DC Gets It Very Own Velodrome

WASHINGTON, DC-The city is getting its own banked 166-meter track cycling facility courtesy an agreement Akridge has inked with DC Velodrome, a newly-formed nonprofit organization. The track will be installed this summer temporarily at a nine-acre development Akridge owns that is located at 100 V St., SW. Then, after fall, the Velodrome will look for a permanent home in the city. 

DC Velodrome is paying for the installation at Buzzard Point. Akridge may break even on its side of the costs, David Tuchmann, VP of Development, tells GlobeSt.com. Fortunately, the company is not doing this for financial gain. “We are providing the use of the land at a much discounted cost,” he says. “Our hope is that potential investors or developers will become familiar with the area because of the track’s presence.” It will also be a great amenity to benefit the neighborhood, he adds.

The new venue will hold professional and amateur races from June—when installation is expected to be completed—through the fall. It will also offer classes for children and adults.  The track is leased from Major League Cycling, and it can accommodate 12 to 24 cyclists at a time as well as hundreds of spectators.  There are currently 26 velodromes in the US, with the closest one 170 miles away in Pennsylvania.

Akridge’s development site consists of three city blocks between T and V Streets and First and Second Streets, SW, four blocks southwest of Nationals Park and adjacent to Fort McNair. The site will ultimately allow for development of 2.7 million square feet.

The site, Tuchmann says, is zoned for higher density commercial or residential development. “While we recognize that this year and this season this portion of the site is not ready for full development, we plan to move forward with vertical development on the property.”  That why the Veledrome will be only be a temporary fixture there, he says.