City Government Seeks New Camp Simms Proposals

WASHINGTON, DC-City officials have given up on one developer and requested new retail proposals on a 25-acre tract that it has sought to develop for about two decades. District government now believes that after five years of working with DC architect Kevin Williams and his company, Dominion Development Corp., that he cannot deliver a workable plan for Camp Simms, a former national Guard facility at 15th Street and Alabama Ave., SE.

Williams proposed a grocery store and a movie theater on the city-owned site. City officials hope to pick a development proposal by November and break ground by March 2001. Williams, Dominion and their partner, Manekin Corp. of Columbia, MD, would be allowed to enter new proposals.

However, the current development team disagrees that the city can unilaterally admit competitors to the project. It claims to have exclusive rights to develop the site, a point DC officials dispute.