Anatomy: The Building of Capitol Crossing

How do you create three brand-new blocks of downtown DC out of thin air?

Written by Michael J. Gaynor | Published on April 4, 2014

Over the next several years, a massive mixed-use development called Capitol Crossing will rise on a platform built across a sunken portion of I-395 near Judiciary Square. The $1.3-billion project will reunite the east/west axis of Pierre L’Enfant’s plan for the District—now divided by a highway that DC Council member Tommy Wells once called “the scar downtown.”

In late March, the developer, Property Group Partners, will begin digging up water pipes and moving power lines and other utilities. The area’s infrastructure will undergo a $20-million upgrade.

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Illustration by Todd Detwiler.

This article appears in the April 2014 issue of Washingtonian.

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Michael J. Gaynor

Staff Writer

Michael J. Gaynor has written about fake Navy SEALs, a town without cell phones, his Russian spy landlord, and many more weird and fascinating stories for the Washingtonian. He lives in DC, where his landlord is no longer a Russian spy.