A project from LGBTQ health care provider Whitman-Walker Health’s and Fivesquares Development is officially in full swing after a groundbreaking ceremony with city officials Oct. 18, the Washington Blade reported. The six-story building will go up on the site of the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center in Logan Circle, which will remain intact as part of the new development. 

Whitman-Walker will bring its focus on LGBTQ healthcare and individuals with HIV to the first and second floors of the building, and will be majority owner of the venture.

“A true measure of success for this project will be Whitman-Walker’s sustainability, not for the next five or 10 years but for the next 50 years or whenever society is truly inclusive and just for all,” Don Blanchon, executive director of Whitman-Walker, said at the groundbreaking. “Until that time this project will help Whitman-Walker continue to care for the community, this neighborhood and our great city.” 

The building, which is expected to be complete in 2020, will also feature retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, underground parking, office space and 78 residential apartments. According to John Fanning, chair of the Logan Circle Advisory Commission, Logan Circle residents are in support of the project. 

Other D.C. officials who spoke stressed the importance of the project, saying it would help Whitman-Walker to care for those underserved populations in the city. Those who participated in the groundbreaking made clear the goal of supporting the LGBTQ community, as they donned brightly colored hardhats and shovel brandished with the rainbow pride flag.