Good afternoon.

I am Matt Freuman, Ward 3 Councilmember and Chairperson of the Committee on Human Services.

Today is October 28, 2026.

We are meeting in room 412 of the John A.

Wilson Building and on the Zoom virtual platform.

The time is now 1.10 p.m.

Today we're conducting a public hearing on three measures.

Bill 26-0845, the Poplar Point Acquisition and Disposition Approval Act of 2026, Bill 26-0846, the Poplar Point Economic Development Anchor Disposition Act of 2026, and Bill 26-0834, the Reeve Center Surplus Declaration and Disposition Approval Act of 2026.

All three of these bills were introduced by Chairman Mendelson at the request of the Mayor on September 30th, 2026, and referred sequentially to the Committee on Facilities and the Committee on Human Services on October 6, 2026.

The first bill on the docket is uh B 26-845-0845, the Poplar Point Acquisition and Disposition Approval Act of 2026.

Poplar Point is the district's last major undeveloped waterfront property.

The district has been working to acquire it for decades.

In 2006, Congress enacted the Federal and District of Columbia Government Real Property Act of 2006, which directed the National Park Service to transfer Poplar Point to the district after the district identified a new location for the NPS facilities there.

This legislation authorizes a series of transactions that will allow the district to take title to a large part of Poplar Point.

It finalizes a land swap involving the district, the Department of the Navy, and two developers, RBW NY LLC, and CQ Metro Land LLC that will satisfy the requirements of the 2006 federal legislation.

This deal will give the district jurisdiction over more than 70 acres of riverfront parkland and allow for the development of more than 440 of those acres.

The

second bill on the docket B 26-0846, the Poplar Point Economic Development Anchor Disposition Act of 2026.

This legislation allows the mayor to dispose of 15 acres at Poplar Point to Therm.

Therm seeks to acquire the land to build an approximately 400,000 to 600,000 square foot health and wellness facility.

Demped intends for this project to spur economic development and opportunities east of the Anacostia River while maintaining public access to green space paved paths and connections to bridges, waterfront, and streets.

The final bill on the docket today is B26-0834, the Reeve Center Surplus and Disposition Act of 2026.

The legislation authorizes the mayor to declare surplus and dispose of the district-owned real property located at the corner of 14th and V Streets Northwest that currently houses the Reeve Center.

The proposed project would replace the current Reeve Center building with two new buildings, one providing 322 new units of housing, and one providing 40,000 square feet of office and retail space.

There will also be a public space between the two buildings with amenities.

The site will also include a new headquarters for the NAACP, delivering the anchor for the historic U Street Corridor that was originally envisioned by late Mayor Marion Barry.

I will turn now to uh been joined by my colleague, Councilmember Ward 8, Councilmember Traeon White, and Councilmember White, if you have an opening statement.

I do it.

Thank you, Chairman Fruman, for holding today's hearing.

I'm gonna speak to one part of the discussion today, and I'll start with this.

For decades, the people of Ward 8 has been promised the kind of investment that has transformed many parts of the city without displacing people.

We watch uh several parts of important corridors get uh redeveloped and looking beautiful and welcoming where people can grow uh shop and live where they where they where they work and play.

Uh but for Ward 8, we have been, you know, we haven't received equity.

For me, it's not a new conversation.

I remember attending a press conference.

I had to be about 21 or 22 with Murray and Burry at Poplar Point.

I'm 42, so you do the math.

We cannot keep going and say we uh we serve all wards from Ward 8 continues to get a divestment instead of an investment.

Uh

we remain open to the proposed federal land swap and to Thermo becoming an anchor tenant at Popular Point, or my priority is making sure the voices and concerns of Ward A residents are heard that our community benefits for what's next to

come.

I have personally as a council member been hosting uh listening sites in conjunction with Thermor to hear from the residents about what they want to see happen.

Um, what opportunities there, not just a job, yes, job of course, but also make sure there are business owners who are able to participate uh if this comes to fruition.

There have been, I must say, a lot of interest in this, and I do say that has been uh listening and creating concessions for those businesses to get involved.

Um in 2025, uh unemployment in Ward 8 was at 10.3% compared to 6.3% across DC.

We need investment that's create jobs, wages, opportunities, but also business ownership.

For the past year and a half, our community has been engaged in conversations about the future of Poplar Point and not just with Therma, but the surrounding areas of Therma to ensure that that's a complete site with other amenities.

And that's a part of this conversation.

The district has demonstrated has demonstrated what it can accomplish when it commits to transforming an area like Waterfront or Navy Yard or NOMA, other parts of the city.

When the district developed the Wolf, it committed 51%, it committed to a 51% DC resident hiring target and 20% hiring target for Ward A residents.

Commitments like that are essential to making projects like this popular.

We're not talking about uh money, because it's not just a money, a matter of money, it's a matter of priority and partnership.

I've met with community members who are excited about Therma and those who may not be excited about Thermor, but it's important that we hear those voices and figure out how we can come to a happy medium to move Ward A forward.

What I'm excited about is about opportunity.

I've also heard from residents who wants to uh work there, shop there, uh, play there for lack of better words, but also want to do business there.

Um I know this will be the first of many conversations here at the council, but we've been talking about this for a few years now.

Um I look forward to hearing from uh witness testimony today.

Also, I'm excited that uh representatives from the DC uh many frontline workers and unions are gathered outside advocating for equity and inclusion and fair wages because for far too long they've been there working in the trenches doing the work to keep the city upheld, but we have not done our due diligence in a budget of 20 billion dollars where we've had surpluses here on the since I've been here since 2017.

Our budget was originally what 4.5 billion.

Now we're over 21 billion, and workers are still feeling left out of the equation.