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A Douglas Development-owned building in Northwest D.C.'s Takoma neighborhood could soon be used as a shelter for unaccompanied immigrant children.
A Health and Human Services Department contractor is in talks to sublease the four-story building at 6896 Laurel St. NW, the former Washington Theological Union building, the Washington Business Journal reports.
The 70K SF building is leased to English-language school Education First, which retained Cresa to market the building to subtenants through April 2024. Douglas acquired the building in 2013 for $17.5M.
HHS awarded a $20.6M contract to Oxon Hill-based contractor Dynamic Services Solutions to develop a shelter with up to 200 beds. It would house minors between the ages of 12 and 17 who entered the U.S. without a legal guardian, rather than those who were separated from their parents at the border. The proposed shelter has faced backlash from local officials, with Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd both voicing opposition to the Trump administration's immigration policies.
Northern Virginia officials have also pushed back on plans for an immigrant children shelter. The GSA earlier this month issued a presolicitation seeking to lease about 110K SF in Northern Virginia for a facility that would house up to 440 unaccompanied minors. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova, Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall and Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson — all Democrats — spoke out against the planned facility.
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