil Ambitious Anacostia Waterfront Plan," Washington Post, December 3, 2003. The corporation was intended to have a 20-year lifespan, during which it would oversee an $8 billion public-private redevelopment plan covering the Anacostia River waterfront and numerous parcels of land in the city east of the river. However, a change in mayoral administrations and frustration with the slow pace of redevelopment resulted in the abolition of the corporation after three years.
Formation In December 2003, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams proposed creating a government-owned corporation, the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, to promote redevelopment of the neighborhoods, roads, parks, and other areas adjacent to the Anacostia River."City Plans Corporation to Manage Anacostia Project," Roll Call, December 8, 2003; Holly, "D.C. Officials Press Revitalization of Anacostia Waterfront," Associated Press, January 14, 2004. The proposal was the culmination of a more than four-year effort by city and federal officials, developers, private organizations, and citizens. The proposed corporation was modeled after the Battery Park City Authority, which oversaw the redevelopment of Battery Park and the residential Battery Park City neighborhood in New York City.
The AWC would be funded by $250 million in revenue bonds and implement a 20-year program that would raise $8 billion in public and private funds (including $1.5 billion cleanup of the river). The plan called for 5,000 new residences (both new homes and apartments), new retail districts, office buildings, a riverwalk, new bridges and roads, and a light rail transportation line to be built in the area by 2011. The Council of the District of Columbia approved the legislation on July 13, 2004,Vadum, "D.C. Council Approves Plan To Create New Waterfront Corp," The Bond Buyer, July 14, 2004. and Mayor Williams signed it into law on August 5, 2004.Vadum, "District of Columbia: Mayor Signs Waterfront Revitalization Legislation," The Bond Buyer, August 6, 2004.
The chairman of the AWC's board of directors was Stephen Goldsmith, a former mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana,Nakamura, "Official Promises To Deliver Stadium," Washington Post, January 17, 2006. and its chief executive officer was Andrew Altman, Director of the Office of Planning for the District of Columbia.
Activities Baseball District
The AWC was a proponent of building Nationals Park, a new baseball stadium, to be the home field of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball team.Lively, "Stadium Fallout Worries Residents," Washington Times, April 24, 2005; Labbe, "Advice, Fear at D.C. Stadium Session," Washington Post, April 24, 2005. The stadium quickly became AWC's biggest redevelopment project, which the corporation called the "Baseball District."Lemke, "Group Pitches 'Ballpark District'," Washington Times, October 22, 2005; Hedgpeth, "Firms Bid on Land by Stadium," Washington Post, October 22, 2005. The AWC began negotiating in August 2005 to buy land near the ballpark to spur development and turn the area around the stadium into an attraction similar to the area around the Verizon Center in Chinatown.Nakamura, "D.C. Seeks to Buy Land for 'Ballpark District'," Washington Post, August 12, 2005. A site with hotels, office space, parks, residential housing, retail shops, and restaurants was envisioned. As part of its development effort, the AWC feuded publicly with the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, calling for underground rather than surface parking.Lemke, "Landowners Must Yield to Ballpark," Washington Times, October 6, 2005. The Washington Nationals' ownership also demanded above-ground parking.Nakamura, "Owners, D.C. at Odds Over Stadium Parking," Washington Post, May 25, 2006. A deal was struck in June 2006 to build both parking garages above-ground and surround them with high-rise condominium buildings so they would not be eyesores.Lemke, "New Deal Made on Stadium Parking," Washington Times, June 21, 2006. When the deal collapsed three months later, the AWC tried to buy the land for $1 million.Nakamura and Heath, "Garage Plan for Stadium At Risk," Washington Post, September 16, 2006.
In December 2005, the AWC named two master planning teams to help oversee the design of the Baseball District.Hedgpeth, "'Teams' to Develop Ballpark Area," Washington Post, December 13, 2005; Holly, "Teams Picked to Revitalize Waterfront," Associated Press, December 12, 2005. When the cost of building the stadium soared by 25 percent to $667 million, the AWC was asked to sell development rights on its land adjacent to the stadium to cover the cost overruns.Nakamura and Heath, "Land Sale Possible To Fund Stadium," Washington Post, December 28, 2005; Lemke, "D.C. Asks Court Help to Evict Landowners," Washington Times, January 25, 2006. By June 2006, feuding over the development had resulted in Mayor Williams' creating an Office of Baseball on his staff to oversee the development of the Ballpark District.Lemke and Doolittle, "Mayor Creates Office to Oversee Development," Washington Times, June 1, 2006. A draft master plan was released in late June 2006.Hedgpeth, "Anacostia Group Looks Beyond the Ballpark," Washington Post, June 26, 2006.
Southwest waterfront A second major initiative was the Southwest waterfront development — a mile-long tract bordered by 12th Street SW, M Street SW, Maine Avenue SW, and the Anacostia River. The proposed development was the first revitalization effort in the area since the mid-1960s.Hedgpeth, "Competing Developers Share Waterfront Ideas," Washington Post, July 31, 2006. But the property was controlled by the National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC), another quasi-government corporation established by the D.C. government.ElBoghdady, "Call Goes Out for Southwest Waterfront Developers," Washington Post, March 1, 2006. In February 2006, the NCRC agreed to give the waterfront property to the AWC in exchange for $25 million, $24.5 million in city-owned land, and the right to develop three other large city-owned parcels of land.
