Groundbreaking Ceremony Kicks off Construction for New St. Elizabeths Medical Building

On Tuesday, DC and Tompkins Builders officials broke ground on a new $140 million, 438,000-sf medical building on 49 acres at the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus in Southeast Washington. The new two-story facility, which will handle almost 300 patients, will have a 20,000-sf "green" roof to minimize runoff and save energy. Tompkins Builders (a subsidiary of Turner Construction) plans to have the building done by March 2009.

This development follows the early November announcement by DC planning officials of their proposal to also clear way for 2 million sf of office space, retail, and high-end apartments on the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus site, which consists of mostly vacant, poorly maintained 19th century terra cotta buildings next to the Congress Heights metro. The District, once the proper zoning has been approved, would like to develop the site in gradual phases, starting in 2008 with the construction of 260,000 sf of office and 150,000 sf of residential in the section closest to the metro station. The rest of the development would take place over the following decade.