October 18, 2026 | 12:25 pm ETEmily Wishingrad, Washington, D.C.

Muriel Bowser has overseen a development boom in her nearly 12-year run as D.C. mayor: the revitalization of massive waterfront sites and new neighborhoods sprouting up out of obsolete federal lands and industrial districts. In her last year, she set the stage for the largest of them all: an NFL-stadium-anchored neighborhood.

Before her tenure ends, she’s making a final push to set up one more project for success. Poplar Point, the District’s last major waterfront development opportunity, would be anchored by a $550M thermal bathing retreat.

But the presumptive new mayor is standing in her way. And some members of the D.C. Council have questions about the proposed use and are pushing back against Bowser’s ambitious timeline.

“You’re asking the Council to take a limited, now, amount of time to scrutinize a project proposal because it was sent to us late,” At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson told Bisnow. “So I don’t necessarily feel any sense of needing to rush.”

A major hurdle to Bowser’s plan comes from presumptive D.C. mayor Janeese Lewis George, who is raising concerns specifically about Therme Group‘s proposed thermal bathing spa on a site she says should prioritize housing creation.

Lewis George, who represents Ward 4 on the D.C. Council, heads one of the committees now reviewing two pieces of legislation that would move the project forward. But she told The Washington Sun earlier this month that she would not hold a hearing on them this year and will “wait until next year in some capacity.”

But such a delay could threaten the project. The Bowser administration and Therme, which was selected to build the wellness retreat a year and a half ago, say there’s no time to wait.

“I always think that when you have a deal with a private partner, particularly at a time of economic uncertainty or volatility, then it’s important to secure a commitment from a private partner as quickly as possible, and that is what we are doing,” said Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert.

Therme Group US Executive Chairman John Alschuler told Bisnow that his company hopes to break ground in three years and finish construction three years after that — around 2033. But time is of the essence, he said, and it’s imperative for the Council to pass the legislation this session, which ends on Jan. 2.

“Delay would create significant risk to the ability of the District to proceed,” he said.

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