The AWC asked for proposals that included "cultural space" (such as a museum, musical performance space, or theatre), a hotel, office space, parking, residential housing, and retail space.Madigan, "Southwest Waterfront Takes Another Step Forward," Washington Business Journal, March 1, 2006. Seventeen companies responded with proposals.Madigan, "Firms Hope to Ride Wave of Development on D.C.'s Southwest Waterfront," Washington Business Journal, May 1, 2006. Five were chosen in June 2006 by the AWC to submit more detailed proposals,Madigan, "D.C. Waterfront Group Narrows Redevelopment Contenders to Five," Washington Business Journal, June 13, 2006; "Waterfront Corp. Names Development Finalists," Roll Call, June 15, 2006. and two selected to submit final proposals two months later.Madigan, "AWC Picks 2 Finalists for Waterfront Project," Washington Business Journal, August 15, 2006. PN Hoffman/Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse was chosen in September 2006 to be the lead developer.Madigan, "PN Hoffman/Struever to Lead $500M Southwest Waterfront Revitalization," Washington Business Journal, September 28, 2006; Hedgpeth, "A New Blueprint for D.C. Waterfront," Washington Post, September 29, 2006. But the development proposals were stalled because the transaction had still not been formalized two years after AWC and NRCR agreed to the land swap.Madigan, "NCRC Blames AWC, D.C. AG for Delayed Land Deal," Washington Business Journal, August 28, 2006. The D.C. City Council attempted to pass legislation in November 2006 to force the land swap through,Madigan, "D.C. Council Committee OKs Land Swap for Development Projects," Washington Business Journal, November 6, 2006. and the AWC offered to buy out leaseholders for $20 million to encourage NCRC to turn over the land.Hedgpeth, "Plans for Southwest Waterfront Hit Snag," Washington Post, November 6, 2006. The transfer finally occurred in mid-February 2007.Coombs, "After Two Years, D.C. Agencies Complete Land Swap to Spur Anacostia Development," Washington Business Journal, February 15, 2007; Kang, "Land Swap Complete, Waterfront Plan Revived," Washington Post, February 19, 2007; Federis and Yehle, "Southwest Waterfront Transferred to AWC," Roll Call, February 26, 2007.
Other projects Other AWC development projects included: Anacostia Metro Station — The AWC proposed in August 2005 to build its corporate headquarters at the Anacostia Metro station to promote development in the blighted neighborhood of Anacostia.Wilgoren, "Williams Proposes Moving Metro Offices to Anacostia," Washington Post, August 4, 2005; Hedgpeth, "Moving Metro Office Could Spur Growth," Washington Post, August 8, 2005. No further action was taken until November 2006, when the AWC asked Metro's Board of Directors to move the transit agency's headquarters from downtown D.C. to a new, $65 million building to be constructed on top of the Anacostia Metro station.Madigan, "Anacostia Pushes Metro to Move Across the River," Washington Business Journal, November 6, 2006. Barry Farm and Lincoln Heights — The AWC also held title to two parcels of land, one in the impoverished Barry Farm neighborhood near Poplar Point and the other in Lincoln Heights near the far eastern corner of the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia agreed in December 2006 to issue $350 million in municipal bonds to help build 1,400 residential housing units in both areas on AWC-controlled land.Ackerman, "D.C. Eyes Anacostia River Revival," The Bond Buyer, December 4, 2006.Ackerman, "D.C. Council Approves Redevelopment Projects, Rejects Mayor's Library Plan," The Bond Buyer, December 7, 2006. Hill East/Reservation 13 waterfront — The AWC was the lead agency to redevelop the public land known as Hill East, which consisted of L'Enfant Plan Reservation 13, a section of the city bounded by the Anacostia River, 17th Street SE, and Potomac Avenue SE.Brotherton, "Progress on the Riverfront," Roll Call, October 19, 2005. The corporation made 14 cash grants to community development groups to encourage them to provide greater use of this waterfront section. In June 2006, the AWC released plans to extend Massachusetts Avenue SE into Hill East, build 2,000 units of residential housing and of office space across the river in the Kenilworth neighborhood, and construct a pedestrian bridge across Kenilworth Avenue to the Deanwood Metro station (to connect the residential development to the subway).Brotherton, "Anacostia Progress Report," Roll Call, June 26, 2006. A year after President George W. Bush proposed transferring the land to the AWC, the corporation had done little to effect the land transfer.Drobnyk, Josh. "D.C. Land Swap Could Get Kicked to the Curb in '06." Washington Business Journal. July 17, 2006. The AWC began pushing federal legislation to transfer the site in mid-2006. Still, the federal government refused to hand over the land until the city found a site for a congressional mail-sorting facility located at Hill East.Madigan, "Final Detail of Land Swap Isn't Slowing AWC Down," Washington Business Journal, November 27, 2006. Despite the lack of title to the land, the AWC hired two engineering teams to plan for infrastructure improvements and to begin laying out a medical office complex, a mixed-use residential development, an office park, and a replacement for the D.C. Jail. In March 2007, the AWC unveiled six draft designs for the Kenilworth Avenue pedestrian bridge."AWC to Showcase Parkside Bridge Design Proposals," Roll Call, March 7, 2007.