D.C. Awards Chevy Chase Civic Site Redevelopment To Local Developer

Mayor Muriel Bowser selected a developer to build 177 units, a community center and a library in Chevy Chase, part of her administration's efforts to open up publicly owned land to create more affordable housing in the city. 

The mayor's office picked D.C.-based Rift Valley Capital for the redevelopment at the Chevy Chase Civic Site in Ward 3, a project that will include 54 affordable units. 

The redevelopment will also replace a community center and library, which were built between 1968 and 1971, with new facilities spanning 21,600 SF and 23,500 SF, respectively. The plan also includes 8K SF of ground-floor retail. 

The city issued a request for proposals for the 73K SF site on Connecticut Avenue Northwest in January 2024 and narrowed it down to eight proposals last spring before announcing the selection of Rift Valley on Friday morning.

“They incorporated public facilities and maximized housing in a way that we thought was the most compelling,” D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert said in a Friday morning interview with Bisnow. 

She said Rift’s plan is “at a scale that we think fits in very nicely with the community” and that it maximizes housing on the site. 

Rift Valley's plan includes a public park and plaza, sports and events courts, an amphitheater, a foot terrace and an outdoor classroom, and a lawn with a native plant garden. 

Albert also called the plan “elegant” and “welcoming,” pointing to the public park and green space adjacent to the library and community center spaces.

“The design of it is really beautiful,” Albert said. “We believe that it reflects some of the 1960s and ’70s-era elements of the surrounding buildings but also introduces new.”

Albert said the Rift Valley team being local and requiring the least amount of public subsidies were also compelling factors in the selection. 

The original proposal Rift Valley presented to the community in March, as one of the eight finalists for the site, showed a plan for 206 units — 69 market-rate units, 67 workforce units for those making 80% of the median family income, and 70 affordable units for those making between 30% and 70% of the median family income. 

Community feedback informed Rift’s city-selected final plans. 

“We are deeply honored to be selected by Mayor Bowser and DMPED to bring a new library, community center, greatly expanded programmable open space, and much needed mixed-income housing to Chevy Chase,” Rift Valley Capital Managing Partners Bereket Selassie and Stephan Rodiger said in a release Friday. 

“The site is the unquestioned civic core of one of our highest opportunity neighborhoods; we look forward to creating a hub that can bring the community together for generations to come,” they added. 

The details of the financing structure and the city’s contribution haven’t been released, but the news release says Rift Valley’s equity partners are also all certified business enterprises based in the District.

The next step is to negotiate the land disposition agreement between the city and Rift.

The city also selected Rift Valley in 2023 to redevelop Engine 12 near the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metro station through another RFP process. Its redevelopment of the fire station is underway and set to deliver 136 units of mixed-income housing atop a new station.

Rift Valley is also developing the 179-room Chinatown Marriott and the 198-unit Crystal Flats apartment building in the National Landing neighborhood. It is also planning a 198-room hotel project in NoMa on a site next to Foulger Pratt’s Press House. 

Ward 3 is an area of the city that has seen little new housing production, especially of affordable housing, over the past few decades. The barriers to development in this part of Upper Northwest stem from much of the area being privately owned, Albert said.

She said the greatest opportunity to develop new housing in the area right now lies in Friendship Heights, which is updating its sector plan.

“Friendship Heights is going through its own resurgence and reenvisioning, and so we’re working with the bid over there as well as property owners in Friendship Heights to see how we can be supportive of integrating more housing into their plans,” Albert said.

With the Chevy Chase Civic Site selection, DMPED said all 26 D.C. public libraries have been funded, rebuilt or renovated since Bowser came into office in 2015.