DC’s Biggest Redevelopment in a Generation Just Dropped, and Here Is What It Means for You
On June 30, the DC Office of Planning released the public comment draft of the RFK Campus Master Plan, the long awaited blueprint for transforming 180 acres along the Anacostia River into a new stadium district, thousands of homes, and a year round destination on the east end of Capitol Hill.
The document is 89 pages of renderings, zoning frameworks, district maps, and development timelines. We went through all of it, because when a project of this scale lands in our backyard, our clients deserve more than headlines.
Want to read the full draft yourself? You can find it here: RFK Campus Master Plan – Public Comment Draft, and follow the official planning process at OurRFK.dc.gov.
Now, here is what actually matters.
The Big Picture: A Stadium Anchors It, But Housing Drives It
The headline is the new 65,000 seat Washington Commanders stadium, targeted to open in 2030, with the team committing at least $2.7 billion in private investment, the largest private investment in DC history. But for investors and homeowners, the stadium is only about 11 percent of the campus. The real story is everything around it.
The draft plan calls for:
5,000 to 6,500 new housing units, with at least 30 percent designated as affordable, built across walkable mixed use neighborhoods rather than a sea of parking lots.
Retail, restaurants, hotels, and office space designed to keep the campus active 365 days a year, not just on game days.
Over a third of the site preserved as parks and open space, including new access to the Anacostia waterfront and the Kingman and Heritage Islands.
A projected $24.2 billion in total economic output and approximately $5.1 billion in tax revenue for the District over time, along with an estimated 30,000 construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs.
Six Districts, Two Developers, One Neighborhood
The plan organizes the campus into six distinct districts. The Washington Commanders will develop the Stadium, Plaza, and Riverfront districts, while the District of Columbia oversees the Kingman Park District, the Recreation District, and Anacostia Commons.
This matters for investors because it signals a phased, neighborhood scale approach. The vision is residential streets, ground floor retail, and public plazas that knit into Kingman Park, Hill East, and the broader Capitol Hill fabric, with most new buildings ranging from 110 to 130 feet in height around the stadium core.
The Timeline Investors Should Watch
If you are evaluating opportunities near the RFK campus, these are the dates that matter:
August 14, 2026: The 45 day public comment period closes. Feedback can be submitted through the Get Involved page.
Fall 2026: The Office of Planning revises the draft and sends it to the DC Council, with adoption expected by the end of the year.
2027: Zoning text and map amendments move through the Zoning Commission, alongside the federal environmental review and traffic studies.
2030: The stadium is slated to open, with surrounding districts developing in phases and full buildout anticipated by 2040.
That phased timeline is the key insight. This is not a flip the switch project. It is a decade plus transformation, which means the ripple effects on surrounding neighborhoods will unfold in waves, and positioning matters.
What This Means for Nearby Neighborhoods
Kingman Park, Hill East, Capitol Hill, Rosedale, and the corridors along Benning Road and East Capitol Street sit closest to the action. Historically, transformative anchor projects in DC, from Navy Yard to The Wharf, have reshaped demand, pricing, and development activity in surrounding neighborhoods years before ribbon cuttings.
The plan also embraces a transit first approach, with improvements planned around the Stadium Armory Metro station and a proposed Gold Line bus rapid transit route, which could meaningfully change connectivity for the entire east side of the city.
For homeowners near the campus, the plan offers clarity on building heights, land uses, and open space that has been missing for decades. For investors, it offers something even more valuable: a published roadmap.
Our Take
We have watched DC’s waterfront transformations create generational value for those who understood the timeline and moved with intention. The RFK Campus Master Plan is the clearest signal yet that the east end of Capitol Hill is entering that same chapter.
The draft is exactly that, a draft. Parking, traffic, and final designs are still being worked through, and public comment is open through August 14. But the direction is set, the capital is committed, and the process is moving.
If you are thinking about how the RFK redevelopment could affect your home’s value, your next purchase, or your investment strategy in DC, Northern Virginia, or Maryland, we would love to talk. This is our market, and we have done the reading.
Contact the Kimberly Casey Team at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty to discuss what the RFK Campus Master Plan means for you.
Sources: DC Office of Planning, RFK Campus Master Plan Public Comment Draft (June 30, 2026), OurRFK.dc.gov