Mayor Muriel Bowser joined Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May, Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC) Executive Director Perry Moon, and restaurateur Andy Shallal for the groundbreaking of the new FSFSC headquarters in historic Anacostia. The building will be the home to the first Busboys and Poets restaurant east of the Anacostia River.
Mayor Muriel Bowser joined Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May, Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC) Executive Director Perry Moon, and restaurateur Andy Shallal for the groundbreaking of the new FSFSC headquarters in historic Anacostia. The building will be the home to the first Busboys and Poets restaurant east of the Anacostia River.
“This project is another sign of my Administration’s commitment to invest in supportive services and jobs in neighborhoods across all 8 wards,” said Mayor Bowser. “It is also a happy day whenever we can accomplish those goals and deliver a long-awaited, long-requested amenity, like this future Busboys and Poets restaurant.”
FSFSC is a DC-based non-profit serving children and families in the Ward 8 community. The project will redevelop a now vacant building on the 2300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE into a 20,000 square-foot facility for FSFSC’s new offices. The first floor will bring new resources and opportunities to Ward 8 by housing a full-service Busboys and Poets restaurant, bookstore, and hospitality training center. In addition to the local construction jobs, the new Busboys is expected to create approximately 100 sustained jobs for neighborhood residents.
“We are excited and humbled by the partnerships that we have forged with the District, Urban Ingenuity, and United Bank to bring this important project to the residents of Anacostia and Ward 8. Our mission and service offerings will be greatly enhanced by the new space,” said Perry Moon, FSFSC Executive Director.
“I am thrilled to be opening a new Busboys and Poets and hospitality training center in the heart of Ward 8,” said Shallal. “My hope is that this new facility will be a catalyst for more economic development East of the River and will become a central meeting place to discuss the incredible opportunities that exist in this community.”
The $14.6 million state-of-the-art facility was made possible by District gap funding, including a $3 million grant funded by the Mayor last year. The project also received $8 million in revenue bonds from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and over $2 million from the DC Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing program administered by the DC Department of Energy and Environment and Urban Ingenuity. This innovative project is the first in the nation to use PACE funding along with tax-exempt funds to drive down energy bills and lower the cost of building improvements for non-profit organizations.
Construction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.
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