WASHINGTON DC: 20-Acre Rhode Island Avenue NE Neighborhood Development Now Has a Name

MidCity, one of Washington, DC’s most respected and experienced developers and property owners, has launched a new name and dynamic new website — www.riadc.com — for its ambitious 20-acre mixed-use development designed to be the future centerpiece of the Rhode Island Avenue community. The website moves far beyond a branding exercise and includes candid FAQ’s, phase-by-phase diagrams, master plan and block plan renderings and details of the meticulous and innovative approach being employed by MidCity and architect and planner, Perkins Eastman. MidCity has retained interdisciplinary and strategy collective, Streetsense, for branding, communications and retail consulting for the project.

With initial demolition of the Brentwood Village shopping center scheduled for late 2016 and groundbreaking on the first phase of this inclusive, community-design driven neighborhood set for late 2017, the RIA website and brand set the stage for the next phases of development – an array of residences, an inviting new town center, new connective streets, local shops and retailers and pedestrian promenades and green spaces.

“RIA will express MidCity’s vision of Washington, DC’s diverse and culturally rich neighborhoods at their finest – “RIAlized” – and the name celebrates the rejuvenation of the Rhode Island Avenue corridor,” said Michael Meers of MidCity. “RIA’s components, which reflect MidCity’s longstanding commitment to inclusiveness and mixed-use communities, have been designed through years of community input to seamlessly connect residents to their friends and neighbors, convenient shopping and dining and welcoming open spaces. These 20 acres, at the heart of one of the most dynamic communities in Washington, DC, will be transformed into a thoughtful, walkable and cohesive community with exceptional access, via Metro and the Rhode Island Avenue corridor, to downtown Washington, DC and adjacent communities.”

MidCity has received approval from the DC Zoning Commission for its development plan, which will ultimately include 1,760 residential units and up to 181,000 square feet of commercial space, to include an approximately 55,000 square foot full service grocery store and other neighborhood-serving retail. Residents and visitors will also enjoy a one acre community green and a half acre pedestrian plaza as well as a new, highly connective street grid that includes the introduction of four new streets to connect old and new access points. The first phase of construction will commence in the second half of 2017 with the construction of a 200-unit affordable housing building for seniors.

“We view RIA as a model for future mixed-use neighborhoods in our city,” said MidCity Chairman, Gene Ford, Jr. “World class planning is being applied to ensure that RIA is not only a superbly designed place to live but also a resource and destination for neighboring communities. MidCity has been an owner and investor in the Rhode Island Avenue for more than 40 years and respects and values the historic qualities of the Rhode Island Avenue corridor. We plan to be here for a long time to come and view the community as our partners in bringing RIA to life.”

RIA incorporates 21st century urban design principles to ensure the new community will be walkable, vibrant, and responsive to the living needs of its residents. The development will provide a variety of housing types – rental apartments, for sale townhomes, market rate options, senior living and affordable housing – all with the objective of creating economic, social, and other diversity in an aspirational 21st century community.