Here is a new year roundup with the status of a few neighborhood development projects to the best of my knowledge.

1. Art Place at Fort Totten

I have received a lot of questions about Art Place at Fort Totten, particularly regarding the first phase, which was completed in late 2017 at South Dakota Avenue NE between Galloway and Ingraham. Ramdass Pharmacy and Shining Stars Pediatric Dentistry have been open for a while now. Here is what we know or have been told so far about the rest of the retail spaces. The gym (24 Hour Fitness) and daycare (Love & Care Child Development Center) are under construction with completion anticipated the end of June this year. No word on when the urgent care center might open. A number of other retail spaces are under negotiation, but the developer is not prepared to share information at this stage about what those retailers might be. If you have specific retailers that you either have a connection to or want the developer to reach out to, please let the developer know (seriously).

As for the second phase, which will be located on South Dakota Avenue between Ingraham and Kennedy, as we know, it will be anchored by Meow Wolf, and will have an Aldi grocery store, Explore! Children’s Museum, food hall, maker spaces, around 270 rental units, and ground floor retail. Meow Wolf held community meetings last year and will continue its community outreach this year. The DC Council held a first vote on the closure of 4th Street NE between Ingraham and Kennedy on January 7, 2020, for this phase of the project. Construction is anticipated to begin first quarter of this year, but considering the DC Zoning Commission has not yet entered an order for this phase, it is unclear when we will start to see construction on the site.

2. Fort Totten South

What we have known as the Fort Totten South project, or the second phase of Fort Totten Square planned for the southeast corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE, should finally be breaking ground this year. The “Coming Soon” sign and webpage for what they are now calling “Riggs Park Place” are up. This is the project that started out as mixed use rental apartments above retail that changed to a back-to-back townhome project with ground level retail that then changed to traditional townhome units with retail. As of June 2019, the project changed again to traditional townhomes with rental apartment units for seniors above ground floor retail. Look for activity likely around spring of this year.

3. Rocketship Charter School

Interior renovation of the warehouses at 5450 Kennedy Street NE is ongoing for Rocketship Charter School. In addition to elementary instruction provided by Rocketship, AppleTree Learning Center will provide pre-kindergarten instruction, and the Social Justice School will provide middle school instruction. The campus is scheduled to open in fall 2020

4. Chick-fil-A

Stay tuned for more details about the Chick-fil-A planned to replace the KFC/Taco Bell on the corner of 3rd Street and Riggs Road NE. We have it on good authority that Chick-fil-A now plans to have interior seating. They are working on revised plans and hopefully will have those ready along with their traffic study in time for ANC 4B’s February meeting.

5. Lamond-Riggs Library

The design team is finalizing the design for the new Lamond-Riggs Library. An interim library will be housed at the Modern at Art Place on Ingraham Street NE. Given the regulatory and permitting processes required, DC Public Library officials cannot say exactly when the existing library will close, but they anticipate closing the existing library mid-year 2020 with the interim library opening a few weeks afterwards. View the planned design on the project website at https://www.dclibrary.org/newlamondriggs.

6. Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT)

Projected completion of the MBT extension to Fort Totten has been pushed back to September 2020 due to project delays.

Residents will likely get updates on these projects from ANC 4B and ANC 5A as the year progresses, so be sure you are signed up for email notification for your ANC.