Norton Manages Her Bill Today on House Floor to Spur Economic Development in D.C. (7/20/2010)

Norton Manages Her Bill Today on House Floor to Spur Economic Development in D.C.

WASHINGTON, DC - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will manage her bill, H.R. 5545, today on the House floor to transfer jurisdiction over the waterway surrounding the Southwest Waterfront enabling major redevelopment at the Southwest Waterfront to proceed. The development will include 2.5 million square feet of mixed-use development for hotels, office space, retail and residential uses, as well as increased maritime activity. The project will spur economic development in the District, create thousands of jobs for residents, generate millions of dollars annually in local tax revenue, create new and improved waterfront parks and docks, and revitalize the southwest quadrant of the city.

"The federal government is implementing my Southeast Federal Center bill, The Yards, for the benefit of the District," said Norton. "But my work on the federal side was always incomplete as long as the southwest side was underdeveloped. It is a special pleasure to get this bill done permitting the District to begin the Southwest Waterfront development."

Norton was able to show that the Southwest Waterfront is no longer a major port accommodating large vessels and convinced the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reassign the necessary sections of the waterway, designated by the federal government as the Washington Channel, so that the District can build larger docks for increased boating and waterside activity.

Norton's redevelopment project, The Yards, and the construction of the Department of Homeland Security headquarters in Ward 8 are currently the two largest projects underway in the city. She said that today's waterway bill and the development of large parcels in the same part of the city "amounts to inventing a revived D.C. neighborhood."

The bill is expected to pass under suspension of the rules.