The 183-acre East Campus of St. Elizabeths in Southeast DC, three miles from the Capitol, was a federal psychiatric hospital from 1855 and is now being redeveloped by DC as a neighborhood. This post covers the campus history, what has been built, and financing a home there.
The hospital Dorothea Dix founded in 1855
St. Elizabeths opened in 1855 as the Government Hospital for the Insane, the first psychiatric hospital run by the federal government, and the direct result of a campaign by the reformer Dorothea Dix, who spent years pressing Congress to fund care for people with mental illness. Dix helped choose the site: a hilltop farm tract overlooking the river and the city, on land whose colonial-era name, the "St. Elizabeth" tract, eventually replaced the institutional name. Congress made the name official in 1916.
At its height the campus had its own wards, farms and workshops. The campus is a National Historic Landmark today.
The Center Building, the Gothic Revival main building of the hospital, photographed in 1938. Library of Congress.
What is on the West Campus and the East Campus
Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue divides the grounds into two campuses. The federal government kept the West Campus and redeveloped it as the Department of Homeland Security headquarters, including the Coast Guard. DC took the East Campus to build a neighborhood.
Built so far on the East Campus: the Entertainment and Sports Arena on Oak Drive, the Sycamore & Oak retail village, Whitman-Walker's health center, and the conversion of historic buildings, including the Residences at St. Elizabeths East, which turned a historic structure into 252 apartments. In March 2026 DC issued the request for proposals for Parcel 1, one of the campus's biggest remaining pieces; responses were due June 1, 2026.
District Towns, the first for-sale homes on the campus
District Towns is 88 fee-simple townhomes on Sycamore Drive near Alabama Avenue SE, a short walk from the Congress Heights Metro, completed and sold out by the builder. Twenty-seven were income-restricted with resale covenants; the rest were market-rate. The townhomes now trade on the resale market, and the campus's next for-sale housing depends on how the remaining parcels are awarded.
On new construction you sign a builder's contract months before delivery, so the financing questions are when to lock the rate and what happens if the delivery date moves. Buying a resale of one of the income-restricted homes adds income certification, covenant review, and coordination between the seller, DHCD, and the lender.
Our St. Elizabeths East financing guide covers builder timelines, income-restricted purchases, and which DC assistance programs stack on a new townhome. The Congress Heights guide covers the detached houses and rowhouses on the surrounding blocks.
To buy on the campus or the blocks around it, get pre-qualified, book a 15-minute call, or contact us.
