The DC Office of Planning, in partnership with the District Department of Transportation, is undertaking the Mount Vernon Square District Project. This project is designed to generate implementation‐driven solutions for specific transportation, public realm and real estate challenges and opportunities in the blocks, streets, and reservations surrounding Mount Vernon Square.
Project Goals
The project will include an analysis of Mount Vernon Square District with the following goals in mind:
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Creating a destination that attracts visitors from the Convention Center, Downtown, the National Mall and other neighborhoods in the city,
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Creating value through strategic public investments that will benefit the District’s investment in the area, surrounding properties‐ existing and proposed, and the adjacent neighborhoods,
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Enhancing the rich physical and cultural heritage of the surrounding neighborhoods,
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Integrating with the city’s transportation network via inter‐modal connectivity and improved pedestrian access, and
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Building a compelling “great place” through unique public space design, programming and adaptive reuse.
Process
The Office of Planning (OP) and District Department of Transportation (DDOT) worked with an urban design, planning, real estate, and transportation consultant team to develop designs, solutions and concepts for the mix of uses, programming and identity, transportation and traffic, sustainability and public realm solutions for the Mount Vernon Square District. This project was initiated in May, 2009 and completed in 2010.
It builds on ongoing projects like the K Street Transit Way and previous studies like the Mount Vernon Square Design Workbook, Mount Vernon Triangle Action Agenda and Center City Action Agenda, and the Convention Center Area Strategic Development Plan. In the Center City Action Agenda, this project was recommended as a way to coordinate public and private investment in order to support Mount Vernon Square as a great destination in the city.
This project will be used to guide District agencies, property owners, developers, and other stakeholders in creating synergies among proposed developments and land uses, in making public and private investments, and undertaking implementation projects in design, programming, and promotional activities.
Stakeholders
- Property Owners, Residential and Commercial Developers
- Washington Convention Center, Historical Society of Washington, DC
- Shaw Main Streets, Inc., Neighborhood Associations, Residents, DC Council
- Downtown BID, Mount Vernon Triangle CID
- Federal Agencies, District Agencies