Here’s a wonderful article in the Washington Business Journal about how the Whitman-Walker Health System has successfully secured new funding to build out its Health Research Lab in the Max Robinson Center in SE, as well as secure new tenants to truly make MAX a healthcare hub for the community.
Excerpts:
“D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health System is resuming construction on a biomedical research lab in Congress Heights after securing some crucial funding for the project that had previously been cut.
The project, which involves building out a lab at 1201 Sycamore Drive SE, would bring the 118,000-square-foot Max Robinson Center to full capacity now that the organization has successfully locked in tenants for its unused floors.
The Whitman-Walker Health System, which comprises a research institute, real estate division and foundation, returned to the drawing board about a year ago when the bulk of a $2 million National Institutes of Health grant, awarded in 2022, was rescinded alongside sweeping cuts across the federal government.
The grant, now reinstated and extended to 2027, gives the health system the go-ahead to build out its research lab, also funded with a slice of a total $22.5 million from the D.C. government to support the overall buildout of the Max Robinson Center, which delivered in 2023.
But the plans have also changed, from bringing a 9,400-square-foot lab to a new floor to, now, building out about 6,000 square feet on the same floor where it already conducts research. That shouldn’t affect the lab space itself, which was always slated to span about 3,000 square feet of the total footprint; rather, it eliminates the need to add more common areas.
In doing so, the organization cut out about $2.5 million of the total cost, bringing it down to about $5.2 million from a previous estimate of $7.7 million, CEO Heather Aaron said.
The goal is to start the buildout over the summer, which should only take a few months. “The idea is for it to be done this year,” she said.
”The health system, which had fully leased the building, has also released about 33,500 square feet of retail space it didn’t need — securing tenants and handing over long-term leases to D.C. real estate developer Redbrick.
That was a big win for the nonprofit, which is now off the hook for that rent, Aaron said. All tenants have signed agreements and some still need to move in.
The roster includes Labcorp, New Hampshire Medical Supply, the GW Cancer Prevention and Wellness Center, the Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School and the Advanced Technical Center, a health care apprenticeship program for high school students through D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education.
That’s alongside the Whitman-Walker Institute for Health Research and Policy, which conducts research across HIV, cancer, mental health, transgender health and other areas, including clinical trials locally and across the country.
The building also has a Whitman-Walker pharmacy and a health clinic. That’s part of Whitman-Walker Health Center, the nonprofit’s federally qualified health center led by CEO Naseema Shafi that has historically served LGBTQ+ populations. “So the entire building is now a community hub as envisioned,” Aaron said. “We have streamlined our work and our purpose, and we’ve created this hub for the community.”
