At full build-out, the project will be some 704,000 square feet, consisting of office, retail and residential units: specifically 370,000 square feet of office, 75,000 square feet of retail and 280 residential units, with the office component consisting of two 9-story towers at 25 M, SE and 1201 Half St.

"The company is moving forward with the design, pre-development and marketing for this project," a company spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com. It will be located on an entire city block between M St. and the stadium entrance to Nationals Park--the Washington Nationals baseball team's stadium--on N St. It is being designed by HOK, StreetSense and Esocoff & Assoc.

Up until now, Half Street has been dominated by private sector development by such companies as MacFarlane Partners and Monument Realty, as well as, of course, the National's stadium. Plans for the area--one mile south of the US Capitol – have called for some 465,000 to 785,000 square feet of retail, 350,000 to 1.6 million square feet of office space, 1,600 to 3,000 units of housing, and 7,000 to 8,000 parking spaces. Some of these developments have gotten underway; others have been stalled by the economy and credit crunch. The Akridge project could break ground within a year, assuming financing and pre-leasing falls into place.