By Chris Kain
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Mayor Muriel Bowser today identified a handful of key economic development projects that she is pushing the DC Council to advance this fall in the final months of her 12-year tenure as the city’s chief executive.

She described the projects as ways to drive economic growth, diversify the city’s economy, and create jobs. Most of the projects have been in the works for years, although her priority list notably includes what seems to be a new proposal to facilitate planned renovations at Nationals Park.

“These are projects that will drive growth and create opportunity across our city,” Bowser said in a statement. “Many of the projects represent over a decade of work and are now ready for approval and implementation, following robust community dialogue, delicate negotiations, and numerous modifications.”

One of the projects she cited — redevelopment of the Chevy Chase Civic Core — remains particularly contentious in the surrounding neighborhood over issues such as the appropriate scale of the new construction and the amount of affordable housing. The current proposal features 177 new housing units, including 90 designated as affordable, along with a modernized community center and library.

Also on Bowser’s list are a two-phase redevelopment of the Reeves Center in Ward 1, where the prominently located site would house the NAACP’s new national headquarters, a 150-key hotel, residential units and more; redevelopment of the long-vacant Fletcher-Johnson site in Ward 7, where a multiphase project would include housing, retail, and a freestanding emergency department to serve the neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River; and redevelopment of four remaining parcels at St. Elizabeths East in Ward 8, which would include a combined 682 residential units and up to 32,000 square feet of retail space for a grocery store.

Bowser is also pushing for the council to approve two complex land swap agreements with the National Park Service. One would enable construction of Georgetown University’s long-sought boathouse on the Potomac River, as outlined in a June 2025 announcement and subsequent legislation introduced in July 2026. The other would facilitate mixed-use development at Poplar Point in Ward 8, with Therme DC as the anchor tenant in an expansive waterfront park and Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling designated as the home for the displaced U.S. Park Police headquarters.

The administration hasn’t provided details on the package envisioned for Nationals Park, but today’s press release cites a need to provide for continued investment in the 18-year-old stadium given the extension of the Washington Nationals’ lease through 2059. In a letter to lawmakers earlier this week, she cited a commitment  to creating “a vibrant, state-of-the art venue that competes with newer facilities.”

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