This morning, ANC 5A circulated a screenshot of a media release regarding the redevelopment of the Providence Health Campus, located at 1150 Varnum Street NE. Part of the campus will be redeveloped with a school and housing. Providence plans to close the urgent care center, imaging center, and pharmacy on July 31, 2023. Carroll Manor and the Police & Fire Occupational health clinic will remain open. The release states that the medical buildings at 1150 Varnum Street and 1160 Varnum Street NE are not impacted. Providence sits in ANC 5A.

Mundo Verde Public Charter School, which has a campus across the street from Providence (called the Ocho Verde campus), will use part of the Providence campus for a planned school expansion. A development team consisting of EYA and Mentiki will develop housing on the site.

EYA is no stranger to this neck of the woods. EYA recently developed a townhome community across the street from Providence called The Townhomes at Michigan Park. Not too far away, EYA is also making steady progress on Riggs Park Place, a townhome and senior housing multifamily/retail project in Riggs Park. (Disclosure: When I served as president of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, I worked with EYA on a community benefits agreement related to Riggs Park Place). I think it is safe to say that EYA has a good reputation as a developer, though I certainly know there are those who have their own opinion about that.

This is not unexpected news. In 2018, Ascension (the owner of Providence) notified residents of plans to “reimagine” the Providence Hospital campus, which essentially translated to shutting down the hospital. (Actually closing the hospital turned into a bit of a saga). Ascension held “focus groups” and community meetings about what people wanted to see on the campus that would be consistent with the health mission of Providence. The meetings were honestly a little strange. At an ANC 5A meeting in 2019, Commissioner Emily Singer Lucio (5A03) indicated that Mundo Verde and EYA were interested in the Providence campus. Now we have confirmation of the plan.

EYA has created a website for the Providence development at https://www.providencereimagined.com/. You can sign up to receive email updates and sign up for one of the few in-person and virtual meetings already scheduled. In addition, Commissioner Lucio plans to discuss this development at her single member district meeting on May 4.