WASHINGTON, DC-Ground is breaking this morning on St. Elizabeths East Gateway Pavilion. The ceremonial launch of the facility will be attended by Mayor Vincent C. Gray and other local executives.

The pavilion will be the first new construction in some time on St Elizabeths East Campus. Once developed it will serve -– if all goes according to the District's plan –- as a hub for tech companies and related development. To that end, the city has secured, after extensive lobbying, Microsoft's Innovation Center, as a private-sector anchor tenant, along with SmartBIM and Citelum.

St. Es is the cornerstone of the District's push to develop itself as a regional tech hub. "We have 180 acres of potential property to be developed and we have made a strong commitment to develop it as a tech community," Mayor Vincent Gray told GlobeSt.com in an interview in March. Another initiative by the DC government is 1776, a 15,000-square foot tech incubator at 1133 15th St. NW. It will assist entrepreneurs by connecting them to the political, social business and financial capital in the District.

Meanwhile, the city is seeking an academic anchor. It issued a Request for Expressions of Interest earlier this year, which will be followed by a formal Request for Proposals later this year.

St. Elizabeths East is the city's largest mixed-use project.

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Ground Breaks on St. Elizabeths

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