By Chris Kain
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A ribbon-cutting with Mayor Muriel Bowser today marked the completion of the second phase of the MLK Gateway project, which includes a new 55,000-square-foot headquarters for the DC Department of Housing and Community Development in historic Anacostia.

At this morning’s event, Bowser recalled looking at the same spot — then mostly vacant, aside from a crumbling facade — from the Ward 8 office of her first mayoral campaign. Learning that the site was owned by the DC government, she pushed for redevelopment once she was in the mayoral suite.

“This intersection is often people’s first touchpoint when they come East of the River, a true gateway into Ward 8,” Bowser said in a press release. “We wanted it to be an entryway that symbolizes the strength, resilience, creativity, and flavor of Anacostia, while also bringing jobs, opportunity, and investment to the neighborhood.”

Nina Albert, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, stressed that complicated projects like MLK Gateway project “don’t happen by accident.” They require input from and involvement by government leaders, community members, private developers, financial institutions and more, she said.

In addition to DHCD as its anchor tenant, the Menkiti Group project — located at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Marion Barry Jr. Avenue SE — includes commercial office space as well as 7,130 square feet set aside for four street-level retail tenants. The building has 107,558 square feet in all.

Among the forthcoming tenants is a Keller Williams Capital Properties office that will host the East of the River Real Estate Academy, a training center for aspiring real estate entrepreneurs. Another tenant will be Grounded, a DC-based plant subscription service owned by Black women and supported with a grant from DC’s Neighborhood Prosperity Fund.

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