parks

From a press release:

“The NoMa Parks Foundation, an affiliate of the NoMa Business Improvement District, announced today that it will acquire its third parcel, an approximately half acre site at the intersection of R Street, NE, and the popular Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT). This acquisition has been accomplished through a collaboration with Foulger-Pratt Development and with strong support from Pepco from whom the parcel was acquired. No funds from the Foundation’s original $50 million NoMa Parks grant will be required to close on this important parcel. Instead, Foulger-Pratt will donate the parcel and will also provide the NoMa Parks Foundation with certain design consultation rights as well as other community benefits. Ultimately, the new park will be transferred to the District of Columbia Government.

This acquisition of additional land to improve the MBT and provide additional park space was first envisioned in a joint study of the MBT executed by the NoMa BID, the Metropolitan Police Department and the District Department of Transportation in 2015. That study recommended straightening the “Z-turn” at R Street as an important public safety measure, among other things. “Adding this new land is so important to improving the MBT and assuring another fabulous park experience for the residents of the NoMa neighborhood and all of Northeast. We look forward to partnering with the community to plan this new green space,” said Robin-Eve Jasper, president of the NoMa Parks Foundation.

Foulger-Pratt will be developing a residential and retail project on the balance of the property bounded by the Foundation’s previously-acquired 2-acre park to the south, Harry Thomas Way on the west, and R Street to the north. (more…)