September 7, 2010

The Yards Park Opens as DC’s Newest Waterfront Destination

Washington, DC - A great, new waterfront park was dedicated today by officials of the District of Columbia, the General Services Administration and developer Forest City Washington on the riverfront of a dramatically-growing area of DC known as the Capitol Riverfront. DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, along with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and various federal, city and project officials christened the new 5.5 acre park in a ceremony held near the park's landmark pedestrian bridge and riverfront overlook.

The Yards Park, which is destined to be a significant amenity of the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood as well as the entire metro area, is the centerpiece of Forest City Washington's urban, mixed-use development project known as The Yards. Upon full build-out, The Yards will offer approximately 2,800 new residential units (both for rent and for sale), 1.8 million square feet of Class A office space and 400,000 square feet of retail space to create a vibrant, riverfront neighborhood for generations to come. As a part of the project, several existing, former industrial Navy Yards buildings are being repurposed, through adaptive reuse, as residential and retail/office properties. The Yards is located on the Anacostia riverfront between First Street SE and The Washington Navy Yard, south of M Street, SE. "This is a beautifully designed, well-detailed urban park with tremendous versatility," said Deborah Ratner Salzberg, president of Forest City Washington. "It is a wonderful example of the public benefits provided by successful public/private partnerships and will certainly prove to be a quality of life asset in this area for years to come," she added.

The Yards Park provides residents and visitors with an unparalleled opportunity to enjoy the riverfront and outdoors in a well designed urban park setting. Features include a riverfront boardwalk running the length of the park that will provide an important additional segment of the Anacostia Riverwalk trail system; an architecturally-significant, 200-foot, steel pedestrian bridge, spanning a unique canal-like water feature; a waterfront overlook area with a stylish shade structure reminiscent of canvas sails; a 60-foot prismatic light tower, a work of public art by renowned artist Jamie Carpenter which is lit from within after dark; a large event lawn area for recreation and festival programming; a series of attractively landscaped outdoor rooms offering places to sit and enjoy the park; and a fenced dog run area for off-leash play.

Designed by M. Paul Friedberg Partners of New York City and constructed by Smoot Construction of Washington and P.J. Dick, general contractors (official CBE joint venture), The Yards Park is being managed and programmed by the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District.

Development of The Yards Park was funded by bonds issued by the District of Columbia associated with the earlier development of the USDOT headquarters complex just north of the park. The Yards Park site is a key part of the 44-acre redevelopment of the former Southeast Federal Center, for which the General Services Administration selected Forest City Washington as developer.

A weekend of community-related activities is planned for the weekend of September 10th-12th, to celebrate the grand opening of The Yards Park. Events include musical performances, art exhibitions, kids' activities, a doggie social, Trapeze School of NY shows and demonstrations, outdoor fitness classes, food/drinks and even fireworks. All events are open to the public. For schedule information, visit capitolriverfront.org.

For more information about The Yards Park, visit yardspark.org, and for info about The Yards, visit DC Yards.com.