Besides providing an employment and business center, thefive-story building will also include retail space for localbusinesses, a ground floor community meeting room and office spacefor about 500 DOES employees. Plans also call for a green roof anda 100-space underground parking garage. Locally-based EEC andForrester Construction are developing the building, which wasdesigned by Devrouax & Purnell of the District.

This building is a legacy from the previous city administrationof Mayor Anthony Williams, a city spokesman tells GlobeSt.com."They were anticipating building government centers at many of themetro stops in the city," but for various reasons a lot of theseplans were derailed. In one instance, local residences objected tothe move of the Department of Motor Vehicles to their neighborhood.Instead, that particular development, slated for the GeorgiaAvenue-Petworth Metrorail Station, was awarded to DonatelliDevelopment as a $70-million, 156-unit housing and retailmixed-use project that is expected to open this coming spring.Now under Mayor Adrian Fenty, the District's approach is to usecity-owned or controlled properties for its operations, thespokesman adds.

For instance, the District is moving its Department of Housingand Community Development to AnacostiaGateway, a 63,000-square-foot building that it owns at 1800Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.