District Government Gives Helping Hand to Capitol Hill Towers

"The DC administration has placed an important focus on revitalizing Southeast," Valhal president Sheldon Stein tells GlobeSt.com. "There's a systemic and long-term problem in urban downtown areas where there are office neighborhoods with no life after dark." This project falls into place with the District's larger Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, a grand plan to redevelop and rejuvenate the underutilized area. "It's important to set an example from an urban planning standpoint," he adds. "It is much healthier for a community to be mixed use."

Capitol Hill Towers will sit at 140 L St., just one block from the future location of the new two million-sf US Department of Transportation headquarters complex, which will house about 5,000 employees. When all is said and done, the Capitol Hill Towers property will feature 344 rental apartment units--nearly 140 of which will be set aside as affordable housing for family's earning 60% or less of the area median income--a 200-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, 10,000 sf of retail space, and an underground parking facility capable of accommodating more than 200 vehicles.

In addition to the $10 million in TIF, Valhal will rely on FHA assistance for the multi-family portion of the project, and funds from the Bank of Scotland to help finance the hotel. "We are hoping to break ground in the next month or so, and it will take about two years to complete," Stein notes.