• By Paul Medvetsky *
• November 16, 2023

Johns Hopkins University Brings New Vitality to Pennsylvania Avenue

From the Wilson Building overlooking Freedom Plaza to the Federal Triangle, National Archives, Embassy of Canada, and National Gallery of Art, Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and U.S. Capitol has always been the site of prominent civic and cultural institutions. On October 19, the Avenue welcomed a new anchor with the grand dedication of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center on the former Newseum site at 555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

The arrival of Johns Hopkins brings a different kind of energy to the corridor’s eastern end. With daytime and evening classes, the university presence extends and animates street life well beyond the usual 9-to-5 business-attire crowd. Hundreds of students, faculty, visiting scholars, interns, researchers, guest lecturers, alumni, and university staff walking up and down the street every day creates a new node of economic activities on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The new 420,000-square-foot center will be home to the School of Advanced International Studies, Carey Business School, and School of Government and Policy, as well as other university divisions.

“We are honored that the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center chose to open a new space on Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of our downtown. We have set the bold goal to win back our downtown by making Washington, DC a place for successful businesses and opportunity-rich neighborhoods. Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center brings a new hub for global leaders to convene, and new employment and educational opportunities to our downtown.”

— Mayor Muriel Bowser

The fanfare around Johns Hopkins is not only aptly timed but is also in alignment with one of the goals of NCPC’s Pennsylvania Avenue Initiative. The bold vision, the Avenue as a Venue, retools and leverages the Avenue’s assets to jumpstart the economic development engine for Downtown Washington and the District.

Early in 2024, NCPC and the project partners—the General Services Administration, National Park Service, District Government, EventsDC, and DowntownDC BID—will announce the first consultant team to develop the New Pennsylvania Avenue Plan. Among many tasks, the “implementation program” consultants will assess the economic and fiscal impacts of the new plan.

Understanding the underlying economics of the Avenue and the proposed improvements will inform the project’s business case and return on investment, as well as the physical design that a second consultant team will produce when they are selected in spring 2024.

A strategic investment on the Avenue will not only infuse new vitality and vibrancy to this legacy corridor, it’s also an economic development playbook much like investing in a new waterfront or convention center. A premier public space destination in Downtown Washington will help attract existing tourists nearby at the National Mall, and draw visitors from all eight District wards, the region, the nation, and around the world to experience the new Pennsylvania Avenue at the heart of the nation’s capital.

* Paul Medvetsky is a senior at Georgetown University and will graduate in December 2023. Before joining NCPC, he interned with the NYC Planning Department and Greater Greater Washington.