D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 10-A, § 1812
1812.1 The St. Elizabeths East Campus contains 336 acres and is one of the most historically significant and strategically located properties in all of Washington, DC. It is divided into a 154-acre East Campus, which is under District control, and a 183-acre West Campus, which is under federal control. The East Campus was transferred to the District by the federal government in 1987. A new behavioral health hospital was built on the East Campus in 2010 and is operated by the District Department of Behavioral Health.
1812.2 Where people live can have a major impact on their health. Issues with access to care, the prevalence of chronic disease, insurance coverage, and access to other resources vary by wards within the District. Residents of Wards 7 and 8 have higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes compared with other wards. For these reasons, Ward 8 needs an acute care hospital. This new hospital can help address these challenges by making access to a fully integrated health care system easier for thousands of Washingtonians, particularly those residing in Southeast Washington, DC.
1812.3 A Framework Plan for the East Campus was approved in 2006. The Framework Plan recommended a phased development program with up to 1,035 additional housing units, 540,000 square feet of office and retail space, new academic and cultural facilities, and new District parks and plazas. It proposed adaptive reuse of many of the existing buildings. The Framework Plan took particular care to integrate the East Campus into the adjacent Congress Heights neighborhood and to maximize access to the Congress Heights Metro station. Four development areas were identified, each defined by a unique mix of uses, density, scale, and character. An extensive network of public open space was also proposed, including formal plazas and quadrangles, linear parks, lawns, and forested land.
1812.4 The Framework Plan called for the completion of a Master Plan and Design Guidelines, which were completed in 2012. The St. Elizabeths East Master Plan and Design Guidelines is the result of a decade of assessment, outreach, analysis, and planning to address a historic campus that is one of Washington, DC's largest underdeveloped sites and the future setting for sustainable development, historic revitalization, and open space. The District has allocated significant capital funding to St. Elizabeths East to design and build the public infrastructure improvements needed to support all planned future development, including roadways, water, gas, electric, telecommunications, streetscapes, and street lighting, in addition to the demolition of certain structures deemed to be non-contributing to the historic status of the campus.
1812.5 Additionally, the renovated chapel on the East Campus is now the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center. The name was selected by the community and stands for
Relate, Innovate, Stimulate, and Elevate. The center serves as a flexible meeting, technology, and demonstration space. It was designed to build interest in the redevelopment of the St. Elizabeths East Campus as an innovation hub by drawing in the surrounding community and creating bonds with Ward 8 residents.
1812.6 In 2018, a new state-of-the-art Entertainment and Sports Arena was completed at the St. Elizabeths East Campus in Ward 8. This effort aims to transform an underserved neighborhood by providing more amenities, leading to a new revitalized destination. This venue acts as home court for the District's WNBA team, the Washington Mystics, and new G-League team, the Capital City Go-Go. It also serves as the official practice facility for the NBA's Washington Wizards and additional entertainment, sports, and eSports programming. The 120,000 square-foot facility is projected to produce $90 million in new tax revenue over 20 years and attract more than 380,000 visitors per year.
1812.7 The fate of the West Campus has been in flux for more than a decade. Many of the site's historic buildings are in disrepair and will require costly renovation. In 2005, the federal government announced its intent to develop the site as a secured office complex for the U.S. Coast Guard. Other divisions of the DHS also may relocate there; current estimates call for between 4,000 and 14,000 federal employees. Improvements to the road and transit network will be required as this area redevelops. Great care must be taken to retain the historic proportions of the site and its buildings and landscapes.
1812.8 The federal General Services Administration (GSA) is currently amending the 2009 DHS Consolidation Final Master Plan and the 2012 DHS Consolidation Final Master Plan Amendment to more efficiently house DHS and its operating components on the St. Elizabeths West Campus. The U.S. Coast Guard headquarters building has been completed and is located on the West Campus of St. Elizabeths. This 1.3 million square foot complex marks the first phase of the creation of a headquarters for the entire DHS.
1812.9 Policy FSS-2.2.1: St. Elizabeths East Campus Redevelop the East Campus of St. Elizabeths Hospital as a new community containing a mix of uses, including mixed-density housing, retail shops, offices, a comprehensive behavioral health care facility, a new hospital, entertainment uses, urban farms (including on rooftops), and parks and open space. Mixed-use development, including retail and service uses, should be promoted along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE, facing the street and open to the public. Other uses such as satellite college campuses, civic uses, and local public facilities should be Incorporated.
1812.10 Policy FSS-2.2.2: Relationship to Nearby Uses Ensure that future development on St. Elizabeths enhance the surrounding
neighborhood. It is particularly important that the site’s reuse is coordinated with planning for the nearby Anacostia and Congress Heights Metro stations, Poplar Point, Barry Farm, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE/Malcolm X shopping district.
Provide development densities and intensities on the site that are compatible with adjacent residential neighborhoods and promote new economic development of the site, with moderate to medium-density residential and commercial on most of the site, and higher densities clustered in the area closest to Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue SE and the Congress Heights Metro station. Areas for high density should include the North Campus subarea and the area surrounding the ravine, taking advantage of the steep topography to accommodate additional height and density without negatively impacting viewsheds.
Work collaboratively with the federal government on the reuse of the West Campus. Priority should be given to preserve historic resources-including not only the buildings but also the historic open spaces and massing of buildings on the site. To the greatest extent feasible, redevelopment of the West Campus should create new publicly accessible open space and be coordinated with redevelopment of the East Campus. Integrate DHS consolidation into the surrounding community to the greatest extent possible.
Coordinate with federal partners to leverage the location of DHS on the West Campus and a portion of the East Campus to bring needed economic development opportunities to Ward 8, especially retail opportunities to serve both existing and new residents, as well as workers and visitors generated by new uses.
SOURCE: District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; 31 DCR 1049 (March 9, 1984)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Element Amendment Act of 1984, effective March 16, 1985 (D.C. Law 5-187; 32 DCR 873 (February 15, 1985)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-129; 37 DCR 55 (January 5, 1990)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1989 NCPC-Recommended Amendments, and Closing of Public Alleys in Square 669, S.O. 88-452, Act of 1990, effective May 23, 1990 (D.C. Law 8-132; 37 DCR 2213 (April 6, 1990)); as amended by District Government Land Use Temporary Amendment Act of 1994, effective October 1, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-190; 41 DCR 5360 (August 12, 1994)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendments Act of 1994, effective October 6, 1994 (D.C. Law 10-193; 41 DCR 5536 (August 19, 1994)); as amended by District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1984 Land Use Amendment Act of 1994, effective March 21, 1995 (D.C. Law 10-235; 42 DCR 30 (January 6, 1995)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 18, 1996 (D.C. Law 11-110; 43 DCR 530 (February 9, 1996)); as amended by Second Technical Amendments Act of 1996 effective April 9, 1997 (D.C. Law 11-255; 44 DCR 1271 (March 7, 1997)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 1998, effective April 27, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-275; 46 DCR 1441 (February 19, 1999)); as amended by Technical Amendments Act of 1999, effective April 12, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-91; 47 DCR 520 (January 28, 2000)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2006, effective March 8, 2007 (D.C. Law 16-300; 54 DCR 924 (February 2, 2007)); as amended
by Technical Amendments Act of 2008, effective March 25, 2009 (D.C. Law 17-353; 56 DCR 1117 (February 6, 2009)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2010, effective April 8, 2011 (D.C. Law 18-361; 58 DCR 908 (February 4, 2011)); as amended by Comprehensive Plan Amendment Act of 2021, effective August 21, 2021 (D.C. Law 24-20; 68 DCR 006918 (July 16, 2021)).