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Committee hears request to extend disposition authority for St. Elizabeths East Parcel 13 as developer transition proceeds
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Summary
DMPED and a successor developer asked the Committee on Business and Economic Development for a multi‑year extension to retain the district's authority to dispose of Parcel 13 at St. Elizabeths East while a new developer finalizes a revised term sheet and addresses complex site conditions.
The Committee on Business and Economic Development on April 30 considered legislation to extend the mayor's authority to dispose of Parcel 13 at the St. Elizabeths East campus in Congress Heights while a new developer finalizes plans and pursues financing.
Bill Benitez (identified in the hearing as the founder and CEO of Dante's Partners) testified that Dante's Partners assumed development rights for Parcel 13 after Neighborhood Development Company (NDC) encountered financial headwinds. Benitez said that preliminary review shows the original plan for roughly 421 units would be difficult to finance in today's market and that Dante's Partners proposes dividing the site into two components, one serving seniors and another serving families. He said the team plans for a majority of units to be affordable but that unit counts, affordability levels and retail sizing remain under review until the developer secures site control and finalizes financing. "At this point, no," Benitez said when asked whether exact unit counts, senior versus family allocations and affordability set‑asides had been determined.
Latrina Owens, Executive Director of St. Elizabeths East Redevelopment within the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED), testified in support of the requested extension. Owens said Parcel 13 is a 4.2‑acre unimproved parcel identified for mixed‑use development in the site's master plan and that the council's original surplus and disposition authorization (the St. Elizabeths East Parcel 13 Surplus Declaration and Disposition Approval Act of 2021) expired March 10, 2025. She said the district concurred with NDC's assignment of development rights to Dante's Partners after NDC reduced its portfolio and ceased operations; DMPED expects an amended term sheet to be submitted to the Council by September 2025.
Owens described project challenges that include complex easements, proximity to WMATA infrastructure, and soil and remediation work requiring coordination with WMATA and historic‑preservation reviews, all factors she said could prolong the disposition and predevelopment timeline. DMPED and the developer requested a total six‑year disposition window (effectively adding four more years to the original timeline) to avoid repeating short extensions and to allow time to secure capital, including Housing Production Trust Fund dollars and bond financing. Owens said the development will remain subject to DC Code 10‑801 (affordability and disposition requirements) and to community priorities including maximizing CBE participation, transit‑oriented design and workforce training.
No final vote occurred at the hearing. DMPED said if the extension is not approved the district would likely have to reenter the market to solicit a new developer, which could delay the project by a year or more and risk losing prior due diligence expenditures.
