Donatelli To Develop $108M Transit Project

WASHINGTON, DC-Donatelli Development and Blue Skye Development will be the city’s development partners in a $108 million, mixed-use project at the Minnesota Avenue Metrorail Station–the District’s first such initiative east of the Anacostia River. The predevelopment process is expected to move rapidly through the system because the proposal does not require a subsidy from the District government or any zoning changes.

The project is expected to deliver within 36 months, a spokeswoman with Blue Skye tells GlobeSt.com. Donatelli did not return a call to GlobeSt.com in time for publication.

The proposed project will include 40,000 sf of retail space; 375 affordable housing units–the spokeswoman was unsure whether these are to be apartments or condos–and 60 market-rate condos; a 5,000-sf retail incubator and 2,500 sf of community space. “This project is going to be at the center of an incredible revitalization of Downtown Ward 7 and the Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road corridors,” Mayor Adrian Fenty says in a prepared statement.

Both Donatelli and Blue Skye are active in District-based development projects. Donatelli Development had developed three Metro sites: Columbia Heights, U Street/Cardozo and Georgia Ave/Petworth. Blue Skye Development has invested more than $20 million in development and construction in this neighborhood.