Mount Vernon Place Church Square Project Breaks Ground

The National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC) has broken ground on its $145 million Mount Vernon Place Church Square development, a unique 300,000-sf residential and office complex to be carved out of a piece of (and also above) Interstate 395 at 3rd and H Streets, NW. The project will be tackled in two phases. Phase 1, which was just started, will be a $45 million, 90,000-sf office complex scheduled to be completed by the end of 2007. Phase 2, while still being finalized, is expected to be a 20,000-sf, 300-unit residential building with underground parking, plus a 10,000-sf, kindergarten-through-third-grade school. About 20% of the units are to be affordable housing. Phase 2 is expected to begin in March 2007. The project is being developed by MQW LLC, a joint-venture of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church, the Wilkes Company, and Quadrangle Development, and falls within the larger Mount Vernon Place Initiative, comprising 11 projects on five city blocks between 3rd and 5th Streets, and Massachusetts Avenue and K Street.