Whitman-Walker at St. Elizabeths East
Update
09/19/23
Redbrick LMD Announces the Opening of Whitman-Walker’s New Max Robinson Center with Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. were among the dignitaries celebrating the ribbon-cutting of Whitman-Walker’s Max Robinson Center, a new healthcare and state-of-the-art research center at the heart of the historic St. Elizabeths East Campus in Washington, DC. This facility will spur growth of a health services ecosystem in an area that has been lacking in access to primary, dental and mental health care and will help to solve the persistent health disparities and service delivery inequities for Wards 7 and 8.
“Today, we’re opening a bigger Max Robinson Center, in two years, we’ll be opening a new hospital on this same campus – and together, these two facilities are going to change the way we deliver healthcare in DC,” said DC Mayor Muriel Bowser. “We are incredibly grateful that Whitman-Walker is part of the legacy that we’re building on the St. Elizabeths East campus. This campus represents our commitment to Ward 8 and our commitment to a stronger, healthier, and more equitable DC.”
Whitman-Walker’s new 118,000-square-foot community health center provides primary, behavioral, dental, and substance misuse treatment services, plus a pharmacy and a new home for WhitmanWalker’s Youth Services. The larger building enables expanded capacity to serve 10,000 more patients annually than at its previous location in Congress Heights, while implementing more than 60 research studies and clinical trials each year.
“Whitman-Walker’s new Max Robinson Center opens an exciting chapter in the story of the reinvigoration of the St. Elizabeths East campus. We at Redbrick LMD are proud to work alongside Mayor Bowser and community leaders to enable one of the region’s most innovative healthcare providers to expand its service to the Ward 8 community,” said Louis Dubin, Managing Partner at Redbrick LMD. “
We are thrilled to unveil this once-in-a-lifetime healthcare expansion during our 50th anniversary year,” says Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health. “The goal is to ensure our new healthcare home significantly improves access to excellent healthcare for all residents who live east of the Anacostia River and for all the communities we serve.”
The Max Robinson Center is the latest building from District-based developer Redbrick. In June, the neighborhood celebrated the opening of the 22,000-square-foot Retail Village at Sycamore & Oak, which features 13 local businesses and offers new wellness and entrepreneurial support services, food vendors, and event space. Redbrick, with its partner Knutson Companies, also developed District Towns at St. Elizabeths East, 88 for-sale townhomes with 27 affordable dwelling units at 50% and 80% median family income levels, bringing affordable home ownership opportunities to the community. These projects reflect Redbrick’s significant commitment to meet community needs for housing and economic growth.
The Max Robinson Center was funded by investor capital in a Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund offered by Redbrick that is now closed to new investment. Opportunity Zone legislation was created to spur private capital investment in under-invested, economically disadvantaged communities. Redbrick is one of the largest developers in opportunity zones in Washington, DC.
Contributing to a renaissance for Southeast Washington, the transformation of the St. Elizabeths East campus into a vibrant and inclusive residential and commercial center is a focus for Redbrick’s 4-millionsquare-foot development pipeline in Ward 8. The company’s developments in Ward 8 have brought new mixed-income housing, retail, healthcare, and other services that community residents and leaders have called for. Collaborators on the milestone Congress Heights neighborhood development include District leadership, the Ward 8 community, and Gragg Cardona Partners.
The St. Elizabeths East redevelopment boasts convenient access to the Congress Heights Metro, the Entertainment & Sports Arena, and the future Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, plus proximity to the Department of Homeland Security, US Coast Guard headquarters, and other major employers.
