Hill East

In this down economy it seems a speculative new development project would be a bad idea.
But, four development teams presented their plans to build a new 67-acre Hill East neighborhood to a crowd that packed the school cafeteria of St. Coletta of Greater Washington on Capitol Hill.
The teams are bidding to be named master developer of the project, which D.C. officials hope will be an environmentally innovative development that connects the existing neighborhood to the Anacostia River waterfront.
The most aggressive group ed by Urban Atlantic (formerly MidCity Urban LLC) and eight partners including BBE LLP, Blue Sky Housing and Eagle Vision Ventures, as well as Vornado/Charles E. Smith and Trammel Crow Co. Its proposal is the most high density, exceeding 5.1 million square feet, and includes the most housing, 2.9 million square feet of mixed housing types and a 90,000-square-foot indoor sports complex.
Through an agreement with Sun Edison LLC, most of those buildings would be covered with a vast solar panel system tied to an underground geothermal heating and cooling system, as well as wind turbines, all generating power to be used during hours of peak electricity. Urban Atlantic also proposed 938,000 square feet of office space and 262,000 square feet of retail. The development would include almost another 1 million square feet to medical and academic space, providing a nursing academy and primary and emergency health services. The team also proposed the immediate development of an interim retail element, creating a “Festival Center” that would include a 140,000-square-foot Wegman’s grocery store, which would be the first of that chain in the District. They estimate a creation of 4,000 permanent jobs, 1,000 education jobs and 1,200 construction jobs annually.
However, in the current economic climate, where will the capital for the Hill East redevelopment come from. Banks refuse to lend to even the least risky speculative projects and private equity is tight. I don't think this is the right time for the city to start offering new TIF agreements either. So, lets be realistic and put Hill East on hold.