Washington, D.C., May 31, 2007… Mayor Adrian Fenty today presented stakeholders in NoMA with a Mayor’s Order officially endorsing the creation of the NoMA Business Improvement District. He was joined in the heart of NoMA – a section of the District that lies north of Massachusetts Avenue near Union Station. — by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and members of the D.C. Council, representatives of federal agencies and Hugh Panero, CEO of XM Satellite Radio, one of the neighborhood’s earliest investors.“We are excited to see NoMA emerging as one of the District’s most promising new neighborhoods, replacing empty warehouses and parking lots with new offices, apartments, shops, restaurants, and hotels,” said Mayor Fenty. “Over the next 10 years, this area is expected produce over 20 million square feet of new development, generating some $500 million in tax revenue and creating over 36,000 permanent new jobs. The formation of this organization is a great example of how we can leverage public-private partnerships to build great neighborhoods.”

“The creation of the NoMA Business Improvement District is a significant step forward for this exciting neighborhood,” Norton said. “I have been a strong supporter of NoMA from the beginning working to fund a new metro station at New York Avenue and helping to bring ATF and EEOC to this up-and-coming neighborhood. The NoMA BID will further accelerate the transformation of the area.”

NoMA BID President Elizabeth Price noted that 4 million square feet of new development representing over $1 billion in private sector investment is expected to break ground in NoMA by first quarter 2008, including four office projects, 1,500 apartments, two hotels and 150,000 square feet of retail. This summer, she continued, employees will start moving into the new Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives headquarters and leasing will continue in the BID’s two recently completed office buildings, the fully renovated One NoMA Station and brand-new Capitol Plaza. The Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission signed NoMA’s largest new lease last week and will relocate 700 employees to One NoMA Station in 2008.

The BID was approved by the D.C. Council in March, 2007. It is bounded generally by Massachusetts Avenue on the south, North Capitol Street on the west, and Q and R Streets on the north; it also extends eastward just beyond the CSX/Metrorail tracks. For more information, see the BID Website at nomabid.wpengine.com.