Washington, D.C., October 19, 2007… The District of Columbia (D.C.) government is investing approximately $7.6 million in street improvements in the emerging NoMa (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood just north of Capitol Hill. Along with the NoMa Business Improvement District’s (BID) street and sidewalk cleaning campaign that launches this month, the neighborhood is sprucing up for the three million square feet of new office and mixed-use space that is under construction this year alone. The District’s Department of Transportation (DDOT) is underway with two initiatives:
- Reconstruction of Second Street, N.E. between Massachusetts Avenue and M Street. Improvements include a new street surface, new brick sidewalks, Washington historic-style globe lighting, granite curbs and gutters, traffic signals, pedestrian safety measures, and a dedicated bike path that will become part of the eight-mile Metropolitan Branch Trail. This $1.4 million task is scheduled to be completed in mid-2008.
- Street and sidewalk upgrades to four underpasses that run beneath the CSX railroad tracks at Florida Avenue, M Street, L Street, and K Street, N.E. The District’s $1.2 million program includes street resurfacing, new sidewalks, granite curbs and gutters, Washington globe lighting, new traffic signals, and pedestrian safety improvements and will be complete by summer 2008. The NoMa BID, together with the D.C. Arts and Humanities Commission, has plans to commission and install original artwork in all four underpasses once the upgrades are completed next year. MRP Realty already has committed $50,000 worth of artwork for the Florida Avenue underpass near its Washington Gateway development.
In addition, DDOT’s FY 2008 budget includes approximately $5 million for pedestrian and vehicular traffic improvements to the intersection of New York and Florida Avenues, N.E. DDOT Director Emeka Moneme said: “DDOT is working diligently to improve these important streets and intersections in NoMa, now that ATF employees have moved into their new headquarters and many new development projects are underway.” “These infrastructure investments are setting the stage for NoMa’s renaissance,” added Elizabeth Price, President of the NoMa BID. “NoMa is on its way to becoming a 24/7 destination for living, working, and shopping, and it is vital that the area look safe, welcoming and attractive.”
NoMa is an exciting emerging mixed-use neighborhood north of the U.S. Capitol and Union Station in the Nation’s capital. Private developers are investing more than $1 billion this year alone with plans to develop over 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space in the area covered by the NoMa BID over the next 20 years. For more information about the BID, including a development pipeline map, see the BID Website at http://nomabid.wpengine.com.