D.C. is now offering $7.5 million in grants for organizations to develop outdoor spaces downtown.
The grants are the latest efforts by Mayor Muriel Bowser, who is working to revitalize downtown. She hopes the grants will attract more families to the area.
“These could be new community gathering spaces, performance or creative spaces, outdoor games or music infrastructure,” Interim Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Keith Anderson said.
With the rise in telework, downtowns many office buildings have been sitting empty. Bowser has been promoting converting those empty offices to residential units.
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Along with the development of outdoor spaces, D.C. will be promoting more entertainment options starting with the Jazz in Bloom concert series at Union Station.
“We will get the vibrancy, that we miss in some places back, with the partnership, with music and entertainment,” Bowser said.
D.C.’s Chief Financial Officer Glen Lee said working from home poses a “serious long-term risk to the District’s economy and its tax base.”
The tax revenue not paid by the offices has contributed to the nearly $500 million budget shortfall D.C. is facing over the next several years.
Bowser hopes to attract 15,000 new residents downtown over the next five years. She also wants to partner with the federal government to convert their unused office space.
