The Committee on Business and Economic Development voted Wednesday to advance legislation that extends the mayor’s time from two years to four years to dispose of District-owned real property known in the record as Malcolm X (1351 Alabama Avenue SE) and authorizes its disposition for a mixed-use development.

The project described in committee materials would serve Ward 8 with one-, two- and three-bedroom rental housing units affordable to households at 30%, 50% and 60% of median family income, along with ground-floor commercial space including 7,500 square feet of day-care space, 2,000 square feet of community-serving retail and a healthy food retailer. The committee record also notes an adjustment to the statutory project definition to reflect 150 residential units (replacing a prior figure in the record). Committee members said the change to extend the mayor's disposal timeframe reflected multiple causes, including heritage-street concerns on the property and prevailing commercial-market conditions that have delayed project submissions.

Chair Kenan McDuffie moved to draft the committee report in print with legal staff for technical, editorial and conforming changes; the committee approved the motion by voice vote. The transcript records committee discussion about delays and that Dena Albert and her team would follow up with the committee on whether additional projects need extension requests.

The committee did not record a roll-call vote tally in the transcript and made no additional policy amendments at the meeting.