Washington, D.C. Seeks Industry Input on New Correctional Treatment Facility Annex Project

The new 735,000-square-foot D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility Annex project is currently budgeted between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion. | Photo Credit: Courtesy of CGL Companies, CORE architecture + design and Neoscape, Inc.

• The D.C. Department of General Services has issued a Request for Information for the proposed D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility Annex project, the first step toward a future procurement for the new facility.
• The program carries a target budget of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion and includes an approximately 735,000-square-foot annex with 958 beds, plus roughly 132,000 square feet of renovations to the existing Correctional Treatment Facility.
• District officials are seeking market feedback on delivery structure, financing, risk allocation, schedule and lifecycle maintenance, with design-build, lease/lease-back and public-private partnership models under review.
• RFI responses are due July 15, 2026, and the conceptual schedule in the presentation extends through 2035 to allow phased construction while corrections operations remain active.

WASHINGTON — The D.C. Department of General Services, acting on behalf of the D.C. Department of Corrections, has launched an industry outreach process for the proposed D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility Annex project, a major capital program intended to replace aging detention infrastructure with a new, treatment- and reentry-focused complex.

Issued May 15 as a Request for Information, the solicitation is positioned as the first step toward a future procurement that could take the form of a design-build, design-build-finance-maintain or other alternative delivery. The presentation sets a target budget of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion and frames the project as a long-term investment in safer, more resilient and more humane correctional operations.

According to the RFI, the District’s goal is to create a modern, secure facility that can better support rehabilitation, treatment and reentry for individuals in the custody and care of DOC.

“The insights you provide through this RFI will directly inform our procurement strategy, project scope and delivery methods,” wrote DGS Director Delano Hunter in the DGS’s RFI presentation.

The scope outlined in the RFI centers on a new annex at 1900 Massachusetts Avenue SE. The new construction program totals approximately 735,000 square feet, including parking garages, and is planned for 958 beds. Program areas include housing, visitation, intake, transfer and release, a medical clinic, infirmary, behavioral health space, administrative offices, multipurpose rooms for educational and religious services, staff support space, subgrade parking and connector bridges to the renovated Correctional Treatment Facility.

The existing CTF is also slated for approximately 132,000 square feet of targeted renovations, including the addition of female housing, long-term care housing, outpatient medical space, kitchen and laundry functions, loading dock improvements, visitation and main control work. The plan also calls for an extension of Massachusetts Avenue SE and selective demolition and reconfiguration of portions of the existing Central Detention Facility so operations can continue during construction.

Phasing is a central part of the procurement strategy. The presentation describes an initial construction phase for Annex Building 1, underground parking, connector bridges, CTF modernizations and operational transfers from the existing jail complex, followed by a second phase that includes demolition and reconfiguration work at the Central Detention Facility and construction of Annex Building 2. The conceptual schedule shown in the presentation runs from 2026 through 2035, signaling a long delivery horizon intended to keep the campus operational and safe throughout the buildout.

For industry respondents, DGS is seeking detailed input on ownership structure, contract terms, financing sources, payment mechanisms, risk allocation and maintenance obligations. The District is evaluating three primary delivery structures: traditional design-build, lease/lease-back and public-private partnership. At the same time, the presentation makes clear that the placement of buildings and connectors has already been coordinated with entitlement agencies and DOC and is not open for redesign, though limited design innovation may be considered if it improves efficiency without undermining the approved concept.

The RFI is aimed at qualified designers, contractors, developers and maintenance providers with recent justice-sector experience on projects of similar size and complexity. A virtual information session was held May 28; project questions are due June 5 and responses are due by 2 p.m. on July 15.

Hayat Brown LLC and CGL Companies are serving as transaction and technical advisors, respectively, on the potential solicitation. Correctional News previously reported that CGL was selected as architectural program consultant for the annex in 2023.

This article is based on information contained in the D.C. Department of General Services’ Request for Information presentation for the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility Annex project, issued May 15, 2026.