The third and final phase of one of the largest mixed-use developments east of the Anacostia River in Southeast Washington, D.C., is now underway.
Mayor Muriel Bowser held a ceremonial groundbreaking last week for the final component of Skyland Town Center, a development by WC Smith and Rappaport that had been in the works for decades. The project is located on an 18.5-acre site at the intersection of Good Hope Road, Naylor Road and Alabama Avenue, and at full build-out is slated to feature more than 450 residences and over 135,000 square feet of retail space in a town square setting.
The third phase is designed to include 126 for-sale townhouses, a 75-unit affordable housing complex for seniors, 10,000 square feet of retail space and a public plaza.
Phase one of Skyland opened in 2022 with the completion of The Crest Apartments, a 263-unit, three-story apartment and retail complex that marked the first market-rate apartment building to be constructed in the area in more than 40 years.
The $199 million Crest, and the Skyland as a whole, were part of a push by Bowser to bring more commercial development and higher-end apartments to a poorer part of the city that has failed to see the same type of engagement evident in almost every other part of Washington.
Phase two of the project included a new rail center and delivered the city's first Lidl — the first full-service grocery store to open east of the Anacostia River in over a decade.
Retailers at Skyland Town Center include CVS, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Chase, Mediterranean restaurant Mezeh, South American street food concept Maizal and new brunch concept Savage Breakfast Club, as well as the first drive-thru location for Starbucks in the city. Local restaurant chain Half Smoke is also slated to open a location at Skyland.
In 2002, the D.C. government selected Rappaport to build Skyland Town Center, but the challenge of luring retailers to the area, including the loss of Walmart as its anchor tenant in 2016, coupled with a recession, delayed the project for more than 15 years before development plans began in earnest in 2019.
For the Record
Skyland Town Center is a joint development project of WC Smith, Rappaport, Skyland DC, Washington East Foundation and Marshall Heights Community Development Organization.