Back in November, Roadside Development and JV partner North America Sekisui House announced they had closed a deal to acquire the sprawling former Fannie Mae HQ at 3900 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

“It’s an unbelievable opportunity to redevelop such an iconic property,” Roadside partner Jeff Edelstein said.

The neighborhood is among the city’s most established, but it could benefit from a central community gathering place to anchor its commercial core, Edelstein said. If any developer would know how to help inject a neighborhood with vibrancy and a 24/7 feel, Roadside would.

The firm developed City Market at O, a 1M SF mixed-use development that helped revitalize Shaw as a 24/7 live/work/play neighborhood and won the Urban Land Institute’s Global Award for Excellence in the process.

The 3900 Wisconsin site is not as central as Shaw. However, the newly opened American University Law School, the National Cathedral and the existing, established residential community mean the nearly 10-acre site can serve as a hub for the area and help it join the ranks of DC’s most vibrant and walkable communities.

It will help that Roadside is working on curating a mix of retailers that will activate the streets and public spaces as well as bring an eclectic new mix to the neighborhood.

But the plan is not to fill in the 10-acre site with a mishmash of buildings. A massive front lawn that is well-known in the area as an open green space has been gated off for decades.

This space will be repurposed as a public amenity, and will be put to ample use with community events, cultural gatherings and other activities through the year, Edelstein said.

“We pride ourselves on our ability to execute special, unique projects,” he said. “We like to do projects where people say ‘how’d they pull that off?’”

We are thrilled Roadside Development has joined us as a sponsor of our Bisnow Beltway Bash, to be held at the TAO Nightclub in the Venetian on Monday, May 22, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. in Las Vegas. Register here.