The NoMa Parks Foundation has acquired a vacant property across the street from Swampoodle Park, which will be turned into a public park owned by the District of Columbia government.
The area, located at 1100 Third Street, at the corner of Third and L Streets, in Northeast DC, consists of 5,800 square feet of land.
The NoMa Parks Foundation that is a non-profit affiliate of the NoMa Business Improvement District (BID) unofficially named the place “Swampoodle II.”
“This parcel is the long lost twin sister to the adjacent, award-winning Swampoodle Park, which opened in 2018, and has become a neighborhood favorite for both people and pets,” said Robin-Eve Jasper, president of the foundation, in a statement.
“We look forward to working with the community and our DC government agency partners to deliver the perfect bookend to complement Swampoodle Park and bring yet another remarkable new park to NoMa for the community to share and enjoy for years to come.”
The foundation bought the lot from Jemal’s 1100 3rd LLC for $3.4 million. This is the fourth land purchase by the NoMa Parks Foundation since the DC Council provided it with $50 million in 2014 to develop green space in the area as part of a public-private partnership.
The new park is expected to feature larger green areas for picnics and other activities.
This is not the first public space opened by the NoMa Parks Foundation. The group established a partnership with the DC government in 2012 in order to introduce publicly accessible park spaces in the NoMa neighborhood, which lacked them.
It has delivered four parks over the last eight years, including Swampoodle Park that opened in 2018 as the neighborhood’s first public park. It was followed by Rain Underpass Art Park (2018), Lightweave Underpass Art Park (2019), and Alethia Tanner Park (March 2020).
The District takes over the ownership and management of the parks after they are acquired by the foundation.