The District of Columbia is throwing open the doors to two small but strategically placed sites, asking private developers to help shape what comes next in Southeast and Upper Northwest. On March 19, 2026, the city posted formal requests for proposals for a nearly 7-acre site at the north end of the St. Elizabeths East campus along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, and for a roughly 1-acre city-owned lot in Brightwood. The RFPs call for teams that can take each site from early concept through design and construction.
According to the Washington Business Journal, the opportunities are centered on St. Elizabeths East’s "Parcel 1" along MLK Jr. Avenue SE and a separate Brightwood parcel. The moves are framed as the latest step in a long-running city push to finish out the St. Elizabeths master plan and to put small, strategic infill sites to work in other neighborhoods.
What’s on Parcel 1
Parcel 1 sits at the far north edge of the St. Elizabeths East campus and is identified in campus documents as the Farm Complex or "urban farm" parcel. It covers roughly 6.7 acres and includes several of the campus’s oldest buildings and barns, conditions that will likely shape how much new construction is possible and what preservation rules apply. As outlined in the St. Elizabeths East materials, any future design will have to juggle historic character, circulation across the campus, and visibility along MLK Jr. Avenue SE, which gives the site a prominent public face.
Brightwood: a compact infill bet
The Brightwood lot is a tighter, more surgical play. It sits in Ward 4’s Brightwood Park neighborhood, where the city has used Great Streets grants and other small-business outreach to strengthen nearby retail corridors. The District’s Brightwood and Kennedy Street efforts, including public info sessions, signal an interest in using modest, targeted projects to boost local commerce, according to DMPED. At about an acre, the site is the right size for one solid retail anchor, a small mixed-use building, or a community-focused use, depending on what developers pitch and what zoning will allow.
Why the city is moving now
Filling in Parcel 1 and the Brightwood lot fits into a broader District strategy to turn remaining public land into active, income-generating, and neighborhood-serving uses. On and near St. Elizabeths, the city has already invested in campus master plan projects, along with new medical and residential components that it highlights in its redevelopment materials. The planning pages for St. Elizabeths East detail earlier awards and projects that set the stage for these smaller, more surgical solicitations. For residents nearby, the stakes are concrete, from what kinds of jobs and retail show up to how much affordability is baked into eventual deals.
How to find the RFPs
The full solicitation packets and submission instructions are available through the District’s development-opportunities and RFP portals, where teams can dig into site maps, evaluation criteria, and timelines. The Washington Business Journal first flagged the postings on March 19, 2026. Interested development teams are directed to review DMPED’s RFP listings alongside the St. Elizabeths East information pages to make sure their proposals line up with existing campus plans and city priorities.
