There's a corner in Southeast Washington, D.C., where two streets meet — Oak Drive and Sycamore Drive — and something remarkable is growing there. Not just a building. A movement.
Sycamore & Oak, a community-led development rising on the historic grounds of the former St. Elizabeths East Campus, is part business hub, part cultural anchor, and entirely a love letter to the Congress Heights neighborhood. Where a site long marked by disinvestment once stood, a future-focused hub for Black-owned businesses, entrepreneurship, and community benefit is now taking shape.
Built from the Ground Up — Literally
The centerpiece of the development is a 22,000-square-foot Retail Village, and it's unlike any commercial space you've seen. The mass-timber, open-air structure is punctuated by eleven strategically placed skylights, bathing the interior in natural light. A sweeping canopy offers shelter from the elements while creating a sense of intimacy — a community within the community, as the designers put it.
From sustainably sourced materials to low-carbon construction techniques, every design choice reflects the values of the people it was built to serve. Conceived as entirely public space, the building is a modular "kit of parts" using reclaimable joints — a model not just for Congress Heights, but for underserved communities across the country.
GRID Alternatives: Powering People, Not Just Buildings
When Sycamore & Oak went looking for a solar partner, they found one that shares their core philosophy: GRID Alternatives, a nonprofit that has spent decades proving that clean energy isn't just for wealthy neighborhoods.
GRID Alternatives' mission is to build community-powered solutions that advance environmental justice — and their partnership with Sycamore & Oak is that mission in action. Last year, they brought both solar power and a green job training program to the site, tackling two challenges at once: reducing energy costs for small businesses and creating new career pathways for Ward 8 residents.
A cohort of local trainees from historically underrepresented communities installed the solar array themselves, gaining hands-on, credentialed experience in solar installation, electrical safety, and construction trades. These weren't just job skills — they were a foot in the door to one of the fastest-growing industries in the country. GRID Alternatives equipped each trainee with the tools and certifications to pursue long-term careers in clean energy and related fields.
The results ripple outward in multiple directions. The solar installation lowers energy costs for the small businesses and entrepreneurs operating at Sycamore & Oak — real savings that can be reinvested into growth. Meanwhile, the workforce training program gives Ward 8 job seekers a pathway into an industry that's expanding rapidly and paying well.
For GRID Alternatives, this is exactly the point. By aligning climate action with economic mobility, they demonstrate that sustainability and equity aren't separate conversations — they're the same one. The Sycamore & Oak project stands as a replicable model: clean energy infrastructure built by the community, for the community, with lasting economic benefits that stay local.
Meet Josei Harris: The Heart Behind Black Bella Spa
Among the businesses finding a home at Sycamore & Oak is Black Bella Spa — and its origin story is one worth pausing for.
When Josei Harris started Black Bella Spa in 2014, she wasn't thinking about scalability or market strategy. She had a few massage chairs, a home in Congress Heights, and a calling to serve her neighbors. A decade later, that spark has grown into a full wellness collective dedicated to holistic health for communities of color.
Today, Black Bella operates as a cooperative where wellness practitioners build their own businesses with the support of mentorship and shared resources. Josei connects with elders and youth alike, offering education on health topics like lymphedema and holistic care. And as a tenant in the solar-powered Sycamore & Oak building, she sees clean energy as just one more way to invest in the neighborhood.
"Building community is my passion," she says. "Everything we do at Black Bella Spa — from wellness services to clean energy — is about helping our neighborhood thrive."
For Josei, the link between wellness, entrepreneurship, and sustainability isn't complicated: stronger businesses create stronger neighborhoods. Full stop.
Programs That Put Locals First
Sycamore & Oak isn't just offering space — it's offering a ladder.
The "Incubate the Eight" program gives emerging Black entrepreneurs and local business owners access to technical and marketing support designed to help them sustain and scale their food and retail ventures. The "Chefs-In-Residence" program pairs food and beverage operators with mentorship from the renowned José Andrés Group.
Of the 100 jobs created at Sycamore & Oak, 60 are reserved for residents participating in workforce programming through D.C.'s Department of Employment Services. The Department of Parks and Recreation is also on board, supporting the site through a Rec for ALL Community Grant that brings recreation programming into nontraditional spaces.
What's Next: A Campus Transformed
Sycamore & Oak is the latest milestone in the sweeping transformation of the St. Elizabeths East campus — a project that has already delivered the Entertainment and Sports Arena, new residential communities, a modern men's shelter, a Whitman-Walker Health facility, and the upcoming Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center.
Mayor Bowser recently announced the release of a Request for Proposals to develop Parcel 6 on the campus, inviting proposals that promote economic activity along 13th Street and bring homeownership opportunities to the community. A new 20,000-square-foot Congress Heights Library — replacing the existing Parklands-Turner Library — is also in the works, expected to open in late 2027.
The neighborhood is building momentum. And Sycamore & Oak is at the center of it.
A Blueprint for What's Possible
Sycamore & Oak is more than a retail village or a solar project or a collection of small businesses. It's a proof of concept — evidence that when development is rooted in community priorities, guided by local voices, and committed to equity, it can transform not just a plot of land, but the trajectory of an entire neighborhood.
GRID Alternatives' work here captures that spirit precisely: a solar array that cuts costs, a training program that builds careers, and a partnership that proves environmental justice and economic opportunity can grow from the same roots.
Ward 8 has always had potential. Sycamore & Oak — and the partners who believed in it — are giving it the infrastructure to soar.
