| Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road Redevelopment Plan
The District of Columbia, in collaboration with the residents of the Barry Farm, Park Chester and Wade Road community, initiated a process to plan for and implement the revitalization of the area’s low income properties and the surrounding neighborhood. The Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road community is located in Ward 8’s historic Anacostia area, and is generally bound by Suitland Parkway to the north, Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue to the east, Firth Sterling Avenue to the west, and St. Elizabeth’s West Campus to the south.
Consistent with the New Communities Initiative, the goal of this effort is to transform the public and low income housing developments and its neighborhood into a mixed-income, mixed-use community. In this new community, residents will have access to high quality housing options affordable at all income levels and to the human services necessary to help prepare them to take advantage of the new economic opportunities and changes that are coming their way.
The Barry Farm/Park Chester/Wade Road Redevelopment Plan (the “Redevelopment Plan”) is comprised of three components:
-
A Human Capital Plan to meet the current needs of residents and to prepare them to benefit from the changes coming to their community;
-
A Physical Plan for the redevelopment of sites throughout the neighborhood; and
-
A Development and Finance Strategy for implementing these plans.
The Redevelopment Plan seeks to improve the community’s public facilities, access to commercial and retail opportunities, urban design, parks and open space and transportation system by: creating a mixed income community of various housing types which includes 654 on-site and off-site replacement units together with new affordable and market rate units for a total of 1,391 units; creating a vibrant mixed-use main street at Firth Sterling Avenue; rebuilding and enlarging Birney Elementary school as a new K to 5 facility; rebuilding the community’s recreation center; increasing a passive, linear park for residents to enjoy the great views of the District’s skyline; honoring the community’s rich African American history through the preservation of street and school names and with the development of a memorial and walking tour program; providing a pedestrian bridge across Suitland Parkway to the Anacostia Metro Station; and increasing the community’s connectivity to greater Anacostia by extending the street grid through the neighborhood.
The redevelopment plan is currently in draft form. Please select the link below to access the plan. All comments may be directed to Alicia J. Lewis via email at alicia.lewis@dc.gov or at (202) 724-4314.
| 
