The site is also significant as it is the last major piece of the District's Anacostia Waterfront Initiative calling for redevelopment, Mayor Adrian Fenty, says in a prepared statement. "This is an incredible opportunity to reconnect the Capitol Hill neighborhoods to the Anacostia River." The District expects the redevelopment of Hill East to take up to 10 years. The 12-million-sf Anacostia Waterfront also includes the Southwest Waterfront project and Poplar Point.

The Hill East Master Plan was approved by the DC Council in 2002. It allows for up to five million sf of residential, commercial and mixed-use buildings including new health facilities and neighborhood-serving retail. The District has also done initial development in the area. This month it completed work on an interim plaza, which will become a village square above the Stadium-Armory Metrorail station. Last year, it contracted with a firm to do environmental abatement work on the former hospital site, leaving in place the original Anne Archbold Hall, a historic landmark constructed almost 80 years ago. That building was stabilized and the roof replaced.