I worked on this 16 years ago... "Metro seeks development partner for Brookland-CUA Metro station"

 According to the Washington Business Journal ("Metro seeks development partner for Brookland-CUA Metro station"), WMATA is looking for proposals to redevelop two acres it has on the east side of the Brookland Metro Station.

This was subject of a small area land use planning process back when I was a commercial district revitalization manager in Brookland.

There are reasons projects like this take time.  Most of the development energy in Brookland has been west of the station and railroad tracks, on land owned and redeveloped by Catholic University ("Takoma's Brookland moment: some opposition to apartment development on the WMATA station site," 2013).  And secondary markets get developed only once better sites are built out ("More about chain vs. independent retail in the urban setting," 2007).

Also because the Brookland citizens are so obstreperous when it comes to planning, in both that process and a related streetscape and transportation plan, they weren't interested in working with the planning teams, were more focused on demonstrating their superiority.  

And the residents didn't want a comprehensive approach to 12th Street NE, which is why it remains so disjoint more than a decade later, and why economic activity has shifted to the CUA development on the west side of the Metrorail station.

This comes out of Brookland's civic history as a key factor in the fighting off of urban freeways.  They learned that they should oppose everything, rather than be judicious.  Some things they successfully fought off, like rowhouses at the Brookland Metro in the 1990s, were beneficial.  It was the wrong type of building for that type of property.  But making 12th Street NE into a cohesive retail district wasn't something to oppose.

16 years...

Although to be fair there have been other attempts over the years, which the community's response bollixed up also.  For example, in 2011, "Harris Teeter said to be eyeing Brookland," Washington Post.  

And 2014, "MRP, A&R, Four Points, Donatelli among Brookland Metro bidders," Washington Business Journal.  From the article:

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has received four proposals to redevelop a pair of parcels adjacent to the Brookland-CUA Metro station, each offering a couple hundred residential units and varying amounts of retail. 

The transit agency has offered two parcels totaling about 2 acres for redevelopment, both immediately east of the Metro facility. One is located to the north of Bunker Hill Road NE and the other to the south. Metro has asked each bidder to replace the 35-space Kiss and Ride lot at-grade and to preserve the existing Brookland Green.